They Had Legs . . .

And they knew how to use them!

Some more stills from my collection.

A Warner's publicity still of an incredibly sultry-looking Ann Sheridan, aka "The Oomph Girl"! I think Ann is one of the most underappreciated actresses of her era. She had style to burn and made any film she appeared in better just by being in it! Some films that really showcase her talents are "Juke Girl", "It All Came True", "City for Conquest" and "Torrid Zone", where she nearly stole the show from all including James Cagney and Pat O'Brien!

Barbara Stanwyck in a publicity still for William Wellman's classic "Lady of Burlesque". Babs also made "So Big", "The Purchase Price" and "Great Man's Lady" with Wellman

BB!!! I've only seen 2 of her films, "Dear Brigitte" with Jimmy Stewart and "The Legend of Frenchie King" with Claudia Cardinale, which was pretty much laughably bad but well-worth seeing anyway!

Carole Landis. What a shame she died so young.

Beautiful Cyd Charrise had one of the most incredible pair of stems in Hollywood history, and brother could that woman dance! She's unquestionably my fave female dancer of all time. The term "body language" was probably invented by someone watching her! I was very sad when i heard she passed away last year.

A great shot of Gloria Grahame

Amazing Grace . . . *sigh*

Ida Lupino in a publicty shot for Warner's excellent drama "The Man I Love". Ides was yet another one of those actresses who had started at another studio but really found her niche at Warner Bros.

A silly publicity still of beautiful Jane Greer.

Lana!!!!!!!

More Noir lovelies . . .

Five more talented lovelies who made a particular impact in Film Noir . . .

A nice publicity shot of sexy and sultry Gloria Grahame, supporting actress Oscar winner for her role in the classic 1952 drama "The Bad and the Beautiful". She made a huge impact in Noir with her excellent performances in Edward Dmytryk's "Crossfire", Nicholas Ray's "In a Lonely Place" and especially Fritz Lang's tension-filled Noir masterpiece "The Big Heat", to name a few. This pic was scanned from one of the vintage stills in my collection.

Another scan from a vintage still, this time the incredibly gorgeous Jane Greer. Jane had a strange career in Hollywood and spent a lot of time getting paid for doing nothing! Howard Hughes had her under contract and since she refused his advances he didnt let her work even though he was paying her regardless! It's a shame too because she was a competent performer and always a pleasure to look at, but no matter, it's her unforgettable perfromance as the ultimate fem-fatale in Jacques Tourneur's ultra-stylish "Out of the Past" that assured her status as a Noir legend.

Ava Gardner looks even slinkier and sexier than usual in this publicity still for Robert Siodmak's "The Killers". I recall seeing a clip of Burt Lancaster on some talk show talking about this film, and her in particular. It went something like: : "Ava Gardner, one of the few truly beautiful women I ever worked with . . . when we did our loves scenes for the Killers, i was deeply stirred . . . in the form of some embarrassment!" Oh that Burt!!

Barbara Stanwyck in Billy Wilder's 1944 Noir masterpiece "Double Indemnity", a role that she played to the absolute hilt! In my opinion Barb shoulda got the best actress Oscar that year! The reality is she never recieved an Oscar but instead was given an honorary award in 1982 for her contributions to the art of screen acting. I would venture to say this is an Academy oversight on par with Edward G. Robinson, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock never winning Oscars!

A great shot of Veronica Lake taken by George Hurell. Affectionately referred to as "Moronica Lake" by the cantankerous Raymond Chandler, she never-the-less made several memorable forays into Noir territory in films like "This Gun for Hire", "The Glass Key" and "The Blue Dahlia", all co-starring pint-sized tough-guy, Alan Ladd. Apparently many women copied her famous long hair style with the peek-a-boo bangs, which caused a lot of safety concerns when these same women ended up working in factories during WWII! Lake then appeared in a few films with her famous blonde tresses done up safely in a bun or some other contained style so the women would follow suit! She is definitely a unique presence on film, there really is nothing else like her! And she suuuuuuuure photographed well!

More Film Noir

Mugs, Thugs, Drifters and Psychotic killers... Molls, Dolls, Floozies and Feme Fatales... dimly lit smoke-filled rooms, cheap gin joints, graft, corruption, theft...and murder!

Good times, good times!

John Garfield, Lana Turner and Cecil Kellaway in "The Postman Always Rings Twice"

Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum in "The Big Steal"

Richard Widmark and Jean Peters in Sam Fuller's Noir masterpiece "Pickup on South Street"

Kirk Douglas in Billy Wilder's "Ace in the Hole" aka "The Big Carnival"