#joan fontaine icons

[vintgies]

Joan Fontaine as Mrs. de Winter Rebecca (1940) dir. Alfred Hitchcock

[vintage-old-hollywood]

Joan Fontaine

[pepperbag76]

“ Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, and Joan Fontaine starred in Ivanhoe (1952) “

Source: @ridethepastlane

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Madhubala (Mughal-e-Azam, Barsaat Ki Raat, Mr. & Mrs. '55)—The Venus of India; heart-throb of all who saw her; responsible for the sexual awakening of every single desi lesbian I know (including me!) And my god, she is breathtakingly beautiful. Look at the subtle grace with which she moves, and that smile - the kind of radiant smile that can make you laugh with sheer delight, or cry because of its hidden pain. Those wild curls! That Cupid's bow! The way she tilts back her head and smiles at you with mischief dancing in her eyes! She has a way of looking at the camera that makes you feel she's sharing a private joke just with you; it's something about that quizzical twist of the lips and eyebrows. As an actress, she is inimitable; she seems to effortlessly inhabit roles ranging from a heart-broken courtesan to a laughter-loving socialite. Fun fact : she's had quite the fan following in Greece! Stelios Kazantidis even wrote a song as a tribute to her.

Olivia de Havilland (Adventures of Robin Hood, Gone With the Wind, The Heiress)— The woman who took on the Studio System at the height of their power and Won! A double Oscar winner! Is magnetic and beautiful in everything she's in and gave us all the juicy scandal with her sibling rivalry with Joan Fontaine! Before the Oscar Slap was the Oscar sister snub! Also everything she wears in Robin Hood she makes beautiful even a purple green and orange monstrosity how does she do it! Anyway this scene is one of my old Hollywood favourites

This is round 3 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.]

Madhubala:

An icon of Bollywood, who was well known for her beauty and has continued to inspire performances and songs into the 21st century. She was at times described as "the number one beauty of the Indian screen" and "the biggest star in the world".

SHE IS EVERYTHING AHHH. JUST LOOK AT HER SMILE-

She's been nicknamed the Marilyn Monroe of India and was one of the highest paid actresses in the Hindi film industry (the term Bollywood did not exist yet) during the 1950s. Also an extremely talented dancer and singer

SHE'S JUST SO STUNNING, like seeing her eyes IMMEDIATELY CAPTIVATES YOU, THE DANCING, THE BEAUTY!!!!!!!!! She worked in Bollywood for over 20 years and passed away at a sad early age of 36, BUT THE IMPACT SHE HAD WAS UNMATCHED!!!!!

That sassy sideways glance she does always has me WEAK AT THE KNEES. And when she's making silly faces at the camera to mimic someone ahhhh my gay little heart <3

Olivia de Havilland:

She is just perfection. She has a smile that is looks like it is barely holding back, and yet so reserved as well.

Broke the contract system and won freedoms for actors (the de Havilland Law is still in effect I believe). 2 time Oscar winner. Beautiful and smart

She legally challenged the movie studios' unfair contracts and won, setting a precedent for other actors to be treated more fairly. This was at great cost to her financially and essentially getting her blacklisted for years but the resulting judicial opinion is still known as the De Havilland Law and has won her a great deal of praise and admiration.

Her performance in The Heiress is one of my all-time favorites, she’s so good at making melodrama feel real and grounded without sacrificing any of the passion/drama.

Serenely beautiful, she struck a balance between crowd-pleasing fluff and prestigious drama. Famously at odds with her equally successful sister Joan Fontaine, she was too much of a lady to ever say anything public. Successfully sued Ryan Murphy for portraying her as a saucy gossip in Feud.

the period costume + eye patch combo in That Lady is just an absolute serve

She has the most adorable and cherubic face and voice

[thewarmestplacetohide]

Dread by the Decade: Rebecca

👻 You can support me on Ko-Fi! ❤️

★★★★½

Plot: A young woman marries a wealthy widower only to find herself haunted by the memory of his dead wife.

Review: Though perhaps a bit slow for some tastes, this film is an exceptional exercise in subtle unease and manipulation.

Source Material: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Year: 1940 Genre: Psychological Horror, Drama Country: United States Language: English Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes

Director: Alfred Hitchcock Writers: Robert E. Sherwood, Joan Harrison Cinematographer: George Barnes Editor: W. Donn Hayes Composer: Franz Waxman Cast: Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, Judith Anderson, George Sanders, Reginald Denny, Gladys Cooper, C. Aubrey Smith

------

Story: 4/5 - An effective slow burn built upon convincing intercharacter drama and quietly shocking twists.

