Now, this "program-style" book, which is most accurately described as a "promotional / biographical" feature, IS autographed by Ginger, which is cool in and of itself - my first autograph from VKM! But the MAIN reason I snagged this book is that it is loaded with cool pics! There are also a few nice articles - the most interesting one is by Lela, describing how Ginger became involved with the Charleston contest which sealed her fate as this cabana boy's eventual and perpetual Boss Lady! I will try to transcribe that or whatever for a future post...
But enough yakking... on to the visuals!
...This is a 'promo' pic from "Kitty Foyle"... quite interesting and really beautiful... there aren't really too many 'serious' (i.e., 'non-smiling') pics of Ginger floating around.
...Speaking of "Kitty", here is one I have never seen from that perfect night in February 1941... it is just after she received the Oscar, and is back at her table with Lela and the boys...
...Now, this picture and the next one are pretty interesting... it is obvious that Ginger knew how to brandish a firearm (see 'Carefree'... "he should be shot down like dogs!!!") ...I know little or nothing about firearms... But, something tells me this isn't her typical garb for skeet shooting...it's a killer pic, tho (no pun intended...)
...THIS one warrants a 'write the caption' contest, with one of those gooberhead hubbies being the all-too-obvious target (pun most definitely intended...)
...This one is pretty cool for two things - first, well, it's an invite to Young Ginger's piano recital - duh! But the 'Lee' middle name phenomenon crops up again... it is described as an 'experimental' name, but does not yield any clues as to its origin... Heck, Ginge must have just liked the way it sounded... that's good enough for Huey, y'all...
...Just a neat tennis pic - one I have not seen before.. I need to compile all of these and do a post on GingerTennis... maybe around Wimbledon Time... dang, I bet she could wield a mean, yet beautiful, racket...
...You know, Ginger has forced me to use the word 'adorable' twice now in recent times... but how ELSE can you describe her in this pic???
...I'm sorry, y'all, but THIS Ginger just totally shakes me to my foundations... the 'middle age' Ginger at peak form... yeah, MAYBE a bit too much mascara or whatever around the eyes, but... nah... she is just out-and-out HAWT in this one... Huey is a MONDO fan... and I LUV her hair style of this era... and how it is darker on bottom, light on top... just magnificent, y'all... Bob, you were one lucky cat... hats off!Well, that's about it... hope y'all dug these... there were quite a few more in this tome, but most are already familiar to we Gingerologists...
AND, thanks for all the votes about the 'Fall Clothing' pics... the 'Fuzzy Lines' ran away with it... a pretty cool outfit, and really the most 'custom-styled' of the batch... but I am STILL a fan of the first one... you know, the 'middle-age' Ginger thing... yupyupyup...
Keep it Gingery in GingerFall, Y'all!!!
VKMfanHuey
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Oh, great stuff! She looks beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. :)
These are great pictures! I love that first one from "Kitty Foyle." If I knew how to sketch or paint that picture would be perfect to recreate. And I agree Huey, Ginger looks AMAZING in that last picture :)
ReplyDeleteGreat pics! You may think me horrible for saying this but Ginger's non-existent sideburns in the 40's sometimes trips me out! :)
ReplyDeleteHuey, I'm back. And now I have real' fast DSL and can work much more effectively. And certainly I can visit more blogs of my fellow movie-bloggers. That means CLASSIC movie bloggers of course (the only thing I like in the 60s is John Wayne)!
ReplyDeleteYour Ginger photos are toooo swell again! I like Ginger with that rifle. What? ... too much mascara?? ... ... lookie-lookie (here comes cookie...) ... I'd even guess fake lashes. Well I don't like thick mascara and fake lashes too much, but on stage and in front of a camera you need just a 'little bit' more of that stuff, otherwise it'll look like no mascara at all. Well, that's showbiz.
Ginger's 1925 piano recital - cute!
Those photos are gorgeous! And interesting, especially the piano recital one. I think she looks particularly beautiful in the last, even with all the mascara lol.
