Enduring Empowerment : Women Who didn’t Give a Damn! …in Silent & Classic film!
monstergirl
THE SILENT YEARS: When we started not giving a damn on screen!
THE GODLESS GIRL (1929) CHAIR SMASH courtesy of our favorite genius gif generator- Fritzi of Movies Silently.
In celebration of our upcoming Anti Damsel Blogathon on August 15 & 16, I had this idea to provide a list of bold, brilliant, and beautiful women!
There was to be no indecent exposure of the ankles and no SCHWOOSHING! Not in this Blogathon baby!
From the heyday of Silent film and the advent of talking pictures to the late "˜20s to 1934 Pre-Code Hollywood, films were rife with provocative and suggestive images, where women were kicking up a storm on screen… The end of the code during the early 60s dared to offer social commentary about race, class, gender, and sexuality! That’s our party!
In particular, these bold women and the screen roles they adopted have become legendary. They sparked catchy dialogue, inspired fashion trends, or just plain inspired us… Altogether there are 111 of SOME of the most determined, empowered, and uniquely fortified femmes of classic film…!
First of course I consulted the maven of all things splendid, shimmery, and SILENT for her take on silent film actresses and the parts that made them come alive on the immortal screen…. Fritzi at Movies Silently has summoned up thesefabulous femmes…
1) Rischka (Pola Negri) in The Wildcat (1921) Ernst Lubitsch’s hyperactive Dr. Seussian comedy is worth seeing for the sets alone but the best part is Pola Negri’s Rischka, a young bandit queen who is terrorizing the mountains. She meets the local Lothario during a robbery and by the end of the scene she has stolen his heart. And his pants. 2) The Countess (Pola Negri) in A Woman of the World (1925) Anyone who thought going to Hollywood would tame Pola Negri’s wild side had another thing coming. In this film, she plays a countess whose skull tattoo causes an uproar in Anytown, USA. The film also features a romance between Negri and the stuffy local prosecutor, who soon finds himself on the receiving end of her bullwhip. Not a metaphor. 3) Lulu (Lois Wilson) in Miss Lulu Bett (1921) Independent women weren’t always given to violence and thievery. In the case of Lulu, she is a single woman trapped in two Victorian social conventions: spinster and poor relations. During the course of the film, she rejects both titles, learns her own self-worth, and empowers herself to enter into a healthy relationship with the local schoolmaster. Tasty feminism!4) Zaida (Bebe Daniels) in She’s a Sheik (1927) Silent movie audiences enjoyed reversals of gender tropes. The Rudolph Valentino vehicle The Sheik (1921) had been a smash hit and had spawned many rip-offs and parodies. (kidnapping = love = box office!) In this case, a warrior princess falls for a French officer and decides the most sensible course of action is to abduct him for the purpose of marriage. Sadly, this comedy seems to be one of many silent films that are missing and presumed lost.5) Eve (Leatrice Joy) in Eve’s Leaves (1926) Another gender reversal comedy, Eve’s Leaves features twenties fashion icon Leatrice Joy as a tomboy sailor who finds the perfect man while ashore on business. She ends up saving the day– and her favorite dude in distress– through quick thinking, a knowledge of knots, and a mean right hook.6) Ossi (Ossi Oswalda) in The Doll (1919) Ernst Lubitsch featured another feisty heroine in this surreal comedy. Our hero wishes to dodge marriage but cannot gain his inheritance without a bride. A plan! He will buy a lifelike doll from a famous toymaker and marry that. What he doesn’t know is that the doll was broken, the toymaker’s daughter has taken its place and she means to teach the reluctant bridegroom a lesson. Oswalda’s mischievous antics are a delight.7) Molly (Mary Pickford) in Sparrows (1926) Mary Pickford was America’s Sweetheart during the silent era and audiences adored her fearless heroines. Molly is one of her boldest. She’s an orphan raised in a Southern swamp who must rescue a kidnapped infant. The epic final race across the swamps– complete with alligators– is still harrowing to behold.8) Helen (Helen Holmes) in A Lass of the Lumberlands (1916) Helen Holmes was an action star who specialized in train-related stunts and adventure. In this 1916 serial, she saves the day on numerous occasions and even saves her love interest from peril on the train tracks. (It should be mentioned that the Victorian “woman tied to the train tracks” cliche was incredibly rare and usually treated with ridicule in silent films.) This is another movie that is missing and presumed lost.9) Diana Monti (Musidora) in Judex (1916) Not all the empowered women in classic films were heroines. In the case of Musidora, her most famous roles were as criminal. She was the deadly thief/hit-woman Irma Vep in Les Vampires and then took on the titular caped crusader in Judex. Smart, stealthy, and likely to slip a stiletto between the ribs… in short, a woman not to be trifled with.10) Helen (Miriam Nesbitt) in The Ambassador’s Daughter (1913) This short film from Thomas Edison’s motion picture studio features espionage and a quick-thinking heroine. She tracks down spies at the embassy, follows her suspect, and manages to steal back the documents that he purloined from her father. Not at all bad for a film made seven years before the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified.11) Cornelia Van Gorder (Emily Fitzroy) in The Bat (1926) It’s a dark and stormy night and a murderous costumed villain means to recover stolen loot in an isolated mansion. What is an elderly woman to do? Take up her trusty pistol and investigate, of course! She also wields a dry wit and keeps cool under pressure. The Bat doesn’t stand a chance.12) Catherine the Great (Louise Dresser) in The Eagle (1925) As mentioned above, Rudolph Valentino specialized in aggressive wooing but he finds the shoe on the other foot in this Russian romance. Louise Dresser is a kick as the assertive czarina who knows what she likes and goes for it.
Now to unleash the gust of gals from my tornadic mind filled with favorite actresses and the characters that have retained an undying sacred vow to heroine worship… In their private lives, their public persona and the mythological stardom that has & still captivates generations of fans, the roles they brought to life, and the lasting influence that refuses to go away…!
Because they have their own unique rhythm to the way they moved through the world… a certain kind of mesmerizing allure, and/or they just didn’t give a hoot, a damn… nor a flying fig!
