Happy 90th birthday, Doris Day!

Photo by Don Ornitz, scanned from the March 1952 issue of Photoplay.

I'm almost too late with posting this, but today was Doris Day's 90th birthday. TCM showed her films all day long. As I write this, I'm enjoying the 1952 Technicolor musical April in Paris, co-starring Ray Bolger.

Miss Day was recently interviewed by Closer Weekly, in which she said "I’ve had an amazing life and wonderful times. And I’m happy!"

Happy Valentine's Day!

After Halloween, Valentine's Day is probably my favorite holiday photo theme.

First, a scan of Rita Hayworth on the cover of the March 1943 issue of Modern Screen magazine, made to look like an actual Valentine card.

The "magazine as a Valentine" was something that the fan magazines did fairly often from the 1930s through the 1950s. Modern Screen was especially fond of doing it. Unfortunately this is the only Valentine-themed magazine that I own, but hopefully I'll come into possession of more in the future!

Joan Leslie as the Queen of Hearts in the 1940s.

Adorable Puerto Rican actress Olga San Juan in 1945.

Nancy Carroll in the 1930s.

Lana Turner posing in front of a giant red velvet heart, 1940s.

Betty Grable's leggy Valentine's Day photos are still very popular. Here's a slightly less common one, from the 1940s.

source: flickr.com

And last but not least, Miss Marilyn Monroe, inside a giant heart wearing a bathing suit with hearts all over it! The photo is from the late 1940s.

Vintage Scans: Veronica Lake and Paulette Goddard

From the July 1943 issue of Movieland magazine, here's a very cute photo of Veronica Lake and Paulette Goddard on the set of the film So Proudly We Hail!

Happy 104th, Luise Rainer

Today is Luise Rainer's 104th birthday! She was born January 12, 1910 in Germany and is currently living England. Luise was the first actor ever to win multiple Academy Awards, which she also won in consecutive years. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1936 for her portrayal of Anna Held in The Great Ziegfeld, and the following year she again won the award for Best Actress for her role of O-Lan in The Good Earth. Shortly thereafter, she gave up acting and returned to Europe.

This photo of Luise is scanned from the Summer 1938 issue of Screen Album magazine.

New Years Beauty Resolutions

Happy New Year!

The following are beauty tips from the January 1948 issue of Motion Picture magazine attributed to the stars, but most likely were actually written by a magazine staff member.

 

"Irene Dunne" says:

Resolve to attend to all the details that make up the composite of beauty --buttons and snaps sewed on clothes, freshly laundered collars and cuffs, secure straps on slips. Make sure dress hems are straight, likewise heels on shoes. Keep in mind that cleanliness --the daily bath, perspiration control-- even though it may not show, is the keynote to a beautiful woman, makes for a "just-stepped-out-of-the-bathtub" appearance.

 "Rita Hayworth" says:

Resolve always to wear foundation and powder that improve your skintones, never to wear lipstick or nail polish that clash with costume colors. If skin is too ruddy, stay away from face coverings containing pink; do wear them if you're a pale-face or if skin is sallow. Your lipstick wardrobe should hold a rosy red to wear with light neutrals and pastels, a rich blue-red for wine, fuchsia and all shades of blue, a sparkling clear red to complement black, navy, brown, green.

 "Deanna Durbin" says:
Resolve to remove make-up completely and thoroughly every night; most skin faults can be traced directly to improper cleansing. Swish off make-up and surface dirt with cream, rely on soap and water for deep-pore cleansing. If skin is oily, experiment with the new creams that are washed off instead of wiped off; use astringent to subdue oiliness. Dry skin needs lubricating cream after cleansing, always at bedtime.

 "Myrna Loy" says:
Resolve never to be caught with red, roughened hands, with chipped nail polish. Acquire the habit of using hand lotion or cream after every hand-wetting, always dry hands carefully, push back cuticle with towel. Patch up marred nail lacquer immediately, completely change every week. Use one of the new base coats which actually make polish stick for keeps; seal in color with a special top coat. Avoid awkward gestures, use hands with poise and grace.

"Joan Caulfield" says:
Resolve to give locks a thorough brushing every night, wielding your hairbrush from the scalp upward and outward. Shampoo whenever necessary, at least once a week, more often if hair gets oily. Pep up its color with a tinted after-rinse; counteract dryness with cream rinses, cream massages. Give thought to your permanent problems. Consult operator six weeks in advance to see if hair needs treatment, to determine type of wave that's best for you.

New Scanner!

I got a new scanner! This is really exciting because my previous scanner was at least a decade old and the glass was all scratched up and dirty and impossible to clean. It would take me a really long time to edit all the dust and scratches out of my scans.

So here are my first vintage magazine scans done with my new scanner. I tried to find something festive and these covers were the best I could come up with.

Ava Gardner on the cover of the November 1953 issue of Modern Screen magazine. They obviously just found a picture of her wearing a green dress and then added a red and white background to make it look Christmas-y!

And here's a Winter-themed photo of Barbara Stanwyck on the January 1948 cover of Motion Picture magazine.

Somewhere I have an issue of Eye magazine with a picture of Marilyn Monroe warming herself in front of a fireplace, but I couldn't find it this evening! Oh well.

Vintage Scans: Elizabeth Taylor

Here's a lovely color photograph of Elizabeth Taylor from the June 1955 issue of Modern Screen magazine.

No photographer credit was given.

Conversing in Secret with Ava Gardner

I recently read the book "Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations" by Peter Evans, published in July of this year. It's a fascinating look at what Ava was really like as a person (or at least what she was like in the late '80s). If you've heard of the book before then you probably have already heard the story behind it: Ava Gardner wanted Peter Evans to ghostwrite her autobiography, then after only part of it was written she backed out of the project, probably due to the fact that she realized she was being too open and honest with Evans, and possibly also because Frank Sinatra may have asked her not to go ahead with it. Twenty years after her death, Peter Evans got permission to publish what material he did have.

I'm not going to review the book, but I just wanted to say that I enjoyed it very much, but if you want a true biography then I suggest reading "Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing" by Lee Server (I have yet to read this book but I've heard it's the best, and uses real sources).

A good portion of The Secret Conversations focuses on Ava's relationship with her first husband, Mickey Rooney, whom she married not long after arriving in Hollywood, which inspired me to scan and share this photo:

Ava and Mickey at a party in Hollywood with Mickey's frequent Andy Hardy co-star, Ann Rutherford, in November of 1941. I scanned this photo from the February 1942 issue of Modern Screen magazine. Ava was so unknown at the time that Modern Screen thought her name was "Ava Gardiner" (a spelling that was used both in the caption for this picture and in a separate article about Mickey Rooney).

I'm not quite sure why Ava and Ann are wearing costumes and Mickey doesn't appear to be.