Lana Turner?

As a massive drunk myself, I’m flattered.

Id love Hollywood to give a biopic of her life the silver screen treatment.Nexy year she has been dead thirty years.

Lana and her galpal, Ava, were both boozy sluts. Lana, however, could keep it together, whereas Ava could be a mean, fall-down drunk.

It is weird that she hasn’t had a biopic. Her life was batshit insane.

I'm also a size queen, so Lana is my Goddess.

Considering her lack of talent, bad decision-making and troublesome personal life, she had a far longer career, over 25 years, than most actresses of Golden Age Hollywood, beginning with her debut in 1937 and onwards well into the 1960s. 4 decades of stardom. How many American Actresses besides Crawford, Davis and K Hepburn could compare? And she was a true sex symbol unlike those other three ladies, making the longevity even more impressive.

Lana was a true Hollywood studio product, was taken care of and mostly told what to do by MGM and usually took the advice to heart. She also, unlike Ava Gardner and others of her ilk, was dependable and genuinely liked to work.

r6 Did she not work into the 1970s? I do recall that she didnt wish to be seen by the public in her final years.

She came back for the Falcon Crest.

r7, you're right. Lana actually worked well into the 1980s on TV in Falcon Crest and The Love Boat.

And it seems her daughter loved her very much which is astonishing. Angela Lansbury thought she should get the lead in The Three Musketeers and went to Louis B to plead for the role. Louis B was not moved.

Angela didn't seem to get that though she was a very fine actress and Lana didn't have a fraction of her talent Lana was a movie star. Angela never was. Lana got people to fill the big movie palaces. Angela just got to fill out a cast. She did get to star on TV and Broadway. But a true star is a movie star. Lana in Postman is a star for the ages. Angela in Mame and Sweeney Todd is just a star for theater geeks.

Lana Turner's daughter was there when Lana stabbed her gangster lover, later came out as lesbian. She lived in a lovely Victorian house in San Francisco with her lover for many years and where her mother often came for visits.

In her later years Lana had exciting handsome gay PR man as a friend and escort when she went out on the town in San Francisco, where I spent my early life.

I was a young teen at the time and he was a friend to me and two others who were on the periphery of that world. We helped out a local celebrity socialite and her secretary (a younger widowed socialite) with her fan correspondence at their homes and met Mr. Sinclair through them. He invited us to his North Beach apartment to swim in the pool, taking us to lunch in North Beach and once to Clown Alley on Lombard for burgers. He was very kind to us and totally above board. He spoke fondly to us about his lady friends, including Lana Turner. We'd see him in the society columns from time to time, squiring glamourous ladies around town. I had enormous respect for that tanned and handsome man. He was about 32 when we knew him.

In his obituary, linked here, it says, "He once commented to a society reporter "If you're a bachelor, you don't have to grow up."" Now I understand why he was so nice to us truly gawky, nerdy teens. He never grew up. Great guy and a lovely link to an exciting world.

r11 Wasnt it speculated or claimed that Lanas daughter Cheryl was the one who stabbed the gangster and she was trying to keep her daughter out of trouble by taking the blame?

Actually, I think it was Cheryl who did stab him. I'll look for a story online.

You're right, R12. Cheryl stabbed him. I totally forgot that. She overheard a violent argument and came to the aid of her mother.

Lana was a movie star, she did movie star acting.

I love Lana. Her life story is indeed crazy. As an actress, she was very much an MGM product that was packaged and sold—not a great thespian, but she delivered what was necessary and she does (despite what some DLers would say) have some good performances in her career. She was beautiful on camera. That staircase descent in "Ziegfeld Girl" is legendary.

Talent aside, she was known to be very professional and had a healthy work ethic unlike some of her peers. I once read a quote from a news article profiling Lana in her later career, when she was in her sixties and doing unglamorous regional theater performances. A stagehand told the paper that she was the "hardest working broad" he'd ever seen. It made me respect her a bit more.

Aubrey Plaza is a dirty little fuck toy 🤤

r13 r14 Cheers good find! Knew I had heard it somewhere!

