Darling Deborah || Happy Birthday, Deborah Kerr!

This is my contribution to Waitin on A Sunny Day's Darling Deborah Blogathon in celebration of Deborah Kerr's 90th birthday. Be sure and go on over to check out all the wonderful posts!

She was born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer in Helensburg, Scotland, UK ninety years ago, on this day. Her father was a former soldier who had been gassed in the Great War. Deborah as a child was said to have been quiet and shy, but acting was an outlet for her - as was the case with many actresses. Her aunt, a radio actress, got her some work as a teenager. She was discovered by a British producer and from then on, a brilliant career took off.

5 Things for Deborah

(or five items pertaining to the both of us!):

5. I remember when she died. This is rare, but I do. It was at the end of the national news and they played a clip of Deborah - the famous kissing scene from "From Here to Eternity." I was just getting into classic film but was yet to know who Deborah was; both of my parents recognized her.

4. I was excited when Lucy appeared on "What's My Line?" as a mystery guest the same day Deborah was on the panel. They did not get around for Deborah to guess, but Arelene [Francis] leaned over when she had just figured it out, and said, "Miss Kerr, do you know who this is?" To which the fellow redhead said, "It must be Lucy!"

3. I get annoyed when someone says Deborah Kurrh instead of Deborah Car, like it should really be pronounced.

2.  My favorite Deborah movie is "An Affair to Remember."

1. I bonded with one of my teachers over the latter film -- it is is her favorite, and that launched a conversation about classic film that got our minds off math. For a little while, anyway.

I liked "The Grass is Greener", with Deborah and Cary (as well as Jean Simmons and Robert Mitchum) too - but not as much. I just found it impossible that someone would cheat on Cary Grant. And since they were so wonderful and romantic in "An Affair to Remember", I wanted them to be that way again! ("Dream Wife" was fun, too).

So stylish!

"The English Rose"

The Deborah films I most want to see are "The Night of the Iguana" (Ava Gardner, and Deborah - will make up for Richard Burton's presence in the film) and "Black Narcissus."

Here is Deborah's own appearance on "What's My Line?". I think she's quite adorable in this, don't you?

Thank you, Sophie, for hosting this! Blogathons are always fun. I wish I could have written something more original for Deborah and I know she's deserving of something better - but I hope it will do. 

Be sure and go over to Sophie's blog to see the other participating posters. Happy 90th birthday, Deborah! 

Photo of the Day || Greer Garson

Happy Birthday, Greer!

Not a very original photo, but I thought she looked chic and lovely in this.

Today is Greer Garson's birthday. Not knowing enough about her to write a full birthday post (and, like I said, I thought I did too much of that this month, in addition to the Deborah Kerr birthday blog I'll be writing for a blogathon), I wanted to talk about her a little anyway. ;) Greer would be a 107. You want to hear something shameful? I haven't even seen a Greer film in completion! Yes... not even "Mrs. Miniver." (I know, I hang my head in shame). Well, actually, I came quite close - a couple of months ago "Mrs. Miniver" was on On Demand (a service to watch movies on instantly) for free, and I jumped right into but wasn't more than twenty minutes in when I had to stop it. Of course, it's in my Netflix queue and I'll be watching it quite soon. And then last week on Walter Pidgeon's birthday (how ironic that their birthdays are about  a week apart!) they were showing a Greer/Walter film on TCM called "Scandal at Scurrie." I watched it from someplace in the middle and onwards to the end, and I loved Greer in it and when I discovered her birthday was today, well, I had to write about her.

 So something I promise to do in the next weeks or so is to watch a Greer Garson movie (most importantly, or firstly, "Mrs. Miniver" and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips"). And then hey, I'll come and review it! Also, I shared one of my favorite Greer stories (that has to do with Lucy and Claudette Colbert, as well) in Claudette Colbert's birthday post earlier this month. You can read it here.

That's all for today. By the way, I'm thinking of doing what would be a ten part series called "I Just Want to Write About ---". It would be ten posts, and each individual post would focus solely on one of my top ten favorite actresses. I guess I would just write about what I like about her and what makes her a special actress, etc. - I'll try not to be repetitive... I just think it would be a nice tribute; also, the ten posts would be spread out over a period of time, not ten days in a row and there would be a variety of posts in between.

