Monday, November 16, 2009

Eye Candy, Circa 1931

Of the first 1300 words of my essay on the best director of 1930-31, I've written about the Beatles, baseball, Robert Osborne, Glenn Beck, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Casablanca and the baking of cakes, but I haven't written about Charles Chaplin, René Clair or Fritz Lang—perhaps a significant oversight given that the essay is about one of them.

Obviously, this is taking longer than I had intended.

In the meantime, here is some eye candy for both sexes: Ramon Novarro and Greta Garbo in 1931's elegant, trash-tastic romance/spy-thriller, Mata Hari.

7 comments:

Flapper Flickers + Silent Stanzas said...

Trashtastic is right. But I confess to loving the scene where she makes him put out the votive light.

Ramon Novarro = hotcha.

Mythical Monkey said...

I'm glad you liked the Ramon Novarro pic -- he was a huge star in the silent era (he was Ben-Hur, for crying out loud), now mostly forgotten, I'm afraid.

Although maybe Robert Mitchum fans remember him from the 1949 comedy noir, The Big Steal, which was Mitchum's first movie after the marijuana conviction. Novarro was very memorable playing a Mexican police inspector. (The Big Steal also stars my favorite femme fatale, Jane Greer, who has nothing to do with this post, but I couldn't not mention her ...)

Mz. Louise Brooks said...

Ahhhh

candy for my sweet tooth, and for my sweet tooth.

Mr. Novarro is dishy, but Ms. Garbo is heartrendingly beautiful.

I wouldn't toss her out of bed for drinking seltzer, I'll tell you!

Mythical Monkey said...

I wouldn't toss her out of bed for drinking seltzer, I'll tell you!

You know, Brooksie claimed to have slept with Garbo, saying of her that she was a "charming and tender lover." No word though as to whether Garbo preferred seltzer to soda ...

Maggie said...

I like Errol Flynn. Should I not get my hopes up? : )

Mythical Monkey said...

I looked up Errol Flynn -- his first movie was in 1933 and his first great movie was Captain Blood in 1935. I'd say that's close enough to promise that the next time I post a male pin-up shot, it'll be Errol Flynn.

Maybe even tomorrow ...

Mz. Louise Brooks said...

Brooksie claimed to have slept with Garbo,

You only had to ask, you know. . . .

of course I did, silly!


And you must have misunderstood my syntax -- when I said I wouldn't toss her out of bed for drinking seltzer, I'll tell you!, I wasn't speaking in the subjunctive.

I meant that I wouldn't throw her out of bed for drinking seltzer, which she did. A lot, usually with some of the hard stuff.

That was the only hard stuff in the room, believe you me.

No word though as to whether Garbo preferred seltzer to soda ... Consider the inquiry over. And you heard it straight from the whore's mouth, as it were