Classic Female Film Stars

What is it about classic female film stars, they have a sprinkling of fairy dust, an aura of sexuality and sensuality quite lacking from today's Stars. Audrey Hepburn, Kim Novac, Grace Kelly and my recent personal discovery of Lana Turner. The thing is they were hot, very hot. But unfortunately they are no longer around. It can be a bit sad to lust after the by gone days when women were so different. Yet it can not be helped, movies were both conservative and exciting then. Forunately their memory lives on in celluloid, for the world to view and contemplate the rest of eternity. More so than the rest of us mortals. Providing the films are not lost or decayed in some forgotten vault. They should be treasured. So another uprising of fans in future generations can take notice. These actresses had a sense of the demur, the fragile and so subtly bewitching. The lack of nudity didn't detract from their on screen presence, it just enhanced it, and this in turn meant many of these actresses went on to have longer careers in film than today's actresses. For example Lana Turner in Bachelor in Paradise was 40 years old at the time. Yet the film though comedic and light does have a tantalising edge to it. Bob hope a brilliant set of off-the-cuff retorts, to the point I wonder if he wrote those parts himself or ad libbed during the filming.

Whereas today's female stars just don't get the written script to keep you tantalised. Or on the edge of your seat. The old films weren't allowed to be as explicit as they are now so they had to make up for it in other ways. Acting ability and the ability of brilliant script writers, not forgetting classic great sound tracks. I can think of few contemporary films where sound tracks are so riveting, except maybe Signs directed by Night Sahliman. A Sunday with North By North West is a Sunday in heaven made because of it's excellent combination of wit, sarcasm, beautiful sound track and on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense. Today's film stars are being sold down the river, if they have any acting ability it is secondary to their looks. Looks don't last. Maybe it's the film makers? All doing their best to get the biggest audience they can, make their films so full of action there is not a moment to think and reflect, there's not a moment to inhale and be intoxicated by a long spoken scene which you become part of as a viewer. As Abe Lincoln said "you can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." Unfortunately in their rush to gain audiences many films end up on the edge of mediocrity, made for a society who prefers dumbing-down rather than walking out of a cinema having felt their life is all the better having seen the most recent squash buckling adventure, with violence and sex all over the place. It's not that I have anything against sex or violence in films, just they'd be better with the correct proportions.

Anyway, had my rant and reflection. Oh Lana Turner wherefore art though Lana? Oh yes, no longer here and no equivalent to replace you, there's no chance of a snog when you're born in a different era. Well at least Sparkling Eyes wont get jealous.