Performances: 4.5/5 - Everyone is wonderful. Fontaine is lovable as the kind heroine, and Anderson is very unnerving as the obsessive Ms. Danvers.

Cinematography: 4/5 - Great shadow usage and an especially iconic final tracking shot.

Editing: 4/5

Music: 5/5 - Perfectly suited for every story beat.

Effects & Props: 5/5 - Fantastic pyrotechnics.

Sets: 5/5 - The hotel and manor sets are just gorgeous and ornately decorated.

Costumes, Hair, & Make-Up: 5/5 - The heroine's costume ball gown is especially striking.

Trigger Warnings:

Emotional abuse

Incest (not shown)

Discussion of suicide

Brief ableist caricature

[bitter69uk]

“As a movie, Strait-Jacket is no better than adequate. As myth however, it’s something else again. For homosexuals this is a remarkably resonant film. Few images could be more iconic than Joan Crawford as the ultimate castrating mom: an axe murderess who carries a weapon which has a handle that seems to grow longer with each successive reel. Add to this the fact that she’s all dolled up in forties finery, including a shoulder-length hairstyle and a flashy flowered dress. Her mouth is a livid, lipsticked slash. To complete the ensemble, she sports a set of charm bracelets which clank and tinkle ominously whenever she’s hefting her hatchet.”

/ From High Camp: A Gay Guide to Camp and Cult Films, Vol 2 by Paul Roen (1997) /

Yes! Find out precisely what Roen means on Thursday 18 January when the FREE monthly Lobotomy Room film club (devoted to Bad Movies for Bad People) presents William Castle’s ultra-lurid 1964 exploitation shocker Strait-Jacket! Starring eternally fierce scary diva Joan Crawford! Contact the venue (Fontaine’s bar in Dalston) to reserve your seat now for THE cinematic event of the New Year! (Phone 07718000546 or email bookings@fontaines.bar). Full rancid details here.

[hoochy-coo]

People asking for tayrussell to play Audrey in a biopic need to get serious for a moment, Audrey was a real person and the bare minimum for a biopic is for the actor/actress to look like who they are playing

I think they are trying to make her the second coming of Audrey so bad when in reality she won't be the first nor the last person in Hollywood to use of the soft spoken, bob hairstyle and black turtle neck thing to resemble Audrey since that what made Audrey stand out, and even though I don't see it why they're (her fans) pushing the Taylor = Audrey narrative so hard I wouldn't mind to see maybe so reboot or movie inspired by some of Audrey's work, because I do think she can pull it, sure I don't think is groundbreaking when upcoming actress tries to copy Audrey and not be like the other in Hollywood, I do think the style fits her, but now a biopic? I'm sorry but that's simply non sense

This

But I also don’t think we need another Audrey biopic. There are tons of old Hollywood stars out there that have lived incredible lives, left iconic legacies with untold stories. There are plenty of options and Marilyn, Audrey and Joan Crawford’s story have been done to death.

They should do a movie about Joan Fontaine and Olivia de-Havilland. I’ll even take Bette Davis.

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 8th August

And we're steadily working our back towards "real time", relative to me writing this post :) Summer is properly underway, and this week's songs are (thankfully) a far cry from the mopey drag we got last week - I love a summer hit that actually feels summery, and I think both of these probably count?

Island in the Sun - Harry Belafonte (peaked at Number 3)

Look at the title and artist combination, right there. You know exactly what you're letting yourself into, here - and sure enough, it's a calypso tune about life on a sunny Caribbean island, complete with cheery flutes and some low-key marimba (?) work. Add in a strummy guitar and some vaguely African drumming, and you've got an incredibly chill island vibe already.

Except the lyrics aren't content just to wax lyrical about how lovely the island life is and be done with it. Sure, we've got lines about how All my days I will sing in praise / Of your forest, waters / Your shining sand. But we also get a focus on the hard work that it takes to live there, and the sense of ownership that that creates for Harry, the sense of the island being willed to me by my father's hand, a place where my people have toiled since time begun. It's Harry's island, because it's him and his people who've really put the work into it - and still are doing so, going by lines about Harry's heavy load and his sweat falling to the earth. He joins a cast of characters cutting cane for their families or going out to fish - hard, honest workers, out to tame and tend the island.