“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud”-Coco Chanel
Stars like Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, and Ida Lupino managed to keep re-inventing themselves. They became spirited women with an inner reserve of strength and a passion for following their desires!
Barbara Stanwyck posing with boxing gloves!
The following actresses and their immortal characters are in no particular order…!
13. Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) Double Indemnity (1944) set fire to the screen as one of the most seductive femme fatales"” a dame who made sunglasses and ankle bracelets a provocative weapon. She had murder on her mind and was just brazen enough to concoct an insurance scam that will pay off on her husband’s murder in Double Indemnity (1944). Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) is the insurance guy who comes around and winds up falling under her dangerous spell"¦ Walter Neff: "You'll be here too?" Phyllis: " I guess so, I usually am." Neff: "Same chair, same perfume, same ankle?" Phyllis:  "I wonder if I know what you mean?" Neff: "I wonder if you wonder?" 14. Marie "Slim" Browning in To Have and Have Not (1944) Lauren Bacall walked into our cinematic consciousness at age 19 when Howard Hawks cast her as Marie "Slim" Browning in To Have and Have Not (1944). A night club singer, (who does a smoking rendition of Hogie Carmichael's "˜How Little We Know") She's got a smooth talking deep voiced sultry beauty, possesses a razor-sharp wit to crack wise with, telling it like it is, and the sexiest brand of confidence and cool. Slim has the allure of a femme fatale, the depth of a soul mate and the reliability of a confidant, and a fearless sense of adventure. Playing across Bogart as the jaded Captain Harry Morgan who with alcoholic shipmate Eddie (Walter Brennan ) runs a boating operation on the island of Martinique. Broke they take a job transporting a fugitive running from the Nazis. Though Morgan doesn't want to get involved, Slim is a sympathizer for the resistance, and he falls in love with her, while she makes no bones about wanting him to with all the sexual innuendo to heat things up! Slim: “You know you don’t have to act with me, Steve. You don’t have to say anything, and you don’t have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and… blow.”15. Margo Channing (Bette Davis) All About Eve (1950) In all Bette Davis' films like (Jezebel (1938) Dark Victory (1939) The Letter (1940) Now, Voyager (1942)), she shattered the stereotypes of the helpless female woman in peril. Davis had an unwavering strength, fearlessly taking on the Hollywood system and embracing fully the moody roles that weren't always "˜attractive.' Davis made her comeback in 1950, perhaps melding a bit of her own story as an aging star in All About Eve. Margo must fend off a predatory aspiring actress (Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington) who insinuates herself into Margo's territory. Davis manifests the persona of ambition and betrayal which have become epic… “Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night." 16. Margaret DeLorca / Edith Phillips (Bette Davis) plays the good twin/bad twin paradigm in Dead Ringer (1964). Edith is a struggling working-class gal who owns a nightclub, and Margaret is her vein and opportunistic twin who stole her beau Frank away and married into a wealthy lifestyle. On the night of his funeral, Edith shoots Margaret in a fit of vengeful pique, then assumes her identity with ironic results. Davis again proves even though she commits murder, she can manifest a pathos like no one else"¦ Margaret DeLorca: You really hate me, don’t you? You’ve never forgiven me in all these years.” Edith Phillips: “Why should I? Tell me why I should.” Margaret DeLorca: “Well, we’re sisters!” Edith Phillips: “So we are… and to hell with you!”17. Jane Hudson (Bette Davis) in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) is a forgotten alcoholic former child star living in a faded Hollywood mansion with her invalid sister Blanche (Joan Crawford), herself an aging Hollywood star. They punish each other with vicious mind games, temper tantrums, and repressed feelings of revenge and jealousy. Jane is a tragic tortured soul whose life becomes "˜ugly' because she’s been shunned and imprisoned by a fatal secret to which sister Blanche holds the key. What makes Jane such an empowered figure are the very things that have driven her mad. Jane's itching for a comeback and is ready to dance and sing her way back into everyone's heart! Jane has a child-like innocence that gives her that ambition and pure drive to see herself back on the stage. She believes it. While other people might laugh at her behind her back, Jane's repressed rage also leaves room for joy. She's an empowered aging actress who refuses to give up the spotlight"¦ Good for you Jane, now put down that hammer and feed Blanche something edible"¦ Davis delivering yet another legendary line… Blanche: “You wouldn’t be able to do these awful things to me if I weren’t still in this chair.” Jane: But you *are*, Blanche! You *are* in that chair!” 18. Alma Brown (Patricia Neal), in Hud (1963): Playing against the unashamed bad boy Hud Bannon (Paul Newman), Alma is a world-weary housekeeper who drips with a quiet stoic sensuality and a slow wandering voice that speaks of her rugged womanly charm. The philandering Hud is drawn to Alma, but she's too much woman for him in the end… Hud Bannon: “I’ll do anything to make you trade him.” Alma Brown: “No thanks. I’ve done my time with one cold-blooded bastard, I’m not looking for another.”
