Monkey Around with Dietrich and Grant

 Monkey Around with Dietrich and Grant:
Are you going ape?

Blonde Venus is a 1932 pre-code drama which starred Marlene Dietrich and Herbert Marshall. It was one of the first big roles for the young Cary Grant. At one point we see her on stage in a gorilla suit. She peels off the gorilla hands, mask and the rest of the furry costume and adds a flamboyant wig before singing Hot Voodoo. Cary Grant is part of her audience. A striptease that starts off with a gorilla suit. Where else do you see that?

Dietrich in Blonde Venus
Hot Voodoo



Marlene Dietrich alternative simian dance costume tutorial



Marlene Dietrich began making silent films in 1919. Another famous film was The Blue Angel, 1930 as Lola Lola, with Emil Jannings and Kurt Gerron.

One of her last films was Judgment at Nuremberg a 1961 Stanley Kramer film. Costars were Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Judy Garland.

There was a cameo in Paris When It Sizzles, 1964 with Audrey Hepburn and William Holden. Then Just a Gigolo 1979 with David Bowie, Kim Novak and Sydne Rome.

Her manner, the critic Kenneth Tynan wrote, was that of "a serpentine lasso whereby her voice casually winds itself around our most vulnerable fantasies."
"She has sex but no positive gender," Tynan wrote. "Her masculinity appeals to women and her sexuality to men." .... "Glamour," she observed, "is assurance. It is a kind of knowing that you are all right in every way, mentally and physically and in appearance, and that, whatever the occasion or the situation, you are equal to it."

In clothes, she was a trend setter. Both on screen and off, she often wore trousers and mannish costumes. By proving that a woman could still look feminine in such clothes, she established "the Dietrich silhouette," emphasizing trimness and inconspicuous hips and bust. from her New York Times obituary. Ms. Dietrich lived December 1901 - May 1992.

Marlene Dietrich The Glamour Collection 5 Movies:
Blonde Venus/ Morocco/ The Devil Is a Woman/ Flame of New Orleans/ Golden Earrings


Phil Collins - Gorilla Drummer - Cadbury Advert (Dairy Milk)

"I Feel like a Hairy Ape"
Cary Grant to Gail Patrick
My Favorite Wife 1940 

Cary Grant calls Joan Fontaine Monkey Face in Suspicion

Tips to Choose, Customize Your Costume for your Event, Gorilla Run Charity Races, Fun Runs

When will you wear it? Weather, Heat: Think about how hot it will be in your suit. Some runs appear to stay out of the summer months. Weather can be hot, humid, windy and rainy anywhere. What costume will you wear in the mud run?!

Costumes, including wigs & hats are usually hotter to run in than a track suit, but folks who make it to the finish line are excited that they made it. Consider a cooling vest to wear under the gorilla suit? 

Is it for something special like a proposal or a similar surprise? The groom-to-be fights off the gorilla before the proposal. Add a top hat. Any day that includes a sudden, unexpected gorilla is usually remembered.

If you're hosting a Planet of the Apes watch-a-thon at your house would you give prizes for those who come in costume? 

For Business? Are you going into a Gorillagram business? Can you sing while wearing it? Maybe it will be just one costume of several that you have. People want experiences these days. It's not enough to send flowers or candy to the office on her birthday. Make it an event. Do you want a realistic gorilla costume or something more cartoonish, maybe something along the lines of King Kong, comic book?

Choose separate parts, a snout, hat, makeup, etc? Your kids can create parts

Little Boys' Gorilla Costume

DIY with crayons, construction paper and glue sticks at a birthday party or on a rainy day.

It's your gorilla suit! Jazz it up! Add your business logo? A sash or tiara? (Tack it down!) 

Add a zipper? Make it easier to use the portable toilets if necessary? I've read about people's getting costumes early and altering them if need be with zippers for quicker pit-stops! Always on the lookout for animal costumes and the like that have zippers. A very clever friend with a sewing machine and/or needle and thread may be able to make it a two-piece.

Try it out, Make it work: Try out the costume before the race. Do a practice run in it and see how it goes. What does it need? Add a zipper? Have a backpack, pocket, pouch? Remove something? Make it just right for you. This is what will make it really fun and functional. If you're trying to get attention for yourself, your cause, your business, determine how you might add to the costume in ways that won't impede your ability to run.

Are you on a team? Easier to find one another if you add something lightweight and colorful, visible like a hat (pinned on!) or tank top? A logo or great team name emblazoned on it makes it all the better. Come up with the best team chant to outdo that group next to you.... If you want a couples costume, I guess she could be Fay Wray, fun idea.

