Art, music, whatever
Back to the silent movies we go, with actress (and later producer) Norma Talmadge:
You know, my problem with all the stars of this era is that the pics were so stylized that very little of the actresses’ character shone through (which is why so many of them look so alike). Here, for example, is a much later pic of Norma, taken when she was (I think) in her late fifties, and the difference is astonishing:
Gorgeous.
She started off as a singer in a band named “Hear’Say” (wouldn’t recognize any of their songs in a month of Sundays, but nemmind). Then she left the band to start her solo career (sorry, don’t know any of those either). But Kym Marsh was quite a hottie:
Now she’s in her mid-40s, and I have to say she’s not too horrible:
I mean, yes there are those ‘orrible tattoos, but what the hell, she did come from Liverpool after all:
And all her parts are in the correct order, as far as I can see:
Like I said, not too horrible, all things considered.
Let us ponder the mysteries of life, such as how someone like Claire Dodd could have lived at the same time as Eleanor Roosevelt without a rending of the time/space continuum.
Don’t know what I’m talking about? Here’s Claire, first as a youngin:
And then in her prime:
Now compare that with any photograph of Eleanor Roosevelt (no, I’m not going to do it, find your own pic), and get back to pondering.
I think Donna Reed was one of the most beautiful women ever to step in front of a camera. Feel free to argue with me, but you’d be wrong.
Still want to argue?
Didn’t think so.
These are not of the Classical Beauty ilk — although many would qualify if they’d been around in the B&W era — but rather, have featured as the objects of desire of teenage boys, and therefore would have been on wall posters in the aforesaid’s foul bedrooms, next to those of the Lamborghini Countach and Ferrari Testarossa.
Nowadays, of course, teenage boys’ bedroom walls contain posters of cartoon characters like Iron Man, Star Wars and crap like that. I don’t know where or even if boys have posters of beautiful women — on the micro-screens of their poxy phones, most likely.
Here’s a sample of what I’m talking about:
Lucy Pinder
…et cetera. More of this type upon request.
Take a couple hours out of your evening, and see what you get when you obey no rules other than the ones you set for yourself, and make absolutely no compromises, anywhere.
And all this happened in 1993.
Brilliant.
Then came the sequel. And a trip through Gordon’s Garage, via the T.50(s) racing car. (You would never guess what Murray’s “daily driver” car is — but it has featured on this website before.)
By the way, you should watch the last episode especially, because it’s going to form the basis for a massive series of posts from me.