GAY PRIDE-JEAN MALIN

The other night on TCM I finally caught Jean Malin in Arizonia to Broadway in his bit part, but very memorable and entertaining, nonetheless. All these posts for Pride over the years and I can't believe I never once posted about trailblazer Jean, who was a pioneering openly gay entertainer, "Queen of the Panzies" and drag performer during the 1930 and is almost credited with the booming of the infamous Pansy Craze. While he began his early career performing in drag, he became a cultural sensation by emceeing in a tuxedo, using his very flamboyantly queer personality and extreme razor-sharp wit, to shatter gender norms. Although he was six feet and was a bigger boy, with wavy blonde hair to die for, he was effeminate and a female impersonator, and he was known to put hecklers, homophobes and even some mobsters in their place with his wit and at time fists.

Some fun tidbits-

Born Victor Eugene James Malinovsky. He won prizes at the Manhattan drag balls as a teenager and performed in drag as Imogene Wilson in Greenwich Village. As an MC at NYC'S upscale Club Abbey however, he traded dresses for elegant tuxedos. He strolled through audiences, campily interacting with crowds and fiercely defend himself a few times with hecklers and haters. Even tangoed with a few mobsters.

As New York police began cracking down on queer speakeasies, Malin then moved to Los Angeles in 1932, opening his own Club New Yorker. He attempted a film career in 1933 and made three movies, the best being Arizonia to Broadway, where he appeared on screen in drag which was extremely rare for movies then, doing an imitation of Mae West and singing Frankie and Johnny. By this time, he was the highest paid impersonator in the business in the Panzy Craze. Jean continued to sass mobsters and slay audiences with that film and in his routines in his own club, where Malin's out and proud shows drew stars like Clara Bow, Marlene Deitrich, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard and Talulah Bankhead. Malin has had self-composed Malin songs like "I'd Rather be Spanish than Mannish." At the height of his fame Jean's life was cut short when in August of 1933, after a farewell performance at the Ship Cafe in Venice CA, he accidentally put his car into reverse and drove off a pier, drowning at age of 25. But no doubt Jean Malin was a trailblazer and he took no prisoners! Fight, Fire and Guts, with no fucks to give

Happy Gay Pride!

LAST OF THE GOLDEN AGE

It's a dark day indeed.

I'm deeply sadden and depressed to hear the Golden Age had come to it's end with the death of Dame  Olivia de Havilland, who you may remember just turned 104 a few weeks ago.

"I would prefer to live forever in perfect health, but if I must at some time leave this life, I would like to do so ensconced on a chaise longue, perfumed, wearing a velvet robe and pearl earrings, with a flute of champagne beside me and having just discovered the answer to the last problem in a British cryptic crossword."

I only hope she got her wish.

Dame Olivia de Havilland

July 1 1916- July 26, 2020

CELESTE & BETTE NAIL IT

THIS clip of Celeste Holm's question to Bette Davis sums the current climate up perfectly.

Now... who need's a cock-a-tail?

WHAT BECOMES A LEGEND MOST?

One of the most famous advertising campaigns of the 20th century began in MID 60'S: the series of full-page, black-and-white print ads for "Blackglama" furs, with the memorable, never-changing question: "What becomes a Legend most?"

The story goes that, in the 60's, the Great Lakes Mink Association, a group of about 400 mink ranchers, were looking around for an advertising firm that would help them "remodel public opinion," though the notorious red-paint attacks on fur-wearing women were still a few years off.   New York ad executive Jane Trahey conceived the campaign and it was executed by her associate, who later bought out the firm and continued with the campaign.  The "Blackglama" brand name was invented by Trahey, who also came up with the "legend" tagline, and the idea of spotlighting high-profile....legends, mostly from the movies and Broadway, swathed in a Blackglama mink garments, which they were allowed to take home after the shoot. It went on the be one of the most successful and long running ad campaigns.

Ann Miller

Roz Russel

Debbie Reynolds

Judy Garland

Marlene Dietrich

Beverly Sills

Carol Channing

Lucille Ball

Lena Horne

Diana Vreeland

Lana Turner

Carol Burnett

Peggy Lee

Tis fur season after all.

THE YEAR OF DE HAVILLAND

It's definitely time to celebrate!!!! It is the Year of De Havilland!!!! She is 100 today!!!!!!

 She’s now the oldest living Oscar winner. Olivia de Havilland and her late sister, Oscar-winner Joan Fontaine, were the subject of many a story of their infamous feud, but now Olivia needs to be fêted as the last great survivor of Hollywood’s Golden Age, as she celebrates her centennial. De Havilland was a big star before playing Melanie in Gone with the Wind. She came to Warner Brothers in 1935 and was immediately pared with Errol Flynn in Captain Blood. Flynn became a star, and the two would co-star in a series of popular films, climaxing with The Adventures of Robin Hood in 1938. Olivia was Maid Marion, and sexy Errol was a very hot Mr. Hood. In 1939, she played goodie goodie Melanie Wilkes in the mega hit Gone with the Wind.