I also need to write my post for the Bette Davis Contest hosted at Film Classics - since Bette is in my top ten, perhaps I could enter my "I Just Want to Write About---" post about her into the contest! Perhaps. We'll see. ;)

That's it. Happy birthday, Greer, and I'll see everyone tomorrow at the Darling Deborah Blogathon (Waitin' On a Sunny Day)... =)

Scandal in Classic Hollywood

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry I disappeared on Sunday for the Sunday Movie Review; in addition to not changing the header! It is, indeed, changed now -- this week's movie is "Mildred Pierce"; I had a busy weekend and was unable to watch a movie on Friday or Saturday night like I usually do, so therefore if I had managed to make it to my computer on Sunday to blog it would have been a review for something I had seen weeks before. Like "Mildred Pierce". Maybe. Anyway, the Sunday Movie Review will be back next Sunday.

I had a lot of fun at the Fashion in Film Blogathon on Saturday! Thank you everyone for the lovely compliments and it was a lot of fun to read everyone else's posts. Speaking of blogathons, The Darling Deborah Blogathon to celebrate Deborah Kerr's 90th birthday is coming up this Friday (hosted by Sophie over at Waitin on A Sunny Day); I also just joined Meredith (Forever Classics)'s Humphrey Bogart blogathon which will take place around Christmas.

So, and I think you all may have gotten the gist of it by now, that I love blogging about Classic Hollywood behind the scenes. Contrary to popular opinion, the innocent face of Classic Hollywood with all it's Hays Code limitations and three second kisses had some very riveting and spicy stories to tell beyond the soundstages.

Today, I just thought I'd blog about scandal in the good old day of days of Hollywood. Nothing new that you probably didn't know before; but just fun to go over the details again. ;) So, here's three scandals for you...

***

LANA TURNER AND THE MURDER
                                                   

A policeman inspects Johnny's body in Lana's LA home.

Lana had eight marriages and seven husbands, just like Elizabeth Taylor. Out of these unions, she had only one daughter - Cheryl, who's father was Lana's second husband, Stephen Crane.

In between husbands Lex Barker and Frederick May, thirty-seven year old Lana began an affair with "gangster" Johnny Stompanato. The affair at first was passionate and exciting for Lana, who was nearing the end of the climax of her career. But her romance made her feel young and desired again.

It was not long, however, before the relationship turned stormy and quite violent. Johnny was threatening and their fights were long and hard. Lana was away in England filming "Another Time, Another Place" in 1957 with Sean Connery. She wanted to break off the relationship with Johnny, but he wasn't about to let it happen. He followed her to England and showed up on the set of the movie, accusing Lana of having an affair with Sean and brandishing a gun to prove his point. In their defense, Sean punched Johnny once and managed to take away his gun. These actions resulted in Johnny's arrest by Scotland Yard.

Still, the relationship wasn't yet over. One Friday night in 1958, Lana was in her new Beverly Hills home with daughter Cheryl, who was fourteen at the time. Lana and Johnny began fighting over the phone and Lana invited Johnny over to resolve things in person. Come over he did.

Lana went up to Cheryl's bedroom, in which the fourteen year old was "working on a book report" for school. Telling her that Johnny was there and not to come down, she returned back to the ex-lover and the fighting began. It got louder and louder, more and more violent. Cheryl would remember Johnny threatening Lana that he'd kill Lana's mother and Cheryl. She also knew he was violent - though she had never seen Johnny actually hit Lana, she'd seen the marks and bruises. She also knew that her mother was trying desperately to end her relationship with Johnny but had asked Cheryl to please not tell anyone; not even her grandmother or father.

Eventually, Cheryl got nervous and decided to do something. She rushed downstairs and into the kitchen - opened a drawer and impulsively grabbed a long, kitchen knife. Clutching the knife, she ran to the closed door in which behind Lana and Johnny were fighting. She called inside to her mother, begging her to open the door - Lana told her not to, go away. Cheryl insisted. Finally, the door opened. It was Johnny - Cheryl was holding the knife pointing outwards, and Johnny walked straight into it. He fall back, saying,
"Oh my God, Cheryl, what have you done?" His eyes fluttered close.

Lana on the witness stand, the "performance of her life"

Lana tried in vain to bring Johnny back, giving him CPR while the ambulance and police came. But nothing worked. The fourteen year old Cheryl had killed the gangster.

Her daughter may land up in jail for the incident; as the news scandalized the country, Lana's team worked on convincing the court that Cheryl's act had been one of self defense.

