The winsome & sultry Lauren Bacallsteps out of character as a screen legend, noir goddess & trend-setting icon…
To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Key Largo (1948) Dark Passage (1947) Young Man with A Horn (1950) Designing Women (1957) and so much more!
… And embarks on a role as the icy cold psychologist/Animal Behavioral Researcher, and a Praying Mantis that Dr. Edwina Beighley (pronounced Bailey) She’s a female Caligari who has experimented with her dangerous drug on animals as her subjects in Africa, conducting unorthodox experiments now on human subjects, in Shock Treatment (1964)
She’s always griping in her condescending highfalutin way- at the hospital board members that she can’t continue her (exploitative and nefarious) research the way she’d like, driven by her mission she craves money. Using mental patients now, not tigers, to continue her scientific analysis of how certain drugs effect the criminal mind and the resulting catatonia that follows.
A seedy psychological thriller with oddballs and opportunists and one hell of a great cast, wasted?… Maybe, but deliciously fun to watch anyways! The film has its moments and if you’re like me and love a great jaunt into the exploitative- then indulge yourself!
Films like The Snake Pit, Lilith, David and Lisa, ( Bacall was also in a film about an exclusive psychiatric clinic- The Cobweb 1955, and earlier in 1950 she embodied the conflicted Amy North who struggled and studied to become a psychiatrist in Young Man with a Horn)…
… show reversibility of a plot narrative that usually exists in other film genres. The role is interchangeable with the sane and the mad. the outside or insider, which suggests that there is no good outcome or moreover, no clear solution to the film's "˜problem' and that the film's world is veritably unstable with Dr. Edwina Beighley at the center of the disorder!
Cinematographer Sam Leavitt (Anatomy of a Murder 1959, The Defiant Ones 1958) weaves in noirish shadowscapes & creates odd frames where one of the main characters will be relegated to the extreme edge while it allows the camera to focus all its power on the other of the central or peripheral actors/characters, creating the appearance of an off-balanced conversation, that perpetuates the ‘offness’ of the story and its atmosphere…
In a similar vein but far superior social commentary as Sam Fuller's Shock Corridor 1963, it's a story of an actor Dale Nelson (Stuart Whitman) willing to fake insanity and take money to infiltrate a mental hospital in order to get close to a homicidal maniac Martin Ashley (Roddy McDowall) who claims to have burned to cinders, the millions, he has hidden of his victim’s fortune, now buried somewhere on her estate.
“The most dramatic expression of psychiatry as a mechanism of enforcing conformity is seen in the film depictions of ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) or commonly known as electroshock Treatment
in the 1960s and 70s ECT was recast in movie theaters as a torturous, barbaric, medieval practice in which individualistic mental patients were literally shocked into conformity. Vivid depictions of electroshock were depicted in films such as Samuel Fuller's Shock Corridor 1963 and Shock Treatment 1964.”
— Psycho Thrillers: Cinematic explorations of the mysteries of the mind by William Indick.
In fact, anti-conformity is Dale’s method of breaking into the hospital system by railing against conformity in the guise of intellectually and physically disturbing the social order. He smashes the window fronts of a department store.
During Martin Ashley’s (Roddy McDowall) trial for killing and beheading his employer, Dr. Edwina Beighley is the defense’s go-to specialist on mental illness and key witness, their sympathetic psychiatrist who manipulates the court into allowing her to observe him at her State Psychopathic hospital for observation.
On the stand Edwina- “I'm a fellow of the American Psychiatric Society..and the author of two textbooks now in use.-Psychiatry in Relation to Crime and Modern Usages of Hypno-Analysis" At present I'm an assistant medical director at State Psychopathic Hospital."
When asked if she's familiar with the philanthropic organization known as The Townsend Foundation, Townsend is the old woman that Martin decapitated. Edwin answers with swift and self-important confidence…
"More than acquainted as Mr Manning knows for the past several years I've been trying to get a grant from them to expand my research… ( deep sarcastic Bacallesque pause) I'm still trying."
Then the public defender asks if she was present when Mr. Manning suggested that the defendant burnt up more than a million dollars. And does she agree with that accounting of the story…
"No, I don't, the amount of money certainly is unusual but the act of destruction isn't. Martin Ashely is a lonely secretive young man. Desperately in need of understanding friendship. This type of schizophrenic often is"¦ He became convinced that (Amelia Townsend) was an enemy who was using her wealth to destroy his garden and return him to our hospital where he had been a patient merely three years ago. To his disordered mind, the decision was a simple one. Destroy the persecutor and her weapon"¦ her money"¦"
Dr. Edwina Beighley is a cool, manipulative operator who is working on getting Martin a plea of insanity so he’ll be sent to her hospital under her care, that way she can make certain she’s up close and personal with him in order to access his secret… where he hid the fortune.
