Marilyn Monroe photographed by Eve Arnold, 1955

Plus ça change, plus ç’est la même chose 🫤

Rudy (1993, David Anspaugh)

30/11/2023

Rudy is a 1993 film directed by David Anspaugh and based on the true story of Rudy Ruettiger, motivator and former college football player in the NCAA American football college championship - Division I FBS.

Rudy Ruettiger is a boy who is passionate about American football and, having an athletic physique, becomes a good player, but he must overcome many obstacles to achieve his goals in football and in his daily life. Rudy, after many sacrifices, manages to join the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, which is the University of Notre Dame team.

Excerpt from Joan Blondell's fictionalised autobiography Center Door Fancy. Jim is Dick Powell, Joan's second husband and star in and of himself. I think Teresa Hernandez must be Marion Davies and He Who Must Not be Named, "the world-famous publisher," is William Randolf Hearst. Joan's thoughts in this part of the book occur just after she is divorced from her first husband and before she is married to Dick Powell, so the year must be 1936. Dick Powell and Marion Davies made 'Page Miss Glory' together in 1935 and 'Hearts Divided' in 1936. Coincidence?

I think it's interesting to see the power dynamics at play with obviously Hearst at the top--Joan capitalizes his pronounced like a revered god and doesn't even dare/bother to provide a pseudonym for him--but also how Marion Davies benefited in her personal life (or not) by either overtly evoking Hearst's name/power or just because everyone knew he would support her. I've read elsewhere that Marion Davies had many affairs during her relationship with Hearst and that he didn't actually mind very much as long as it wasn't public knowledge. Also, I can't find anything about Dick Powell and Marion Davies having an off-screen romance anywhere, so a nice 90-year old piece of hot goss for me from Ms Blondell <3

About Old Hollywood Bios

As something of an enthusiast of Old Hollywood, among many other topics, I warn people, especially younger people, as I was when I read (for free, to be honest, at a public library) a lot of old Hollywood biographies (some "unauthorized") not to believe most of what they read or hear about famous people of the past.

Some of it is true, but a good rule of thumb is this: Did anyone have the spine to say it while the person was alive and could sue? Remember that lawsuits have to show a 51% chance that a rumor/allegation is false, so if the gossip could simply show that it was probably true, that is an ironclad defense in civil court.

Now, some might point to the fact that Liberace successfully sued about something that turned out to be true (though no longer considered scandalous in our culture). No, the courts then, as now, were not perfect, but it is still a good rule of thumb.

If someone claims, for instance, that Errol Flynn was a Nazi or that Joan Crawford was an abusive stepmother, ask yourself this? Is there any substantiated allegation of such while the accused was still alive?

While Flynn was no role model, that particular rumor has been rightly dismissed as laughable, if for no other reason than this: Why would a nation as diabolically clever as the Third Reich entrust secrets to a man with well-known struggles with alcoholism, and whose personal entanglements with young women could also have been used as leverage by the Allies (for instance, the Allies could have sent attractive young spies, a common strategy, and Flynn would have been an easy mark).

As for Joan Crawford, I know for a fact that Christina Crawford at least distorted parts of Joan's life, because I did some digging on Joan's year of birth, which Christina claimed to know, and Christina got it wrong, so if she was wrong about that, one has to give a somewhat skeptical eye to other claims.

Still, all specific cases aside, if no one was saying it during the person's own life, it is probably not true. Remember, there were people who made big money from gossip then, all the more profitable if the gossip was true, not to mention blackmail, which was easier then than now, because, for instance, if a celebrity is gay, dresses in drag, carries on multiple "situationships" or smokes certain substances, they most likely do not care who knows, but in Old Hollywood, that kind of thing happened, but it ended careers.

If anything then, there was more incentive for the press vultures to dig things up then than now, especially as studios would pay a lot of money to keep them quiet, so if it was not said in the celebrity's own lifetime, just dismiss it as noise or a waste of ink, and tell the gossip authors this:

What is Pre-Code Hollywood?

Pre-Code Hollywood is the period in American filmmaking between the Silent Era and the institution of the Hays Code (1929-1934). Pre-Code films have become synonymous with progressive ideals and bold subject matter. Many of the topics and themes addressed in Pre-Code movies wouldn’t return to in American filmmaking until the 1960s. The Hays Code was a rulebook established by Will Hays as an attempt for Hollywood studios to "self-censor" to appease the moral majority.

Pre-Code Hollywood Characteristics:

Progressive Ideals

Empowering Women

Gangsters

Social Issues

Monsters and Mayhem

Commentary on the Church

this man is just doing his best to keep it together rn

"Luo Binghe's jaw pressed against the dark crown of Shen Qingqiu 's hair. One of his hands slid down the curve of his spine, gently caressing it..."

" She doesn't need to use her body to get what she wants... She's got yours! "

Computer Gaming World n184 - November, 1999

Eddie vedder for da soul

can u tell i like the blue gems

Bette Davis... Eye?

Olivia de Havilland in That Lady, 1955.

Bette Davis in The Anniversary, 1966.

Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland serving eye patch realness.

Baby girl

Systems Studio / Walter Knoll / Unfeasible / Poster / 2015

happy america day everyone 🇺🇸 🎆

remember to always respect your legacy. love wins <3

bigger meme and the drawing without it: