Miss and Madame

Perhaps it's just that I'm getting a little stir-crazy in this five-star gilded prison, but today I'm feeling literary.  Fortunately, there are not one but two significant moments of which to take note, and they have a certain unlikely symmetry.

It's Not a Question of "If"

Awfully definite, this, don't you think?  Unnervingly, it appears in every elevator in this large hotel complex, and it's getting me down.

Friends and Acquaintances

“I looked in on Chips in London and found the Duchess of Kent, her sister Countess Toren, the reigning Prince and Princess of Liechtenstein, the Ranee of Kapurthala and the King of Egypt’s sister. It was like a stamp album."

McNamaste

 

In the immortal words of Bart Simpson: can't sleep, clown will eat me.

Satay and the City

Well, I got here.  It took more than 30 hours, two flights, a bus ride across the vast and featureless expanse of Tokyo expressways that connect one airport, Narita, with another, Haneda, and finally a mad scramble through earliest-morning traffic here in Bangkok, but at length I arrived.

Goodnight, Lady

I'm in transit, but when the plane touched down in Tokyo and my phone whirred back to life, I was faced with a downpour of sorrow from Cairo, for Egyptian film lovers have lost "The Lady of the Arab Screen," the incomparable Faten Hamama.  This really is going to be a tough year for movie lovers, isn't it?

Siamese If You Don't Please

I suppose it's churlish to complain, but you see, once again my implacable overlords in the executive corridors of Golden Handcuffs Consulting Amalgamated International have spoken.  As a result, I'll be spending the upcoming festive holiday weekend trapped in the not-very-pleasant sections of a series of airplanes (not one of them BOAC, either), only to emerge sometime Monday on the far side of the earth.

Why Don't You...

Go all out and embrace the caftan lifestyle?  Marisa Berenson certainly did!

Yesterday, When They Were Young

A swirling combination of furs, cigarettes, cocktails, mascara, and long, searching glances - this extraordinary combination of Pre-Code clips and the music of Florence + the Machine combines as well as anything I've ever seen to answer the question:  Why does one so love film?

Arrivederci...

2015 is really shaping up to be a bad year for legends, isn't it?  Miss Rainer would seem, as the old year passed, to have set the tone, and today we say goodbye to Miss Anita Ekberg, seen here defining "fierce" in a casual little snap by that sweet beacon of innocence and sunshine, Mr. Helmut Newton.

And Now, a Word from our Sponsor

ZaSu Pitts reminds the women of America that nothing goes better with corn flakes than the imminent threat of domestic violence accompanied by stress-induced hallucinations!

The Hitherto Unmentioned: Hail and Farewell

Now, Rod Taylor may not have been an actor for the ages, but I think we can agree that he was easy on the eyes.

Let it Go

With the latest sad news from Los Angeles, it's clear that St. Zsa Zsa is a sort of modern-day Job.  One can only hope she doesn't know.

Way Down in Egypt Land

Maybe it's just the wretched weather, but today I find myself especially nostalgic for Cairo...

There She Goes...

...Miss America, 1945 edition.  Adieu to Bess Myerson, who went from America's sweetheart to an obscurity so complete that her death wasn't announced for the better part of a month.

The Powers That Be

Yes, it's time to get back on the train, due to a circumstance beyond our control, and while it might not be as disastrous as a pigeon from hell, it does feel rather like a chain gang...

Birthday Girl: Miss Glory

All best returns on her 118th birthday to the lovely and talented (geniunely) Miss Marion Davies.  She's seen here looking wistful in an atmospheric snap by Mr. Hurrell.  Has anyone ever seen a color photograph of Marion, a real one, that is?  I can't find one, but I think she must have had lovely coloring.

Three on a Match

A trio of lovely, crazy people share a moment.  There is a lot going on in this snap, and I can't quite believe I've never seen it before.

New Year, Baby

Well, I was hoping to find a fun New Year pinup for y'all - you know, a little Baby New Year all grown up, as it were.  However, I quickly discovered that Googling "hot man diaper" uncovers all sorts of things, but few have them have much to do with New Year's Day.  Goodness, the things people do get up to...