During Martin’s trial, Mr. Manning who has been an executor of the estate asserts that the old woman was eccentric and hid huge sums of cash in her home, he tells the prosecuting attorney, “I couldn't believe that anyone even a madman could bring himself to burn up more than a million dollars.”
Manning who testifies that the old lady had millions, also despises Dr. Beighley.
After Martin gets sentenced to a mere 90 days for observation. Manning confronts Beighley in the courtroom. "Dr. Beighley I hope you'll feel proud of yourself Dr!" Dr. Edwina Beighley not seeming rattled in the least- "And what is that supposed to mean?"
Manning- " Why did you have to go out of your way to help that faker get away with murder and a million dollars?"Â
She threatens to sue for liability so that she'll collect enough from him, never having to apply for a grant again"¦ He tells her that he's “sick and tired of psychiatrists who try to play god, who tell us our mothers and fathers made us neurotic, and psychotic!”
"Mr. Manning I've gone through analysis, all psychiatrists do, Now I suggest you try it!"
Dr. Edwina Beighley has the warmth of a cobra about to strike the jugular.
This psycho-thriller also stars Stuart Whitman as struggling actor Dale Nelson who is going to be paid $10,000 by Harley Manning (Judson Laire) to impersonate a mentally disturbed man, an incorrigible anti-social bad boy who then purposefully gets arrested for destruction of personal property and disturbing the peace.
IMDb notes that Anthony Perkins wanted the Stuart Whitman role
At the police station- Dale (Stuart Whitman) puts on quite a show as a crazy guy with a wad of cash in his pocket that he refuses to explain how it got there- he won't cooperate and goes off on a tirade that is deliciously absurd…" The disciples of conformity are bleeding from the narrowness of your mind."Â
Manning figures that once Dale gets committed to the state asylum, he can befriend the psychopathic handyman/gardener Martin Ashley (Roddy McDowall with his usual flare for the overly-dramatic, deliciously deliriously overindulgence. ) who is just mad about roses and decapitates his employer Amelia Townsend (Beatrice Grenough) with a pair of garden shears when she interferes with his beloved garden.
Naturally, Dale Nelson succeeds in getting sent to Dr. Beighley’s State Psychopathic Hospital. He even learns about roses and horticulture in order to get close to Martin, hoping he’ll tell him where the money is hidden. Once Dale arrives and is interviewed. Edwina looks him over a bit, and she catches something about his performance, so she has her assistant do a background check on him.
Dale gets Dr. Edwina Beighley to assign him to the garden as his work detail. There Dale finally meets Martin the gardener. At first, he antagonizes him, but soon after they become good friends with a love of flowers in common.
Martin argues about his ability to raise beautiful roses and that he didn't get to see flowers until he was 16. "˜You don't get flowers at the orphanage Mister!… I’m the guy who crossbred the Pinocchio with the Fuselier"¦ and it won the first show at the Pasadena in 1962."
With no intention of trying to cure Martin Ashley of his homicidal criminal nature, Dr. Beighley finally gets him to confess his crime in detail, by subjecting him to hypnosis and pentathol for days where he finally winds up telling her where Mrs Townsend’s money is…
Edwina is rancorous, scornful, and arrogant and by the end of the film, her mania to find the money might either be a sign that she herself is insane or is the catalyst for pushing her off the deep end… Another version of the inmates has taken over the asylum! And Dr. Edwina Beighley might just belong there BUT as the patient and not the doctor"¦.
Edwina eventually finds out that Dale Nelson was paid and is planted in her hospital by her nemesis Haley Manning, who is determined to get her license revoked for her unethical practices.
When she discovers Nelson’s con game, the sadistic Edwina Beighley prescribes electroshock therapy, then injects a concoction of psychotropic drugs into his jugular vein to induce catatonia, causing him "˜horrible twisted images’in order to render him useless and get him out of her hair so she can be the sole keeper of the fortune…
Believe it or not this over-the-top psycho-melodrama was scripted by Sydney Boehm who penned such great noir films as -High Wall 1947, Mystery Street 1950 Side Street 1949, and The Big Heat 1953.
The film also co-stars marvelous character actors who play various archetypal characters, the troubled nymph with a mother complex Carol Lynley as Cynthia Lee Albright’s “Don’t touch me, I don’t like to be touched!”
Olive Deering as Mrs. Mellon-“You're stupid stupid do you hear me stupid.”
Ossie Davis plays Capshaw, who used to be an intern in the hospital and is now one of its residents. Paulene Meyers as Dr. Walden, and Timothy Carey as high-strung and marvelously hulking & nutty as usual.