[quote] she had a far longer career, over 25 years, than most actresses of Golden Age Hollywood, beginning with her debut in 1937 and onwards well into the 1960s. 4 decades of stardom. How many American Actresses besides Crawford, Davis and K Hepburn could compare?

Lana didn't really become a star until the '40s.

A few others who had long careers: Ingrid Bergman, Jane Wyman, Olivia de Havilland, Marlene Dietrich, Susan Hayward, Lauren Bacall.

And Barbara Stanwyck

And Lucille Ball

Judy Garland had a career of over 30 years.

And Elizabeth Taylor

Rosalind Russell

Her daughter Cheryl is/was a very pretty woman—a statuesque, glamorous, very femme lesbian. Lana, despite being a devout Catholic, never turned her back on her and was accepting of it, even when Cheryl told her parents at 13(!) years old.

Somebody posted excerpts from the book that her gay male companion wrote. Maybe the same guy as R11? It was very entertaining. She was old school batshit in the best sense of the word.

Lana had more children pulled out of than a burning orphanage. I wouldn't call her devout.

Wow R25 she is stunning.

I remember the story of her being fired from Falcon Crest because (a) she was unprofessional, not dependable and always late for filming, and (b) because Jane Wyman wanted her gone for 'not being a lady'. Not sure how to reconcile these stories with the statements upthread that she was reliable, a hard worker and a good catholic. Will need to read up on her on Wikipedia.

She was so beautiful, though.

She was nuts.

[quote]Angela just got to fill out a cast.

But Lana filled out a sweater.

The story told in court and believed by the jury was that Cheryl had killed Johnny Stompanato defending her mother, but I don't think many are convinced of that. It seems like a sympathy ruse which kept Lana out of trouble as the teen's tale created another trauma victim (not counting Stompanato, of course).

I'd be very surprised if anyone other than Lana killed Johnny.

TCM played one of those "Word of Mouth" commentaries that Ricardo Montalban did about Lana. He had nothing but praise for her.

Lana lost her V to business attorney, Greg Bautzer, at the age of 17. He was 27 or so. He once took the young starlet to Joan Crawford's house for a dinner party, and as they made their way to the projection room to watch one of Crawford's films, Lana took a seat next to Bautzer and cuddled with him. Crawford looked on with scorn. Afterwards, Joan summoned Lana back to her house and told the young tart that Bautzer did not love her and didn't have the heart to tell her. She advised that Lana end the relationship because he was really in love with her (Joan). Lana immediately broke up with Bautzer and took considerable glee in landing leading lady roles (and leading men!) that Crawford would've gotten had she still been popular.

r29 The rumour I heard was Jane Wyman wanted her fired because years before Lana had an affair with the husband or boyfriend of Janes good friend Barbara Stanwyck. It was loyalty if you like to her old pal.

I never doubted Cheryl killed Stompanato. Her story never varied in the slightest. And who would put their young daughter through that, if she wasn't the one to do it? Besides I don't think Lana would have killed him. Other than the question of why she would have a kitchen knife in her bedroom (as opposed to Cheryl having gotten it from the kitchen when she heard Johnny screaming threats at Lana), I just don't think Lana would have killed anyone. And she could have gotten out of that relationship so many other ways. She wouldn't resort to murder. It makes more sense that her young teenage daughter would do something impulsive and not think of the consequences.

You BITCH!!!!!!!!

The only time Angela Channing ever said the B word was to Jacqueline Perault once and not again in nine seasons.

R40 I wondered at the time why they couldn't get a better looking girl who really could have passed for Lana Turner.

"I never cared for her."

If you throw a drink in a cop's face can't you get arrested for that?

Lana said on Donahue that some Hollywood wife flew to the set because she was afraid Lana was having an affair with her husband on the set. The plane crashed. It might have been Clark Gable. Not sure.

Lana was everywhere with her memoir in the 80s. She became a devout Christian nut in her later years.

The documentary, Lana Turner, A Daughter's Memoir - narrated by Robert Wagner - is very good. It's on one of the Lana Tuner movie DVDs.

Back in the day Lana did dinner theater. Dinner theater had a stigma attached but it really wasn't bad, and you could see those big names from the previous era like Van Johnson, Don Ameche, Eve Arden, Jane Russell, Cyd Charisse, etc.

