The Silver Screen Oasis

SueSueApplegate said:

Also, Balin was in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke show appearing as an artist and made Rob verrrry nervous and Laura naturally suspicious.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Thoughout the discussion of Ina Balin here and in the older Balin thread on TCM I'd been haunted by her. I knew her from somewhere but had no idea why she was so familiar to me. And you solved the mystery: She was the beautiful femme fatale, Valerie Ware on the "Draw Me a Pear" episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show!

I'm enjoying the discussion of the beautiful Ina Balin very much, (and Klondike's comment about Father Time using each of us as an etch-a-sketch is hilarious). To me, Balin, Myrna Loy & Felix Aylmer are the very best reasons to watch From the Terrace (1960). Balin's warm and loving coal mine manager's daughter was one of the few striking and genuine characters in that upscale soapfest . I also like her performance in The Young Doctors(1961), one of those flicks that seems to have fallen by the wayside, videowise.

Happily, TCM is showing this long-unseen film on Tue., Apr. 24th at 1:15 PM ET. The Young Doctors also has its sudsy moments, but features a great cast, including Fredric March as an older doctor. Ina Balin's portrayal of a lovely patient has always stayed in my memory.

As a matter of fact, I've never seen her in anything in which she wasn't extraordinarily good. It is unfortunate that Hollywood didn't have the ability to feature her work more prominently. Sadly, she died far too young at 52, (from pulmonary hypertension). This has always seemed especially poignant, since as a single mother, Miss Balin had adopted 3 Vietnamese girls in 1976 and assisted in rescuing hundreds of Vietnamese orphans at the end of the Vietnam War.

So I guess she was beautiful inside and out.

Yes, Moira, Ina was a lovely woman and a talented actress. Unfortunately, there isn't all that much biographical information about her, but I've never heard nor read a negative word about her. I'm very proud to have borne even a superficial resemblance to her.

[Yeah -- I wish]

jdb1,
Who is that " hot babe " in the swimsuit ?

Ken, I figure (pun intended!) that it's either Ina Balin, or jdb1!

{Hub a dub!}

Klondike

klondike wrote:Ken, I figure (pun intended!) that it's either Ina Balin, or jdb1!

{Hub a dub!}

Klondike

Either way, and my guess that it isn't Ina, the young lady is certainly very attractive.

ken123 wrote:

klondike wrote:Ken, I figure (pun intended!) that it's either Ina Balin, or jdb1!

{Hub a dub!}

Klondike

Either way, and my guess that it isn't Ina, the young lady is certainly very attractive.

It's supposed to be Ina, but I've never been quite sure. With those generous proportions, it sure does look more like me back in the day, but who knows? It could be Ina in her "off-season."

jdb1 wrote:

ken123 wrote:

klondike wrote:Ken, I figure (pun intended!) that it's either Ina Balin, or jdb1!

{Hub a dub!}

Klondike

Either way, and my guess that it isn't Ina, the young lady is certainly very attractive.

It's supposed to be Ina, but I've never been quite sure. With those generous proportions, it sure does look more like me back in the day, but who knows? It could be Ina in her "off-season."

Brooklyn girls are very beautiful !

Another Brooklyn girl

And another

Yet another

One more Brooklyn girl

jbd1,
Thank you for posting those pics of Gene and Rita, but it is that unnamed Brooklyn lady, in the swimsuit that is the most beautiful !

ken123 wrote:jbd1,
Thank you for posting those pics of Gene and Rita, but it is that unnamed Brooklyn lady, in the swimsuit that is the most beautiful !

Lena is great, but the mystery lady is still # !.

Personally, though I'd kill to flirt away a warm Summer's eve with any one of those other gals (and die a grateful man!), it would be our cherished Thelma, more than any other, that I'd adore to while a rainy afternoon with, just rockin' & talkin' on the back porch.
Maybe sharing cocktails, maybe shellin' beans . . with the irrepressible Ms. Ritter, how could you go wrong?!

Klondike