Shock Corridor &Â Shock Treatment deal with the outside/inside structure which ends with pessimism as the main characters descend into madness"¦
From Part-Time Perverts: Sex, Pop Culture, and Kink Management by Lauren Rosewame she cites Peter Cranford a psychologist during the 1940s who said that for many patients in asylums "The words "˜punish' and "˜shock treatment' were often synonymous"
This is where the narrative and Dr. Edwina Beighley converge on a social truth behind the institutional edifice of mental health"¦
She shows her fellow colleagues the results of her research on a projector. Footage from when she had her own facility where she could use zoo animals in her experiments. On film, she shows a tiger being injected with her drug and how it effects their aggression. She seeks to find out more about the chemistry of the mind.. to solve its mysteries. So that one day… her drug “will control mental illness as well a drug does Diabetes.”
This brings out a great point of the story though it may be accidental since the film seems to be more about sensationalist entertainment than thoughtful reflecting on mental illness the way it was let’s say in Tennessee William’s Suddenly, Last Summer 1959.
In the scene where Edwina shows her footage, and the few scenes where both Capshaw (Ossie Davis) and Dale (Stuart Whitman) are subjected to shock treatment- it makes a strong connection between punishing the patient and the arousal of the sadistically inclined practitioners.
In her autobiography, Bacall refers to Shock Treatment as “truly tacky.” when asked about the film she, commented, “You have no idea what Roddy and I went through making that movie."Â Â Â
Here's what Time Magazine had to say about the film Cinema: Boredom in Bedlam-March 13, 1964 “Shock Treatment is more than a slip, it’s a Freudian pratfall. It makes a shambles of psychiatry and brings the art of film close to idiocy.”
It is definitely not one of Lauren Bacall’s memorable roles, it borders more in the realm of the Grande Dame Guignol films that actresses were becoming famous for in the 60s… Yet, anything Bacall inhabited is like Midus’ golden touch, because she brings an inimitable flavor of sophistication and savvy even if it’s surrounded by trashy lunacy!
Let’s not end on an insane note! Let’s celebrate Lauren Bacall as she really was… an icon.
Headshot of actress Lauren Bacall pictured with her chin resting on her right wrist, USA, circa 1945. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)
                                       By Heather Drain
Love. Lust. Crime. Pointy metal bras. Abnormally large breasted women named "Baby." All this and more and I know that you’re already wooed. You are, after all, only flesh and blood and if you have the red stuff running in your veins and a strong muscle thrumming beat after beat in your chest, then 1968’s SHE MOB will have you feeling revved up like a Southern Baptist preacher who just tap-danced the devil right out of some rube’s soul.
SHE MOB is a film full of fabulously wild women and one handsome-grease stain of a man named, what else, Tony (Adam Clyde), but the brightest star is one Marni Castle. This lead actress pulls off a tour-de-force dual role as both Brenda, a successful business woman who is single, rich and spoils her gigolo lover (that would be, quelle surprise, Tony) rotten and Big Shim. When you read a character name like Big Shim it feels like an act of love, because the writer is obviously giving you something you don’t expect. Especially in 1968, where "Big Shim" could be the name of some male mob honcho or ex-con. Making Shim not only a female but a tough, beautifully butch anti-heroine now would be great but for the mid-late 60’s, perfect.
Shim, with her alpha-swagger, black boots and bra-as-a-weapon, despite being technically the villain of the film, is the one you want to see the most of. This is a character that does not just merely live outside the parameters of status quo society but douses gasoline on said parameters and takes a military-grade flamethrower to that business. All with nary a shit given. Shim has bigger business to worry about.
She has her girl-gang of prison escapees, including the Beach-Blanket-ultraness-go-go-dancing Twig (who is literally credited as "Twig"), and ends up setting her sights on Tony as a means to the financial end of Brenda. Her plan of taking low crime into high crime via blackmail is full of torture and man-relief for her sex-starved vixens. But a successful woman like Brenda gets what she wants and when she enlists the services of Sweety East (Monique Duval), who is a Texan-fried, butt-crack rocking version of Honey West, things go from nutzoid to putting out fire with gasoline.
To say that Castle owns both roles is like saying creamed corn is the expectorant of evil itself. In other words, this is a supreme understatement. She exudes authority, whether Castle is rocking some lingerie or chomping on a cigar. This is a lioness who is begging to be held up as a true feminist icon. Be an independent CEO with your own hairy chested uber-male love slave or run a girl gang full of the sexiest future Waffle House hash-slingers/current convicts. You have options. Marni Castle’s Brenda/Big Shim shows that women can be whatever they want. Humiliate a gigolo and dress him up in fine underthings? Why not! The patriarchy needs a Big Shim to pierce its rugged skin with her needle sharp metal bra. Let’s all strap on some black garters, ogle weird-breasted women and go-go dance for gender equality together. Viva la revolution, viva la Big Shim and viva la Harry Wuest for blessing the world with this joyful, demented 1960’s gem from The Lone Star State.
