Sigismund de Ivanowski - Alla Nazimova in “Hedda Gabler” (1907)

Propaganda

Alla Nazimova (A Doll's House, Camille, Salomé)—She was a proud lesbian, she was a director, she was artsy and experimental, she was instrumental in the rise to fame of Rudolph Valentino, she had the worlds biggest strap on energy

Xia Meng, also known as Hsia Moog or Miranda Yang (Sunrise, Bride Hunter)—For those who are familiar with Hong Kong's early cinema, Xia Meng is THE leading woman of an era, the earliest "silver-screen goddess", "The Great Beauty" and "Audrey Hepburn of the East". Xia Meng starred in 38 films in her 17-year career, and famously had rarely any flops, from her first film at the age of 18 to her last at the age of 35. She was a rare all-round actress in Mandarin-language films, acting, singing, and dancing with an enchanting ease in films of diverse genres, from contemporary drama to period operas. She was regarded as the "crown princess" among the "Three Princesses of the Great Wall", the iconic leading stars of the Great Wall Movie Enterprises, which was Hong Kong's leading left-wing studio in the 1950s-60s. At the time, Hong Kong cinema had only just taken off, but Xia Meng's influence had already spread out to China, Singapore, etc. Overseas Chinese-language magazines and newspapers often featured her on their covers. The famous HK wuxia novelist Jin Yong had such a huge crush on her that he made up a whole fake identity as a nobody-screenwriter to join the Great Wall studio just so he can write scripts for her. He famously said, "No one has really seen how beautiful Xi Shi (one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China) is, I think she should be just like Xia Meng to live up to her name." In 1980, she returned to the HK film industry by forming the Bluebird Movie Enterprises. As a producer with a heart for the community, she wanted to make a film on the Vietnam War and the many Vietnam War refugees migrating to Hong Kong. She approached director Ann Hui and produced the debut film Boat People (1982), a globally successful movie and landmark feature for Hong Kong New Wave, which won several awards including the best picture and best director in the second Hong Kong Film Award. Years later, Ann Hui looked back on her collaboration with Xia Meng, "I'm very grateful to her for allowing me to make what is probably the best film I've ever made in my life."

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.]

Alla Nazimova:

HOT as hell. GAY as hell. TALENTED as hell. Producer, director, writer, actress. A silent era superstar who is credited with having coined the term "sewing circle" as a code-word for gatherings of lesbian and bisexual women. Has been called "the founding mother of Sapphic Hollywood" and was the owner/operator of the Garden of Alla Hotel in West Hollywood, which she bought in 1919 and sold in 1928 after deciding she wanted to go back to Broadway. In addition to starring opposite Valentino in Camille, she also had an affair with BOTH of his wives (Jean Acker and Natacha Rambova). In her day, she was one of the most influential women in the business.

"Nazimova was primarily a star during the silent film era, and her career in film started when she was almost forty. She was openly bisexual, and was engaged in two lavender marriages during her life while she carried on relationships with women (including at least one, and possibly two, of Rudolph Valentino's wives). She was brilliant and an autodidact - when she first moved to the United States from Ukraine, she spoke no English, but taught herself "in about five months" and went on to work as a screenwriter (among other things). Her predilections lay in art film, and she's credited with starring in / producing / directing one of the first American art films, the adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play Salome (1923). She has an elegant and commanding presence in all of her films, and is an absolute sensation to watch in motion."

Gif link, another gif link

A great actress who also produced a great deal of her films, Nazimova is absolutely mesmerizing to watch. She was also bi and coined the phrase "sewing circle" for sapphic celebrities.

Xia Meng:

Salomé (1922) dir Charles Bryant and Alla Nazimova

Alla Nazimova, born Marem-Ides (or Miriam Edez Adelaida) Leventon in Yalta to Jewish parents, was once the world’s highest paid actress. She was also credited as “The Founding Mother of Sapphic Hollywood” and even coined the term “sewing circles” to refer to secret society of lesbian and bisexual actresses. 

Her early life was marred by abuse from her father and fear from fleeing pogroms in her home country. But acting came as her escape, and it was a profitable one.

Nowadays, the pioneering actress is rarely remembered, but one brand still carries a perfume they made especially for her in 1914. Caswell-Massey’s “Marem” has top notes of red current and neroli, middle notes of eucalyptus and Crimean rose, and base notes of amber and cedarwood.