On the day of her daughter's trial, Lana showed up on the witness stand in a gray suit and white gloves and hat; it was something out one of her movies, perhaps, except this was real. Giving what people would declare "the performance of her life," Lana broke down several times and was close to fainting by the end of the trial. Lana had to explain why she would stay with a man so abusive, something she herself did not understand, as she would say in her autobiography.

Lana was convincing enough. Cheryl's "murder" was declared an act of self defense. She was, however, sent to a reform school in which she would try to escape from in 1960 and was eventually released from a few years afterward. Sticking by her mother's side, she would later write several books about the incident (in their defense) and help her mother pen her autobiography.

As for Lana, she won her comeback in 1959's "Imitation of Life", and went on to marry three more times. None of them worked out, though.

As in every scandal, there was talk of conspiracy. Some claimed that Lana herself had murdered Johnny and was putting the blame on Cheryl as she was a juvenile and the consequences would be more lenient. But I wouldn't like to think so, and I'm sure Lana Turner fans wouldn't, either. How about you?


ST. INGRID REBELS

Rossellini, Ingrid, and Lindstrom in a ironic shot taken before
the affair came to light.

When producer David O. Selznick brought Ingrid Bergman to Hollywood in the late 1930's, he wanted to cap her teeth, pluck her eyebrows, and change her name.

Ingrid, wide eyed, declared, "If you do that, I'll return to Sweden!" And that was a threat.

What sort of image was he to build for her if she wasn't going to be a glamour girl? Selznick wondered. A new one, he figured. Totally different. Ingrid would be the good girl in Hollywood: natural, angelic, and saintly.

Ingrid projected this wholesome image on screen, and movie goers ate it up. She became, quite ironically, "St. Ingrid of Stockholm" - parents wanted their daughters to grow up to the kind of a woman Ingrid Bergman was. They watched her in pious films, like "The Bells of St. Mary's" (in which she played a nun) and "Joan of Arc" (in which she obviously played the saint in question).

Off screen, they knew she was married to Swede Petter Lindstrom, and had been for quite a while. They had one daughter, Pia. This only further confirmed the glossy image they had of "St. Ingrid."

But little did they know that Ingrid was not happy in her marriage. She'd already indulged in a few affairs - the director Victor Fleming and the wartime photographer Robert Capa, for example. It wasn't that she meant to, only she was not getting very much out of her marriage.

In the late 1940's, she saw for the first time work by the Italian director Roberto Rossellini. It was pure Italian no realism, and rumor had it Rossellini did not use professionals but street people for his actors. If the role called for a fisherman, a fisherman would truly play it. Ingrid was enchanted by all of this and excited by the prospect of working for Rossellini, so she decided to write him a letter. All the trouble began with this letter:

Dear. Mr Rossellini,

 I saw your films Open City and Paisan, and enjoyed them very much. If you need a Swedish actress who speaks English very well, who has not forgotten her German, and who is very understandable in French, and who, in Italian knows only “ti amo”, I am ready to come and work with you.

Best regards
Ingrid Bergman

Ingrid with her lover, the Italian director Roberto
Rossellini. 

Rossellini, who only spoke Italian (and all Ingrid knew, as the letter explains, was "ti amo", her last words in "The Arc of Triumph") was actually very interested in working with the Swedish beauty despite the fact she was a professional.

Rosellini visited the United States, staying with the Lindstroms. Everyone got along fine - especially Ingrid and Roberto. It is suggested the affair began around this time.

The film got into the works; Ingrid flew to Italy for a few months to begin filming. She would quickly discover working for Rossellini did not offer the comforts and glamour of Hollywood. She worked with non-professionals, in long hours, being forced to climb the actual volcano Stromboli, in which the film was named after.

Still, the affair continued and in full swing now. As Roberto ran around Italy boasting that he was having an affair with Ingrid Bergman (And how easy it had been, too - something about Swedish woman being easy to attract because their husbands were cold blooded), Ingrid wrote home to Petter asking for a divorce.

He did not give it to her right away, and Ingrid and Roberto's relationship became public. It scandalized America, of course. Not only was she having an affair while being married (taken lightly today; dangerously then) - she was their St. Ingrid! What had happened to the wholesome girl they knew?