You could absolutely do some sort of post-colonial reading of this, of the poverty that the locals seem to be living in, and of Harry's defiant insistence that it's his people's island, that it's a place and a work that's worth taking pride in, despite it all. And you also see the pride in the culture and musical traditions that have sprung up there, especially in the verse where Harry sings about how I hope the day will never come / That I can't awake to the sound of drum / Never let me miss carnival / With calypso songs philosophical. Caribbean music - and calypso, in particular - is portrayed as something profound and worthy of celebrating, even as Harry moves to the US and pursues a career there. It's cool stuff.

I should also mention here that the song is from a film, also called Island in the Sun. And honestly, it sounds pretty awesome - it's about various interracial relationships, and how they all play out on a fictional West Indies island called Santa Marta. Harry's in the film, playing an ambitious young union leader, hence the focus on work in the song, who falls for the widow of the former heir to a local plantation, as one of the many plot threads. And when I say many, I mean it - scanning a synopsis, there appear to be four romances, a murder and subsequent investigation, multiple reveals about key characters' parentages, a whole lot of political campaigning and at least one attempted suicide. So yeah, I'd definitely watch that.

In the film, Harry romances a character played by Joan Fontaine, and apparently she got threats from the KKK as a result. The film wasn't shown throughout parts of the southern US, and the filmmaker eventually had to step in to say he'd pay the fines of any theatre-owner who got in trouble for showing it. So yeah. Definitely a cool film, in a way that makes me like the song considerably more, too. It's going to be a tough one to beat, for sure...

Lucille - Little Richard (10)

Ah. Right.

Gosh, did this song really only make Number 10 in the UK? Further proof that the record-buying public in the UK can have some real dodgy taste, because this song is a certified banger. Words like iconic are overused when talking about music, but if any song merits them, it's this. It's just *chef's kiss* perfect!

The whole song's insistent, driven along by this bass ostinato that just hammers away at this one rhythm, shifting it up a bit occasionally, enough to give the song momentum. Honestly, it sounds like something the Beatles will be getting a load of praise for in about five or six years. Which is almost certainly not a coincidence - heck, they apparently covered the song. Still, it's awesome to see this sort of riff-driven approach a few years "ahead of schedule".

This riffing, combined with the gun-shot drumming, the hammering piano notes and Little Richard's yowling, screeching delivery, gives the whole thing much more of a striaghtforwardly "rock" feel than you'd expect. It's got all the rock and roll hallmarks, sure - we've got a bluesy chord pattern, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit with those rock and roll triplets and even some sax for good measure - but overall, it just feels heavier, a bit more aggressive.

And in among all of this, Little Richard, performing like only he seems to be able to, rough and scratchy by turns, then high and squealy, the ends of his lines ticking upwards with a sort of camp abandon. There's a reason that Little Richard's songs always have a bit where the backing drops out and just lets him sing for a line or two - his vocal style and random screaming vocalisations are just that interesting and weird, they easily become the song's star attraction.

Lyrically, it's straightforward, but a bit more emotional and anguished than your typical rock and roll song, with Richard basically begging his wayward woman to come back to him, imploring her: Oh Lucille, please, come back where you belong. It's a straightforward story, and Richard doesn't jazz it up in poetry, or anything. You don't come here for fancy lyrics, you come here for Little Richard selling the emotion of it all. And that he does, line after line after line. As I said at the start, iconic.

I almost feel sorry for Harry Belafonte in this match-up, because I really did like Island in the Sun. But pitted against Lucille, there's really only one song I can pick as a favourite, and it's not Harry's.

Favourite song of the bunch: Lucille

[ear-worthy]

“Sibling Revelry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson” Season Four Premiere

Yes, I know. This is another celebrity podcast. The two factors that limit the number of celebrity podcasts is that podcasting is a lot harder than it sounds, and sadly some celebrities don't have much to say after their ten minutes in the chair on late-night TV with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, or Stephen Colbert.

That doesn't mean that all celebrity podcasts are terrible. Sure, the ratio is high, but some have found a niche and use it well. The Smartless Media guys -- Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes -- are an example of celebrity podcasting done well. Then we have Goop, Snooki & Joey, any Kardashian show, and any show where the host is only semi-famous for hawking stuff on Instagram or TikTok.