Note from Joey here at The Last Drive In: OOh watch out where you’re going with that pointy steel bra!- that metal sling could be a very dangerous thing ya know- Your Ever Lovin MonsterGirl saying Thank You Heather Drain of Mondo Heather for bringing your mod & ÃœBER-Culty expertise to this humble little retro midway….
It’s been exhilarating to see so many people paying tribute & remembering fondly those women who broke through the barriers of limitation leaving their own unique brand of style & talent that endures!
Thank You Fritzi of Movies Silently for asking me to be your co-host… It was nothing short of empowering!
Thanks to everyone participating in this amazing Blogathon… and to those of you cheering in the wings for those empowered women of cinema!
It’s Saturday, day One of the Anti-Damsel Blogathon 2015! And Fritzi of Movies Silently who will be taking over on Sunday… and I are SO knocked over by the amazing turn out! We’re glad to see you so raring to go just like those women who kicked down doors, crossed boundaries and forged a wholly unique path for themselves and other women who are empowered and inspiring and unrestrained to be gloriously-themselves.
So I’ll not wasted any further time with ‘cheap sentiment’ as Bette so effectively impresses upon us… and just get on with the show!
Our host Fritzi chooses a ‘new’ kind of women Miss Lulu Bett who as she explains the wonderful Lulu and her story as “throwing off the gloomy shackles of Victorianism and making her own way in the modern world! And Lulu’s not so easy to bully!
A true legend, not just because she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world, but because of her enduring spirit to express her genius and the profound contributions she made to science!
Lindsey at The Motion Pictures pays tribute to one of the most versatile mavericks Ida Lupino. Actress, writer, director, producer. An Emmy-nominated actress and as Lindsey points out, the second woman ever to be admitted to Hollywood's Director's Guild. To look at her long impressive career & body of work is to behold a legend that took the reigns and made her life in the shape of Ida Lupino!
The mind of Levine comes up with a title that makes me feel all warm inside because she conjures up a bold title that I can grab onto. As of late, I’ve been devouring every film I can on the incredible Carole Lombard, who tragically died in a plane crash. What would she have accomplished in a lifetime if she had survived?
She has a pantheon place here at The Last Drive In. Irreverent, hilarious, gorgeous, sublime, and one step ahead of her male leads. A comedic timing and genius that shook up a studio system that couldn’t handle her verve. Well just read this amazing contribution to the event in Stacy LeVine’s own words… Carole Lombard is forever a legend, and an Anti Damsel if there ever was one!
Nitrate Glow offers us a beautiful gem from 1968… directed by Isao Takahata. Hilda is the little songstress who was way before her time in terms of animation heroines. Nitrate Glow offers an incredibly eloquent and insightful look at a unique film!
Kristina’s offbeat & clever insight =Cobra Woman and it’s a hell of a choice. It’s got the good twin/bad twin paradigm and Maria Montez, a warrior woman in charge! Here’s just a tidbit of Kristina at Speakeasy’s perspicacity!
It is said that "no drug-soaked brain could dream up the horrors of Cobra Island," ‘but this movie dreamed it up and brought it to vivid life. This is fantastic entertainment and pulpy comic book spectacle bursting at the seams with fantastic things:’
Fantastic things like Maria Montez and Anti Damsel for sure…I know what I’m watching later!
When you think of a woman who is less imperiled you think Jessica Walter as Evelyn Draper or as The Joy & Agony of Movies did, Tuesday Weld is spine-chilling as Sue Ann Stepanek, a pretty sociopath who lets nothing get in her way! She is the epitome of the ‘pretty bad girl’ It’s a great addition to the Anti Damsel Blogathon!
Leave it to Dorian of Tales of the Easily Distracted to offer us a witty and apropos tribute to the Anti Damsel Audrey Hepburn as Regina Lampert in Charade (1963) Just because Hepburn exudes a delicate finery and elegance, she has always manifested a power that strikes out like a lioness! Charade is a wonderful romantic comedy that showcases why the versatile Audrey Hepburn is a legend!
CrÃtica Retrô talks about one of the great Anti-Damsel legends Katherine Hepburn as Tess Harding the epitome of the strong & independent gal in Woman of the Year (1942).
Frieda Inescort plays Lady Jane Ainsely in The Return of the Vampire in 1943. Now it’s no small task to play it empowered alongside Bela Lugosi! Lady Jane Ainsley: “Your eyes look like burning coals. Don’t come any nearer. Don’t touch me.”
Serendipitous Anachronisms pays tribute to the great Kim Hunter and her memorable character as Dr. Zira in Planet of the Apes 1968. It’s a passionate piece about brave and brilliant women who command an entire civilization of men, oops I mean apes with her strong leadership style and wisdom… Couldn’t have an Anti-Damsel Blogathon without her!
The prolific Karen has to say about our lovable Joan “downtrodden Depression-era woman who transforms her existence from bleak oppression to indisputable triumph. Using her wits, her nerve, and her determination” We couldn’t have an Anti Damsel party without inviting one of the most effervescent gals Joan Blondell!
