Happy 4th of July! (On January 9th, 2014, we’ll call it a little sparkle in the midst of the Polar Vortex.) For an amazing account of Hollywood from it’s inception to one screenwriter’s declaration of independence get your hands on a copy of, “The Shocking Miss Pilgrim” by Frederica Sagor Maas. She lived to the age of 111 and wrote her incisive and often venomous memoirs at the age of 99, after leaving the industry at the age of fifty… and waiting to have her say after the studio “SOBs” were “all below”, her words, not mine.
On Joan Crawford:
…An obvious strumpet. I was introduced.
“You a writer, huh?” She looked me over, her gray eyes cold and calculating. Restless ambition was written all over her. Crude as she was, everything about her seemed to say, “Look out. I’m in a hurry. Make room!”…
…”How can I help you, Joan?” I asked…
“I like the way you dress. You dress like a lady. I need that. I want to be dressed right. Smart. I figured you could help.” How could anyone turn down an ambitious young person like that? I took her on…
Hat tip to Mark Bridges, still from “Dancing Lady” – 1933. Thank you!