#Vilma Bánky

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Louise Brooks (Pandora's Box, Diary of a Lost Girl)—Louise Brooks started off as a dancer and went to work in the Follies before going to Hollywood. Disappointed with her roles there, she went to Germany and proceeded to make Pandora's Box, the first film to show a lesbian on-screen (not her but one of her many doomed admirers in the film), and Diary of a Lost Girl, both of which are considered two of the greatest films of the 20th century. She helped popularize the bob and natural acting, acting far more subtly than her contemporaries who treated the camera as a stage audience. After the collapse of her film career and a remarkably rough patch as a high-end sex worker, she was rediscovered and did film criticism, notably "Lulu in Hollywood," which Rodger Ebert called "indispensable." Also, christ. Look at her.

Vilma Bánky (The Son of the Sheik, The Eagle)—She's famous now for being a silent star ruined by the transition to talkies, unlike her frequent co-star Ronald Colman. I think that's a shame, as she has a real vivaciousness and charm in The Winning of Barbara Worth. In this *checks notes* western about environmental engineering, she rides around the desert and gets wooed by both Colman and a young Gary Cooper (good for her dot gif.) Even in stills from films that are sadly lost, I think there is a distinctive warmth and individuality to her. Also she is extremely hot in her extremely pre-Code dress in The Magic Flame.

This is round 2 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Louise Brooks:

"Defined the style of the modern flapper. A gaze that could make a stone fall in love."

"Louise Brooks left a legend far greater than her real achievement as an actress, but even today few people have seen her films. In our own time, the fascination with Brooks seems to have begun in 1979 with a profile by Kenneth Tynan in the New Yorker, which revealed that the actress who made her last movie in 1938 was alive and living in Rochester, N.Y. Such was the power of Tynan's prose that people began to seek out her existing films, primarily this one, to discover what the fuss was about. What we see here is a healthy young woman -- she was 23 when the film was released -- with whom the camera, under G.W. Pabst's influence, is fascinated. There is a deep paradox in Brooks and her career: the American girl who found success in the troubled Europe between two wars; the vivid personality who briefly dazzled two continents but faded into obscurity; the liberated woman who had affairs with such prominent men as CBS founder William S. Paley as well as with women including (by her account) Greta Garbo but wound up a solitary recluse. And all of this seems perfectly in keeping with her most celebrated role in Pandora's Box. For despite her bright vitality, her flashing dark eyes and brilliant smile, Brooks's Lulu becomes the ultimate femme fatale, careering her way toward destruction, not only of her lovers but eventually of herself."

"She invented having bangs to indicate that you have borderline personality disorder"

"chances are if youve ever seen a "flapper girl" character or even just art of a generic flapper type made after the 20s it was based on her appearance - particularly the bob hairstyle! she had some pretty rough experiences through her life before during and after her tumultuous acting career which ended in 1938 but she made it to the 80s, wrote an autobiography and did a lot of interviews that she was never afraid of being honest in about her own life or peers of the age, and apparently was unabashed about some affairs she had with well known women (including greta garbo!!)"

"She read Proust and Schopenhauer on set between sets. She was one of the original flappers/new women of the 1920s. She had a one night stand with Garbo and was the inspiration for Sally Bowles in Cabaret. Truly a stone cold fox."

"on her wikipedia page it says her biographer said she "loved women as a homosexual man, rather than as a lesbian, would love them" and while i have no idea if this is true or not i thought that was very gender of her"

"despite being american she was big in german expressionist films and thus her aesthetic was unmatched!!"

So far ahead of her time in regard to portraying complicated women. Timeless elegance. "I learned to act by watching Martha Graham dance, and I learned to dance by watching Charlie Chaplin act.” - Louise Brooks

Vilma Bánky:

I love Vilma Bánky! She was called "the Hungarian Rhapsody" and apparently had a thick Hungarian accent which I think is cute. Several men fighting over the same women can be very cliche but when I saw her in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) I got it because my god she really is that drop dead gorgeous. She's also a wonderful actress though, expressive yet natural. I read once that seeing her in The Dark Angel (1925)—a film now seemingly lost—inspired Merle Oberon to become an actress :)

This is more of a factoid but she was apparently the women's golf champion at Wilshire Country Club through the 1940s. [link] I just think she's neat.

I love herrrrr she’s my everything. Watching her kiss Rudolph Valentino in Son of the Sheik made me so flustered I had to pause the movie to cool down. She’s the prettiest the most beautiful the most incredible woman I’ve ever seen. I could look at a picture of her for hours

[weirdlookindog]

Vilma Bánky in The Magic Flame (1927), a lost film.

[thegraininessofitall]

[cursemewithyourkiss]

THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH (1926) + letterboxd reviews

[maudeboggins]

The Winning of Barbara Worth

[perfettamentechic]

18 marzo … ricordiamo …

18 marzo … ricordiamo … #semprevivineiricordi #nomidaricordare #personaggiimportanti #perfettamentechic

2021: Elsa Peretti, è stata una designer di gioielli e filantropa italiana, nonché una modella. I suoi gioielli e pezzi di design per Tiffany & Co. , sono inclusi nella collezione del XX secolo del British Museum, del Museum of Fine Arts, Boston e del Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Elsa non si è mai sposata e la relazione più lunga è stata quella con Stefano Magini. (n. 1940) 2014: Ottavio…

[hotvintagepoll]

off topic from the polls but I am completely deranged + obsessed over all of this

In 1963 photographer Bert Stern photographed some of the top actors/actresses at the height of their fame playing their dream roles for a photo series in LIFE magazine's December 20, 1963 issue.