Lana Turner was living the life every gay man on here could only dream of. Getting fucked legless by studs.

Every bottom on here, you mean.

Yes, Carole Lombard supposedly was on a war bond tour in 1941 but impulsively boarded a flight back to Hollywood when she heard that Lana was fucking her husband Clark Gable on the set of MGM's HONKY TONK. Tragically, Carole's plane crashed and she was killed.

"supposedly" should have been inserted between the words "she" and "heard" in my post.

Thank you. Carole wasn't "supposedly" on a war bond tour.

I know the obvious reasons, but how did she let herself get into a public relationship with Johnny Stompanato. The name alone screams 2 AM "You up?" text. I'm surprised the studio allowed it.

She was a drunk who didn't know her lines when she was on my show so I had them get rid of her.

Lana Turner was an up and coming starlet in the late '30s, when she already being groomed for stardom by Metro. Her stardom was cemented in 1941, with this as one of three big movies LT starred in. Here's my look at Lana as a "Ziegfeld Girl."

R49, the movie Gable and Turner were filming at the time of Lombard's death was "Somewhere I'll Find You."

R53 A lovely picture, especially of Judy.

As I write in my review, look at the three stars of "Ziegfeld Girl," then think of how many husbands they collectively had. Not to mention scandals! Metro was the big enabler studio, with those stars, along with Mickey, Liz, Joan, and Van Johnson's fake marriage to his best friend's wife! As far as Lana was concerned, she had cleaned up her act by the time she did "Falcon Crest." The rumors I always heard was Jane was sick of Lana acting like she was still at Metro... limos to go to the loo, etc.

Here's Lana Turner promoting her memoir and Falcon Crest on Donahue. Phil is his usual bull in the china shop self. And Lana is much like Joan Crawford in TV interviews, play acting different sides of her persona. All ladylike one moment, girly the next, naughty the next after that! Love how she tries to convince everyone she was only friends with "Mr. Gable!" Or why she really wasn't an alcoholic! You can't help not liking Lana, but she was in LaLa Land, like many of the film greats who were pampered and enabled...

[quote] like many of the film greats who were pampered

Let's leave June Allyson out of this.

According to Lee Server's excellent biography of Ava Gardner, Turner and Garner got their kicks going off on a drinking binges far away from LA, entering some dive bar, and picking up customers who couldn't believe they were partying and fucking Turner and Gardner.

I'm not claiming they invented "Mr. Right Now", but they may have perfected it.

Lana screen tested for Scarlett O’Hara.

I’ve read that there was a lot of bitterness on Judy Garland’s part where Lana was concerned (mainly because Lana went off an married Artie Shaw) but it still seems the two remained close long term. I know they lived next door to each other and that Liza and Cheryl were childhood friends.

As to studio interference concerning Lana's relationship with Stompanato, wasn't that relationship when she was no longer attached to MGM or any other studio?

Why do you suppose Lana never became a popular name for baby girls in the US?

She has a scene with Kevin Spacey.

R62 you’re correct, MGM dropped her in 1956 and she started dating Stompanato a couple years later.

Lana wasn't much of an actress, but she definitely had the "it" factor in spades.

A truly beautiful woman. It’s no wonder so many men wanted to fuck her. I think she was far prettier than Marilyn.

I think this is the Montalban piece R34 is referring to. By his account, she was professional, respectful of her fellow actors, and didn’t try to steal the scene. It seems he adored her.

Lana was not a lady!

R4 At one time, a movie called "Stompanato" was in pre-production with Catherine Zeta Jones set to play Lana and Keanu Reeves set to play Johnny Stompanato, but it died on the vine.

Now Catherine and Keanu are way too old to play those characters, and few moviegoers today would even know who Lana Turner and Johnny Stompanato were.

June Allyson was one of Hollywood's most "dependable" actresses, I agree! As for Lana, she was for the most part, professional and unpretentious, though she could be a bit of a diva post-studio system. Some of her lesser-known films are her most appealing, playing normal women instead of bombshells, like "Cass Timberlane" and "A Life of Her Own." Not classics, but interesting, and she's good in them.