19. Sugarpuss O'Shea (Stanny) in Ball of Fire (1941) is just that, a sexy ball of fire and a wise-cracking night club singer who has to hide out from the mob because her testimony could put her mobster boyfriend Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews) away for murder! Some nerdy professors (including Gary Cooper) want to exploit her to study slang and learn what it's like to speak like real folk and does she turn their world upside down? Sugarpuss O’Shea: [needing help with a stubborn zipper] "You know, I had this happen one night in the middle of my act. I couldn’t get a thing off. Was I embarrassed!" https://thelastdrivein.com/2013/07/21/edward-dmytryks-walk-on-the-wild-side-1962-at-the-doll-house-when-people-are-kind-to-each-other-why-do-they-have-to-find-a-dirty-word-for-it/
20. Jo Courtney (Barbara Stanwyck) in Walk on The Wild Side (1962). Jo runs the New Orleans bordello called The Doll House with an iron hand"” when anyone steps out of line she knows how to handle them. Stanwyck had the guts to play a lesbian in 1962, madly in love with Hallie Gerard (Capucine). Stanwyck's Jo Courtney is elegant, self-restrained, and as imposing as Hera in tailored suits. Having to be strong in a man’s world, her strong instinct for survival and the audacious will to hold onto Hallie brings her world to a violent conclusion"¦Â "Oh, you know me better than that Hallie. Sometimes I've waited years for what I wanted."   21. Marie Garson (Ida Lupino) in High Sierra (1941) Roy “Mad Dog" Earle has been pardoned from a long prison term. Marie, a rough around the edges taxi dancer, finds herself resisting her attraction to this brutal gangster, forming a very complicated dynamic with a second mobster who wants to pull off a high-stakes robbery. Marie is a force of nature that bristles from every nerve she purely musters in this tale of doom-fated bad boys, but more importantly here"¦ A woman can raise a rifle with the best of them! Marie Garson “Yeah, I get it. Ya always sort hope ya can get out, it keeps ya going.”22. Lilli Marlowe (Ida Lupino) in Private Hell 36 (1954) This rare noir gem is written by the versatile powerhouse Ida Lupino who also plays Lilli Marlowe. Lilli has expensive tastes. After getting caught up in an investigation of a bank heist, she falls in love with the blue-collar cop Cal Bruner (Steve Cochran). Cal has secretly stashed away the missing money from that bank heist and then begins to suffer from a guilty conscience. Lilli's slick repartee is marvelous as Cal and his reluctant partner Jack Farnham (then husband Howard Duff) focus on her, hoping she'll help them in their investigation. Lilli's tough, she's made it on her own and isn't about to compromise now"¦ Cal may be falling apart but Lilli knows what she wants and she always seems to keep it together! Lilli Marlowe: “Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed I’d meet a drunken slob in a bar who’d give me fifty bucks and we’d live happily ever after.”23. Constance Porter (Tallulah Bankhead) in Lifeboat 1944. It's WWII and Connie is a smart-talking international journalist who's stranded in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with an ensemble of paranoid and desperate survivors. Eventually, her fur coat comes off, her diamond bracelet and expensive camera get tossed into the sea. But she doesn't give a damn, she can take the punishment and still attract the hunky and shirtless (yum) John Kodiak"¦ survival's just a state of mind"¦ and she does it with vigor and class and a cool calm! Connie Porter: “Dying together’s even more personal than living together.” 24. Berenice Sadie Brown (Ethel Waters) The Member of the Wedding 1952. Berenice doesn't take any crap. She’s in charge of the brooding, temperamental tomboy Franky Addams (Julie Harris) who feels like an outsider. Berenice’s kitchen is a place of wisdom as she tries to bestow some life lessons, to a child who is a wild and longing little soul"¦ Berenice is the only steady source of nurturing and a strong pair of shoulders to lean on"¦ Thank god Franky/Harris didn't start having her droning inner monologues until The Haunting (1963). Frances ‘Frankie’ Addams: [throws the knife into the kitchen door] “I’m the world’s greatest knife thrower.” Berenice Sadie Brown: [when Frankie threatens her with a knife] “Lay it down, Satan!” 25. The Bride (Elsa Lanchester) Bride of Frankenstein (1935) The Bride might be one of the first screen women to rabidly defy an arranged/deranged marriage. She's iconic,  memorable, and filled with glorious hiss!.. because The Bride may have come into this world in an unorthodox way, but she'll be damned if any man is going to tell her who to love! James Whale isn't the only one who brought about life in this campy horror masterpiece"¦ Elsa Lanchester manifested The Bride with a keen sense of fearsome independence. No matter whether the Monster demands a Mate, The Bride isn't ready and willing. Lanchester always took daring roles that were larger than life because she had a way of dancing around the edges of Hollywood conventions. Charming, hilarious, and downright adorable even with the wicked lightning-struck hair and stitches and deathly pale skin! the bride-"Hiss"¦Scream"¦”
26. Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) in His Gal Friday (1940) Hildy is a hard-bitten reporter for New York City's The Morning Post. She's just gotten back from Reno to get a divorce from her louse of a husband who happens to also be her boss Walter Burns (Cary Grant). Hildy's anxious to break ties with her manipulative ex-husband who just isn't ready to let her leave the job or their marriage so she can marry straight-laced Bruce (Ralph Bellamy)"¦ and he'll do so by any means. But she's nobody's fool"¦ and if she stays it's because she's made up her mind to embrace Walter's crazy antics"¦ Hildy Johnson: [to Walter on the phone] “Now, get this, you double-crossing chimpanzee: There ain’t going to be any interview and there ain’t going to be any story. And that certified check of yours is leaving with me in twenty minutes. I wouldn’t cover the burning of Rome for you if they were just lighting it up. If I ever lay my two eyes on you again, I’m gonna walk right up to you and hammer on that monkeyed skull of yours ’til it rings like a Chinese gong!” https://thelastdrivein.com/2014/04/23/when-the-spider-woman-looks-two-glorias-wicked-love-close-ups-old-jewels-the-sympathetically-tragic-villainesses-of-sunset-blvd-1950-and-draculas-daughter-1936/
27. Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) in Sunset Boulevard (1950) There's just no one quite like Norma Desmond. It's 1950's decadent Hollywood, the heyday of the Silent Era long gone"¦ and a true screen icon, a sympathetic soul, fights her way to a comeback. brought to life by Gloria Swanson. Swanson, who knew very well what it was like to be a screen goddess railing against fading away, creates an atmosphere of fevered madness. She's a woman whose desires are punished by an industry and the men who hold the reigns. But Norma doesn't give a damn she'll always be ready for that eternal close-up"¦ Yet another memorable phrase is turned and a legend both on and off screen is reborn. Joe Gillis: “You’re Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big.” Norma Desmond: “I *am* big. It’s the *pictures* that got small.” 28. Karen Stone -(Vivien Leigh) in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) Karen Stone has the misfortune of being a 50-year-old actress. There's no place in the theatre for an old woman of 50. On the way to Italy with her husband who is much older than she, he dies of a heart attack on the plane. Karen decides to settle in Rome and live a quiet life of solitude in her magnificent villa. Contessa Magda Terribili-Gonzales (Lotte Lenya) is an opportunistic Madame who employs charming young gigolos to wine, dine, and bleed dry wealthy older women. She introduces Paolo di Leo (Warren Beatty) to Karen in hopes that it will bring about a showering of riches from this great American lady. Karen has no use for her old theatre friends, the status, and the game of staying on top. She enjoys the serenity of her life at the villa. Yet she is shadowed by a young Italian street hustler's mysterious gaze. At first, Karen is reserved and cautious but soon she allows Paolo to court her, and the two eventually begin an affair. Karen is aware Paolo is using her for her money, but her passion has been released. She is using him as well. But when his mood begins to sour and he turns away, Karen finds him with a younger wealthy upcoming starlet that he is already sizing up as his next meal ticket"¦ The fling ends but Karen has taken back the power of attraction and sexual desire, and turns the usual stigmatizing dichotomy on its head, while it was okay when she was a younger woman married to a much older man, she takes a younger male lover Karen Stone: “You see… I don’t leave my diamonds in the soap dish… and when the time comes when nobody desires me… for myself… I’d rather not be… desired… at all.” 29. Maxine Faulk (Ava Gardner) in Night of the Iguana (1964). Maxine is a personification of the loner. She is sexually, morally, and socially independent from opinion. When Ava was cast as the "earthy widow" the director said her "feline sexuality" was perfect for one of Tennessee Williams' "hot-blooded ladies." Maxine runs a quiet out-of-the-way tourist oasis in Mexico. When a busload of provincial middle-aged ladies break down, Maxine has to host Judith Fellowes (Grayson Hall) a repressed lesbian, her gaggle of ladies who lunch, and Sue Lyon, a Lolita who is chasing Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton) a defrocked alcoholic priest, that Maxine would like to become better acquainted with. Once Hannah Jelkes (Deborah Kerr) and her elderly grandfather arrive, the atmosphere seems to shift and Shannon is confronted with questions of life and love. Everyone at the hotel has demons and the rich and languid air seems to effect everyone"¦ Maxine waits patiently for Lawrence to realize that they could have a passionate life together if he'd stop torturing himself"¦ Gardner’s scene dancing in the ocean with the two young men is daring and provocative and purely Ava Garnder- Judith Fellowes: [Yelling at Shannon] “You thought you outwitted me, didn’t you, having your paramour here cancel my call.” Maxine Faulk: “Miss Fellowes, honey, if paramour means what I think it does you’re gambling with your front teeth.” Ava Gardner | Maxine Faulk in Night of the Iguana 1964.30. Maude (Ruth Gordon) in Harold and Maude (1971) There is no one quite like Ruth Gordon. She's a sage, a pixie filled with a dreamy light that shines so bright from within. You can't help but believe that she was as effervescent off-screen as she was on screen. Maude has a transcendent worldview and a personal dogma to live life to the fullest and not waste time with extraneous matters. She believes everyone should be themselves and never mind what other people think"¦ What else can you say about a character that vocalizes as much wisdom as any of the great and insightful spiritual leaders? Maude and Ruth both have tenacity, vivacity, and perspicacity"¦Â Maude: “Harold, *everyone* has the right to make an ass out of themselves. You just can’t let the world judge you too much.” — Maude: “I should like to change into a sunflower most of all. They’re so tall and simple. What flower would you like to be?” Harold: “I don’t know. One of these, maybe.” Maude: “Why do you say that?” Harold: “Because they’re all alike.” Maude: “Oooh, but they’re *not*. Look. See, some are smaller, some are fatter, some grow to the left, some to the right, and some even have lost some petals. All *kinds* of observable differences. You see, Harold, I feel that much of the world’s sorrow comes from people who are *this.”
51. Carol Richman (Ella Raines) in Phantom Lady 1944 Carol Richman risks her life to try to find the elusive woman who can prove her boss (Alan Curtis) didn’t murder his wife. The unhappy guy spends a fateful evening with a woman he has picked up in a bar. He doesn't know her name but she wears an unusual hat, which might be a clue for Carol to try and track down. Carol's got so much guts, she puts herself in harm’s way so many times but she's fearless just the same. Even when she meets the super creepy jazz drummer Cliff Milburn, who obviously is manic and might just be a sadist in bed, (if his drumming is any indication.) Plus there's always the deranged sculptor Jack Marlow (Franchot Tone) who seems to be a menacing force. Cliff Milburn (Elisha Cook Jr) “You Like Jive?” Carol "˜Kansas' Richman "You bet, I'm a hep kitten." 52. Pam Grier is Coffy 1973 Okay okay tho I’m sneaking in past the 1970 cut-off"¦ I'm a woman who doesn't give a damn and nods to one of the greatest ’70s icons"¦ Pam Grier set the pace for strong female heroines that laid the groundwork for all the others to follow… so she gets a nod from me! She plays a nurse who becomes a vigilante in order to get justice against the inner-city drug dealers who are responsible for her sister's overdose"¦ Coffy sets the bar high for strong female characters who wouldn't back down, and who possessed a strength that is meteoric and a force to be reckoned with. A beautiful, resourceful, intelligent -a strikingly irrepressible image that will remain in the cultural consciousness for an eternity. Arturo Vitroni: “Crawl, n*gger!” Coffy: [pulls out gun] “You want me to crawl, white mother fucker?” Arturo Vitroni: “What’re you doing? Put that down.” Coffy: “You want to spit on me and make me crawl? I’m gonna piss on your grave tomorrow.” 53. Charlie (Teresa Wright), in Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Charlie is tired of small-town life with her parents and annoying younger sister. She's a girl starved for new adventures, longing for something exciting to happen, to stir up her life. Careful what you wish for"¦ She's overwhelmed with joy when her beloved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton) decides to pay the family a visit. But something isn't quite right with her idol, he begins to exhibit a strange sort of underlying hostility and troubling secret nature"¦ Her mother's (Patricia Collinge) younger brother is actually a sadistic serial killer who preys on rich widows by marrying them, then strangling them! He's so charming and charismatic that women can't help being drawn to him. But young Charlie begins to see through his facade. Why would he cut out the news headline in the paper about a murderer who kills rich women? It all begins to take shape, and unfortunately, Uncle Charlie can't afford to have his favorite niece spill the beans. What's remarkable about young Charlie is that for a girl who fantasizes and indulges herself in things of a more romantic nature, she's pretty darn brave in the self-preservation department since no one else in the family believes her suspicions that he's The Merry Widow killer. And she might just have to go rogue and wind up killing him in self-defense"¦ Young Charlie: “Go away, I’m warning you. Go away or I’ll kill you myself. See… that’s the way I feel about you.” Constance Towers & Virginia Gray.54. Kelly (Constance Towers) in The Naked Kiss (1964) The opening of the film is one of the most audacious entrances in early exploitation cinema, as Kelly confronts her pimp who has shaved off her hair and stolen her money. Kelly brutally pummels the rat with her handbag. Stripped of her hair she looks like a mannequin signifying her as the "˜object' She is introduced to us from the opening of the narrative as a fighter. Kelly manages to fit into the quaint new town of Granville she's made her home until the perverse true nature of Granville's benefactor is exposed. Grant (Michael Dante) possesses a dark secret that Kelly stumbles into and ultimately explodes into scandal. The story is a minefield of social criticisms and hypocrisy that allow Kelly to rise above her persecution by the local cop Griff (Anthony Eisley) who isn’t averse to taking Kelly to bed himself or frequenting Madame Candy's (Virginia Gray) high-class "cat house' yet he's above reproach. Griff tells Kelly it’s a clean town and he doesn't want her operating there. But Kelly wants out of the business. She's great with disabled children at the hospital and just wants a fresh start. Until she exposes the truly deviant secret about Grant and winds up accused of his murder. Kelly initially walks the fine line of being the "˜whore' of the story, the one who needs redemption only to have the narrative flip it around and more importantly it's the town that must be redeemed because of it is jaundiced complacency from the long-kept secrets of the wealthy Patriarchal family that owns and run it. Kelly is a powerful protagonist because she kicks down the door of hypocrisy and judgment. Kelly also shatters the limitations that are placed on women. There exists a displaced female rage that started to become articulated later on with ‘feminist parable’ films during the late 60s and 70s. In the end, she no longer is labeled or objectified, or persecuted. She is embraced as a savior. Kelly's got a reserve of strength and a great sense of self. To me, she ends up being a heroine who rather than redeems herself becomes the catalyst for cleansing the "˜white middle-class' town of its hypocrisy… Kelly (talking to Capt. Griff Anthony Eisley)"I washed my face clean the morning I woke up in your bedroom!"55. Velma (Agnes Moorehead) in Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964) Velma is Charlotte's trusted companion. She shows a lot of gumption when Cousin Miriam (Olivia de Havilland) shows up trying to gaslight poor Charlotte who's suffered enough at the grotesque and tawdry way she lost her fiancee, and how she lived under the oppressive thumb of her father (Victor Buono). Velma wasn't nary shy a bit to face off with Cousin Miriam, that intimidating gold-digging she-devil in Park Avenue clothes. (From de Havilland’s own wardrobe) Velma always says it like it is, and tries to be a trusted friend to Charlotte even when the whole town shuns her as a crazy axe murderess. We all need friends who would either help you hide the body, or at least defend you against an accusing mob"¦ either way. I'm pretty sure Velma could have taken Miriam if she didn't have Joseph Cotton’s help on her side"¦ And we can't forget Mary Astor's firebrand performance as Jewel Mayhew"¦ Jewel Mayhew: “Well, right here on the public street, in the light of day, let me tell you, Miriam Deering, that murder starts in the heart, and its first weapon is a vicious tongue.”– Velma Cruther talking to Cousin Miriam: “O you’re finally showin’ the right side of your face. Well, I seen it all along. That’s some kinda drug you have been givin’ her. Isn’t it? It’s what’s been making her act like she’s been. Well, Ah’m goin’ into town and Ah’m tellin’ them what you have been up to.”56. Jean Seberg is Lilith 1964 Jean Seberg is the mysterious Lilith, a sylph-like girl who inhabits the world of a more progressive sanitarium for the wealthy, luring everyone around her into her sensual and mystifying space. Both Vincent Bruce (Warren Beatty) and Stephen Evshevsky (Peter Fonda) fall under her spell. Lilith, schizophrenic hyper-sexual, slinks around the sanitarium like a lithe spider queen weaving golden threads in her wake, and captivating anyone caught in her beautiful web. "to leave the mark of her desire on every living creature." The opening titles even suggest her as predatory by the use of graphic webs with a butterfly caught in its design. Lilith dwells in an imaginary world with her own language and in favor of unseen gods. She should have tendrils of golden locks that wisp just slightly over her wanting lips. Mad or not, Lilith is a beautiful creature that doesn’t belong in a confined world. Does Lilith's journey only become self-destructive or dangerous to other people when her spirit is restricted, trapped like a feral cat who doesn't want to be tamed? Lilith Arthur: “You’ve killed with these hands. Why?” Vincent Bruce: “That’s the business of a soldier.” Lilith Arthur: “You must love your God a lot to kill for him and still go on loving him. I’d never ask that of a lover. I’d only ask for his joy.” –– "Somehow insanity seems a lot less sinister to watch in a man than a woman." "“Dr. Bea Brice (Kim Hunter)
57. Sinister Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) in Rebecca (1940)Â A Gothic cautionary tale that warns if you're the second wife, make darn sure that your husband doesn't have an ominous housekeeper who holds a macabre obsession with the dead first wife. When Mrs. de Winter (Joan Fontaine) marries Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier) she becomes wife number two. Apparently, the housekeeper Mrs. Danvers makes it quite clear that there is only one Mrs de Winter-Rebecca"¦ a woman she is most obviously in love with and worships even after death. Blatantly making poor Joan feel as if she's stepped into a nightmare, in the shadow of the first great wife who was beautiful and refined. Mrs Danvers parades her mistress's beautiful clothes and undergarments fondling them just to torture the young bride. Even the dour look on her face reveals that she doesn't give a damn about anything but the first Mrs de Winter and quite frankly Dame Judith Anderson pulls it off masterfully! Mrs. Danvers: [as the second Mrs. de Winter runs into the room] “I watched you go down the stairs just as I watched her a year ago. Even in the same dress, you couldn’t compare.” The Second Mrs. de Winter: “You knew it! You knew that she wore it, and yet you deliberately suggested I wear it. Why do you hate me? What have I done to you that you should ever hate me so?” Mrs. Danvers: “You tried to take her place. You let him marry you. I’ve seen his face – his eyes. They’re the same as those first weeks after she died. I used to listen to him, walking up and down, up and down, all night long, night after night, thinking of her, suffering torture because he lost her!”– another verbal lashing by Mrs. Danvers: “Oh, you’ve moved her brush, haven’t you? [moves it slightly]… There, that’s better. Just as she always laid it down. ‘Come on, Danny, hair drill,’ she would say. [picks up the brush and goes through the motions of combing the second Mrs. De Winter’s hair, without actually touching it]…Â And I’d stand behind her like this and brush away for twenty minutes at a time. [lays down the brush and looks at the portrait of Maxim]… Then she would say, ‘Good night, Danny,’ and step into her bed.” https://thelastdrivein.com/2020/10/01/chapter-4-queers-and-dykes-in-the-dark-classic-noir-horror-cinemas-coded-gay-characters/
Dame Judith Anderson as the diabolic Mrs. Danvers.