Cary Grant as Charlie Chaplin's Tramp / Audrey Hepburn as Pearl White in 'Perils of Pauline' / Tony Curtis & Natalie Wood as Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Bánky in 'The Sheik' / Paul Newman as a Douglas Fairbanks Sr. swashbuckler / Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin as Judah Ben-Hur and Messala from 'Ben-Hur' / Bing Crosby & Bob Hope as 1930s gangsters / Jack Lemmon as a war pilot / Shirley MacLaine as one of Busby Berkeley's showgirls / Rock Hudson as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

[citizenscreen]

Vilma Bánky and Rudolph Valentino in George Fitzmaurice‘s THE SON OF THE SHEIK (1926)

[vintage-every-day]

Still from the American adventure film 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒆 (1925) with Vilma Bánky. Bánky was loaned by the Samuel Goldwyn Corp. for the film.

[gentlyepigrams]

Vilma Banky by Truus, Bob & Jan too! Via Flickr: French postcard ny Editions Cinémagazine, no. 428. Photo: Vilma Banky in The Winning of Barbara Worth (Henry King, 1926), also with Ronald Colman and a young Gary Cooper, who debuted in this film. Hungarian-born silent film star Vilma Bánky (1898-1991) filmed in Budapest, France, Austria, and Germany, before Sam Goldwyn took her to Hollywood. There she starred opposite great silent stars like Rudolph Valentino and Ronald Colman. She became Goldwyn's biggest money maker till sound finished her career. For more postcards, a bio and clips check out our blog European Film Star Postcards or follow us at Tumblr.

[jwclapton]

(via hedda-hopper)

Vilma Banky and Ronald Colman, The Magic Flame (1927)

[cinedel1al1001]

A2. The Eagle (1925)

(ÍNDICE)

Hoy traemos al auténtico y verdadero primer sex symbol de la historia del cine: Rodolfo Valentino. Creo que recordar (si la memoria no me falla) que no había ninguna película suya en la Lista original, así que esta es su primera vez por estos precintos. Si no lo conoces, yo te lo presento, no te preocupes. Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella nació en Italia. La historia de como acabó este tarentino haciendo películas para Hollywood y dando forma al estereotipo de Latin Lover, daría para una serie de televisión: muertes familiares, emigración, juego, juicios, asesinatos,... En serio, un auténtico novelón, pero no os quiero dar la chapa. Cuando finalmente alcanzó la fama fue encarnando el ideal de galán varonil: fuerte, apasionado, seductor... El público femenino lo adoraba y el masculino lo despreciaba por afeminado (hay una lectura aquí sobre las expectativas ridículamente divergentes impuestas por los roles de genero heterosexuales pero he prometido "portarme bien" en esta etapa y no la voy a hacer). Fue un fenómeno fan de masas (el primero relacionado con el cine). Se formaban largas colas delante de su hotel para verlo y sus películas lo reventaban en taquilla.

Pero volviendo a la película de hoy, The Eagle trata de la historia de un soldado de la Guardia Imperial Rusa que tiene que volver a su tierra huyendo del acoso sexual que sufre por parte de la propia Zarina. Una vez allí se enfunda un antifaz y se convierte en una suerte de Zorro ruso que lucha contra un terrateniente local.

Si os habéis quedado loc@s con el argumento, tendríais que ver el guion: una auténtica joya. Empezando por que el Águila Negra (que así es como se llama el justiciero) anuncia el inicio de sus actividades enviando una carta al malo... firmada con su verdadero nombre (suerte que el villano es tan tonto como malo), pasando por que un masaje para el dolor de cabeza se pueda dar apretando fuerte el cuello con ambas manos o que ya existieran las fotos tamaño carné en la Rusia del siglo XIX. Además está el hecho de que cuando leyeron el guion, se debieron dar cuenta de que lo de tener al rostro más deseado del planeta detrás de una mascara era un sinsentido y el resultado es que, creo que he contado sólo 2 escenas largas de Rodolfo con el antifaz.

Si obvias lo ridículo de la trama, la película es un entretenimiento delicioso: hay aventuras, acción, romance, humor,... y hay que admitir que Rodolfo se come la pantalla. Tiene el punto justo de socarronería y galantería para resultar deseable sin llegar a ser empalagoso algo que estrellas posteriores no han sabido alcanzar. La réplica que le da Vilma Bánky también ayuda a desarrollar ese papel.

Merece la pena verla para pasar un buen rato.

5 de Marzo de 2024

[cursemewithyourkiss]

THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH (1926) dir. Henry King

[retropopcult]

The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ron Coleman and Vilma Bánky

[perfettamentechic]

18 marzo … ricordiamo …

18 marzo … ricordiamo … #semprevivineiricordi #nomidaricordare #personaggiimportanti #perfettamentechic

2021: Elsa Peretti, è stata una designer di gioielli e filantropa italiana, nonché una modella. I suoi gioielli e pezzi di design per Tiffany & Co. , sono inclusi nella collezione del XX secolo del British Museum, del Museum of Fine Arts, Boston e del Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Elsa non si è mai sposata e la relazione più lunga è stata quella con Stefano Magini. (n. 1940) 2014: Ottavio…

[edgarmoser]

VILMA BÁNKY 1901 - 1991