The Beauty of Women in Furs on Film and Television
Mae West in White Fox
This one is kind of “famous,” in so far as I recall seeing it quite a bit. For good reason, a classic photo of a classic star in a classic fur. Mae West had a knack for wearing the big furs, the kind that perfectly fit a lady accustomed to being the center of attention. I’ve got one of her films posted, the aptly titled I’m No Angel. There some choice furs in a few others, though sometimes all too briefly.
Marilyn in the best thing you can get out of the 1950s… a large fox stole. This is from 1953’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a film with a least one decent fox in it. I have a really old, very bad set of captures from it, stuff that I won’t post on here. For more 50s stole and wraps, check out Let’s Do It Again, Silk Stockings, and Singing in the Rain.
Lili Damita from the Match King
Here’s another from last week’s Flickr stream-of-the-week. A rarer gem, the fur from the 1932 film The Match King. I included it in an “omnibus” update, because it was really the only decent fur in the film, but quite the decent fur nonetheless.
“Big updates” may be a little further apart than usual. Big season for new video games, will be wasting time elsewhere in the coming months.
Barbara Stanwyck - The Mad Miss Manton, 1938
Sure, you’ve seen it before, but it’s a really nice shot of one of the most “famous” furs in silver screen history. This is the fur with top billing in a film with a very crowded marquee, perfectly deployed upon the shoulders of the lovely Miss Stanwyck.
I found this in a (very well named) set from Flickr, collected by a fetching lady with very fine taste in furs: Hollywood Fur Glamor
Veronica Lake in A Very Long White Fox Boa
I’m partial to Veronica Lake, but she’s yet another example of someone whose most notable years on film occurred in an era where fur fashion simply wasn’t all that great. That makes it hard to find anything worth posting a full update. It seems she was not without the opportunity to wrap herself in some fox, though, as we can plainly see here. That is a really, really long boa, too. I suppose they could be cheating and there’s two of them, but what’s the fun in thinking that way?
Joan Crawford - Letty Lynton - 1932
Posted a smaller version of a different shot from the same promo set in the past, but this one is worthy of its own post. Not only do we get to see the full extent of that amazing fur, it also suggests it’s possible to see it in the 1932 film Letty Lynton. Or not. Apparently it exists in some sort of legal limbo and that’s why it’s not a staple of TCM’s many Joan Crawford fests. Well, neither is Mannequin or Ice Follies of 1939 anymore, but they have less of an excuse for those.
I call on lawyers around the world to free this film, because I really want to see Joan in that fur.
In more sad news, it appears Shanghai Lily is no longer on Flickr. I’ve always wondered about the likely tenuous position of these “aggregators,” especially since there’s obvious IP issues with a lot of what they’re posting. Reason it’s probably only a matter of time for many of them. Of course, I’m relying on them for content on this blog, so, by extension, I’m pretty dumb too.
We return with another hot geo-political topic: should Panama be the 51st state? Morton Kondracke, your thoughts?
Oh, wait, the cover, riiiight! Sorry, majored in government in college, and philosophy, too. Très useful, kids. That would be non-blonde bombshell Jane Russell, still looking the part 1964, draped in a thick white fox fringed wrap. Not only that, happily married after 21 years. Um, don’t ask about year 25…
Bonus points for anyone who gets the Morton Kondracke joke.
Marlene Dietrich in White Fox Trim
Getting more search traffic to this blog with terms related to Marlene Dietrich… Wonder why? Oh, right, the wonderful ease it is to find her draped in the largest, most beautiful furs. While I do strive for a little variety, of course, I admit I have trouble passing those images up when I see a “new” one, especially when it’s embed-able. Big fur hat tip to Shanghai Lily, of course.
Irene Dunne, ''The Awful Truth'' 1937
It’s clever title week! Sometimes relevancy has to take one for the team.
That being said, this is quite the nice still shot of that most “well known” of furs from 1937’s The Awful Truth. Displays excellent highlights on Miss Dunne’s face and the fur.
Barbara Stanwyck - Lady of Burlesque 1942
There was a shorter, more obvious title for this, but I went the more verbose version to spare everyone the indignity. This is a beautiful publicity shot from 1942’s Lady of Burlesque, featuring that most lovely and rather appropriately sized white fox muff. And the bird… that… bird. I can verify that Photoshop CS5’s content aware fill and patch tools do make short work of it, at least.