Who better than to pay tribute to an immensely empowered, and I do mean immense! 50 feet worth of empowered woman, than Aurora from Once Upon a Screen. Nancy Fowler Archer will remain indelibly in our secret voyeuristic yearnings to grow tall enough to kick the crap out of the finks who dare betray us!
Old Hollywood Films does this Anti Damsel Blogathon proud to showcase one of the greatest legends, Lillian Gish brings to life one of the strongest, pure hearted gun totin’ characters Rachel Cooper in Charles Laughton’s Masterpiece Night of the Hunter (1955) And says… this is a gif that just keeps giving!!! Thanks, Old Hollywood Films for sharing this fabulist heroine!
Moon in Gemini has also honored this grand bash with yet another legendary figure of empowered women-ness! We can’t neglect Barbara Stanwyck and this post will make all you Stanny fans happy with…
The Furies: The Anti-Damsel with a Daddy Fixation! I would have liked to take one of those Dr. Taylor classes. And as Debbie so aptly puts it- “Is there any character that Barbara Stanwyck played that COULDN'T be classified as an anti-damsel?”
I’d say no! it wasn’t possible for her to be non-empowered or in peril. She didn’t have those strong shoulders and that gritty voice for nothing. Even if Bogie was poisoning her milk, or she was bedridden or stalked by a dream lover or even a witness to a murder, she never quite seemed like a weak woman. Just a strong one in the wrong place at the right time. So dive in now to Moon in Gemini’s brilliant perspective on quite an interesting Stanwyck film!
BNoirDetour showcases the talent of Linda Darnell in this highly charged film of social criticism that explodes on the screen in No Way Out (1950)! As Edie Johnson is caught in the crossfire of racism, she’s got a lot of guts to rise above the chaos and come out kicking!
When CineMaven’s Essays from the Couch writes that her heart skips a beat because of our Anti Damsel-themed Blogathon, I want to return the compliment and say how grateful both Fritzi and I are for the overwhelming response to this tribute to empowered women! And CineMaven, you couldn’t have picked someone better to cause pangs in my heart than the underrated Ella Raines in what I think is one of THE most incredibly intricate psychological film noirs Phantom Lady, with gutsy Carol (Ella) as our heroine!
You’ll never get anything but unique and mind-expanding insight from Goregirl’s Dungeon. I was sooo thrilled to have her join in and offer her take on an Anti Damsel. Read her fascinating overview of Anna Karina in the films of Jean -Luc Godard…
Nick Cardillo of Sacred Celluloid gives us a glimpse into Hammer’s heyday and the birth of the Gothic Anti Damsel female vampire archetype, as he covers Ingrid Pitt in The Vampire Lovers (1970)
Defiant Success has made this Anti Damsel Blogathon that much better for having covered Deborah Kerr as Karen Holmes a woman who speaks her mind in From Here To Eternity (1953) Kerr is the consummate anti damsel and she always wields that classy composure!
As Virginie from The Wonderful World of Cinema says- “Movie heroines are not always princesses waiting for a prince to rescue them, they are not always victims or damsels in distress. Female movie characters can be strong, they can have guts, determination, and many other wonderful qualities” Shirley Booth had a powerful stamina and warmth that couldn’t be extinguished. We’re so happy to have her as a part of our Anti-Damsel Blogathon!
Carole & Co. devotes a journal to the groundbreaking versatility, beauty, and comedic genius of Carole Lombard. We’re so glad to have her join us for the Anti-Damsel Blogathon! Taken away from us too soon, journey through this insightful post and read about Lombard as a producer!
Karavansara has done the honor of taking up my wish list and paying tribute to one of THE most iconic sexy and strong female role models of the 60s. I am with them. Diana Rigg & Emma Peel both left a huge impression on me growing up. And yes I couldn’t resist having one of my first crushes either… Read this well-written tribute to one of the finest examples of empowerment…!Â
“Emma Peel, as portrayed by Dame Diana Rigg, is one of the icons of the 1960s, a sex symbol, and one of the earliest strong, empowered female leads in television entertainment.”
Heather Drain of Mondo Heather explores the Uber mod & deviant world of the Cult & Exploitation 60s paying tribute to a pretty formidable Anti-Damsel Big Shim (Marni Castle) sporting a steel bra that could be registered as a lethal weapon. The film includes other divinely demented Anti Damsels’ as Heather writes- “Sweety East (Monique Duval), who is a Texan-fried, butt-crack rocking version of Honey West, things go from nutzoid to putting out fire with gasoline”
PS: You gotta love a reference to Honey West (Anne Francis) that sexy private eye with her groovy house ocelot Bruce!
