Glamour of the Gods exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery

Photography by Karl StrussGloria Swanson, 1919
Photography by Baron Adolph de MeyerMary Pickford, 1920
Photography by Nikolas MurrayClara Bow, 1925
Photography by George HurrellClark Gable and Joan Crawford, 1933
Photography by George HurrellJean Harlow, 1933
Photography by George HurrellMarlene Dietrich, 1937
Photography by Gene KornmanRita Hayworth, 1939
Photography by Robert CoburnRita

Is it possible to have it all?

I'm writing this blog from my bed.  I've always had a very healthy relationship with it.  I absolutely love my sleep and so does The Actor.

To accompany this post I'm using some pictures of people in some rather fabulous beds I've collected.  I've used a picture of someone reading the paper - I used to read tons of papers an magazines but I don't have time anymore.  I don't know how everyone

Anita Ellis, the voice behind "Put the Blame on Mame"

Anita Ellis (b. 1920), who did the singing for Rita Hayworth in Gilda and several other Hayworth films, might have had a more visible career as a vocalist if she wasn’t consumed by stage fright.

Paralyzing fear
Ellis didn’t just have butterflies before live performances; she became paralyzed, unable to perform. Fortunately, radio was big in the 1940s and Ellis was able to find steady work. Her popularity as a radio vocalist lead to jobs singing for non-singing actresses in the movies. This was the perfect situation for a singer who couldn’t face an audience. Without hundreds of eyes staring at her, Ellis was able to sing, “Put the Blame on Mame” with real gusto and personality. Her voice and Hayworth’s perfect lip-synching have many convinced to this day that it’s Hayworth’s voice, not Ellis’s belting out that famous tune.

A musical family
Ellis was born Anita Kert on April 12, 1920, in Montreal, Canada. She was raised in a Jewish Orthodox family. Her father was a cantor at their synagogue, so Anita’s singing wasn’t encouraged for religious reasons. However, Ellis’s mother sang and played piano and made sure that her daughter’s musical talent didn’t go to waste. Ellis won a scholarship at age 17 to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. It was when she began studying there that she discovered her stage fright and its implications to a career as a vocalist.

A star on the radio
Then there was radio. On the radio, without the fear of performing in front of a large audience, Ellis found her niche. She became a regular on Red Skelton’s radio show and made some record recordings. It was during her stint on radio where she was given the opportunity to sing for the movies, making audiences believe that Rita Hayworth, Vera Ellen, Shelley Winters, Joan Caulfield, and Jeanne Crain could sing like, well, Anita Ellis.

Performing live
Ellis was popular with music critics and some encouraged her to conquer her stage fright and perform before live audiences. Ellis did perform live, but with limited success. When on stage, Ellis would tremble and move around uncomfortably. After a few more tries, Ellis gave up performing live in concert venues. She did perform sporadically here and there over the years, but decided to retire in 1987.

The Ellis family was a talented one. Anita’s brother Larry Kert, was the original Tony in the Broadway musical West Side Story.

"Gilda" starring Rita Hayworth is February's "Meet Me at the Movies" presentation

The Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance (PDNA) invites you to "Meet Me at the Movies," Friday February 26, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at Sherwood Community Music School, Columbia College recital hall, 1312 S. Michigan Ave.


There never was a woman like Gilda!
That was the tagline for Gilda, the 1946 film classic starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. Hayworth caused a sensation as the conflicted title-named heroine. When she sang "Put the Blame on Mame," in a skintight Jean Louis gown, Hayworth secured her place in film history.

The story begins with Johnny Farrell (Ford), a down-on-his-luck small-time gambler who ends up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After cheating two men at craps, a mysterious man (George Macready) saves him from being robbed. The mysterious man tells Johnny about an illegal casino and warns him not to use his cheating skills there.

Right-hand man
Intrigued, Johnny finds the high-class gambling joint and begins cheating the house. Before he knows what's happening, Johnny is surrounded by the casino's watchful staff and taken to the owner, Ballin Mundson, the mysterious man, who saved him from thieves! Johnny convinces Mundson that he should hire him. Mundson does just that and before you know it, Johnny is his right-hand man. 

"I hate you, Johnny!"
When Mundson returns from a trip with a beautiful, young wife (Gilda,) he asks Johnny to watch over her for him. What Mundson doesn't know is that Gilda was once Johnny's lover. The tension and hatred between Gilda and Johnny grows with each passing day. But is it really mutual hatred that stands between them?

Chemical reaction
The on-screen chemistry between Hayworth and Ford set tongues wagging about a possible off-screen relationship. Both stars denied they were ever romantically involved, but remained life-long friends.

The "Love Goddess" is born
After Betty Grable, Hayworth was the most popular pin-up girl during World War II. In a cover story in Life magazine, Hayworth was dubbed the "Love Goddess" a label that she personally hated, but one that followed Hayworth throughout her career.

Gilda was given the A-treatment by her home studio, Columbia Pictures. Charles Vidor (Cover Girl, Love Me or Leave Me) directed and cinematographer Rudolph Mate (The Pride of the Yankees, To Be or Not to Be) lovingly photographed Hayworth. As already mentioned, Jean Louis designed Hayworth's form-fitting costumes, which only served to reinforced her love goddess status.

Icon status
Almost everything surrounding Gilda is iconic. Hayworth's look, her clothes, her "Put the Blame on Mame" performance, and even the movie poster itself is considered an iconic piece of promotional art. The Artist's Cafe in the Fine Arts Building, 412 S. Michigan Ave. has a foreign version of the Gilda poster hanging on its wall.

There were many memorable movies made and released during the late 1940s, but Gilda stands out among them and remains a classic today.