The Silver Screen Oasis

Thanks Sandy!

At the risk of repeating myself over and over: In all my working years in the golden era I have never seen anyone
with the startling beauty of Linda Darnel. This beauty was not captured on paper or on film . . . but in person I would
find myself just amazed at her beauty. Never ever have I seen anything like it. So many of the goddesses are there with the help of
make up and hair dressers and look totally different when you see them in person during a five o'clock make up call in a studio! Often
I would have to ask 'who's that' as the 'queen' was unrecognizable till the studio did their number on her.
I recognize this as when they worked on me I could not believe what I was seeing in the mirror and so hated to go home
and wash it all off!

rerun wrote:At the risk of repeating myself over and over: In all my working years in the golden era I have never seen anyone
with the startling beauty of Linda Darnel. This beauty was not captured on paper or on film . . . but in person I would
find myself just amazed at her beauty. Never ever have I seen anything like it. So many of the goddesses are there with the help of
make up and hair dressers and look totally different when you see them in person during a five o'clock make up call in a studio! Often
I would have to ask 'who's that' as the 'queen' was unrecognizable till the studio did their number on her.
I recognize this as when they worked on me I could not believe what I was seeing in the mirror and so hated to go home
and wash it all off!

I am not surprised by your comment, Martha. Linda Darnell seemed to be one of those "less is more" actresses, who shone most when least fussed over and wearing the simplest of garments and hair (Sophia Loren is another in my book). Darnell appeared so seraphically beautiful in roles such as those she played in Blood and Sand (1941) and It Happened Tomorrow (1944). She was breathtaking...and became a very good actress as she grew more mature.

I completely agree with you Moira that Linda Darnell is one of the most breathtaking actresses that nobody seems to pay real attention to. I find her in Blood and Sand in 1941 - so amazing that she seems to hold her own against Rita Hayworth, Tyrone Powers, and Anthony Quinn. For the record, she hardly need much makeup and if I recall from a dear friend of mine that when she did this movie - the big three of Hayworth, Powers, and Quinn was very much surprised that she doesn't need much makeup in this movie and that's one thing that stands her out alone in this eye-candy movie back in those days. Anyway, I just wanted to back you up and having said that proves that less is more ....

Congratulations Uncle Stevie! We just celebrated number 52.

I will choose Ava Gardner

There are so many different types of beauty, though, just sticking purely with the physical kind.
For the slim, waifish beauty type, Audrey Hepburn wins, hands down.
For the voluptuous bombshell, it's Marilyn Monroe, every time.
Classic beauty and style? Grace Kelly.

The list is long of different beauties I'd rank all time, but I think of those 3 as the prototypical perfection of each type.

As for today, of course it's Scarlett Johanssen.