Movie Star – Page 5 – BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD

January 24, 2015 / Vickie Lester

Veronica Lake as Peter Pan

Veronica Lake took Peter Pan on the road in 1950, starring in productions across the country, “If I had stayed in Hollywood I would have ended up like Alan Ladd and Gail Russell – dead and buried by now. That rat race killed them and I knew it would kill…

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January 24, 2015 / Vickie Lester

Jean Arthur as Peter Pan

At the age of 49 in 1950 Jean Arthur starred on Broadway in the role of Peter Pan with Boris Karloff playing Captain Hook. In later life Miss Arthur taught at Vassar, one of her students was Meryl Streep. “I guess I became an actress because I didn’t want to…

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January 24, 2015 / Vickie Lester

1924, Peter Pan on film – James Wong Howe and Betty Bronson

In 1924 Betty Bronson was chosen to play Peter Pan on film by the author J.M. Barrie – other contenders for the role were Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. Here the elfin actress leaps to the window, directed by Herbert Brenon and photographed by James Wong Howe.

January 22, 2015 / Vickie Lester

Marion Davies – Paris Vogue – 1929

January 21, 2015 / Vickie Lester

The ultimate insider from another era – on Marion Davies and W.R. Hearst

The Villa Carlotta was a fun place to live… SOUTH OF BEACHWOOD CANYON | BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD. Louella’s apartment was across from ours… Louella entertained a lot, and William Hearst and Marion Davies frequently attended her parties. I had never met Hearst but had seen him at the MGM studios when…

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December 4, 2014 / Vickie Lester

Reprise: Rita Hayworth relaxing at home with 2 camera men, 5 electricians, 6 grips, makeup, hair, and wardrobe for a candid Christmas photo

November 3, 2014 / Vickie Lester

Marlene Dietrich, Josef von Sternberg and the inside skinny on a Hollywood divorce

A screenwriter wrote this passage about her friend’s divorce at the age of 99. She was intimately acquainted with the ins and outs of Hollywood and waited until “all the bastards were dead” before she wrote her tell-all autobiography. She herself outlived them all, Frederica Sagor Maas, Scriptwriter From the…

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October 22, 2014 / Vickie Lester

This time last year I was deep into the novel, working with my line editor in London…

An example of a photo you’d take while waiting to receive your editor’s daily notes – how could anyone question the literary output of one who would wear such socks? Now you see exactly why I need an editor, a little governing is always a good idea faced with baffling…

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October 21, 2014 / Vickie Lester

Dramatic lighting – oh yeah, tis the season – Carole Lombard

Three different films and a face that goes from transcendentally beautiful to very eerie, with a little movie magic…

October 17, 2014 / Vickie Lester

Portrait by Horst – Loretta Young NY 1941

As a typical example of wartime escapism, the Rita Hayworth film Cover Girl (1944) provided Horst with the opportunity to produce one of his most sumptuous film-star covers in a montage of seven different portraits of the cover girl Susann Shaw set against a silk design. His picture of Loretta…

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Tag: Movie Star