Things got worse. Ingrid discovered she was pregnant, and with Roberto's baby. Senator Edwin Johnson of Colorado took to the floor of the US senate to condemn Ingrid - declaring her a "free love cultist" and "a powerful influence for evil". America was mad; quite mad. It was a scandal that they had not seen the likes of before, not in Hollywood. Of course, years before Loretta Young had given birth to Clark Gable's lovechild, but no one knew about that as it had all been quietly cleaned up by Loretta going on a long vacation and then making a public show of "adopting" a girl that was indeed her own daughter.

In the end, Ingrid and Roberto got a quickie Mexican divorce. Petter fought hard for custody of Pia and got it. Ingrid settled down in Italy with Roberto; their son was born which caused another media frenzy - reporters even tried climbing into the windows of the Italian hospital in which Ingrid had given birth. Ingrid went on to have two more children with Roberto - twin girls, one of which became the actress Isabella Rossellini. She collaborated on several films with her new husband but they were not that sucessful nor well received with the public. Her comeback came with 1956's "Anastasia"; in which she won the Oscar for, America's symbol of forgiving her. She divorced Rossellini after her conducted an affair with an Indian actress (and got her pregnant as well) and returned as a star to American films. She would marry one more time, but that marriage would dissolve as well.

EDDIE, LIZ, AND DEBBIE


America was hurting for Elizabeth Taylor in March of 1958. Her third husband, Michael Todd, had died in airplane crash. Elizabeth had been married before, but it was said that Michael Todd was her true love. Despite the fact that he showered her in jewelry, the affection was real and true. But now he was dead - the crashed plane was called "The Lucky Liz", and Elizabeth had been this close to going on the trip with him.

Mike, Liz, Eddie, and Debbie when "everyone just got along."

Before the plane crash, Elizabeth, Mike, and his good friend Eddie Fisher and his wife, the actress Debbie Reynolds, had been a tight foursome. Mike and Eddie had been friends for a long time and Debbie and Elizabeth had attended the same one room school house at MGM. Debbie and Eddie had even been a bridesmaid and the best man at Liz and Mike's wedding.

Now that Mike was dead, both Eddie and Debbie stepped into lending a hand to the grieving Elizabeth. Debbie took care of Elizabeth's children while Elizabeth worked out the funeral details and all the other ugly things; meanwhile, Eddie offered Elizabeth a shoulder to cry on.

And, eventually, a little more.

It was a combination of their mourning for Eddie as well, as perhaps, physical attraction. Eddie and Debbie's marriage had been on the rocks for quite a while, though Debbie did had two kids and a newborn at home. As the friction of an affair began, Elizabeth considered this. She did think Debbie was a great friend and did not want to hurt her; but she also knew that Debbie had to have a thick enough skin to deal with it. She was a movie star, anyway, and you had to fight to get to the top. And besides, Debbie had already filed for divorce twice (though she had not gone through with it). So...

So, the affair began. Kept under covers, Debbie found out about it one night when she was alone at home with the kids. Eddie was away someplace (she'd discover where later), and she decided to call up her friend Elizabeth and see how she was doing.

You can imagine her surprise when her husband picked up.

"Suddenly, a lot of things clicked into place," Debbie would say later to UK's Dailymail upon being asked to recall her thoughts as she sat, holding the phone that night. She yelled into the phone for Eddie to "roll over and give the phone to Elizabeth!", because she was sure they were in bed together. Instead, Eddie slammed the phone on the receiver.

Yet another ironic photo!

Eddie rushed back home. He confronted her, told her her he was sorry but that he and Elizabeth were in love. He wanted a divorce; there was nothing Debbie could do about it.

Debbie consented to giving him the divorce, but told him that Elizabeth's love was only temporary, that Liz would "throw him out in eighteen months." He didn't care and insisted it was real love.

The scandal hit the papers. Elizabeth Taylor quickly became the adulteress instead of the grieving widow. Debbie was instead painted as the one for Americans to hurt for at this moment.

Debbie's prediction would indeed come true; not much later Elizabeth dumped Eddie Fisher for... Richard Burton, whom she began a sultry affair with on the set of "Cleopatra". The "Liz and Dick" hysteria would last for another fifteen years.

But that's another story, for another day. Both Elizabeth and Debbie had resentment to Eddie Fisher in the years following; Eddie's career faded completely. Despised by both women, there wasn't much left of Eddie Fisher. He would become estranged from his children, as well, including Carrie Fisher (Princess Lea from Star Wars).

