The Phantom Of The Opera (1925), Dir. Rupert Julian

Movies about spinsters! That was a thing. How dare they?! But there are some good ones though. The Heiress, Now Voyager, Summertime …

I admit it, I’m into spinsploitation films.

Shoes, 1916 (dir. Lois Weber)

1920's Mineralava Beauty Products, the company that hired Rudolph Valentino and his wife Natacha Rambova to travel the United States giving dance exhibitions and promoting it's products. At each stop they chose a queen of beauty and needless to say, it was a sell-out at every venue! From His Fame Still Lives, FB.

Now, Voyager (1942) dir. Irving Rapper

Dr. Jasquith says that tyranny is sometimes expression of the maternal instinct. If that’s a mother’s love, I want no part of it.

I wanna do something with my life, like watch more movies.

FAVORITE CLASSIC FILM PERFORMANCES

Bette Davis as Charlotte Vale in NOW, VOYAGER (1942) dir. Irving Rapper

Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars.

very late 50s early 60s movies are some of the most fascinating historical texts on earth i stg. like they can finally talk almost explicitly about sex, and they’ve finally thrown out the pair of twin beds for a normal queen or whatever, and they can talk about heterosexuality (inherently implies homosexuality)(like in auntie mame). they’re ALMOST there. you can literally feel the film industry grasping and clawing it’s way out of the hays era with every successive movie. it’s pretty incredible actually. and if you really want to feel that exertion just pick a couple of movies from various points in the decade and watch them in chronological order and the change is so astounding. can you imagine being there for that. can you imagine living through 40s movies and suddenly after wwii, the studios start collapsing and a huge tonal shift happens, and things get darker and grimmer and suddenly movies are talking about racism and women’s postwar discontent. and then oh my god it’s 1952 and censorship is suddenly kind of up in the air for the first time but you can’t even focus on that because marlon brando just swaggered onto your silver screen in his sweaty tee, chewing with his mouth open, and you see blanche get raped. and then immediately after that, deborah kerr is lying on top of burt lancaster and really really making out with him like they might as well have been having real sex up there. and don’t look now but dorothy dandridge was just nominated for an leading oscar!!!! what!!!! and all the girls are crazy for sidney poitier and harry belafonte ETC ETC ETC ETC until like the mid 60s when the whole everything is just completely utterly unrecognizable

Judy Garland

LANA TURNER does her part, 1942 She was a pin-up girl of the first order. She was a soldier’s dream during World War II, officially “The Girl We’d Like to Be Stranded on a Deserted Island With,” “The Girl We’d Like to Find in Every Port,” and “The Most Gorgeous, Spectacular, and Pulse-stirring Thing on High Heels.” The 18th Bomb Squadron of the U.S. Air Force painted her on the nose of their B-17 and named the plane “Tempest Turner.” In 1942 she raised $50,000 selling war bonds with kisses and her efforts altogether brought in an estimated $5,000,000. Back home she was a regular at the Hollywood Canteen and on the studio lot she played hostess to large groups of soldiers. She also performed broadcats for Armed Forces Radio, where soldiers could have any wish come true, no matter how random, if it could be transmitted over the airwaves. They could hear Carole Landis sigh, Judy Garland sing “Over the Rainbow,” or Lana Turner cook a porterhouse steak smothered with onions. That’s the request that was made of her and she was happy to oblige. Visiting hospitals was the most difficult because she was easily affected by injuries and sad stories. The soldiers loved her. They were convinced she was the last pretty girl they would ever see. - LANA: THE MEMORIES, THE MYTHS, THE MOVIES