That Smile

I've rediscovered my infinite adoration and interest in the classic Hollywood and Broadway scene, the poise and glamour that each of the leading ladies and leading men had about them, that air of fame that didn't radiate as "celebrity" but as "star." Their talent and beauty just fascinates me, just watching them onscreen and marvelling at how stylized everything was and yet how we can still be totally in love with the films of the Golden Era of Hollywood, despite our modern obsession with bang-bang-shoot'em-ups and seemingly Baroque sense of extravagance with our CGI addiction.

There's something incredibly classy about them that is incredibly lacking in culture today. The smooth jazz tones or brassy belt shaped by lyrics that were anything but tawdry and crass - and even if they were intended to be that way, there was a dignity to it. Class.

And that was just them as people - as performers they were something else. Their style is far removed from the modern screen or stage, but I still feel like there's something to learn from them. Everything comes from something else. I want to emulate their talent and their class and their beauty, something real and tangible preserved in black and white celluloid.

Name those ladies, if you can. :) Some of my favourites, for many different reasons.