Order early and Do a fur test & mask eye test: Many of the costumes I saw across the merchants had reviews saying that they shed their fur to some extent. Also people had to make the eye holes on masks work for them. Give a good shake out when testing them. Read the directions and instructions. Decide for yourself. Lots of clever and industrious ideas made the costumes, masks work perfectly. How will you wear your hair?


Just love the Adidas Jeremy Scott designer sneakers whether it's the gorilla, the

Aadidas Originals by Jeremy Scott

bear, poodle... You'll probably have more luck running in way better than running in gorilla feet. Go psychedelic if that's more to your personality.

Fun Run? If you're going for a mud run, a gorilla suit or anything with fur may not be what you want. Mud will add weight to the costume. Will the elements damage the costume? This includes your wig, hat, etc. A popular mud run is the Devil Dash, where people dress as angels and devils. That leaves interpretation of the costumes wide open.

Pink Gorilla Costumes

Show your true colors: Be a Snow Beast in white.  Practice that Rawr. Color up for an Awareness Event or wild pre-wedding video, Rage on as a Red Gorilla? Swap with a pal and put your pink gorilla head on his black gorilla suit body and vice versa.... It's all up to you. We found different shades of pink gorilla suits. Which one suits you best?

Don't forget other times to wear the Gorilla Costume. When you've run out of uses for the costume and it's still in good shape, pass it along. 

Donate the suit to someone or a cause who'd like to have it. Be green and try a costume swap locally, with friends and family.

"Would you ask your wife to hook up with that ape?!" Jean Harlow. 

“Uh, The Ape objects,”
William Powell 

Libeled Lady 1936

Groucho Marx talks about monkey suits on the Dick Cavett Show (about 5:35) [Groucho talks about the gorilla suit & the orangutan suit that were used in At the Circus]

"Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"
Charlton Heston

Planet of the Apes 1968

Wonder Woman, yes, Wonder Woman wrestled with a gorilla in the 1970s.  Those were the days.
Curious? Check it out below...

 

Related Articles of Interest:

1930s films Dressing Gable, Rathbone, Dietrich

Dietrich was on that 1938 list with Katharine Hepburn as being Box Office Poison

Throw a Hollywood Fancy Dress Party: 10 Tips for your costume party success
Marlene Dietrich wore a swan costume to the party in 1935, while an actress friend beside her was dressed as Marlene Dietrich.

Have a Mermaid Movie Party 

"Fling him to the ape!
Let him be torn to pieces!"
Brandon Hurst/The Caliph
Thief of Bagdad 1924

 

10 Great Stunt Women from the 1910s

Ten of the Greatest Stunt Women of the Early 20th Century

"You can imagine my feelings as the train came rushing toward me. I had to

Helen Gibson
has arrived

calculate the moment of my leap to the fraction of a second, for a miscalculation would send me between the cars of the train. 

"When the right moment came, I flew from the station and landed squarely atop the train. I had calculated the jump correctly but the sudden shock of landing on a speeding train was greater than I had imagined and before I had secured a grip on the slippery car-top I had rolled to the end of the car."... And then, and then?? [Helen Gibson's quote to be continued.]

Most of these women were actresses, not only stunt doubles. Their careers may have started earlier and continued for quite a while after 1920. Some held even more jobs. Cleo Madison was an early woman director. Helen Gibson and Helen Holmes would go on to direct and produce.

From the look of it, when these stunt women got to wear pants and not 'long' dresses or flat-heeled shoes that was a luxury. A book could be, and in some cases has been written on each of these ladies.

Many of them appeared in silent film serials. These were short subjects that you'd see in chapters. Each would end in some type of cliffhanger -- there might have been someone literally left hanging on the edge of a cliff. 

You could be brought up to date in your favorite magazine which might include images from each of the movies! Some of the some of the serials chapters built upon one another and some didn't. These films were made by many of the top film production companies of the day.

The movies, the storylines were made for turn-of-the-century audiences. These included women, some of whom were increasingly independent. Women were working in factories, offices, they had their own income and were spending it on leisure activities.

Here are just a few of the many women who were performing stunts in movies 1910-1920. More in future posts. Hear some of their own words, their own experiences, learn the history of film and film making. Info on Actresses who did their own stunts, Lillian Gish in Way Down East included below.