Last week, iHeartPodcasts announced the return of actors Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson in season four of Sibling Revelry, which started on January 8th.

iHeart says: "The hilarious duo of sibling hosts is ready to take listeners on an even more amusing and engaging journey through the joys and challenges of family ties. Listen to the season four trailer here." In fairness to iHeart, I went and listened to eight episodes over three seasons and thoroughly enjoyed the show. 

Here's why. I've always enjoyed both Hudsons as actors. They're versatile -- comedy, drama, movies, TV -- and they don't take themselves too seriously. Kate Hudson has recently become a spokesperson for the MyFitnessPal App -- Big Changes start with Small Steps fitness plan.

And, the Hudson siblings seem to know Kurt Russell, or better known as Snake Plissken in Escape from New York and Escape From L.A. In addition, the Hudson's have a nice gimmick for their show -- siblings interviewing other siblings. Again, I'll let iHeart take over: "Over their first three seasons, Kate and Oliver have captivated listeners with a collection of entertaining and inspirational stories, featuring a diverse group of guests, ranging from the Kardashian-Jenners, the Hiltons, Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush, Stella and Mary McCartney and the Haim sisters to brothers Chad and Rob Lowe, Ron and Clint Howard and Matthew and Mike “Rooster” McConaughey, and other cultural icons including Tony Hawk, Jimmy Kimmel, Amy Schumer, Rob Gronkowski and many others, along with their siblings." My favorite episodes included the McCartneys, the Howard brothers, and the Lowe bros. In the new season of Sibling Revelry, Kate and Oliver Hudson (who also produce the podcast; iHeart wants you to know that) - will be joined by celebrity friends and real-life and fictional family members including the “Brady Bunch” brothers Barry Williams, Chris Knight and Mike Lookinland; Joel and Benji Madden; Jonathan and Jordan Knight from New Kids on the Block; Matthew, Joey and Andrew Lawrence; identical twins Brittany and Briana Deane Salyers and their husbands, identical twins Josh and Jeremy Salyers; among many others. According to iHeart, Sibling Revelry will also include bonus “Revel In It” episodes focusing on one-on-one interviews with thought leaders, authors, motivational speakers, and groundbreakers who inspire Kate and Oliver Hudson, such as Gabby Bernstein, Jenna Jameson and Roberto Canessa, to name a few. “Sibling Revelry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson” does have value for listeners because it explores the sibling bond, family dynamics, and universal tales of what it’s like to grow up with brothers and sisters. 

Check out Sibling Revelry, not so much for the celebrity factor but for the compelling discussion of sibling dynamics. After all, celebrity feuds among siblings are among the most bitter and the saddest -- Joan Fontaine and Olivia DeHavilland, The Jonas Brothers, Noel and Liam Gallagher, and, of course, Thor and Loki.

It's possible that the Hudson siblings can help with resolving family conflict, which is a life problem we all deal with, whether we want to admit it or deny it.

[sonjatwogreyhounds]

𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland DBE (July 1, 1916 – July 26, 2020) and her Borzoi.

Olivia de Havilland was a British-American actress.

Esteemed cinematic career (1935-1988). Starred in 49 films, a leading actress. Passed at 104 in 2020, oldest living Academy Award winner, last icon of Golden Age. Sister: Oscar winner Joan Fontaine.

[project1939]

Day 15- Film: Something to Live For 

Release date: Mar 7th, 1952. 

Studio: Paramount 

Genre: Drama 

Director: George Stevens 

Producer: George Stevens 

Actors: Joan Fontaine, Ray Milland, Teresa Wright, Richard Derr, Douglas Dick 

Plot Summary: Alan is a recovering alcoholic who now helps others though AA. One night he is called to the hotel room of struggling actress Jenny Carey. Both find the encounter helpful and begin meeting regularly. Inevitably they fall in love, but Alan is already married with 2 children. How can they stay sober and live apart? 

My Rating (out of five stars): **½ for the actual quality of the film, **** for my enjoyment of it (up until the last 10 minutes!) 

I was looking forward to this one for awhile now, being very curious to see how Hollywood would tell this kind of a story. The actual film was interesting and engrossing to me... but its genuine quality as a film wasn’t really up to par. (some spoilers)

The good: 

The fact that a Hollywood film tried to tackle this subject. It was rare for an addict or a drunk to be a fully fleshed out protagonist. They tended to be either villains or comic relief, so showing a guy in AA trying to help someone else struggling was really commendable. 

