Early on in watching the Fred Astaire films I decided that my favourite character wasn't Fred or Ginger, but Helen. Not only is she the funniest of the lot, with all her wisecracking, but she is 20 years older than Ginger and so closer to my age.
Also, where Ginger wears impossibly frou-frou gowns, Helen wears clothes I could imagine myself wearing. Well, maybe without some of the hats. I looked up Helen on Wikipedia ages ago and half remembered she had a famous son.
Bill didn't think she was old enough, but I went back and checked: Helen's son is Broderick Crawford.
I think it's a bit sad, given the substantial presence that she added to the feathers and fluff of her era's films, that she's not that well remembered. So I thought I'd bring her to your attention.
Are you a fan of someone whose not as famous as they perhaps deserve?
1 comment:
great post. i've got a nomination for you: ruth hussey (google her name and philadelphia story). she kills in that movie. she was smoking hot (american idiom you may recognize) and perfect in her role as the woman who pines over jimmy stewart, but wise enough to be patient.
i actually write about broderick crawford in my series on "brankton walks austin" on fatscribe. small world ... always is.
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