ReplyDeleteI've said it before, but I'll say it again: I love your blog!! I love learning new things about Ginger from an 'expert' :)
Great pictures :)She's very beautiful on the 1st one. It may be silly what I'm going to say, but I love her eyebrows on it ^^
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at the "Lee" middle name experiment.....our dog's name is Ginger (not after our VKM but because the name just fit her) and one of her nicknames is Ginger Lee, hehehe.
ReplyDeleteI love that first one from Kitty Foyle era!
What a gingerly dog you have, Gingerella -- quite a little Gingerologist. ;)
ReplyDeleteHuey, I've got two gingerly problems:
1) 'Living' in 1932 at present, I ask myself: Where is GIRL CRAZY? It seems this show was not as important as the 1932 staging of GAY DIVORCE (later in film "DIVORCEE"), since NIGHT&DAY is really a big hit -- but I can't find any melody recorded from GIRL CRAZY in 1932. But maybe she did make records in that year?!
(2) When I was in 1928 I heard the song YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF ME, sung by Bing Crosby (with Paul Whiteman Orchestra). Years ago, when this CD was new, I was sure Ginger sang it once in 1933 -- and I was sure it must have been in FLYING DOWN TO RIO: The band (with Fred at accordion) recalled more or less the old Paul Whiteman arrangement. That is what I recalled years ago and I still heard Gingers voice too in my head, while Bing sang. Now Ginger's voice is gone, for I heard Bing too often singing that. But there must be a recording ... you know, probably cut out. But this time without reason, because Ginger sang it pretty swell! I'll be dogged if I'm unable to find that recording!! If my memory is right and it really existed...
Wonderful pix of the glorious Ginger!
ReplyDeleteThe skeet shooting photos (and your tennis reference) made me wonder about the relationship Ginger had with Carole Lombard, who was pretty good in both endeavors (skeet and tennis). They were, of course, RKO stablemates for a while, and I'm certain they at least got along (I've never heard anything to the contrary), but I'm wondering just how close they were. Did they ever socialize, or face each other in tennis? (Or skeet shooting, for that matter.) Just curious. I've never seen a photo of them together, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have been friends; it's no secret Lombard and Jean Harlow were on good terms, but a photo of them together has yet to be unearthed.
...Glad y'all enjoyed the post! Sorry I haven't replied, but have been a bit busy this weekend...hey, my son has learned how to walk at 13 months, AND my daughter can finally ride her bike! So some big things cooking in the Huey household...
ReplyDeleteGinger I: Thanks - glad you liked the post! And glad to see you are back on your blog...I'm a BIG fan! Keep doing what you are doing - VERY unique and interesting! hope you are doing well!
Desarae: I love the 'Kitty in deep thought' pose as well - just a bit different than most pics... and yep, I also LUV Ginger in the 60's!!!
Sarah: Glad you like the post! Yeah, not sure what the 'sideburn' (or lack thereof) deal is... I guess certain 'eras' and 'sub-eras' have the quirks... not sure if this was a trend, or just 'isolated' to Ginger... but I can overlook it for the 'big' picture! :-]
CS: Glad to see you have 'amped up' for more blogging action! High-speed DSL and 78 RPM recordings are quite the contrast, eh? But if it all works together for the advancement of the 'classics' we love, then I'm all for it!!! As for the GingerEyes... I think they ARE awesome, but yeah, probably a "60's" deal... think a lot of ladies went 'big' on the eye detail in that era...
AND, speaking of the recital invite, notice the two 'assistants names? Katherine and Catherine! How weird is THAT?
ok - posting a 'part two' of this, to make sure I reply properly!!!
VKMfan
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OK - 'Part Two' post...