A bold fragrance for a bold woman.

Jewish Old Hollywood actresses

• Hedy Lamarr

✡︎ Born to a Galician-Jewish father and Hungarian-Jewish mother.

• Lauren Bacall

✡︎ Both her mother and father were Jewish. Her father was born to parents who were born in Valozhyn, a predominantly Jewish community in present-day Belarus.

• Shelley Winters

✡︎ Born to Jewish parents, Winters' education included attendance at the Jamaica Jewish Center in Queens, New York and learning Hebrew songs at her public school.

• Theda Bara

✡︎ Born to Jewish parents.

• Paulette Goddard

✡︎ Born to a Jewish father.

• Sylvia Sidney

✡︎ Born to a Romanian-Jewish mother and Russian-Jewish father.

• Judy Holliday

✡︎ Born Judith Tuvim (she took her stage name from yom tovim, which is Hebrew for "holidays") to a Russian-Jewish father, who was executive director of the foundation for the Jewish National Fund of America, and a Russian-Jewish mother.

• Alla Nazimova

✡︎ Born to Russian-Jewish parents.

• Piper Laurie

✡︎ Born to Jewish parents. Her paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and her maternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia.

• Carmel Myers

✡︎ Born to a Russian-Jewish father, who was a rabbi, and an Austrian-Jewish mother.

Alla Nazimova, 1920

Salomé (1922)  

[letterboxd | imdb]

Director: Charles Bryant & Nazimova

Cinematographer: Charles Van Enger

Performer: Nazimova

Art Director & Costume Designer: Natacha Rambova (inspired by Aubrey Beardsley's Salomé illustrations)

Alla Nazimova was a Russian-American actress, director, producer and screenwriter. On Broadway, she was noted for her work in the classic plays of Ibsen, Chekhov and Turgenev. She later moved on to film, where she served many production roles, both writing and directing films under pseudonyms.

Motion Picture Magazine, December 1921.

Propaganda

Claire Windsor (Souls for Sables)—no propaganda submitted

Alla Nazimova (A Doll's House, Camille, Salomé)—She was a proud lesbian, she was a director, she was artsy and experimental, she was instrumental in the rise to fame of Rudolph Valentino, she had the worlds biggest strap on energy

This is round 1 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.]

Alla Nazimova propaganda:

"HOT as hell. GAY as hell. TALENTED as hell. Producer, director, writer, actress. A silent era superstar who is credited with having coined the term "sewing circle" as a code-word for gatherings of lesbian and bisexual women. Has been called "the founding mother of Sapphic Hollywood" and was the owner/operator of the Garden of Alla Hotel in West Hollywood, which she bought in 1919 and sold in 1928 after deciding she wanted to go back to Broadway. In addition to starring opposite Valentino in Camille, she also had an affair with BOTH of his wives (Jean Acker and Natacha Rambova). In her day, she was one of the most influential women in the business."

"Nazimova was primarily a star during the silent film era, and her career in film started when she was almost forty. She was openly bisexual, and was engaged in two lavender marriages during her life while she carried on relationships with women (including at least one, and possibly two, of Rudolph Valentino's wives). She was brilliant and an autodidact - when she first moved to the United States from Ukraine, she spoke no English, but taught herself "in about five months" and went on to work as a screenwriter (among other things). Her predilections lay in art film, and she's credited with starring in / producing / directing one of the first American art films, the adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play Salome (1923). She has an elegant and commanding presence in all of her films, and is an absolute sensation to watch in motion."

Gif link, another gif link

A great actress who also produced a great deal of her films, Nazimova is absolutely mesmerizing to watch. She was also bi and coined the phrase "sewing circle" for sapphic celebrities.

Burton Rice’s artwork for the American silent drama Madame Peacock (Ray C. Smallwood, 1920) written, produced by, and starring Alla Nazimova.

Lady of The Day 🌹 Alla Nazimova ❤️

Salomé (1922) | dir. Alla Nazimova, Charles Bryant

Fem Aziraphale being a 1920’s jazz singer, going by the name “Azure Fell”

(Original poster was of the queer actress Nazimova who is called “the founding mother of Sapphic Hollywood”) (she is an icon)

Alla Nazimova in Salomé, 1923

Directed by Charles Bryant

Alla Nazimova, May 22, 1879 – July 13, 1945.

1931 photo by Edward Steichen.