Who was Mamie van Doren?

 Blonde Bombshell

Sex symbol

A world of sex

Recently, I came across Mamie van Doren, I will admit I had never heard of her, her name comes up in YouTube videos liked to Jayne Mansfield, Jean Harlow, and Marilyn Munroe as a blonde sex symbol, to me she is not me is more like a young Brigette Bardot. I didn't like Bardot, until she got older, I didn't enjoy her films either, other than Viva Maria with Jeanne Moreau. I enjoyed losts of Jeanne Moreau's films.

I can't give my opinion of her acting, as I haven't seen any of her films.

As an attractive lady, that is up to personal taste, and in my view, she had nothing other than large breasts to offer,

Public Enemy

 Labour Lies

My Blonde Bombshell

                                           Is this the end for Labour?

Any person with sense would know the current Labour Party is a public enemy. There has never been a bigger gang of crooks since the days of Tony Blair.

No matter who you are, the Labour Party are the Enemy of the People. They even betrayed the Muslim Brotherhood who Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner "took the knee" for.

Bombshell

 All in the family

Jean Harlow

What a choice!

This rom-com has Jean Harlow playing a notorious movie star, who falls in love with a rich man, who has no idea of who she is, or what she does.

Jean puts in a dazzling performance as she tries to hide her family's troubles from her lover. In the cast is also Hattie McDaniel, who played the maid in Gone with the Wind. 

Lee Tracey as her wise-cracking agent is a nuisance as the role has him trying to steal each scene

The Jean Harlow Mystery

 Blonde Bombshell

Jean Harlow DVDs

What a choice

Once I get my finances settled, I am going to treat myself to this Jean Harlow DVD collection.

This selection solves a mystery for me. I was sure I had a copy of her last movie, Saratoga, but couldn't find it. The reason is I had thought of buying this set, which contains Saratago, months ago.

Character is more impressive than beauty

 Hollywood Glamour

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

My Blonde Bombshell

It may appear I have a "thing" for blonde actresses, that is not true. Two of the ladies I consider most attractive in Hollywood, were not blondes, Jane Russell, and Ava Gardner. Then you have Myrna Loy, who was a bit like Kay Francis, beautiful to look at, and dress, but a lightweight actress, unlike Jean Harlow, Marlene Dietrich , or Mae West. Other non-blondes I enjoy watching include Gina Lollobigida, Paulette Goddard, Carolyn Jones, and Dame Diana Rigg to name a few.

I didn't mention Marilyn Munroe as I have no opinion either way. She was attractive, but I didn't like her films. I didn't mention Brigette Bardot as I didn't enjoy har films, other than Viva Maria with Jeanne Moreau,  I watched the film for Jeanne, more than than Brigette, For me, BB got more attractive as she aged, and the attention was on her, not her breasts. I didn't mention Sophia Loren, there are few men who don't consider her a beauty, even now.

Some people class Audrey Hepburn and Claudia Cardinale as attractive, as they say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  I class both as unattractive, and lightweight in acting. Claudia almost caused a film to be shut down - The red tent - there are othes ladies, my list is endless, and the debate over beauty is NEVER ended.

One blonde I can end on is Mamie van Doren, I can only say I heard her name in passing, without using Google, I cannot name a film she was in.

Iconic Films

 Nightmare Alley

Movie Nights

Film Noir

This film noir movie is about a fairground fortune teller, and shows a side of us, that we cannot avoid.

The story is about how people are judged by their appearance.

I have both version of the film, the 1947 version with Tyrone Power, and the 2021 remake with Cate Blanchett.

The basic storyline is most fortune tellers have a "mark" in the crowd, a person chosen by the teller for the show.

The film is about not breaking rhe Golden Rule of doing a cold call, making a judgement on someone you met a few minutes ago. How many of us do that?

You see a person approaching, and try to judge them, a soft hand means they don't do manual work, a firm handshake usually means a strong personality. NIce clothes means they are paid well, or have money. 

When I was working for Bristol Museum, I met a man who slept on the doorstep of Blaise Castle Musuem, at first glance he didn't look like a typical down-and-out, it turned out a year earlier he had a well-paid job, a wife, and a family. Then things went from bad to worse.

He lost his job, his car, and the wages. After struggling for months, his wife left him, and he lost the house they had lived in. So, he'd gone from running a business to living on handouts in only a year.

I got to know a young lady who had chosen to live on the "fringe" as she found regular life too stressful. She was attractive, polite, friendly, and loving, she had two dogs which were well-fed. One Boxing Day, I went to give her some food, but she'd gone.

The Blue Dahlia

Alan Ladd

Tonight's Iconic film is going to The Blue Dahlia with Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, and William Bendix. The story is one similar to what many G.I.'s found after returning home from WW2, their wives had been having affairs while they were away. In some ways, you cannot blame the lady, as she didn't know if her husband would return, or how long he'd be away, many men came back and couldn't adjust to civilian life after the war.

Hold your man

Jean Harlow

This Jean Harlow and Clark Gable movie is about a lady sent to reformatory, after her boyfriend kills a man in a robbery that goes wrong.

A vexing issue

 Blonde Bombshell

Jean Harlow

My Blonde Bombshell

This morning, I had a mystery to solve. I was trying to think of the name of the blonde actress I was watching on dvd last night, for an hour her name escaped me.

I thought it was either Carole Lombard, or Lana Turner. It could have been Carole as I have seen, and enjoyed several of her films, I wish to see Lana's films, though I haven't seen any yet. I knew it couldn't be Jayne Mansfield, as I haven't seen, nor wish to see her.

The lady in question is Jean Harlow.

All the ladies died tragically, Jean was poisoned, Jean promoted at the "Blonde Bombshell," was a natural redhead, the chemicals used to dye her hair resulted in kidney failure. Carole died in a plane crash on her way to her husband, Clark Gable, worried he was having an affair with Lana Turner, something both denied. Lana was involved in an infamous murder case, the resolution of which is debated to this day. Jayne died in a car crash being trapped under sheets of glass.