58. Varla -Tura Satana in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) with Haji & Lori Williams. Russ Meyer's exploitation film to end all campy exploitation films"¦ What works for this trashy treasure is Tura Satana who was a purely powerful figure in the 60s. It's one of the ultimate 60s cult films of empowered and female boldness… Three go-go dancers with mouths like truck drivers and a sense of adventure go out to the desert to race their sports car. They meet a young couple, and Varla challenges Tommy (Ray Barlow) to a race. He gets killed in the crash and the aggressive go-go dancers kidnap his girlfriend. They also run into a family of psychopaths who are sexual sadists, BUT these women can totally handle themselves and fight their way out of any nightmare situation. Tommy: “Look, I don’t know what the hell your point is, but…” Varla: “The point is of no return and you’ve reached it!”
59. Daisy Stevens (Jean Harlow the blonde bombshell) in Beast of the City (1932) Daisy Stevens is a hard-edge gang moll. Here's a shot from the standout scene where she's on the lineup. She's a sexy sassy dame and a mantrap for Wallace Ford. I mean look at the beautiful mug and tell me she gives a flying fig! Daisy Stevens, [Laying down on a bed seductively] “I don’t mind taking orders, but there’s one decision that’s always up to me.” — Det. Ed Fitzpatrick (Wallace Ford): [Ed steps between Daisy and her front door] “Don’t kick me in the shin, or I’ll smack your face!” Daisy Stevens “All right, copper.” Det. Ed Fitzpatrick: “How’d you come to think that one up?” Daisy Stevens, “Aw, you’ve got Headquarters written all over yuh!” Det. Ed Fitzpatrick: “Smart girl, huh?” Daisy “Yeah, and I never got past the eighth grade.” Det. Ed Fitzpatrick: “Well, maybe you’re bright enough to answer a few questions.” Daisy “Sure, if you don’t ask them in Yiddish!” https://thelastdrivein.com/2017/04/25/beautiful-poison-jean-simmons-in-angel-face-1953-gene-tierney-in-leave-her-to-heaven-1945/
60. Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney) in Leave her to Heaven (1945) Ellen is a sociopath willing to do anything it takes to clear the way for Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde.) Anything, like letting her crippled brother-in-law drown in the lake. And if the baby is going to wind up taking even the smallest amount of his affections away from you, hell, just throw yourself down the stairs. Part guts and part nuts, Ellen is a woman who didn't give a damn about the questions of morality, conscience, or consequence"¦ Usually dreamy and too genteel to be seen as a homicidal powder keg, Tierney truly earns the stripes to be called a "˜dangerous woman' and I don't mean in a seductive, lead you down the wrong pathway. Extraordinary composure lends an extra element of fear to Ellen's persona. Mrs. Berent Ellen’s mother (Mary Phillips): “There’s nothing wrong with Ellen. It’s just that she loves too much.” 61. Kathy Allen (Arlene Dahl) Wicked as they Come (1956) Growing up in the hard streets, Kathy wants out, and will do what it takes to move up in the world and taste the finer things. She's not an evil woman, but she sure wants to wash the taste of dish soap and cheap beer out of her hair. So she rigs a beauty contest, makes her way to England, bamboozles a very high-strung English man out of his fortune"¦ Meets Phil Carey on the plane with whom she truly has genuine chemistry, but chooses to keep climbing that ladder 'til it leads her to be accused of shooting her wealthy husband Herbert Marshall when she was set up for revenge by the jilted Englishman"¦ Kathleen ‘Kathy’ Allen- “You tried to buy me. Both of you, with the contest. You men just don’t like it do you, when your dirty game is played back.”62. Mrs. Frankie Neall (Marie Windsor) in The Narrow Margin (1952) There have been a lot of femme fatales in film noir, and sometimes it's nice to pay tribute to the dames who were more offbeat, quirky & just as captivating. Frankie Neall is a tough lady. She's a mobster's wife who decides to turn states evidence and testify against him. She goes undercover riding on a train so she can make it to the trial safely. She's escorted by Det. Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) the only hitch is that the mob is on the train too! Look at her composure. Frankie maintains a sexy cool under pressure"” a kind of "who gives a damn I'm in a dangerous spot but it doesn't ruffle me any." She's got guts. Walter Brown: “Sister, I’ve known some pretty hard cases in my time; you make ’em all look like putty. You’re not talking about a sack of gumdrops that’s gonna be smashed – you’re talking about a dame’s life! You may think it’s a funny idea for a woman with a kid to stop a bullet for you, only I’m not laughing!” Mrs. Neall: “Where do you get off, being so superior? Why shouldn’t I take advantage of her – I want to live! If you had to step on someone to get something you wanted real bad, would you think twice about it?” Walter Brown: “Shut up!” Mrs. Neall: “Not till I tell you something, you cheap badge-pusher! When we started on this safari, you made it plenty clear I was just a job, and no joy in it, remember?” Walter Brown: “Yeah, and it still goes, double!” Mrs. Neall: “Okay, keep it that way. I don’t care whether you dreamed up this gag or not; you’re going right along with it, so don’t go soft on me. And once you handed out a line about poor Forbes getting killed, ’cause it was his duty. Well, it’s your duty too! Even if this dame gets murdered.” Walter Brown: “You make me sick to my stomach. Mrs. Neall: “Well, use your own sink. And let me know when the target practice starts!”63. Eve Kendall -Eva Marie Saint North by Northwest 1959 Cary Grant plays Roger Thornhill an Ad Exec who is a victim of mistaken identity by a spy ring. Trying to get free of the intrigue he is then framed for murder. Nothing is what it seems in this Hitchcock thriller. Not even Eve who he meets on a train headed for Chicago, helps him evade the authorities. From the dialogue, it seems like the two have sex that night though it's only implied. Eve is a resourceful woman who can hang in there in any dangerous situation without a whimper, a scream, or a broken high heel. She'd even hang from the top of Mount Rushmore if it meant