1) Helen Gibson
Quote continued from introduction:

"....The next second I felt would send me to eternity but just as half my body had fallen between the cars, I secured a firm grip on one of the small air transoms that you see at the top of the car. In what seemed like a terribly long time was really only a minute the train was brought to a stop. 
"The director was running about half crazy by the time and the camera man told me that it was sheer force of habit that kept him turning the crank for his wits had completely deserted him. We certainly were fortunate for the camera got it all. ...

"It is a rather weird coincidence that in my career as the Hazardous Helen there have been just eight occasions when I really did come within a fraction of an inch of losing my life. But I am not afraid; I am just going to keep carrying out the actions of thrilling scenarios. Only I hope the ninth narrow escape is a long way off." -- Helen Gibson, a.k.a. The Girl with Nine Lives 1916

Helen Gibson retired from the screen and lived to age 85.



 

2) Helen Holmes a.k.a. The Railroad Girl

Helen Holmes 1916

The adventure film serial The Hazards of Helen a Kalem Studios serial that would run for over 100 episodes first appeared in 1914. Helen Holmes played the lead character. The first films were directed by J.P. McGowan who would

Helen Holmes
climbing
Diamond Runners

become Holmes' husband. Holmes became a sensation and the pair left Kalem, producing their own films.

"Numberless times Miss Holmes has jumped from trestles to fast moving trains below. This seemingly easy stunt is one of the most dangerous that is

undertaken in the production of railroad films. It is almost impossible to keep your footing once you land on the train. 

"Helen Holmes generally manages to do it, but once she lost her balance and rolled off the car to the ground below. She continued falling until she had reached the bottom of a steep and dangerous decline and although she worked no longer that day, the next morning at the usual hour she reported to the studio."

Helen Holmes was not fooling around!
She held onto the wheels of a locomotive for three miles in 1916
while wearing a dress down to her ankles.
No special effects in those days.

Kalem Film Studio was founded in New York City in 1907 by George Kleine, Samuel Long and Frank J. Marion. The company was named for their initials K, L and M. 

It was similar to Essanay Studios also named in 1907 by George K. Spoor and Gilbert M. Anderson ("S and A").


 

Helen Holmes left the series to make other movies. Stunt woman and trick rider Rose Wenger, the wife of western star Hoot Gibson would become the new star of the Hazards of Helen after an interim of transition. Rose would become known as Helen Gibson.

Thomas The Train:
Bath Buddies Fun Pack
A squirter, a scooper and a strainer

3) Marin Sais

Marin Sais
The Girl from Frisco

Marin Sais was an accomplished horsewoman. She was the wife of Jack Hoxie, "ace of the outdoor epics." Sais is known for a number of films including The Girl from Frisco, 15 chapters starring Marin Sais and True Boardman. The skilled equestrian found a place in early film.

"Woman's growing independence added to the rapid action of the outdoor west form the theme of Kalem's latest series of which announcement was made early this week."
 

I did all my own stunts hoodie :Customize the text
Design your own Jackets, custom shirts at zazzle

4) Rhea Mitchell

Rhea Mitchell appeared in serials including The Diamond in the Sky. With some thirty chapters, this successful serial spawned the Sequel to The Diamond in the Sky. In 1919, WS Van Dyke directed the first million dollar deluxe serial thriller The Hawk's Trail with stars King Baggot and Rhea Mitchell. She worked in very early westerns with star W. S. Hart.

The Diamond from the Sky, Ch 21 (1915)
Original U.S. 8x10 Silent Film Serial Lobby Card #5

5) Olga Celeste a.k.a. The Leopard Lady a.k.a. Princess Olga Celeste

Olga Celeste with a tiger 1916

"There is always danger in an animal act," she reminds us.  While she was working in movies in the 1910s, Olga Celeste had a decades-long career. She's well known for working as animal trainer behind the scenes of Bringing Up Baby in 1938 with Howard Hawks, Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn.

"Working with animals in a picture drama is harder than in any exhibition or circus for the reason that the animals must really act for the films not just go through mechanical stunts rehearsed many times before, says the little trainer. Yes many of our animals are excellent actors. ... 

"A leopard is much easier to train than a dog. Leopards are usually good actors. They are my favorites because they are never afraid. They will attack other animals even larger than they and they are not al all afraid to attack a trainer.

... "But we really are not afraid for one thought of fear would be instantly detected by the creatures almost before we were conscious of it ourselves. So we must eliminate all fear and nervousness. Close study and love for the animals helps us in this but the ability to command them is largely a gift. .... 