Lana's leading man in "Latin Lovers" was supposed to be her current squeeze, Fernando Lamas, after their successful pairing in "The Merry Widow." But Lamas flew into a jealous rage after Lana danced with Lex Barker at a party, and beat her black and blue, forcing her to cancel all public engagements until all the bruises had healed. An enraged Louis B. Mayer fired Lamas and canceled his contract.

In Lamas' place stepped Ricardo Montalban, who, by Lana's own account was a true gentleman, who was entirely devoted to his wife, Georgiana.

The booze, sun and cigarettes did a number on her aging wise.

Until one night I saw the light

And heard salvation's call

Ta da da da da da da da da da...

I'm so glad I didn't hear it

Until I did it all

Wasn't Ricardo's wife Georgiana Loretta Young's sister?

[quote]and beat her black and blue

Did all over her men, beat her up?

Keanu, r70???

There was a very funny anecdote about Lana DL fave Susie Lee shared in her wonderful old Hollywood threads.

An older woman fan approached Lana at a Hollywood premiere in the 60s and told her how gorgeous she was back in the day. Lana replied: "Oh yeah, all that crap they made me wear back then."

The girl was probably used to mommy's knock-down, drag-out fights, followed by passionate making-up.

Lana would have done time, lost her career, etc. They hung the rap on the girl. She probably turned to lesbianism in reform school (especially after being raped by Lex Barker).

[quote] Now Catherine and Keanu are way too old to play those characters

I'm 27 years old, young enough to play that role. Get your facts right!

My greatest generation dad thought she was a goddess, and he never talked about liking anybody, male or female. Curious, I watched an interview with her in the 80s and boy, did she come off as a dim bulb.

At one point she 'corrected' the rumors about her drinking by explaining that she was never an alcoholic, just had a glass of wine and sipped it all day long. "I was a sipper" she said. Got a kick out of that. Me too doll, I'm a big sipper.

When her daughter came out to her Lana said, "is it my fault?" which I guess at the time would be considered an enlightened attitude.

Lana used to ride around Hollywood on an elephant.

Lana may have been a home-wrecking whore, but she didn't allow any hanky panky in Peyton Place. She never allowed her daughter to hang around with that hussy Betty Anderson.

[quote]When her daughter came out to her Lana said, "is it my fault?" which I guess at the time would be considered an enlightened attitude.

Lana may have thought, how can someone go through life without wanting cock?

"Johnny Stompanato" is the greatest name for a hood ever!

I remember hearing Robert Osborne tell a story about Cheryl Crane coming to an afternoon party of some kind dressed all in leather, with a girlfriend, and Judy Garland saying to someone, "Lana isn't a good mother," which he found amusing coming from Judy.

She stole Joan Crawford's career when Joan aged out of certain roles. Joan most certainly would have been cast in Peyton Place, Imitation of Life and Madame X just a few years earlier, but now those roles were going to Lana. I'm sure Joan resented her to no end.

She was a Trekkie!

My favorite Lana period is the Imitation of Life - Madame X era. Lots of those films are like glamour-comfort food to me. Portrait in Black, Love Has Many Faces, etc. The Ross Hunter touch. She actually is quite good in Madame X

They wanted Lucy to stab Johnny Stompanato but Gary talked her out of it.

Anyone who loved big dick as much as Lana is fine by me.

Lana was excellent in Madame X. Truly her best performance!

I thought she was great in Madame X (which otherwise wasn't great), but I always think of the fingernails. In the end, when she was a decrepit old-before-her-time hag, she still had beautifully manicured nails with beige polish on them. I didn't get how they didn't notice that mistake.

I always thought Lana should’ve been included in the AFI Top 50 Actors/Actresses list. I thought she should’ve had the overrated Loretta Young spot.

Peyton Place is my favorite Lana performance. In the 70s she turned to theatre and did summer tours of Bell, Book and Candle and Forty Carats among others. She always seemed like the kind of broad the crew loved.