What about Elizabeth and Debbie? The one time friends would reconcile. Debbie and her new husband were on a cruise ship when she discovered that "Liz and Dick" were on board as well. Debbie would later jokingly recall her first instinct was to jump off the boat. But she instead wrote a note to Elizabeth, and as it turned out, a note from Elizabeth was coming to her already. She wanted to patch things up, and Debbie said, "Amen to that!" The couples dined that evening and Elizabeth and Debbie got along marvelously after that, even co-starring in the movie "These Old Broads" in the early 2000s.

One thing's for sure - no one can say that Debbie Reynolds holds a grudge!

***

Well, I hope you had as much fun reading over that as I had writing it. In the future I think I'll find some more "scandals" to write about.

That's all for today. Ciao!

Fashion In Film || Paper to Reality: Edith Head Defining an Era

This here is my little contribution to the Fashion in Film Blogathon that is being hosted by Angela at The Hollywood Revue - thank you for holding this, Angela! It's going to be exciting to see all the other posts, to read them, maybe even discover new blogs. Yes, blogathons are a ton of fun. And I know a bunch of my favorite blogs are participating in the event, so this will be a real treat!

This was a vast topic to cover, and in the end I came up with this post. A shroud of my thoughts on two topics I love: fashion and movies. Put together, I think they equal "Classic Hollywood."

Let's face it: Among one of the many things modern movies lack is fashion. Oh, sure, there are some pretty dresses and nice ensembles here and there, but you're just as likely to find the main character stretched out on the couch in a pair of baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Classic Hollywood was different, though. And to be fair, the times were completely different. It wasn't acceptable to be walking around in baggy sweatpants then in the way it is today; in the 40s and 50s one had to look put together and neat upon going out - or even being around the house. Today, sweatpants (sorry to keep picking on this piece of attire for you sweatpants lovers!) add realism to a film just in the way that chic costuming did in Classic Hollywood.

My favorite designer of this era - and this may be deemed the default answer - would be Edith Head. She was a genius and probably dressed every leading woman in Hollywood at least once.

"Edie knew the truth about all of us. She knew who had flat fannies and who didn't -- but she never told."

- LUCILLE BALL

Edith knew how to dress a woman exactly according to her figure. As Lucy's words explain, Edith knew how to conceal imperfections by making it work to an actress's advantage or instead spotlighting her other assets. Marlene Dietrich was not very busty at all, but she had long legs and Edith understood this and pulled out the stops. Audrey Hepburn had a spindly neck, legs, and arms; Edith concealed this by staying away from short sleeves, full dresses, jewels on her neck. She could fix anything -- was Veronica Lake's neck too thin, Loretta Young's too long? Bette Davis pulled a "diva" to get Edith for All About Eve and it is said Joan Crawford would not buy a pair of socks without Edith's consent.

The woman had power.

She won Oscars for it, a proud collection of golden men. She took complete pride and credit in her work. Some actresses loved her and others butted heads with her, but each one became grateful to her in the end. Sometimes she was a snob. In 1955 she brought home the Oscar for "Sabrina" -- yet 90 percent of the film's costumes came hand selected by Audrey Hepburn from Givenchy, Audrey's favorite designer. Edith did not speak of Givenchy once in accepting her award.

Still, this was only a rare occasion in which Edith's success was downplayed. She could turn out genius things, she made every women in Classic Hollywood a fashion icon in her own right. Her favorite protegee was said to have been Grace Kelly, but she could fit any figure, from skinny (Audrey Hepburn) to curvy (Sophia Loren).

Edith was tops, but there were other designers. Helen Rose was of her own prestige and designed Grace Kelly's wedding gown; Adrian was on a first name basis and designed for "The Wizard of Oz."

Together, these designers and all the little people created a definitive era of fashion in movie making. The makeup was never smudged, a hair never out of place, and her outfit? It was always superb. 

They were all wonderful, but today and for this particular blogathon, I think I'll stop and spotlight Edith.

From Paper to Reality

It seems that for almost every actress of Classic Hollywood, combine her name with "Edith Head" on Google and you come across an gorgeous treasure trunk of sketches. Some dresses we know so well; others not so familiar but beautiful. The following is a tribute to Edith Head. If I could find a picture of the actual actress wearing the sketched dress, it appears alongside the photo. 