Naturally, we couldn’t do this empowering bash without spotlighting the great Joan Crawford. And Wolffian Classic Movies Digest does a wonderful job of reminding us why Crawford the Legend and Mildred Pierce the Anti Damsel are so timeless… Here’s a quote from their fabulous piece –“Joan Crawford starting out as the happy housewife breaks free of that mold becoming her own woman as She carries the movie on her Broad shoulders”
Smitten Kitten Vintage did one hell of a bang up job covering not only the incomparable Bette Davis but her iconic portrayal of Margo Channing in All About Eve 1950. The film that put her back on track in Hollywood! Read this insightful piece here. Because no Anti Damsel Blogathon would be complete without the legendary Bette ‘hold onto your seatbelts it’s gonna be a bumpy night’ Davis
Superfluous Film Commentary shares the sublimely bold Gene Tierney as Lucy Muir, a steadfast widow who is fiercely independent and isn’t afraid of ghosts either! A beautiful film and a wonderful contribution to our Anti-Damsel bash! As they so eloquently put it Tierney is “positively radiant Gene Tierney, likewise fits the definition of empowered.”
I’ll think I’ll go get a banana split until we’re back with Fritzi on Sunday for more Empowered Lady Love!- Your everlovin’ MonsterGirl
“My mother always called me an ugly weed, so I never was aware of anything until I was older. Plain girls should have someone telling them they are beautiful. Sometimes this works miracles.”
“I must quit marrying men who feel inferior to me. Somewhere there must be a man who could be my husband and not feel inferior.”
“I appreciate subtlety. I have never enjoyed a kiss in front of the camera. There’s nothing to it except not getting your lipstick smeared.”
“I’m a sworn enemy of convention. I despise the conventional in anything, even the arts.”
Glamorous portrait of movie actress Hedy Lamarr wearing a white fox fur short jacket. photo taken in 1938.
Hedy Lamarr was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna, Austria on November 9th. Her first film was "Geld Auf Der Strasse" ("Gold on the Street") but it wasn't until she appeared nude in the Czech film director Gustav Machatý‘s visually provocative masterpiece “Ekstasy" ("Ecstasy") (1933) that she started causing ripples around the world. Ecstasy was banned in the U.S. because of that overly suggestive orgasm she so vividly reflects on screen
Adam (Aribert Mog) & Eva Hermann (Hedy Lamarr) in Extase 1933
As Eva Hermann Hedy Lamarr plays a young girl who marries a much older rigid man obviously suffering from a compulsive disorder. He doesn't show her any form of physical affection at all in his ordered world. Left with no passion, and no human contact, Eva feels cut off from the world and imprisoned by this loveless marriage. So she leaves and goes home to her father. While swimming in the lake, her horse runs off with her clothes! (thus the famous frontal nude scene as she swims and then runs for cover). Coming to her aide she meets a very sensual young man named Adam (Aribert Mog) and of course… there's instant chemistry and the two fall in love.
ecstasy 1933
In the 2nd controversial part of the film, Adam & Eva make love in what I think is one of THE most erotic images in early cinema, also one of the first on-screen orgasms. As Eva's heaving body is framed by the camera’s visually erotic rhythm. Eva/Hedy manifests a look on her face of"¦ well. that just says she's experiencing ECSTASY.
But her husband has become grief-stricken and in a twist of fate discovers that his bride has become involved with the young man whom he fatefully happens to meet on the road one day"¦ Outside the tavern where the young lovers dance and rejoice, the husband shoots himself.
There isn't much dialogue, the film relies on the breathtaking visual narrative, as Eva journeys to find release from her conflicted life. When you look beyond the whole infamous nude swimming scene that not only caused a sensation here in America, it dogged Hedy for years, what's most significant is how many dimensions Hedy conveyed without words.
In director John Cromwell’s marvelous film noir intrigue the beautiful Hedy Lamarr plays Gaby who falls for the romantic jewel thief Pepe Le Moko (Charles Boyer) while in the Casbah!
Hedy Lamarr with Charles Boyer in Algiers (1938) Gaby: “It’s late. I must go” Pepe le Moko: “Suppose you don’t come tomorrow? “Gaby: “Suppose I don’t? Can’t you ever get away from the Casbah?” Pepe le Moko: “Why do you ask? Gaby: Can’t you?” Pepe le Moko: “No. I’m caught here, like a bear in a hole. Dogs barking, hunters all around, no way out of it. Do you like that? Maybe it’s lucky for you.”Gaby: “I don’t like it. And it’s not lucky.” Pepe le Moko: “You’re right. If you don’t come back, I might do anything. I might go down to your hotel to get you.” Gaby: “Tomorrow, Pepe”. Pepe le Moko: “Tomorrow?” Gaby: “I never break a promise.”
