—John Ford
Yellowstone National Park, July 2016
Acrylic on canvas, Untitled (In the Nine Days) 36″ x 36″, 2009
—Jean Arthur
In 1921 Bebe Daniels was cruising in her Marmon Roadster with current beau boxer Jack Dempsey (and her mother, chaperone for proprieties sake). When they crossed the into Orange County she was pulled over for speeding — she was going 56 ½ MPH. The judge in the case was notorious for giving steep fines to anyone going above the speed limit, as well as jail time for anyone going over 50 – and Bebe was no exception. She told the motorcycle officers at the scene that she’d been speeding because her radiator had sprung a leak, she wanted to get it fixed before more trouble ensued, but they didn’t buy it.. neither did the jury.
She was sentenced to 10 days in jail, although some critics were unimpressed when she was gifted a full bedroom set (including a rug and a phonograph) from a local furniture store for her Santa Ana cell, claiming that it looked like a boudoir scene from a movie. They also ridiculed the fact that her mother stayed with her for the majority of the term, and weren’t impressed when she bragged about her guest book which she claimed had racked up 721 signatures from visitors while in the clink. On her first day in jail the judge who sentenced her welcomed her with a bouquet of roses. She was pretty upbeat about the whole thing though, telling the sheriff that “This is a comfy little place, anyhow. It will be sort of a quiet vacation.”
Via: Yesterday’s Print
Yellowstone National Park, July 2016
Screenplay by Howard E. Koch
Based on 1927 play The Letter by W. Somerset Maugham
Clef
1993
Copper
110 × 45 × 40 cm
© Estate of Bronwyn Oliver. Courtesy Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Photo: © TarraWarra Museum of Art and Dr Marcus Bunyan
—Gloria Swanson, 1922
Artist’s Shadow Over Ruth in Bed, 1931
oil on canvas, handmade frame, 34.65 in.H x35.75 in. W
Steve Buscemi, Toronto, Sept. 1992
Evening dress by Christian Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, August 1955
Purim Noisemaker by Moshe Zabari, Israeli, b. 1935
Silver, lapis lazuli, and carnelian, 3 1/2 × 6 1/4 × 1 in. (34.3 × 15.9 × 2.5 cm)
Skin Worship
Beverly Hills, 2017
In looking at the photo of Gloria Swanson, I wonder about the fashion of flat chested women in the 1920s. I assume it was a reaction to the “Gibson Girl” look of the 1910 era where wasp waists and large boobs were the fashion. I have a photo of my mother about 1926 dressed in the highest fashion of the time. She was living in Hollywood at the time. One of her claims to fame was that she had danced with Victor McLaglen, probably before he became well known. Although he was a leading man in 1926 so maybe I underestimated her.
An interesting point, Michael Kennedy. My paternal grandmother was known as something of a flapper in the 1920, but I hadn’t drawn the comparison to the Gibson Girls era, with their tight corsets to create a thin waist and to accentuate a woman’s bust/derriere.
Flappers did away with the corset fashion and tended to wear bras that flattened their chests and created a “boyish look”. The bobbed hairstyles further added to the effect.
For me, I’ve always preferred the “ample bosom” fashion over the “boyish” look… 😉
An unwashed alcoholic, I understand John Ford smelled every bit as nice as he looked.
It’s funny, but at first glance, I thought that was Burgess Meredith! 🙂