ReplyDeleteJH: Glad you liked the post! Thanks also for the kind words... but it's pretty easy to blog on about a topic you could NEVER possibly tire of!!! And SO glad to see things going on your blog as well! I am going to get a few Ida movies and check them out... I'm hoping your new 'source' has been fruitful! ;-]
Camille: Her eyes ARE so awesome in this one... and the brows as well... she always had 'different' brow looks, some better than others... this one is great... the 1939 look was my favorite Ginger eyebrow period, when they were kind of light, but 'thick'... see 'Fifth Avenue Girl' and 'Bachelor Mother'... I just think it is wild we can yak about eyebrows on here... gotta love it!!! :-]
Gingerella: Ha Ha!!! My in-laws (who we live next door to... it's not THAT bad, fortunately... :-] ) had a Shi-zu (spelling is tricky and dangerous for that particular breed) named Ginger... but yours is at times a 'Ginger Lee'...funny! Not sure if you caught the 'Marriage license' post I did a few months back, but I dug up VKM's first marriage from New Orleans, and it had 'Lee' as the middle name... so it appears she just used it as a 'stage name enhancement'...
CS: I would LUV to unearth some tunes from 'Girl Crazy', as well as 'Top Speed'... should be some out there, but not sure if recorded, or just sheet music. I DO have the 'older Ginger' singing 'Embraceable You' and 'But Not For Me'... better than nothing, I suppose... I will try to get going on a new 'musicBox' for the blog...
As for a potential 'lost Ginger tune'...dang it, there's TOO many of those!!! Sometimes I wonder what happened to all the stuff from Ginger's estate... did Roberta keep most of it? Was it auctioned off? I read somewhere in the book this post was taken from that Ginger had leather-bound copies of all of her film scripts... what Huey would do for those? Hmmm... I better not go into any details here...
VP81955: Glad you enjoyed the post! I love Carole Lombard, too! I know they weren't in a movie together, unless I just slap missed it, but Ginger seemed to speak pretty fondly of her in her bio... betcha they played a few sets of tennis and maybe even shot some skeet... I would have most DEFINITELY wanted to be a ball boy for that match! Or, whatever you do in skeet to help out (as you can tell, I'm not very well versed on that activity...)
Thanks for the input, everyone! I will glean a few more things from this book for future posts, the article from Lela regarding Ginger's start in show biz being one...
Hope y'll are doing well, and are having a great GingerFall!!!
VKMfanHuey
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Huey this is gingerly very-very important!
ReplyDeletehttp://hollywoodheyday.blogspot.com/2010/09/on-another-ginger-book!!!
This man has a lot to say and he knows a lot. I just adore his work. Did you know about that Ginger book?
Hey Huey! :)
ReplyDeleteDid you know that Ginger had an affair with Jean Gabin around 1941-42? At least, that's what they said in the "Making of Moontide" documentary on the Moontide DVD. I had never heard about that before... wasn't Ginger married at that time, or am I mistaken?
Ginger writes they had "...a few dates..." and "...Marlene Dietrich, was hot with fury..." -- I'd guess they just went out. The rest seems to be Hollywood tiddle-taddle -- and Dietrich...pshaw!
ReplyDeleteCS #1: I have seen that 'Bio-Bibliography' floating around eBay for quite sometime, but just couldn't justify shelling out $75-$100 bones for it... I'm just hoping I run across it one day in a used book store...
ReplyDeleteJH: Hey, Ms. Jean!!! Well, I BELIEVE Ginger was 'between' gooberhead hubbies, 'post-Ayres' and 'pre-Briggs'. She married Briggs in 1943, after dumping Ayres in 1937 or so, officially... you can tell that it is of paramount importance that I defend Ginger's reputation... surprised? :-] Seriously, one day I am going to sit down and do a 'timeline' of all the dudes Ginger was involved in...although it may ultimately leave me a bit...well, you know... JEALOUS? :-]
CS #2: EXACTLY! The Hollywood press probably tried to pin a lot of stuff on VKM, most likely because of her 'above board' lifestyle compared to the 'average' tinseltown denizens... there I go again... but JH got my dander up!!! Well, what she passed along, not JH HERSELF, of course... just a bit miffed when stories like that are out there with 'implications'... ok, I'm fine now, tho... :-)