"I love the animals those who are good because they try to please, those who are bad because they have so much spirit. And I guess that is after all the real secret to my influence over them. "
-- Olga Celeste, 1916 interview

She is quoted as saying "I'm not afraid of any animals .... except mice."

Anna Little

 6) Anna Little

"Anna Little the black-haired beauty of western films has often taken her life in

her hands to provide excitement for the patrons of film theaters. In a recent picture The Valley Feud, she was in a cabin surrounded by enemies. 

"Her object was to reach her horse stationed without and ride away to escape the men. Suddenly during a lull in the firing she burst from a window to her horse. 

"The director to make the scene realistic had the mob of invaders fire real bullets so that the splintering of the wood would be noticed on the screen. Anna got away safely but to use her own expression, 'Never again!' 

"More than one deadly leaden bullet came within an inch of her and the edge of the building was riddled." 

In 1916, an article noted that her horse, Ranger had been badly injured on a journey and had to be shot. Anna was experiencing grief, but she was now working with a new pony and they were getting to be great friends.


7) Marie Walcamp

Marie Walcamp
The Red Glove

Marie Walcamp was in films such as Liberty, The Red Ace, The Moon Child and The Red Glove. She was called the Golden Haired Daredevil.
 
While filming The Red Glove, actor, "Alfred Allen was shot in the eye with a revolver and a blank cartridge. 

For a time it was feared that he would lose the sight of his eye but the actor is now progressing satisfactorily."
-- 1919 article including Marie Welcamp



8) Pearl White :: The Perils of Pauline, The Iron Claw...

"Here is another Pearl White stunt performed only to excite interest.
She was hoisted on a swaying girder
to the top of a skyscraper under construction."
-- 1918

"Pearl White refused to be doubled in a scene for the Pathé serial and as a result nearly lost her life. Sheldon Lewis the Iron Claw standing on the running board of a rapidly going automobile was to lift the girl into the car but Pearl fell beneath the wheels."
-- April 1916

"Pearl was filmed on flaming yachts, trapped in rising water in dungeons, jumping from trains, toppling into volcano cones, wing walking from one biplane to another, at the mercy of opium smokers in Chinatown. 

"The lady performed her own feats until she became famous. Then Pathé felt she was too valuable to risk. A male double (with wig) executed most of the dangerous stunts in the later films." 
-- The St. Petersburg Evening Independent 1959

She was driving a speeding bus that had been rigged with a bomb.... Oh no, that was someone else. 






9) Cleo Madison, Director, actress, stunt woman....

Cleo Madison
Trey o' Hearts

"For the purpose of injecting realism into the picture and the the specified

Cleo Madison in the raging river

business of the story might be carried out to the letter she allowed herself to be carried a half mile through the death-dealing rapids of the San Gabriel River. 

"It was a task that would cause a strong man and a good swimmer to flinch but Miss Madison does not know the name of fear and it is not a question what her director Wilfred Lucas can prevail upon her to do but what he can prevail upon her not to do. 

"The wasters of the San Gabriel river are icy cold. The channel of the river not only runs down a steep incline but the bed of the river is strews with boulders. Although she is not an expert swimmer she plunged into the cold water and piloted herself through the dangerous rapids without mishap. The result is one of the most convincing pieces of realism ever filmed."

Grace Cunard is another actress working as a stunt girl who would go on to direct.


10) Anita King

After a 72-foot drop the car is demolished but Anita King is OK

"The director had thoughtfully arranged a bounding platform to break the fall but he miscalculated. Miss King hit the bridge with tremendous speed, fire off into space. It seemed and struck the prepared platform with such force that the racing car bounced like a rubber ball and landed in the brush at the edge of the river below. 

"The director and the camera man believed the intrepid little star had been killed and rushed to the scene. When they got there Miss King was smiling blithely at the wheel without a scratch. The force of the drop had snapped the spokes of the wheels like pipe stems but the pneumatic tires had taken the brunt of the fall and the brave little driver was uninjured."  
 -- The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA 1916

Florence rescues Norton from the railroad tracks

A favorite scene, Florence LaBadie in Million Dollar Mystery 1914. James Cruze was Jim Norton in this Thanhouser serial.

Actresses who did their own stunts:

Mabel Normand (the image of her motorcycle riding is famous). She had worked with Fatty Arbuckle and Charlie Chaplin. Some of the most thrilling early cinema stunt work done by men or women was seen in comedies. Check out early films of Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. It's hard to believe these people were working with real locomotives, not computer animation. 

Lillian Gish and Gloria Swanson were among the many actresses who did some of their own stunt work.