I don't think Lana liked "big" dick so much as very good looking men (most of the time). She had a weakness for the worst ones. She was strangely naive. Her 2nd husband Stephen Crane told her his family was in the tobacco business back east. She believed him. Much later he took her home and she saw that the family business was a cigar store in Crawfordsville, Indiana. When they first married, he didn't tell her he already had a wife he wasn't divorced from.

"He mentioned nonchalantly that he was in the tobacco business, in a way that suggested that any kind of business bored him. Certainly it seemed that he had no money worries. We chatted for hours, and by the time he took me home, I was ready to fall in love. With my weakness for a certain kind of good looks, coupled with witty charm, I took him at face value. In no time we were a pair. Only three weeks later he asked me to marry him."

The marriage was annulled, but they remarried when Lana found out she was pregnant (with Cheryl). After his divorce from Lana, he was also married to (among others) actress Martine Carroll.

Crane later became very successful as a restauranteur, owning The Luau, and the chain of Kon-Tiki restaurants in big hotels across the country. Cheryl worked for him.

Lana also liked swing music and had a weakness for big band leaders and musicians. She hosted parties for bands bands like Tommy Dorsey's.

* Martine Carol

That shocking night in 1958

Lex put gals in the hospital with his dick. Knowing that Lana bagged that and could handle it makes me respect her.

MMMM Lex

Yeah, he also repeatedly raped her little girl.

R73 the cigarettes are also probably what killed her. She was a chainsmoker for most of her life, and was so often photographed holding cigarettes that MGM would airbrush them out in an attempt to hide it.

I read Cheryl’s autobiography. She is not remotely self pitying but life was very hard for her for years after the stabbing. I don’t think at all that she lied on her mother’s behalf.

I have a coffee table book of photographs of Lana that Cheryl put out years ago. She was so beautiful, but she aged prematurely in my opinion.

The R40 clip shows that they also got Lana's hairstyle wrong. at the time she wore her hair short.

R70 - I read that it was Sharon Stone and Antonio Banderas. Sharon is the same kind of actress as Lana. Not much ability but tons of charisma.

R81 - Cheryl Crane sounds as dumb as her mother.

[quote]Not much ability but tons of charisma.

Starlet charisma maybe. Sharon doesn't have a movie star resume. If it hadn't been for Basic Instinct...

Lana was usually soft and feminine onscreen, it's hard to get that right today because no leading actresses want to play those qualities any more.

In the big costume picture, Green Dolphin Street, she played a more calculating, but still vulnerable character, a sort of Scarlett O'Hara of the Channel Islands (and later, New Zealand). And in The Three Musketeers, she was the scheming Milady DeWinter. But she was always feminine in that popular old-movie way, while a lot of the female stars today come across as hard.

[quote] I have a coffee table book of photographs of Lana that Cheryl put out years ago.

That's a great book. Despite being photo-oriented, it has great insight into Lana, more than I have read elsewhere. If I'm not mistaken Cheryl says Lana's closest friend was Virginia Gray, and that she was close to Judy Garland. There are such photos as Lana mowing grass, and making turkey gravy at Thanksgiving at Cheryl's place in San Francisco - the kinds of details only Cheryl could have included.

R4 Woody Allen's "September" is loosely inspired by the Lana Turner-Cheryl Crane-Johnny Stompanato incident.

Mia Farrow plays the daughter of a famous Hollywood actress (Elaine Stritch) who killed her mother's boyfriend.

Well, who pray tell plays the Johnny Stompanato role, r109?

Didn't Judy Garland once famously compare Lana to a beautiful (empty) vase?

I loved Hugh O'Brian in a bright yellow speedo in Lana's LOVE HAS MANY FACES. I wonder if they connected on set?

Was Lex Barker an awful actor? How could someone who looked like that and with his various marital connections not get some better roles in Hollywood?

Has anyone ever seen one of his Tarzan movies? I can't remember one ever even being on TV to watch. Looks alone, he was one of the most gorgeous actors ever to appear in Golden Age Hollywood.

R110 The movie takes place decades after the murder, so there's not Stompanato character in it.

R111 - no that was Artie Shaw.

Lana and Ricardo Montalbano dance in "Latin Lovers".

