STAR OF THE MONTH
Lauren Bacall
Born September 16, 1924
Betty Joan Perske was born to Jewish immigrants, Natalie Weinstein-Bacal and William Perske, in the Bronx, New York, 1924. When she was only 5 years old, her parents divorced and she never kept in contact with her father. She did, however, have a very close relationship with her mother throughout her life. It was after her parents' divorce that her mother, Natalie, changed her last name to the Romanian form of her maiden name, Bacall, which Betty would later also adopt as her surname.
As a teenager, Betty Perske, now going by Betty Bacall, enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In order to pay for school, Bacall worked as a theater usher. Later on, she began to test the waters in the world of modeling, and it was due to these jobs that she got her big break. In 1943, the wife of film director Howard Hawks saw Bacall on the front of Harper's Bazaar Magazine. She approached her husband about this new, attractive, striking face and convinced him to contact her and invite her to do a screen test for the upcoming film To Have and Have Not (1944). Hawks not only had Bacall audition for the film, but was so impressed with her that he moved her out to Hollywood, signed her to a seven year contract, and began paying her $100 a week. Essentially, Hawks took on the role of manager for the new, young actress. His wife, Nancy Hawks, helped train her in other ways, making sure she was always dressed in the latest fashions, and teaching her other little graces and types of etiquette. It was during this time of transition that Bacall (now officially renamed Lauren by Hawks) developed two of her biggest career trademarks. She was formally trained to speak in a slower, deeper, more masculine tone of voice, which she later on became known for. She also developed her trademark known as The Look, where she would angle her face downwards and look up at the camera through her lashes. Believe it or not, The Look was developed out of nerves, but it worked.
It was also during the filming of To Have and Have Not that Bacall met Humphrey Bogart for the first time. Though he was 25 years her senior, the two fell head-over-heels in love and began an affair. It was a well-publicized relationship, with the public affectionately referring to the couple as "Bogie and Bacall." They married in 1945, when Bacall was 20 and Bogart was 45, and they remained married until 1957, when Bogart died after battling esophageal cancer--a hard loss for Bacall, who later said,
"A man's illness is his private territiory and, no matter how much he loves you and how close you are, you stay an outsider. You are healthy."
Bacall worked on several more films in the latter half of the 1940s, including Confidential Agent (1945), The Big Sleep (1946), and Dark Passage (1947). Her trademarks helped her create an on-screen persona that made her stand out in the film noir genre. But Bacall also played notable parts in other genres as well, such as the comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), and the 1950 film Young Man with a Horn, which is considered to be one of the first big-budget jazz films.
Bacall has had a brilliant and full career, starring in over 60 productions, including television appearances, Broadway, documentaries, etc. She has been nominated for numerous Golden Globe, BAFTA, and SAG awards over the years, and was chosen to receive an honorary Academy Award for her achievements in film in 2009. She is still active at 87 years old.
MOVIE OF THE MONTH
Designing Woman
1957
Starring Lauren Bacall, Gregory Peck, and Dolores Gray
A sports journalist by the name of Mike Hagen (Peck) goes on vacation and meets elite fashion designer Marilla Brown (Bacall). Despite having almost nothing in common other than being living, breathing human beings, the two decide to get married before anyone (including themselves) really knows what's going on. Reality starts to hit when the newlywed couple returns to New York and tries to mesh their separate lives together--Marilla being dunked into a world of sports-crazed men, and Mike being looped into a life that revolves around clothes and the elite, dramatic, high-fashion social circle of his new wife. Their differences are further underlined after it is decided that Mike will move into Marilla's East Side apartment. Marilla goes to her husband's old bachelor pad and discovers not just that he has a poor sense of style, but also a picture of actress Lori Shannon (Gray)--Mike's ex-flame. She tells herself that it surely means nothing, and tries to disregard it yet, as time goes on, she feels like Mike is keeping a secret, and she begins to fear the worst.
Mike certainly is keeping a sercret--but it's not at all what his wife thinks! He has recently run into a bit of trouble by exposing boxing promotor Martin J. Daylor as a crook and a fraud. Mike is informed by his co-worker that Daylor has been snooping around, leaving messages, and making threats on Mike's life. But Mike doesn't wish to alarm or scare off his new wife, who is not accustomed to his lifestyle, so he decides that it is knowledge that Marilla does not need to be burdened with. Things get sticky as time goes on--Marilla just gets more suspicious that Mike is having an affair with Lori Shannon, which is only made worse when Mike has to go into hiding, pretending to be travelling with a sports team, yet none of the stories he tells his wife over the phone seem to match up.
Things just continue to slide downhill until everyone--Mike, Marilla, their friends, Daylor and his cronies--end up in a back alley and fight it out. But all ends well when Mike is forced to defend Marilla and the two of them realize that, even with all their differences and misunderstandings, they got married for a pretty good reason--because they love each other.
This comedy of circumstances was directed by Vincente Minelli, and the film did incredibly well at the time of its release. Bacall and Peck had excellent on-screen chemistry, and it was one of those rare movies for Bacall that brought out her witty side and hilighted her comedic talents.
You can catch Designing Woman starring Lauren Bacall on Turner Classic Movies on Wednesday, September 19, at 3:45 am ET.
"I used to tremble from nerves so badly that the only way I could hold my head steady was to lower my chin, practically to my chest, and look up at Bogie."
"You can't start worrying aout what's going to happen. You get spastic enough worrying about what's happening now."
"I think your whole life shows in your face, and you should be proud of that."
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