June's A Bust All Over?

Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night (Columbia, 1934)
 

June Allyson in You Can't Run Away From It [remake of It Happened One Night], (Columbia, 1956)

Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey (Universal, 1936)
 

June Allyson in My Man Godfrey (Universal-International, 1957)
 

Norma Shearer in The Women (MGM, 1939)

June Allyson in The Opposite Sex [remake of The Women], (MGM, 1956)



Compare and contrast, darlings.

The Good Wives

"It was a role no one could live up to, really." - Myrna Loy on being typecast as "The Perfect Wife"

"There always was a broom or a vacuum cleaner in my fist, or I was at the sink, scrubbing away for dear life." - Claudette Colbert on her screen image

"Some perfect wife I am. I've been married four times, divorced four times, have no children, and can't boil an egg." - Myrna Loy on real life vs. reel life

"I married a wonderful doctor, and I was very happy -- period." - Claudette Colbert on being a real life doctor's wife

Miss Colbert Regrets She's Unable to Lunch Today

She is sorry to be delayed, but to Banton's atelier she strayed.

Present Laughter

"If she had a neck, I would wring it." - Noel Coward on Claudette Colbert

The Weekend is Here!!!

Raise a little hell.

Harlequin Romance

A Discovery

Deer and Hyundais don't make a good combination.

We are in the process of dealing with insurance companies, car dealers, and the prospect of having to use our seductive charms to get to work.

We are endeavoring to get back to fabulosity sooner than later, especially since we've had so many delays in the past few months! In the meantime, if anyone knows where we can find a 1929 Isotta-Fraschini, liveried chauffeur, and handsome gigolo strongly resembling Bill Holden, please let us know.

Reason #98 Why We Don't Watch Television

We'd much prefer Coward, Colbert and Bacall in a "gay comedy" than Will, Grace, Jack or Karen.

Lux Girls Know Best

How We Rang in 2009

THANKS

With Claudette Colbert and Mary Astor in The Palm Beach Story (1942) at Film Forum and Bebe Daniels in Reaching for the Moon (1930) at MOMA. We don't think there's a nicer way.

"C" Stands For Chic...

...and, most definitely, for Claudette Colbert (September 13, 1903 - July 30, 1996).



Appropriately enough for a lady who so effortlessly radiated cosmopolitan elegance, Colbert was born in Saint-Mandé, Seine, France. Her family emigrated to the United States in 1906, and Colbert later became a naturalized citizen. Originally intending to become a fashion designer, Colbert began a career on the Broadway stage in 1923, when a chance encounter at a party led to her being offered a small role in a play.



In 1928, Colbert was offered a contract with Paramount. A string of mostly undistinguished films followed, brightened by a lively supporting role in the Best Picture-nominated 1931 musical, The Smiling Lieutenant, in which Colbert held her own against the charming Maurice Chevalier and the notoriously scene-stealing Miriam Hopkins. The film which propelled Colbert to stardom (and notoriety) was Cecil B. DeMille's epic, The Sign of the Cross (1932), in which Colbert's Roman empress Poppea famously bathes in asses' milk.


PUBLICITY STILL FOR THE SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932)

1934 proved to be a banner year for Colbert; she starred in no less than three films nominated for Best Picture Oscars: the original version of Imitation of Life; another DeMille epic, in the title role of Cleopatra; and a loan-out to the low-budget Columbia Studios, It Happened One Night.


CLARK GABLE & CLAUDETTE COLBERT IN IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)

Neither Colbert nor her co-star, Clark Gable (on loan from MGM) wanted to do the Frank Capra-directed comedy; particularly since the production values seemed much seedier when compared to the famed Paramount and Metro gloss they were accustomed to. To everyone's astonishment, the film was a huge success, inaugurating the "screwball comedy" trend; and swept the Academy Awards, winning in all five major categories, including Best Actress for Colbert.



Now one of the biggest stars in the business, Colbert continued as a Paramount contract star until 1940, when she began freelancing. It was an unusual move at the time, but such was Colbert's popularity and marketability (to say nothing of her canny business sense), that this period marked some of her greatest success as one of Hollywood's highest-paid actresses. She culminated this period with David O. Selznick's Since You Went Away (1944), a wartime drama in which Colbert, for the first time, played a "mature" part; read: an older woman with a teenaged daughter. Colbert earned some of the finest reviews of her career, and a final Oscar nomination as Best Actress.

The late 1940's and 1950's began an inevitable decline in Colbert's film career; she began concentrating on television, lending a sophisticated flair to the then-fledgling medium, and in 1958, she returned to Broadway in The Marriage-Go-Round. She was nominated for a Best Actress Tony Award. Colbert continued her stage career well into the 1980's; a brief return to film as Troy Donahue's mother in the sudsy, critically-reviled Parrish (1961) was unsuccessful, but a supporting turn in the 1987 TV miniseries The Two Mrs. Grenvilles proved that Claudette Colbert was still formidable: her icy portrayal was nominated for an Emmy, and won her a Golden Globe.



Following a series of debilitating strokes in 1993, Colbert retired to her home in Barbados, where she remained until her death in 1996. Regarded as the epitome of poise and class, Claudette Colbert combined the sophistication of a Park Avenue socialite with the no-nonsense, practical wisdom of an independent working gal. She could play femmes fatales in historical epics, self-sacrificing mothers in weepy melodramas and heiresses on the lam in screwball comedies, and do it all with dignity, style and charm to spare. Happy Birthday, Claudette Colbert! We absolutely adore you.

She Calls Herself Phoebe

Beauteous Barbara Bates (August 6, 1925 - March 18, 1969) is best known for her small, yet pivotal role in All About Eve (1950) -- that's Barbara you see in the film's famous final shot, posing with Eve Harrington's Sarah Siddons Award.


BARBARA BATES IN ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)

Bates had already co-starred with Eve's formidable leading lady, Bette Davis, in the comedy misfire June Bride (1948). In Eve, however, Bates had no contact with Davis; nor did she share screen time with another newcomer who made a lasting impression in the film: Marilyn Monroe. A year later, Bates and Monroe were part of another ensemble cast, albeit a slightly less distinguished one, for Let's Make it Legal (1951). The film's veteran leading lady, Claudette Colbert, had her own, less-happy All About Eve connection: she was the original choice to play Margo Channing, until a severe back injury led to being replaced by La Davis.


THE CAST OF LET'S MAKE IT LEGAL (1951) (L-R): BARBARA BATES, MACDONALD CAREY, CLAUDETTE COLBERT, ZACHARY SCOTT, MARILYN MONROE

Bates seemed to be on the career upswing, but by 1954, it had all begun to unravel. Cast on a promising new sitcom, It's a Great Life, Bates' character had to be written out after only seven episodes, as the actress' mood swings, depression and erratic behavior made her impossible to work with. Her reputation in Hollywood seriously damaged by this fiasco, Bates went to England, where she was signed by the Rank Organization. Sadly, the grip of mental illness followed Bates overseas, and Bates was fired from two starring roles in a one month period. Her contract was canceled in 1957.

Returning to Hollywood, Bates found a few small television parts, but had effectively retired by 1962. She spent the next five years caring for her cancer-stricken husband, who died in 1967; this seemed to push the already unstable Bates over the edge, and two years later, the once-promising young star committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Miss Colbert Regrets She's Unable to Lunch Today

She'll be at her weekly Travis Banton harlequin jumpsuit fitting. And you know how long those can take.

MISS CLAUDETTE COLBERT
September 13, 1903 - July 30, 1996