saving her skin and Rogers"¦ Now that's brave. Eva Marie Saint’s Eve Kendall, is a woman who uses sex, as Thornhill puts it, “the way some people use a flyswatter.” Kendall: “I’m a big girl.” Thornhill: “Yeah, and in all the right places.” she KISSES him ) Roger Thornhill: The moment I meet an attractive woman, I have to start pretending I have no desire to make love to her.” Eve Kendall: “What makes you think you have to conceal it?” Roger Thornhill: “She might find the idea objectionable.” Eve Kendall: “Then again, she might not.” Roger Thornhill: “When I was a little boy, I wouldn’t even let my mother undress me.” Eve Kendall: “Well, you’re a big boy now.”64. Lisa Carol Fremont (Grace Kelly), Rear Window (1954) Lisa is too sexy, too refined, and too smart not to indulge her boyfriend journalist L.B. ‘Jeff’ Jefferies (James Stewart) who laid up in a wheelchair playing at back alley peeping tom, witnesses a murder and thinks she’s too rich & frivolous. But she is not so squeamish that she is opposed to leaping tall brick buildings where a grisly murder has taken place. Even when she believes that across the way neighbor has hacked up his wife and placed the parts in suitcases headed for upstate NY. She's also not afraid of breaking and entering to get the darn proof! Lisa is a girl with beauty, brains, class, and courage. She knows what she wants. And she's not spoiled, she enjoys her life and is quite giving"¦ Oh if only I were Jimmy Stewart in that wheelchair when she comes in for that smokin' close-up kiss"¦. Lisa: “I’m not much on rear window ethics.” Special nod to Thelma Ritter as Stella Jeff’s spirited nurse Lisa: “What’s he doing? Cleaning house?” Jeff: “He’s washing and scrubbing down the bathroom walls.” Stella: “Must’ve splattered a lot.” [both Jeff and Lisa look at Stella with a bit queasy] … Come on, that’s what we’re all thinkin’. He killed her in there, now he has to clean up those stains before he leaves.” Lisa: “Stella… your choice of words!” Stella: “Nobody ever invented a polite word for a killin’ yet.” 65. Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard), My Man Godfrey (1936) In this social satire, Irene is a kind-hearted, spoiled, and willful society girl during the Depression era 30s. Irene is a flaky socialite who during a contest to see who can find a forgotten man and bring him back to show off at the party. Of course, the roles are reversed and Godfrey has a oodles of class, while the rest of the idle wealthy are shown as idiots. She tracks down a skid row bum (William Powell) and hires him to be the butler Godfrey! The flighty Irene is really taken with Godfrey Parke's charismatic personality. The family however is stunned to find out something else about the charming man. Both the character Irene and Carole Lombard have a delicious kind of sex appeal. A genuine likability and a brilliant sense of timing. Irene: “You have a wonderful sense of humor. I wish I had a sense of humor, but I can never think of the right thing to say until everybody’s gone home.” 66. Barbara Steel as Gloria Morin in Fellini’s 8 1/2 ((1963) Steel moves and creates the groovy style at the Ball, which inspires Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) Art inspires art…
[wpvideo 6L2ZHZ11]
67. Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame) In A Lonely Place (1950) Dixon Steel (Humphrey Bogart) is a screenwriter with a volatile temper. When he has Mildred Atkinson over to read him an idea for a film, later that night she is murdered. And Steele becomes the main suspect. Steele bucks the system, wisecracks inappropriately, and acts generally belligerent. He is a man that is struggling with a monkey on his back. Enter Gloria Grahame as Laurel Gray who lives across the way in another apartment house where she has a perfect view inside his apartment. She tries to alibi Dix as she has fallen for the guy, but his moods and his behavior push her farther away. Nobody owns Grahame or the characters she's played. Laurel is an independent woman who won't take abuse or confusion in her life. Even if she's in love"¦ it ain't enough"¦ She's tough alright and her style is not overtly snarky it has just the right tenor! Dixon Steele: “You know, you’re out of your mind – how can anyone like a face like this? Look at it…” [he leans in for a kiss] Laurel Gray: “I said I liked it – I didn’t say I wanted to kiss it.”https://thelastdrivein.com/2020/08/11/the-big-violence-of-fritz-langs-the-big-heat-1953/
74. Auntie Mame Dennis (Rosalind Russell) in Auntie Mame (1958) The biggest word that can describe Mame Dennis is "˜unconventional' a socialite with a non-conformist will to live life to the fullest. In the midst of the roaring 20s she has been chosen as her nephew Patrick’s guardian and to raise him for her brother who has died. Though Patrick's father has assigned an executor to the will in order to safeguard Mame's wild influence on the boy. Regardless of the precautions laid out for Patrick, he and Mame develop a bond that is so beautiful, as he journeys with her and her crazy, wild, and perhaps a bit decadent always adventurous ways! Mame Dennis: “Well, now, uh, read me all the words you don’t understand.” Patrick Dennis: “Libido, inferiority complex, stinko, blotto, free love, bathtub gin, monkey glands, Karl Marx… is he one of the Marx Brothers? …Neurotic, heterosexual…” Mame Dennis: “Oh, my my my my, what an eager little mind. [takes the list] … You won’t need some of these words for months and months.” 75. Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) Bonnie & Clyde (1967) Bonnie and Clyde rob banks, and she loves to hold those guns"¦ ‘The story of Bonnie Parker smoking a cigar is accurate. She did it as a joke. But after the shootout at the bungalow in Joplin, MO, police found the photos the gang had taken and published the photo of Bonnie, thereby leading to her unearned rep as a "Cigar Smokin' Gun Moll""¦ She's fearless and loves danger. Dunaway also set a fashion trend thanks to Theoni Van Runkle"¦ transcending her on-screen persona and inspiring a style that women wanted to emulate! Bonnie Parker: [to Clyde] You're just like your brother. Ignorant, uneducated hillbilly, except the only special thing about you, is your peculiar ideas about love-making, which is no love-making at all.
