Marjorie Brandon appears to be looking for divine guidance upon realizing that her costume for Hips Hips Hooray (1934) might prove to be something of a challenge. (A Saturday Night Thread)
Marjorie finds strategic use of her matching leopard skin purse in photos for the very pre-Code Hips Hips Hooray (1934). At least they gave her a belt in one photo (L):
More Marjorie and a still with the film’s two headlining stars Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. And, as Freud might admit, sometimes a cigar and a banana are just a cigar and banana.
“The world’s wittiest nit-wits” brags the Hips Hips Hooray lobby card of Wheeler and Woolsey, also seen in a still (R). One critic opined that the “fairly generously-endowed medley of eccentric dancing, buffoonery and burlesque" was enough to provide viewers “much merriment.”
Hips Hips Hooray! (1934), as did numerous films of the era now considered classics, took advantage of the laxness of Hayes Code enforcement to present a bevy of starlets who seem to spend most of the their time in their underwear or revealing showgirl costumes:
More interesting outfits for Hips Hips Hooray (1934): Doris McMahon (L) in what is purported to be an “apron” and Ruth Stevens (R) making the most of some greenery.
One highlight of a film that turned out to be both meandering and generally unfunny was the wonderfully brassy comedic presence of Thelma Todd.
In one scene in Hips Hips Hooray (1934), the duo decide to test the flavors of their new lipsticks with some of the young ladies trying them out. We’ll leave the interpretation of Woolsey’s body language to Dr. Freud once again.
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My mission: figure out (finally) who this spectacularly costumed actress was from Madam Satan (1930), Cecil B. DeMille’s legendary and jawdroppingly bizarre sci-fi cheesefest. It’s a tough job, but, well…you know… (Thread)
This particular character appeared in Madam Satan’s wild and weird production number “Ballet Mécanique”where dozens of dancers strut, writhe and leap as robotic generators and turbines, decked out in angular Deco costumes.
Yes, it’s a crazy scene as the large, buff “Electricity” (Bolshoi ballet dancer and choreographer Theodore Kosloff) leads the gear-laden troupe in an inexplicable pagan-ish ceremony that’s part mayhem, part spirited athletic workout. It’s DeMille on acid. Or something.
Jean Arthur and a Benda mask from an unusual photo session with Eugene Robert Richee, 1929. (Thread)
Jean posing with another Benda mask from the Richee shoot for Paramount most likely in studio publicity for her role in The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929) and The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930).
Wladysław Teodor Benda was Polish-American painter, illustrator, and designer known for his remarkable, meticulously designed, and hand-painted papier-mâché masks.
Louise poses with “Dismal Desmond (the Doleful Dalmatian)” and “Bonzo” in 1928. Both stuffed toy canines were modeled on popular cartoon characters of the era. Photo by Eugene Robert Richee. (Thread)
“Dismal Desmond” premiered as a short in 1926 which spawned its own foxtrot number. The name also became British slang for a miserable person.
Bonzo was a popular but short lived animated featurette that began in 1924 in England with “Sausage Snatching Sensation,” one of the first known cartoons in wide release. The cartoon doggy became an international hit and Bonzo toys were sold around the world.
Louise and Adolphe Menjou in a Swedish poster for A Social Celebrity (1926). (Thread)
Louise, Menjou and Chester Conklin (R) in a French poster for A Social Celebrity (1926). Illustration by Maurice Toussaint.
Louise, Menjou and director Malcolm St. Clair (L) pose on the set of A Social Celebrity (1926). The film’s salon scenes, filmed on location in Manhattan, were said to have caused quite a commotion in the busy neighborhood.
Louise — in heels, of course — poses with Sally Blane (L) and Nancy Phillips (R) on the SoCal beach, 1927. (Thread)
The three worked together on the lost college-themed film Rolled Stockings (1927) with Louise getting star billing and Sally (who also happened to be Loretta Young’s sister) receiving a credited role. Nancy went uncredited and never made another film.
Photoplay magazine featured the three in a “Bathing Togs” story in August, 1927, reminding the reader that “trunks and jackets should match or you just aren’t in the swim.” And “it’s the derniest cri” means “it’s the latest fashion.”
Louise poses in costume with the visiting Iris Gray from the Paramount Picture School. The pic was taken on the Astoria studio set of The American Venus (1926). (Thread)
Iris cuts the rug to the accompaniment of Marion Harris and Charles “Buddy” Rogers in a still from Fascinating Youth (1926). The trio were a few of the sixteen budding actors from The Paramount Picture School, a short lived strategy the studio used to find young, new talent.
Four members of the graduating class of The Paramount Picture School, 1926: Iris Gray, Thelma Todd, Josephine Dunn and Charles “Buddy” Rogers. Trivia: Rogers married Mary Pickford in 1937 after a ten year love affair while Mary was still wedded to Douglas Fairbanks.