Sassmouthdames

Muriel and Sydney Box's Oscar-winning script offers a potent fantasy for women. Byronic James Mason believes in Ann Todd's artistic gift for the piano. He devotes himself to her transformation into a world-class pianist. He waits for her to become great and he waits for her to realise she loves him. This is a heady combination that makes only one ending possible. Ann Todd admitted years later that they had a passionate affair during production.

In Hitchcock's narrative economy, men can't see past the nose on their face. Women, on the other hand, have keen powers of observation. If not for an older governess, a nun, and a society dame in a monogrammed scarf, all would be lost. Margaret Lockwood gets stuck into political intrigue in a picture that made her an international star. Like her character, Iris Henderson, Margaret knew her own mind, and remained steadfast to her vision of dramatic arts during a long an illustrious career in film, theatre, and television.

One night, Temple Drake loses the security and privilege she has always known when a date takes her to a bootlegger's den in the woods. After being penned like an animal and sexually assaulted, Temple summons the courage and fortitude to rise above the brutality she experienced. Instead of hiding behind tradition which would sacrifice a man's life to spare her honour, Temple has a moral awakening during courtroom testimony. Miriam Hopkins gives the performance of her life as Temple Drake.

As the first queen of Twentieth Century Fox studio, Alice Faye shines in a frothy musical made up of glamour, lust, and mistaken identity. That Night in Rio (1941) fires on all cylinders from cast, costume, and story. Alice had worked her tail off from the age of 13 when she became a chorine in New York City and didn't stop until her dramatic exit from the studio in 1945. Alice Faye was the voice of hope and twinkling lights for a generation.

Angela Lansbury was typecast as an older woman when she was still a girl under contract in MGM. She was only 21 when Louis B Mayer insisted she play an unhappily married woman of 35. Lansbury had her own real-life romantic misadventure to draw on when she created the character. The seeds of later roles of villainous women Kay Thorndyke (State of the Union)and the 'Red Queen', Mrs Shaw-Iselin, are here in Angela Lansbury's performance as Mabel Sabre.

Before Grace Kelly grew tired of juggling wolves and left Hollywood, she made an indelible imprint playing Lisa Fremont as a woman of style and action. The silver fox photographer (Jimmy Stewart)has a negative view of glamour and thinks he sees everything, but Lisa Fremont shows him another angle of vision. Lisa's style extends to the way she moves about the world. In a dress and heels, she's more brave than most men. Hitchcock gives viewers a persuasive argument for the power of style.

In her second starring role, Barbara Payton not only holds her own against a leading man with 20 years of experience, she also manages to steal scenes with James Cagney. Barbara's character Holiday might appear to submit to commands such as the blood curdling 'make me a sandwich' but she also throws everything at him except the kitchen table. Barbara Payton is more than the tabloid coverage which sensationalised her sex life and struggle with addiction. She had a rebel spirit that put the Hollywood wolves on notice.

During the studio era, you can find sass mouth dames quietly stealing any picture, even one loaded to the teeth with armed men itching for oblivion. Virginia Mayo plays a fashion merchant who brings style to a frontier town. Ruth Roman plays Boston, a saloon gal with a cash register where her heart should be. Director Jacques Tourneur initially presents them as polar opposites. then makes the distinctions ambiguous, and finally beside the point.

Jacqueline Susann's life was more dramatic than any of the novels she wrote. She made her Broadway debut in Clare Boothe Luce's landmark The Women, worked in theatre, as a showgirl, in radio and television for more than twenty years. After she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Jackie wrote for her life, and finally achieved wealth and fame. She wrote each day from 10 to 5 for 18 months. Jackie's media and marketing savvy was instrumental in the success of Valley of the Dolls. Jackie's first love, comedian Joe E. Lewis always told her never go to Hollywood unless they send for you. When they sent for Jackie, she went in style for her Hitchcock moment, a cameo in the screen version of her novel. The production may have been chaos, but the women in the cast agreed on one thing--they all hated director Mark Robson.

In Daisy Kenyon (1947), Joan Crawford lives a bachelor gal's dream as a commercial artist. Her favourite model tells Daisy 'you cook like you paint, honey--fast, colourful, and glib'. Living in a man's world, Joan has adopted a hardboiled exterior from her married lover, the ruthless tycoon played by Dana Andrews. Soon she's in a three-cornered love affair, with Andrews and a widowed veteran, played by Henry Fonda. We're in proper adult territory: people cheat, lie, play games, and have emotional baggage. But Joan Crawford isn't here to save a man or make him worthy. Grown ups tend to their own ghosts. Daisy Kenyon is a prestige picture, from start to finish.

