Presenting... Natalie Wood Week for her 75th anniversary. Anne Marie kicks it off as Natalie flings her kit off.
Let’s get this out of the way now: GYPSY is not a great movie musical. It’s not even a good movie musical. It’s not the best Natalie Wood musical, nor is it her best performance in a musical. In fact, you’d be forgiven for almost missing her entirely behind Rosalind Russell in full Auntie-Mame-mode, all personality and no pipes. But despite these glaring flaws, Gypsy is a significant film; significant to Natalie Wood’s career, significant to us as star worshippers, and significant to the countless young actresses since who have tried to mature their images. It’s significant because this is the movie where Natalie Wood (literally) strips herself of her ingenue status and steps into full-blown sex symbol stardom. [more...]
Considering her virginal image up to that point, it’s surprising Natalie Wood was able to make the transition so smoothly. Natalie started as a child actor and immediately skyrocketed to fame - think Dakota Fanning famous - with mega-hit and instant classic Miracle on 34th Street. As she grew from precocious child to doe-eyed young girl, she became the perfect teen idol. This was the 1950s, when teen idols were still bubblegum sweet, so her image was one of squeaky-clean virginity. That image became squeaky-clean married life when, at age 18, she married Robert Wagner in a highly publicized Hollywood wedding. Onscreen, her roles matched her image, and she typically played characters either unaware of their sexuality or uncomfortable with it.
If those roles sound familiar, that’s because that’s exactly how she plays Louise for the first hour and a half of Gypsy. She wears baggy clothes, has a terrible haircut (think Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird), and sings to lambs in fire escapes (in case you weren’t clear on the whole “meek virgin” thing yet). Then, of course, comes the oft-parodied but still sweet scene where Louise - now Gypsy Rose Lee - puts on a dress for the first time, sees herself in the mirror, and exclaims
I'm a pretty girl, Mamma."
After that, the gloves (and the rest of her clothes) are off. The next twenty minutes or so of the movie are devoted to a stripping montage where Natalie shows what really happens when teen idols grow up. In 1962, the same year Gypsy was released, Natalie divorced her wholesome hubby and started publicly dating Warren Beatty. From that point on, Natalie Wood was a bona fide sex symbol.
This leap from debutante to dame is not an uncommon one, but it is tricky. The closest modern equivalent to Natalie Wood might be Emma Watson. We saw her grow from adorable child to little lady in the Harry Potter series, but as soon as those films were over she began modeling and taking more adventurous roles. Watson hasn’t done the sex symbol move yet, but she does seem to be heading towards more adult roles like her predecessor. Natalie Wood wasn’t the first ingenue to make the switch, and she certainly wasn’t the last, but her role in Gypsy set a template for later young actresses to follow.
So let her entertain you, And we'll have a real good time; Yes, sir!, We'll have a real good time.