Way Down East, Lillian Gish

1920 saw a landmark film, Way Down East directed by D.W. Griffith. The director had paid an unheard of $175,000 for screen rights to the melodrama. Mrs. Morgan Belmont was the first society woman to appear in a moving picture. In Way Down East she had taken stage name Diana Duncannon.

Some scenes had to be reshot with the stars sweltering in fur coats in the summertime in 90 degree heat working in fake snow. The film had its opening at the 44th Street Theater in New York City in early September 1920. In attendance were the cast members, the director, Lottie Blair Parker, author of the story. Also there were the gentlemen who first staged the play on Broadway years earlier. The film had so much applause that Griffith came out and spoke to the crowd.

Its climactic scene with Lillian Gish's character, Anna adrift on an ice flow nearing a waterfall is remembered to this day. There were some stunt doubles used in Way Down East, but from what I've found, Gish and Richard Barthelmess performed the scene themselves. It was set up by director, Griffith. 

Photo: DW Griffith's masterpiece,Way Down East
Lillian Gish,ice floes,performance,1915

"How did Griffith do it? Crashing frumpling struggling like fighting beasts as they hurtled into each other the great cakes of ice swept on toward the falls. The ice jam had broken? And on one of the cakes, as yet barely caught in the swirl lay an unconscious girl, her yellow hair trailing in the icy water. 

"Far behind, a frantic boy fought his way toward her. That was the situation that brought a big New York audience to its feet on the opening night of Way Down East, cheering madly as Dick Barthelmess caught Lillian Gish up in his arms and carried her to safety. 

"Then the audience settled back, a bit ashamed of its own emotion and said, 'Right on the edge of the falls, weren't they? Oh but they couldn't have been! It would have been too dangerous. But -- well how do you suppose Griffith managed it??"' 

Director D.W. Griffith preparing the ice flow for his film
Way Down East 1920

"I hope," she said, "that the snow scenes will be worth the sufferering they cost us. I don't think I ever experienced anything so severe as what we went through. Some days were so cold that the cameras froze."
-- Lillian Gish, Picturegoer magazine 1921

While they were safe in Griffith's movie, it wasn't always the case when filming winter movies. In Back to God's Country the original leading man, Ronald Byron died from exposure. Leading lady Ivy Close nearly lost her life while filming The Wheel when an avalanche struck.

Mary Astor was caught in a snowslide in the Canadian Rockies during the filming of Enticement a Thomas H Ince Production and narrowly escaped being buried in snow or hurled down the mountainside. Of course actors don't have to be filming snow scenes to be injured!

The Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, CA has Silent Wednesdays. On October 8th, their schedule includes screenings from some rare serials:
The Son of Tarzan (1920), episode 5, Sunken Silver (1925), episode 9 and Daredevil Jack (1920), condensed.  Both The Stanford Theatre and The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum Theatres offer live music to accompany their silent films. Look to see what might be on a big screen near you.


** This is part of a series. Links to new entries will be added. Any significant changes/updates will be noted with dates. Please watch for announcements on Twitter.

Mabel Normand 1921 Motorcycle T-Shirt by Jakestuff
Check out other Mabel Normand T-Shirts at zazzle.com

 

Lillian Gish Richard Barthelmess 1920 movie ad T-shirt

Get your Gish on: Clothes, Gifts for your home, electronics, more


Related Books of Interest: 

Women Filmmakers in Early Hollywood (Studies in Industry and Society)

The Girl from God's Country: Nell Shipman and the Silent Cinema

Serials and Series: A World Filmography, 1912-1956
You'll find many scholarly works devoted to the contribution by women (and minorities) to early cinema and to the arts in general. We are standing on their shoulders, as it's said. 

Please check out bookstores and libraries regardless of your gender and enjoy finding out about the fascinating, funny and courageous people who worked in those early days.



Related Pages/Articles:

Dressing Male Stars: Rathbone, Gable and, uh, Dietrich.... They must have copies of their suits for their stand-ins and stunt doubles

10 women film producers of the early 20th century

Early 20th Century Women Movie Theater Owners, Managers, Exhibitors

Metropolis for your home, electronics
The 1927 German science fiction film directed by Fritz Lang.