Geraldine Fitzgerald fought with studio boss Jack Warner for better parts. She refused to play by the rules of stardom and ultimately walked out of Hollywood in 1946. Although her career never matched the size of her talent on the big screen, Geraldine turned in outstanding performances in pictures such as The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945) where she plays a venomous hot house flower. And what of the gossip about a love child with Orson Welles? I get to that, too.

For decades, Hedda Hopper argued that Hollywood was unfair to women. She campaigned for more women screenwriters, producers, and directors. She used her influence to boost the career of many women, including Joan Crawford, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Shelley Winters. She put the fear of god into Louis B Mayer when he tried to shove Ida Koverman into the Motion Picture Country Home. Glowing press features and the cover of Time magazine in 1947 probably encouraged Hedda Hopper to sink her teeth into the Anti-Communist debate. Hedda played a shameful role in the blacklist years, but she should be remembered for more than that.

After Louella Parsons lost a monopoly over publicity department exclusives, she initially struggled as a result of competition from Hedda Hopper and other columnists. But Louella captured two of the biggest scoops of the post-war studio era when she reported a global exclusive on Rita Hayworth's marriage to Prince Aly Khan and then when she verified rumours about Ingrid Bergman's 'out of wedlock' pregnancy. In the 1950s, she kept up with a new massive teenage fan base by covering their stars and adopting their slang. Louella had pioneered celebrity journalism and continued to roll with the punches to remain relevant.

A palm reader once told Hedda Hopper that she was in the wrong profession--she wasn't an actress--she was a writer. By the time she was 50, Hedda was considered a failure by Hollywood standards. She was a washed up actress when a newspaper publisher dropped a column in her lap. Hedda approached her work as a columnist like it was a dramatic performance, which she acted out while dictating copy to a secretary. Within two years, she was a formidable rival to gossip queen, Louella Parsons.

During the 1930s, Louella Parsons had the power to drag a mogul or producer out of bed in the middle of the night. If she rang a studio to talk to a star, they would stop production in the middle of a scene to answer Louella. Barbed attacks appeared in the press, mostly from men who could not swallow the fact that a middle-aged dame was at the top of their profession. By the end of the decade, Louella was toppled by bad press and lost scoops.

Born Elda Furry, she toiled from dawn to bedtime because her father believed women were beasts of burden. She ran away and joined a chorus line, and fell for a middle-aged Broadway star, DeWolf Hopper. He was a notorious skirt chaser with no body hair and blue skin. She made her film debut in 1916, and changed her name to Hedda Hopper in 1918, Hedda advanced her career by using glamorous style to upstage stars. At one point she asked for $1000 a week salary--the producers didn't blink. DeWolf Hopper was furious that the showgirl he picked up suddenly matched him in salary.

Louella Parsons overcame a bad marriage, raised her daughter on her own, and became one of the most powerful writers in a modern celebrity culture. She started as the first scenario editor in Essanay studio, and extended her career as a daily film columnist in Chicago and New York. She was an influential voice in film journalism by the time she met William Randolph Hearst. Part One closes with Louella travelling to Palm Springs to recover from tuberculosis on Hearst's dime.

No More Ladies (1935) is a highbrow take on how to turn the tables on a cheating husband. It has style for days--in the dialogue, performances, fashion. Even better, the picture boasts a collection of sass mouth dames such as Edna May Oliver, Gail Patrick, and Joan Fontaine, in her screen debut. After Joan's through with Bob Montgomery, he's more submissive than the giant sheepdog on a leash.

Elizabeth Taylor won her first Oscar by playing a brave woman who declared sexual independence. What makes her performance a stand out is the rage that anchors her libido. When Taylor appears in a fury, stomping around in a slip, high heels, and a stolen mink, with a bottle of hooch under her arm, she gives you the strength to fight another day. After 18 years in MGM, four marriages, three children, and a tabloid scandal, all before she turned 30, Elizabeth Taylor earned the Oscar, before the Vatican condemned her for 'erotic vagrancy'.

I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955) was one of MGM's biggest box office hits. Susan Hayward earned rave reviews and her fourth Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Based on the life story of Lillian Roth, the production brought Susan Hayward her share of sorrow. The strain on set, a bitter divorce, and a custody battle drove her to a breakdown. Susan overdosed on sleeping pills and nearly died. She made headlines once again in a row with another woman over morning coffee at a lover's house. Let's not forget that she had also recently received radiation poisoning, thanks to ex-lover Howard Hughes.