Look and see the jealous girl Christina played by Rita Moreno.

Lana wore nothing but black, white, or gray in that film.

Those big heels must have been hell to dance in .

Lana in 'The Prodigal' (1955), a forgettable biblical epic that was on TCM recently. She was 34 when the film was released.

She had a small body and a big head - like so many stars.

Peyton Place is really such a good movie. Of course I'm from New England, so I guess that helps. But they did a great job with it (not a faithful adaptation - very much cleaned up - but retaining most of the characters and situations). Lana was able to lead that big cast at that time. She had a lot of star power. She had to play the mother of a teenager, and a strait-laced mother, at that (though hiding a secret). Well-deserved Oscar nomination.

Lana was supposed to be the next Harlow for Metro, but actually became the next Crawford after Joan aged out...

R122 I never thought of her as the next Crawford. That's an interesting take. In some ways, I see it, in others, no. One of the first Lana movies I ever saw was Keep Your Powder Dry, which is a kind of precursor to Private Benjamin, where spoiled Lana ends up in the WACs in WWII. That role didn't have anything to do with Joan Crawford's persona. I wouldn't say Postman did, either. Which parts did you have in mind?

She was really glamorous in Portrait in Black - a 1960 film w/Anthony Quinn and Richard Basehart. I read that the jewels she wore in many scenes were real and she was always decked out in elegant outfits. She may not have been a great actress but she played the glamour card to perfection.

An earlier movie was Cass Timberlane w/Spencer Tracy - that was a really good movie and she just happened to co-star in it.

I just love all the glamorous clothes, jewels and sophisticated hair styles from days gone by - so many women go around today looking like they just finished running a 10 miler - and smell like it to!

It was really hard for MGM to cast the female lead in Cass Timberlane. (Spencer Tracy played Cass.) Originally they intended it for Spencer Tracy and Jennifer Jones (who resembled the character in the book more than Lana). But she turned down some of the early scripts - which were not supposed to have been very good. MGM then tested many of their girls, and it came down to several including June Allyson and Virginia Gray. After a while it looked like Gray had it, and at last would get to break out of supporting roles and become a star. Then somehow it went to Lana. Cast against type, but she pulled it off, and the movie was a huge hit.

I’ve always thought ( she may be too old now) that Scarlett Johansson had that curvy, creamy candy box blonde look that Lana had - what was CZJ thinking?!

Virginia Grey (not Gray) was so adorably sexy (and funny) in her one scene as Joan Crawford's perfume counter chum Pat in THE WOMEN it's baffling that MGM didn't build up her career and give her better roles. I don't think she even got a credit in THE WOMEN.

I enjoyed this thread... and this probably heresy to most of you: I always thought Turner was a bit of a blank, a cipher. Both as an actress and as a beauty/star. I can close my eyes and summon the face of all the great stars (Crawford, Gardner, Bacall, et. al.) but I can't for the life of me retrieve Turner's face. Just generic, melting blonde. It might be her eyes... what someone once said of Steve Martin, dead pig eyes.

Not trolling... just interesting that so many worshipped her and she seemed so unfinished and middling to me.

Lana was clearly dressed, coifed and made up to evoke Harlow in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE. She even has the highly plucked arched eyebrows.

As for replacing Crawford at MGM, it's been said (at least on DL!) that Hedy Lamarr replaced Garbo, Greer Garson replaced Shearer and Lana replaced Joan when the older actresses left the studio. Of course, none of those replacements were exactly the same types but generally speaking they filled the right gaps.

R112 Hugh was so hot in that movie. I wish Warner Archive would do a Blu-ray of Love Has Many Faces soon

Following Lana's bullet bra-clad tits always led you to trouble.

R127 She was a good luck charm for Ross Hunter and he put her in many movies when he could, like All That Heaven Allows. She was involved off and on with Clark Gable for a long time, which is sometimes given as an explanation for her remaining single her whole life. Apparently she was expecting to marry him when he suddenly married Lady Sylvia Ashley.

