Beauty Break! Which would you find most (artistically) flattering...?
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at 12:00PM We're having daily nooners with the supporting actresses of '52 in preparation for this weekend's Smackdown. But I hope I'm not burning out all our comment juice with these lead-up posts. So today, an "artistic" detour. Though we sometimes lament that movies are made by committee or that artistic decisions are determined by bank ledgers at huge corporations, it's always been true that the movies have been been hybrid babies, born from both business decisions and artistic concerns. Still, even for the fame-craving, what draws (most) people to showbiz is some kind of creative urge or spirit. So the movies have more than their share of artistically inclined characters within them. Moulin Rouge (the 1952 version) is about a famous artist, Singin in the Rain is about (singing & dancing) actors, and The Bad and the Beautiful is about all sorts of creative types: actors, writers, directors. Which led me to this train of thought...
Gloria Grahame's character in The Bad and the Beautiful gets a Pulitzer winning novel written about her and Colette Marchand's character in Moulin Rouge gets her portrait painted by Henri Touluse-Latrec.
Which would you find most flattering: your portrait painted by a great artist or a book written about you by an esteemed writer? OR...
Are you the type who'd rather do the immortalizing yourself for someone else? That's what Terry Moore does as almost-horny college student "Marie" in Come Back Little Sheba when she brings Turk (Richard Jaeckel) local star jock home for a bit of live modelling.
Lola: That's a beautiful drawing Marie!"
CONFESS IN THE COMMENTS! Painting, Novel, or Do It Yourself?
P.S. After the jump we have to talk about that scene in Come Back Little Sheba cuz it is everything.
Before the sketching begins in this scene there's this crazy bit of gender politics where Marie explains to dumbfounded/fascinated Lola that women pose nude for live modelling but men wear athletic uniforms because men are "more proper". Errr. Okay, Marie.
After Lola compliments Marie's drawing (in progress), there's this wonderful bit of awkward silence (with incongruous jaunty music playing on the radio) as the housewife hovers lustfully doing her own bit of mental sketching...
Lola: I wish I was artistic."
HA. I bet you do, bitch. I bet you do.
Shirley Booth, still the only 50something winner in the Best Actress category, is just shameless in this scene. And the broomstick she brought young turk to pose with (he's pretending it's a javelin) suddenly morphs from dumb innocent prop to hilarious phallic symbol.
Turk catches her looking and stops posing abruptly, less embarrassed than annoyed. Lola guiltily retreats to fetch the young couple something cold to drink.
Turk: Can't you keep her out of here. She makes me feel undressed!
Marie: Aren't you?
Turk: Hasn't she ever seen a man before?
Marie: Not a big beautiful man like you, turkey!
Actually I beg to differ. In a weird bit of casting, Shirley Booth is married to Big Beautiful Man Burt Lancaster (in deglam mode). But I digress.
I ♥ this scene so hard. Awkward, horny, risqué, dated... delightful!
Reader Comments (12)
I'm so glad you mentioned this scene. It's so great.
Wow, Jaeckel 19 years before his Oscar nom for Sometimes a Great Notion. Talk about a mediocre actor who came out of nowhere and gave a terrific performance.
I want someone to write a book about me. Something epic. Moby Dick or a male Anna Karenina. An Iliad would be nice. Something that highlights my modesty.
Shirley Booth--HAZEL!! And her Amanda is pretty terrific as well.
Henry --
LOL.Picture. I'd hate to read what the writer REALLY though about me. A friend of mine used to date James Ellroy. He named a character after her in L.A. Confidential. Unfortunately, that character was a murdered prostitute, so . . . flattering (?)
This series is the best! I think I would rather be painted or, even better, photographed by one of the greats (Avedon, Ritts, Mapplethorpe) because if there's a book eventually there's going to be a movie and I don't want Hollywood messing with my life.
I was about to say "a novel", but a poem would be better. I'm making it easy for all you guys! Whatcha waiting for?
you are all brilliant. thanks for commenting.
Christine. that's a great story
Peggy sue -- thank you! it seems like people aren't into it that much. Hard to get people interested in older films. Even TFE audiences sometimes who always perk up most for future films. (sigh) but still at least we have the diehards who really appreciate what we're doing here with a mix of decades and features.
I can't say I was a fan of Little Sheba (and that Supp Actress nomination makes zero sense) but I thought Booth was pitch perfect.
Nathaniel, I was curious to hear your thoughts on her overall performance. I know Nick Davis wasn't big on it, and this surprised me.
I see how it's a 'studied' performance, but not really how it's 'bad studied'. I felt she managed to make all of those tiny gestures and inflections look very organic.
goran -- i wasn't wild about Booth either. I mean, she definitely has great moments (i kept thinking of Ellen Burstyn's monologue in Requiem for a Dream. "I'm lonely... I'm old" and the red dress being Sheba :) but overall the affectations really distracted me, like she hadn't adjusted from the stage to the screen. But i think she's much better in the movie's second half
Watched it just last night and LOVED It. Shirley Booth is channeling 100 women I knew from small town America.
Forget the supporting actress smackdown-- I say they should have given both Lead and Supporting Actress to her. Supporting Actress just for that Taboo dance alone.
(Also, as someone who'd never heard of Jaeckel before this film, I'm surprised he ended up with a nomination. He was so wooden.)