Sketched: A pale, blue chiffon dream for "To Catch a Thief"

Pictured: Grace Kelly in the finished product. 

Sketched: A chic and modest brown gown for All About Eve

Pictured: Bette Davis shows off the Edith Head creation

Sketched: A gorgeous and elegant black dress for "Sabrina."

Pictured: Audrey Hepburn brings it to life.

Sketched: One of my personal favorite dresses, a simply elegant number for "Rear Window"

Pictured: Grace Kelly showing off her dress to an uninterested Jimmy Stewart from a vivid Technicolor frame

Sketched: The outfit sketched must have been something for Joan Crawford to wear on her day off, as it appears that Edith Head never did design for Joan in a movie -- yet off screen, Joan relied on her totally. Hmm. If only we had a "Pictured" for this one!

Sketched: A slinky, shimmery black ensemble for "The Lady Eve"

Pictured: Barbara Stanwyck, who adored her, showing off the dress. It seems to have captured Henry Fonda's rapt attention!

Sketched: A delicately glamorous gown for "A Place in the Sun"

Pictured: Elizabeth Taylor is the lucky girl who gets to wear this creation.

Sketched: An ornate, fabulous period piece for "The Heiress"

Pictured: Olivia de Havilland flaunting it in said film!

Sketched: For Katharine Hepburn... I am not sure what film this is. If I were to take a guess, I would say "Little Women."

Sketched: A Cinderella style dress for "Inside Daisy Clover"

Pictured: Star Natalie Wood in the end product.

Sketched: Another design for Natalie Wood, this time for "Love With the Proper Stranger"

Sketched: A simpler, peasant girl style dress for Sophia Loren in "Houseboat"

And, now, of course, for my personal favorites....

Sketched: A chic outfit for Lucille Ball in "The Facts of Life"

Sketched: Also for "The Facts of Life", another gorgeous ensemble for Lucy

Sketched: Peach, beige chiffon for "The Facts of Life" and Lucy once more!

Sketched: Edith would even design for Lucy on "The Lucy Show"

***

Okay, so, perhaps I got a little carried away with the pictures there. But each time I found a new sketch I had  got more excited and just had to post it. ;) Also, I thought it was so interesting to see how each sketch seemed to be a near perfect definition of the actress's likeness as well as captured her personality and the personality of the dress -- I do not think Edith was the actual artist of the sketches (correct me if I am wrong),  but I found it quite interesting anyhow. But Edith was amazing, for sure.

That's all for me - though that was quite a lot of "all"! Once again tons of thanks to Angela for hosting this, and be sure and go over to The Hollywood Revue and check out the wonderful blogs. And comment with what you think!

PS: Edith Head is so fabulous, I think I'll just go ahead and make a tag for her on my blog. ;)

"By Myself and Then Some" Book Review

Hi everyone,

I know I've been away for the past few days -- lack of subjects to blog on, I suppose. But today I have for you, finally, the review for "By Myself and Then Some" by Lauren Bacall, who celebrated her 87th birthday last week. It won a poll I held a while back on which Old Hollywood book to read next. I'm sorry it has taken me so long; it is 500 pages which is thick but not exactly a monster read. I was reading some other fiction books also, and with school I'd been neglecting it. But now it's finished, so let's get on with it!

I must admit, before reading this book I did not know that much about Lauren. I had, of course, seen her in what I would guess would be her two most well known films, "The Big Sleep" and "To Have and Have Not"; but with a few more exceptions I hadn't seen all that many of her movies, either.

The perception I had from Lauren was from what I had derived from her on screen image - somewhat sultry, with that deep husky voice and a cool, mysterious attitude to her, almost the personification of a film noir. If you were to say her name, the first picture or thought that would come to mind would be her role as Slim in "To Have and Have Not."

Lauren totally defies all these stereotypes about herself in this book. She draws a definitive line between the on screen image created for her by Howard Hawks and the real "Betty" Bacall.

The first thing that comes to mind upon reading an autobiography, is can this person write as well as they act? I know most often a ghost writer of sorts is used, or at least to assist the writer. But in this situation that is not the case. Though I would not name her a Bronte sister, but really, her writing was expressive and excellent in producing emotions from the reader. It is fluid, very personal and intimate, and easy to follow. It is distinctive, she has a habit of using "--" quite often, but you will get used to it as you progress through the book.