78. Barbarella (Jane Fonda) in Barbarella (1968) Barbarella is an action superheroine who glides into each tricky situation with an innocent and diligent mindfulness toward justice"¦ She's a 41st-century astronaut with the BEST wardrobe by Gloria Musetta & Paco Rabanne. Her mission is to find the mastermind Durand Durand (Milo O' Shea) in the city of Sogo, an interplanetary Sodom & Gomorrah. Barbarella may come off as free and easy but she is anything but. In a place where new sins and ways to torture people are created every hour, including a machine that works like a pipe organ that can pleasure you to death! Barbarella does find her sexuality awakened by all this chaos, as she comes from a world where sexual contact has been reduced to popping a pill and touching hands"¦ She must navigate this treacherous terrain and not be thwarted by the evil Durand Durand (played mischievously by Milo O'Shea), or The Great Tyrant (pulled off to a tee by the sexy Anita Pallenberg) who sleeps in a bubble-like dream chamber and is lusting after Barbarella and has an army of tiny flesh-eating dolls YIKES! The Great Tyrant: “Hello, pretty pretty.” Barbarella: “Hello"¦” The Great Tyrant: “Do you want to come and play with me? For someone like you, I charge nothing. You're very pretty, Pretty-Pretty.” Barbarella: “My name isn't pretty-pretty, it's Barbarella.” –Barbarella calmly-"THERE'S MANY DRAMATIC SITUATIONS THAT BEGIN WITH SCREAMING!"
112. dragon-lady ‘Mother’ Gin Sling (Ona Munson) in The Shanghai Gesture (1941).
She’s a dragon lady in Shanghai who operates a gambling house for wealthy patrons but she clashes with influential land developer Sir Guy Charteris who wants to put her out of business.
113. Marlene Dietrich as Shanghai Lili the enchantress who travels along the train lines, and stumbles onto a dangerous ride while reuniting with an old lover in Shanghai Express (1932).
114. Ann May Wong as Hui Fei the fearlessly mysterious woman who travels with Lili in Shanghai Express 1932.
115. Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda) is self-sufficient and in control of her body and knows she is the best ‘fuck’ that money can buy in Klute 1974.
116. Torch singer Petey Brown (Ida Lupino) has guts and is terrific when she bitch slaps the sleazy good-for-nothing Johnny in The Man I Love (1946).
117. Miriam Hopkins as Gilda Farrell in Design for Living 1933. Hopkins has all the power when juggling both Gary Cooper and Fredric March.
118. No one is more savage than Ann Savage’s ruthless Vera in Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour 1945. Tom Neal was destined to be doomed when he picks up Vera who takes him on a nightmarish ride.
119. Jayne Mansfield is the bright star Jerry Jordan in The Girl Can’t Help It 1956. When a down-and-out gangster hires an alcoholic press agent, they try to turn Jerry into a singing sensation in only 6 weeks. The only problem is- she has no talent!
120. In Josef von Sternberg’s The Devil is a Woman 1935, Marlene Dietrich plays Concha Perez, a cunning temptress who drives men to distraction.
121.Piper Laurie as Delia Leslie Friskett in Robert Wise's Until They Sail 1957. She plays one of four sisters – Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, and Sandra Dee in her first role. During WWII they struggle to survive without the men in their lives. Piper Laurie's performance as Delia Leslie is extraordinary filled with layers of self-preservation and boldness. Delia is a free spirit who will not bend to others’ will.
122. Juanita Moore earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her portrayal of Annie Johnson in Imitation of Life 1959. Moore gives a powerful performance as a black mother positioned in the world of Lana Turner’s white privilege. She is faced with her daughter’s struggle to negotiate her identity and in real life, facing Hollywood’s persistent stereotyping of black actors.
123. Joan Blondell as the enigmatic Zeena Krumbein in Edmund Goulding’s Nightmare Alley 1947. Set in the dark lure of the world of Carnival life and the shifty con of fake mentalism, Blondell is tapped into the power of the Tarot and remains a strong Goddess-like seer who bears witness to Tyrone Power’s spiral downward.
 NOW BEAT IT AND be empowered AND GO MAKE SOMETHING OF YOURSELVES BEFORE WE FILL YOU FULL OF LEAD!
![Anna Lucasta (1958) | Pers: Eartha Kitt, Sammy Davis Jr | Dir: Arnold Laven | Ref: ANN040AE | Photo Credit: [ United Artists / The Kobal Collection ] | Editorial use only related to cinema, television and personalities. Not for cover use, advertising or fictional works without specific prior agreement](https://thelastdrivein.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/tumblr_lvnaeyvi341r1a8w8o1_500.jpg)