Vintage Movie Poster T-Shirt 'Big Timber'
Make your own custom tshirt online  

Sources of images/quotes unless otherwise specified
Film Daily 1920
Motography 1914
Motion Picture Magazine 1916
Moving Picture World 1916
Photoplay Magazine 1914, 1916
Picture Play 1920
Picturegoer 1921

The End Silent Movie T-Shirt by StrangeLittleOnion
View more The end silent movie T-Shirts at zazzle.com

Staying fit the old Hollywood way - classic stars exercise photos

Exercise your right to be fit
and glamorous like a star

Exercise is good for us. It can be fun, aid in weight loss and keep sickness at bay. Get out in the fresh air. An Old Hollywood photo essay, actresses at play, and exercising. The stars can give some ideas of great exercises we can do to stay fit, trim and looking mahvelous. What tips do you have?

Rosalind Russell Marie Wilson Orig 8x10 photo
Check with your doctor to be sure
you're able to handle the exercise regimen you plan to undertake.
Start a little at a time. That's best for your body and your self confidence.
Make sure you're eating well and getting enough sleep.

Gail Patrick 8x10 Original Photo
Work on having a positive Self Image

Judy Garland Ziegfeld Girl 1941 balancing books on head
Good posture is not only for the sake of appearance but health and self confidence
with Hedy Lamarr, Lana Turner, Eve Arden

Bette Davis 8x10 glossy Photo
Do what you can to give up unhealthy habits like smoking 

Merle Oberon Interval 1973 8X10 Photo
Just take the stairs more often
and you'll be doing a good thing for your body

Rita Hayworth exercising 8x10" Photo

Myrna Loy with her medicine ball
8X10" photo

Joan Blondell A little rope climbing in heels- 11x14
Photograph Master Print High Quality
The right kind of footwear is important.
If you're serious about your exercise
vs your photo shoot vs a
Honky Tonk Badonkadonk (by Trace Adkins)
 look into what's best to wear.

Joan Crawford 8x10" Photo

Scene from The Women 1939, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine calisthenics

Leave the car at home: Ride a bicycle

Doris Day Fine Art Paper Print
13x19 inches
Many of us are choosing to bike to our destinations
rather than take the car.
This is great exercise and it helps the environment.

Marilyn Monroe 8x10 Photograph High Quality
These days though, a stylish and smart bike helmet
is not only a good idea but it's often the law.
Your commuter train or bus may have room for bicycles.

Exercise can be a fun sport that you enjoy
How about tennis?

Barbara Stanwyck tennis fun 8x10 Photograph

Jean Harlow 8x10 Photograph

Lana Turner tennis court, racket,Beverly Hills,CA
E Thiesen,1940
Take lessons if you need to know how to play the sport.

Deanna Durbin Fine Art Paper Print 13x19 inches
Skating and Skiing are sports to get us outside in the wintertime

Doing work around the house and yard
is a great form of exercise
Yard work, gardening, housework, play with the kids, take a walk

Donna Reed very tidy 8x10 photo

Joan Fontaine does a little yard work
11x14 Photograph Master Print High Quality

Housework: Carole Lombard and William Powell
My Man Godfrey
8x10" Photo

"Remember, nobody smiles doing housework but those ladies you see on TV.
Your mommy hates housework. Your daddy hates housework, I hate housework too. And when you grow up, so will you. ...
Children, when you have a house of your own, make sure, when there's house work to do, that you don't have to do it alone. Little boys, little girls, when you're big husbands and wives, if you want all the days of your lives to seem sunny as summer weather make sure, when there's housework to do that you do it together!"
-- excerpt from Housework, Carole Channing, Free to Be You and Me

Eventually you'll probably get curious and weigh yourself

Claudette Colbert 16x20 Photograph High Quality
Glamorous weigh-in

Susan Hayward 8X10 Photo
Try taking off your shoes before weighing in.

Ginger Rogers Original Bachrach Pinup Photo
Follow the Fleet, 1937

What's your favorite pastime?
There's the wife-carrying competition. Just get up and get moving. :)

Original photo - Katharine Hepburn

There were several photos of Katharine Hepburn playing sports,
tennis and golf, even shooting a gun. But this is a fun photo.
She's wearing a gown while apparently throwing a man across the room. 


Related Pages of Interest:

The Psychology of Color, Food and Appetite: How can the color blue help with weight loss?

Our beautiful idols had to exercise too.
Hoping these photos will be of interest and serve as some inspiration.
For equal time a photo page of male stars of the era working out will be next
when enough pics are gathered.



It's too bad that, when putting together a photo spread like this,
one in good humor in a particular scenario,
images of minority actresses such as those who are African American, are very hard to find. 
We have just so much time and available resources but always try to be inclusive and open-minded.