Ray Milland. He’s just a very appealing actor. Charming and sensitive, he always has a sweetness about him. His most iconic role was in the 1945 film Lost Weekend, where he played a sympathetic drunk struggling to stay sober. Having him now play a character 14 months into sobriety felt very fitting. 

Milland’s acting when his character was falling in love. The way his entire body language and tone of voice changed, you actually felt as if you were watching a person experience the giddiness that comes with the first flush of love. His flirting with Fontaine was surprisingly affecting. 

Teresa Wright’s PTSD reactions whenever she thinks she hears her husband stumble in the background. It was smart writing to remind us of how much Alan’s alcoholism devastated their lives. 

The bad: 

Poodle hair! Why did they give Joan Fontaine that horrible poodle cut? She’s supposed to be a young actress, but the hair makes her look like she’s in her 40s. It looks so bad on her that at least a dozen times I was pulled out of the story to swear at the hair and wardrobe department! Teresa Wright, as the actual mature housewife, had shoulder length hair with a soft brush out, and she looked younger than Fontaine. 

Some of the overly melodramatic, almost soap opera-y moments. When the story was simpler, it was emotionally effective, but when it bled into melodrama, it lost some of its power. 

The ending! I really hated the ending. I knew he wouldn’t leave his now pregnant wife and two children, but the way the film tried to neatly tie everything up felt almost disrespectful to the audience! 

[vintage-old-hollywood]

Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine

[kalosaethetics]

Stars of 1939

Florence Nash ✧ Phyllis Povah ✧ Rosalind Russell ✧ Joan Crawford ✧ Norma Shearer ✧ Paulette Goddard ✧ Mary Boland ✧ Joan Fontaine

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Miriam Hopkins (Design For Living, Trouble in Paradise)—miriam hopkins had great range as an actresses, truly a woman who could play a passionate outburst for either dramatic or comedic effect and sell the ever-loving hell out of it. she's wonderful in the witty and sophisticated comedies she made with ernst lubitsch, great examples of movies that could never have been made after the hays code; the frothy musical comedy the smiling lieutenant where she plays a naive princess who accidentally gets betrothed to maurice chevalier, the polyamory classic design for living where she gary cooper and hot vintage shadow king fredric march are a throuple, and the ineffably exquisite comedic masterpiece trouble in paradise in which she and hubert marshall are sexy jewel thieves trying to con sexy rich lady kay francis, but will emotional complications ensue???? watch to find out!!

Joan Fontaine (Rebecca, Suspicion, Ivanhoe)— Check out the screen tests of other actresses for Rebecca to fully grasp how subtly and effectively she plays the role. Competence porn! Good acting before the method!

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]

Miriam Hopkins:

She is an incredibly charismatic and versatile actress who brings a certain captivating je ne sais quois to each and every one of her roles that makes her impossible to ignore. Her pre-code films were considered quite risqué, with her part in a thrupple in Design For Living, and some saucy scenes they had to cut from Jekyll and Hyde. She also had a strong career in early television, so good that this queen literally has TWO Hollywood Stars, TWO!! One for TV and one for Film

Also she is Gorgeous, capable of being the girl nextdoor and also a stunning blonde bombshell. She's not as well known as some golden-age Hollywood stars but she's really incredible and I recommend everyone watch her films

In Trouble in Paradise she plays a pickpocket who flirts by stealing from her criminal boyfriend and I fell in love

queen of the pre-code era. often her roles were of carefree, flirty and lighthearted but intelligent women. famously in the movie where she was part of a fredrich march/gary cooper throuple.

Linked gifset

She's got this sly slouchy confidence that just draws you in. Almost no one wore 30s fashion as well as her

We all know that Design for Living is THE pre-code movie and she is so iconic in it. Her eyes are everythingggg. Also everyone look at her in a suit in She Loves Me Not please

A Frequent collaborator of Ernst Lubistch, Miriam Hopkins like up the screen in her comic roles, as is especially sexy in her pre-code performance in Design for Living; probably one of the first movies to showcase a coded polyamorous relationship. She toes the line between adorable and sexy, and had the acting chops to back it all up.

Joan Fontaine:

ABSOLUTELY too hot to have played Jane Eyre like what were they thinking.

[loethlifeyoulivelietelifouloe]

Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine in at publicity photos for Suspicion, 1941.

[fashion-icons]

Joan Fontaine & Laurence Olivier in “Rebecca” (1940)