R129 Lana had no eyebrows. They were shaved off for a role in The Adventures Of Marco Polo (1938) and never grew back. She wore stick-on fakes. Her makeup man Del Armstrong was in the service, I think, during postman, and she did her makeup herself, for the movie. I think the brows were drawn on. Maybe not anything consciously emulating Harlow. Though I get your point - her hairstyle was similar and Jean did wear a lot of white.

Lana Turner was the epitome of an Old Hollywood STAR. She played it to the hilt to the end.

[QUOTE] I wish Warner Archive would do a Blu-ray of Love Has Many Faces soon

Love Has Many Faces is Criterion-worthy!

She did an hour with Phil Donahue in 1982, and she was just stunning. Perhaps a tad affected, but it was a compelling hour. Tanned and gorgeous and poised, she looked and acted like a Movie Star.

She doesn't seem affected at all earlier when you see her in newsreels or hear her on radio shows. He daughter Cheryl said she started acting the Movie Star somewhat later. It's really unfortunate when you see the old stars and they seem affected.

[quote]She even has the highly plucked arched eyebrows.

They weren't plucked, they were drawn on, r129. MGM had shaved her eyebrows and they never grew back.

^ Just saw your reply, r132.

She put on that affectation because she knew (or feared) there was nothing else there.

You have to remember she was a teenager, plucked out of nowhere with no actor training. And no higher education or even life experience to form her adult mind. Once MGM got a hold of her, made her into a product and di everything for her, she didn't much have to think at all and never matured into a soulful thinking person.

She had amazing hair, at least until the day she left public life. Considering the years of bleaching, setting, drying and processing, it was always gorgeously thick.

Kind of reminds me of Hugh O'Brian's yellow speedo.

Wasn’t it Lana that said “I Like The Boys and the Boys Like Me!”

....Hugh Talks about playing Skye Masterson at the WH and in Vietnam.

r130 - Just for you -

I like Tina better

I like Ike!

Yikes

Never look back, r146.

I agree that Turner is pretty bleh even when directed by George Cukor. If you look at a Life of Her Own she it totally out-acted by Ann Dvorak.

the big cube

[quote]Lana's leading man in "Latin Lovers" was supposed to be her current squeeze, Fernando Lamas, after their successful pairing in "The Merry Widow." But Lamas flew into a jealous rage after Lana danced with Lex Barker at a party, and beat her black and blue, forcing her to cancel all public engagements until all the bruises had healed. An enraged Louis B. Mayer fired Lamas and canceled his contract.

Nope. Louis B. Mayer was let go in 1951 by the bean counters of Lowe's Inc. in New York. He wasn't at MGM when "The Merry Widow" was released let along when "Latin Lovers" was planned.

Lex didn't get better parts because he sucked as an actor and he was a fucking monster and everyone knew.

Wasn't Lex also married to Arlene Dahl? And didn't she deny his alleged rape of Cheryl Crane saying his cock was too big for Cheryl's young pussy?

Who you gonna believe here?

R123 "Keep Your Powder Dry" is a fun, underrated movie. Lana is good in it, as are the rest of the cast (Susan Peters, Laraine Day, Agnes Moorehead). It's a great time capsule of WWII cinema, "girl power" style. It is rarely talked about, even in film buff circles. Warner Archive put it out on DVD-R, but I've been quietly hoping they'd do a Blu-ray edition someday. It deserves it.

The Dr.s when Cheryl had to go to the hospital?

I think Lana was patterned after Crawford in a general sense. Turner's background wasn't great either, but she too worked hard to get to the top. They started teaming her with Gable, playing off her unlucky in love off-screen rep, cast her in the Crawford role in the Grand Hotel remake, and basically made many of her movies into fashion shows, like JC. Basically, Lana too was the shopgirl's daydream...

About Lana's lack of depth or maturity. That was an issue for many golden era stars, who were indeed plucked from obscurity, shot to stardom, and every life situation was taken care of for them by the studio. But once they were done, a number of stars didn't know how to cope. Lana certainly floundered, getting mixed up with Johnny. I'm sure if that had happened under LB Mayer's watch, he would have made quick work of him. Hedy Lamarr lamented that lack of studio "care" once she was on her own. Joan seemed to thrive with the security of a studio contract. Others hated it, like Elizabeth Taylor.