When Hedy made her Hollywood screen debut in Algiers (1938) she is photographed at a distance. As she approaches the camera hidden by the shadows of noir, it is when she slowly begins to walk off-screen and suddenly turns directly toward the screen that her stunning close-up became meteoric, and her mythological beauty was delivered to us with an intoxicating mystique. She was often typecast as the eternal vamp, the dangerous temptress, because of her mesmerizing persona.
Hedy had said, "My face is my misfortune"¦ a mask I cannot remove. I must live with it. I curse it.”
Hedy Lamarr became known as the most beautiful woman in the world!
Hedy Lamarr became known as the most beautiful woman in the world!in 1942 Lamarr spoke the words in White Cargo “I am Tondelayo.” setting the world afire with the flames of her mysterious sensuality.
In White Congo 1942, Lamarr is Tondelayo a captivating temptress. The story is about a love-hate triangle in the Congo in 1910. Harry Witzel (Walter Pidgeon), is a station superintendent, Langford (Richard Carlson), is an English manager, and Hedy plays the beautiful Tondelayo. The two men fight over Tondelayo, who eventually uses her feminine wiles to lure in Langford. He marries her. But, she grows bored of him in a few months and pursues Harry. Harry refuses, reminding her of her wedding vows, so she obtains poison to get her husband out of the way. But Harry interferes and Tondelayo gets a taste of her own medicine.
Some of her motion pictures that have stirred me are, Lady of the Tropics (1939), I Take This Woman (1940) with Spencer Tracy, Comrade X (1940) with Clark Gable, Boom Town (1940) with Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy & Claudette Colbert. Come Live with Me (1941) a comedy/romance co-starring James Stewart, and Ziegfeld Girl (1941) co-starring Judy Garland and James Stewart. Crossroads (1942) is a fabulous film noir co-starring William Powell and Claire Trevor. In Tortilla Flat (1942) Lamarr plays ‘Dolores Sweets Ramirez’ alongside Spencer Tracy and John Garfield. And My Favorite Spy (1951) with Bob Hope!
Bob Hope & Hedy in My Favorite Spy (1951).Spencer Tracy and Hedy in I Take This Woman (1940).Clark Gable & Hedy in Boom Town 1940. Paul Lukas, Hedy Lamarr George Brent, and Albert Dekker in Jacques Tourneur’s Experiment Perilous (1944).
In 1944 there was The Heavenly Body, The Conspirators and Experiment Perilousco-starring George Brent and Paul Lukas, directed by the great Jacques Tourneur.
Aside from Ecstasy (1933) in my view perhaps her most intoxicating performances were in 1946 & 1947. Hedy appeared in two suspenseful films, one starring George Sanders, The Strange Woman (1946), where she plays a ruthless seductress. The wild Jenny Hagar born in New England in the early 1800s to a drunkard aspires for a life of luxury at any cost, driving Louis Hayward as Ephraim Poster to frenzied distraction, ultimately leading to a fateful end. George Sanders might be the only one who understands her free and strange spirit.
Louis Hayward & Hedy in The Strange Woman 1946.Hedy Lamarr & George Sanders in Edgar G. Ulmer’s The Strange Woman (1946).
Hedy is intoxicating and multi-layered in Dishonored Lady (1947) she plays Madeleine Damien, alongside husband-to-be John Loder as Felix Courtland. She is a high-powered fashion editor who has a stressful job, gossiping chatter surrounding her, and bad luck with men. Nearing a breakdown, she goes to a psychiatrist, literally when she crashes her car on his property. Dr. Richard Caleb (Morris Carnovsky) advises her to quit her job, move, and assume a new identity and a ‘new soul’. She follows his advice, takes up painting, and falls in love with pathologist David Cousins (Dennis O’Keefe) who lives downstairs at the boarding house run by Mrs Geiger (Margaret Hamilton). But he finds out about her past when one of the men she dated before tries to frame her with murder.
Dr. Richard Caleb (Morris Carnovsky) offers to help Madeleine Damien (Hedy) in Dishonored Lady (1947).Felix Courtland (John Loder) is an absolute heel! in Dishonored Lady (1947). The great hat in Dishonored Lady 1947.
Memorable Cecil B DeMille epic Samson and Delilah (1949) where this mesmerizing Philistine falls for the virile Samson (Victor Mature) but in the end she cuts off his, em… hair, yeah that’s it, hair. He is tortured, blinded, pulls down the temple around the people and well… never trust a dame who can woo the secret of your power off your lips especially when she has access to really sharp knives.
Samson: “The oldest trick in the world. Silk trap baited with a woman.”Delilah: “You know a better bait, Samson? Men *always* respond.”
In A Lady Without Passport (1950) Marianne Lorress co-stars with John Hodiak.