De Havilland trooped back to the Brothers Warner and was given routine films. She made a loan out to Paramount—Hold Back the Dawn—which netted her a Best Actress nomination. But in 1941 she was up against her sister Joan Fontaine for Suspicion. Joan won, and Olivia never quite got over it. Olivia sued Warner Brothers in 1943 when she thought her seven-year contract was over and Jack Warner added on her suspension time. Olivia was off the screen for two years while the case was stuck in the courts. No other studio dared touch her until the decision. Well, Olivia won and “The De Havilland Decision” meant that a seven-year contract was exactly that. Free of the Warner prison, Olivia went to Paramount and won the 1946 Best Actress Oscar for the great weepie To Each His Own.

In 1948 she won her third Best Actress nomination, playing a mental patient in the gripping The Snake Pit. (She won the New York Film Critics award with the only unanimous vote in history.) In 1949 she reached her peak, winning a second Best Actress Oscar for her brilliant work in William Wyler‘s The Heiress. Not to mention her two Golden Globes awards and numerous other awards and honors.

Olivia married a Frenchman and went to Paris, where she has lived for the past 60 years. She was widowed, and her son from her first marriage died. But she has a lovely daughter, Giselle Galante, who is devoted to her.Queen de Havilland is now the last great Hollywood star and Oscar winner, and had every intention of celebrating her 100th birthday today. She recently stated, “Oh, I can’t wait for it. I’m certainly relishing the idea of living a century. Can you imagine that?

 

"I would prefer to live forever in perfect health, but if I must at some time leave this life, I would like to do so ensconced on a chaise longue, perfumed, wearing a velvet robe and pearl earrings, with a flute of champagne beside me and having just discovered the answer to the last problem in a British cryptic crossword."

"Famous people feel that they must perpetually be on the crest of the wave, not realising that it is against all the rules of life. You can't be on top all the time, it isn't natural."

"The TV business is soul crushing, talent destroying and human being destroying."

"I'm all for typewriters, with instant carbon copies, and seeing films in cinemas."

 

What an achievement. My dearly departed grandmother was a huge fan of hers. She wrote her once and had a written letter from her, but upon her death, we could never did find the letter when the house was being cleaned out. I for one salute Olivia de Havilland. She is the real Oscar gold. Regal and beautiful, and can you believe how good she still looks?!?! Lets all celebrate with her as she passes the century mark with flying colors. A era in film history will pass with her.

" I REALLY AM TOO MUCH"

 

Yesterday, March 23rd was Joan Crawford’s birthday. Which one? Well, we’re not quite sure—depending on the source, she was either born in 1905, 1906 or even 1908. Of course it doesn’t really matter—Joan was timeless. Either year, dear Joansy would be over a hundred. I have adored her since I saw the Women. I have never held that temper against her. Can you really blame the woman for beating that annoying brat with a wire hanger? Trust me, an annoying child is the last thing one needs with a good case of OCD and a gin hanger over. Hell, I'd done the same! Where ever you are Joan....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

“Send me flowers while I’m alive. They won’t do me a damn bit of good after I’m dead.”

 

“I never go outside unless I look like Joan Crawford the movie star. If you want to see the girl next door, go next door.”

"I need sex for a clear complexion, but I'd rather do it for love."

“Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell.”

“Marlon Brando . . . Oh, what was the film [Last Tango in Paris] . . . anyway the nude scene. He’s at least 40 pounds overweight, and I think the only sex appeal he has would be to a meat packer. That’s art?”

"I think that the most important thing a woman can have - next to talent, of course - is her hairdresser."

 

FROM THE CANDY SHOP

 

I must admit, I came to the Zac Efron  party late. When he first arrived on the scene, I wasn't interested in the slightest, but then the last couple of years, I have really enjoyed some of his movies, a very versatile actor. Not many can do love interest, drama and still do comedy , which he seems to have a great sense of humor.When it comes to babes in Hollywood, Zac Efron is at the top of the list with his six-pack, piercing blue eyes, and suave brown hair. And it has been a journey for the 29-year-old actor, who a decade ago was just that cute kid on the WB's Summerland. Whatever he is doing, this Disney poster boy became a scorching handsome hottie. Of course this delectable eye candy's physical transformation didn't hurt either!!!!! He seems cool and like the type the Mistress could kick but with and have a few cock-a-tails with.