I loved the way she told her story; as if she was reliving it, instead of a fifty-odd woman (the original "By Myself" was released in 1978) looking back on her life. We can feel her experiences as they are happening, versus a reminisce. It was so wonderful to have it told this way; the book seems so much more fluid and evades becoming dull.

Her love of Humphrey Bogart shines through so brightly, above all. She does not idolize him, admits that he has faults - but does not take the time to list them in honor and respect to his memory. You can feel her love for him pour out. 

The most powerful moment in the story is when Bogie begins to die of cancer (she refers to him as pretty much only "Bogie" in the book). You can absolutely feel her pain and the hopelessness she must have felt, only in her late twenties and losing the love of her life with young children. In the pages leading up to Bogie's death, I began to tear up and finally I started to cry. I tell you, I almost never cry when I read a book; but I did in this one. I could feel the pain, the sadness, it was simply awful and her descriptions are vivid (though nothing gory, of course).

She captures your attention from the start. Her adventures in her childhood, growing up in New York, raised by her mother (this may sound strange but I began to really love her mother; who seemed like a lovely person) and extended family. I was amused at how, as a teenager, she'd skip school and go to the theater to watch a Bette Davis or Leslie Howard picture. She would buy a pack of cigarettes and smoke them in the balcony; she had to finish the whole pack because smoking was forbidden at home. Yes, reading about her childhood was entertaining. 

The slowest part in the book, the part that made me slack off of reading it, was in between her childhood and going to make her first movie in Hollywood. Her "pounding the pavement" years. If you can get through that period, though, the rest of the book is pretty much a treat.

I think she reflects on people with class and I do not remember her, for the most part, making negative comments about famous figures. It is fun to read her discussions about people from Old Hollywood, and her interactions with them -- did you know it was Greer Garson who was the first person to send Bogie to the doctor because of his coughing, which later resulted as his cancer? Or what good friends she was with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, affectionately called "Katie" and "Spence" by her? (They would visit Bogie every night he was sick). These are just a few among a great roster of friends and we get to read about her experiences with them; nothing to diminish the glossy opinions we have of these people, only to glorify them.

"By Myself" was released in 1980; in 2005, Lauren made a 77 page addition and reprinted the autobiography under the new title, "By Myself and Then Some"; 'and then some' being her 77 pages added in. Upon reading the reviews for this book on Amazon, I found people often criticizing the "And then some" part; saying it is only a reprint of her previous autobiography with just her comments on her friends dying stuck on the end. And a display of her political opinions.

I don't exactly agree. Yes, the 77 page addition is a little choppier than the rest of the book; it had his highlights and downfalls. Yes, it does seem like an obituary for a lot of it but it was touching, for example, to hear her last visit with Katharine Hepburn before Kate died. Had she gone into it more, I fear I would have started to cry just as I had when Bogie died. Also, in the last pages she expresses her disdain of what this country has turned into; yes, she sheds her dislike of the George Bush administration but only dedicates a paragraph or two to it. The reviews I read made it seem like she pushed her political opinions throughout the whole book; not true! Anyway, she wrote a nice piece on how times have changed us and I agree one hundred percent with it. The world is only a busy fish bowl with no one stopping to be polite anymore.

Anyway, even if "And then some" was terrible, I would not let it completely blur my opinion on this book. I learned so much about Lauren and all the things there are to love about her; that she is completely different from her on screen persona. She is so human and she admits that through and through; and that, I believe, would have to be one of my favorite things about her book. 

In the end, I will give it a 4 out of 5. If you want to know more about Lauren, if you want to love Lauren, etc., you'll find that in this book. And an immense respect for her. I remember while reading Ginger Rogers's autobiography, "Ginger", I was dissapointed about how Ginger talks shrewdly and negatively about other figures in the world of Hollywood (despite claiming she would not in the beginning of the book). Lauren does not do that - like Lucy in her autobiography, she remains classy and we just cannot help but have great respect for her!

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The book also had some wonderful pictures; and hopefully in the near future I'll scan them and share. I would today if for not how lazy I feel; but in my defense, it's Friday, and I need to recuperate from the stress of the school week! ;)

Tomorrow I'll be back with my contribution for the Fashion in Film Blogathon at The Hollywood Revue, and also: here it is the first day of fall and I am so thrilled, of course! So: Happy first day of fall!

You guessed it - I'm cat smiling, just like Vivien!