So U.S. Immigration Service Agent Peter Karczag (John Hodiak) is sent to Havana to address the problem of foreign nationals coming to the U.S. through Cuba. He goes undercover as a Hungarian who wants to illegally immigrate to the U.S. and uncovers a human trafficking ring and a concentration camp for refugees. At the camp, he falls in love with Marianne Lorries (Hedy Lamarr), who is also trying to enter the U.S. But if he does his job, she would be apprehended in the operation.
In Albert Zugsmith’s melodrama The Female Animal (1957)she plays an aging film star who competes with her daughter for the same man. The film co-stars Jane Powell and Jan Sterling.
Hedy Lamarr has played some of the most provocative women in her film career, yet her real life was just as filled with suspense and intrigue as that of her silver screen persona.
Before coming to the U.S. while living in Austria in the early 1930’s Hedy married weapons mogul Friedrich Mandl. He treated her as his trophy wife, taking her to meetings with business associates (where she strategically listened & learned a lot about weapons technology) and using her to throw parties for the likes of Hitler and Mussolini. Friedrich imprisoned her"” literally not letting her out of the house, warning servants to keep a watchful eye on her. Eventually, after a few attempts at leaving (he wouldn't let her outside alone), Hedy drugged one of her maids, stole her clothing, and was able to escape with all her jewelry to London in 1937. In 1938 she left London on the Normandie for America. On board she met MGM producer Louis B. Mayer who offered her a contract, insisting she work on her English accent and that she change her name (she was too much associated with the film Ecstasy). She chose Lamarr after silent film and stage actress Barbara La Marr.
She soon became a 1940s Hollywood sensation. MGM called her the "Most Beautiful Woman in the World."In fact, later on, she would become the archetypal model for Sean Young’s role as Rachel in Blade Runner (1982) and as Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992). In 1942 she was Hal Wallis' first choice for Ingrid Bergman's role in Casablanca.
She made a fiery entrance when she walked onto the screen in Algiers (1938)with Charles Boyer. She started doing light romantic comedies with the likes of Jimmy Stewart (Come Live With Me 1941), Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy & Claudette Colbert in (Boom Town in 1940).
Hedy with Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy & Claudette Colbert in Boom Town (1940).
In I Take This Woman 1940 Spencer Tracy’s character describes Georgi Gragore (Hedy)- Dr. Karl Decker: “She’s like something you see in a jeweler’s window. A single, flawless gem on a piece of black velvet. You take one long look and then you pass on.”
Hedy had 5 more husbands after Mandl. Bette Davis introduced her to one of her husbands, John Loder.
She wanted to be more than beautiful but they kept giving her the same roles with no substance. She hated that she was valued more for her looks than her intelligence.
While she was growing up, Hedy was privately tutored at home. Eventually, she went to a secondary all-girls school in Vienna, focusing on mathematics and science. She was always more interested in staying home and reading Scientific American than in Hollywood parties and gossip. She had a room in her house devoted to engineering and wanted to contribute to the war effort by developing secret communications technology. When she did go to Hollywood parties, she always gravitated toward the geekiest party-goers. This is how she met avant-garde pianist and composer George Antheil.
Hedy Lamarr with ship fitter Richard Spencer, as she tries to boost War Savings Bond sales by touring the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Pennsylvania circa the 1940s.
Together, they decided to address the problem the Navy was having of using torpedoes against the German U-Boats and Japanese subs. Radio guiding systems only had one frequency, which could be found and jammed easily by the enemy. Inspired by her radio's remote control, she worked with Antheil to develop something she called "frequency hopping." The idea was that the guidance system and torpedoes would synchronize themselves on continually changing radio frequencies. In 1942 they signed over the patent to the U.S. Navy, where it sat unused until 1958. The idea was ahead of its time and the technology simply didn't exist during the war. When the patent was used Spread Spectrum Frequency Hopping became a critical part of developing technologies we use every day"” wifi, GPS, and cell phone networks.
Hedy hated the Nazis and resolutely wanted to help the war effort. Despite her intelligence and knowledge of weapons technology, when she approached the Navy and wanted to help them win the war, they thought more of her celebrity and beauty and offered her a spot selling war bonds. She became one of the most successful sellers of war bonds, drawing crowds of 15,000-20,000 people in rallies all over the U.S. (people passed out and police had to control crowds when she attended a massive rally in Newark, NJ). She became a popular pin-up girl, and regularly worked in the Hollywood Canteen, serving food to, and dancing with, servicemen before they headed overseas to the war. But Hedy truly wanted to contribute to the technology that would win the war. Unfortunately, she didn’t fit the dominant war paradigm"” she was beautiful and her "place" was that of entertainer and not a scientist. It wasn't until the 1990s that she was recognized for her engineering achievements.
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 With all my love and great admiration to you, Hedy Lamarr…
They’re almost here, those daring dames and you wonderful people who will be paying tribute to them! My co-host and I have split the bill so, I’ll be featuring the posts for Saturday and then Fritzi of Movies Silently will be taking over on Sunday.
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