Did Lana take a ride on the Mickey Rooney train, like so many others?

He claimed she did. Mickey even said he got her pregnant and she had to get an abortion but Lana fervently denied it.

Didn’t Lana find out what Lex Barker was doing to Cheryl and threatened to kill him and threw him out right away?

Cheryl had an eBay store for a time and sold off some of Lana’s things, it was mostly trinkets and costume jewelry but I communicated with her a few times and she was lovely.

Did Turner have an altercation with Monroe and Bacall or am I thinking of someone else?

R159 according to Cheryl, Lana ordered Lex out of the house at gunpoint when she found out what had been going on.

Lex was a monster but just like Cheryl I'm torn. He's so good looking.

I see what you did there, R162. 👀

What an ego blow. You think you are one of the most desirable women in the world and your husband wants your daughter instead.

Precious’s mother ^^

R150, Oops. You're right. Dore Schary was in charge and he apparently didn't think Lana was anything special. But she was a popular and bankable star.

Back then they thought you were over the hill at 30.

And given the stress, booze, drugs and smoking, R167 - you were!

Yes, the cigs and booze aged a lot of them prematurely. Davis, Crawford, Bacall, Turner, Gardner etc.

Lana aged the way Joan Collins has. "Kept her figure," had plastic surgery, wore shit tons of makeup, and glitzy gowns. Looked great, as long as you didn't look too close. Though Lana cleaned up her act and looked much better than the blowsy 1970s, in the '80s and '90s, Turner looked like the aging dance teacher in "Strictly Ballroom!"

Lana was first and foremost a movie star but she was not a bad actress at any rate. There are a slew of compliments in this thread about quite a few of her performances and rightfully so. I don't think anyone has yet mentioned how fabulous she was in "The Bad and The Beautiful". One of Vincente Minnelli's best films.

She did some bad acting when she took the stand in court. She was chewing scenery left and right.

Cheryl just turned 80.

The place where Lana Turner was discovered is a Chick-fil-A now.

Damn.

I don’t know r170 Lana looked pretty rough towards the end of the 60s and into the 70s and she was in her late 40s-50s then. Joan Collins looked pretty good in those trashy late 70s movies she did that were based off her sisters book and well into the 1980s and 90s. Lana did have some major work done in the late 70s early 80s and looked much better.

mmmm hmmmm R175. Like other posters have said he's one of the most beautiful men who stepped in front of the camera. Unfortunately as acting goes he's the male version of Whitney Blake.

You guys realize they didn't have all the fillers and crap they have now, right? I thought Lana looked good for a long time. She still looked good when she was 40-45. Still playing leads, and it wasn't because of her amazing dramatic ability.

By the way, don't you think any actresses smoke or drink today? Or do drugs? There's this crazy idea that all of todays actresses are vegans and sleep 12 hours a night.

Let me know what actress drinks like Ava Gardner or smokes like Lauren Bacall among today's major players.

R179 You don't know what they do. Honestly. DO YOU? Anyway, Bacall looked great for years. Hard drinking will do you in, however.

Smokin young celebs. Current or past smokers.

More...

Lana makes her exit...

Lana's Bad and the Beautiful big scene.

R175, Arlene Dahl said Lex Barker had the biggest cock she’d ever seen and she was married to both Lex and Fernando Lamas.

Lorenzo Lamas wrote in his memoir that his father Fernando’s cock was enormous.

R185 Classy.

A Life Of Her Own was the first Lana Turner starring vehicle that didn't do well at the box office. It was her first movie after she married the wealthy guy, Bob Topping, and disappeared from the screen for a couple of years. MGM indulged her. If it was Judy, they wouldn't have, so why Lana? I don't know.

Wendell Corey was her original co-star. He made a remark when she was late one day about how Stanwyck would never have kept everybody waiting. Wendell was shipped back to Paramount, who sent over Ray Milland. There wasn't much chemistry there (but probably more than with Corey).

Originally, Lana was supposed to kill herself, at the end, the way Ann Dvorak did near the beginning of the film. Audiences at previews hated the ending. This was one of George Cukor's occasional misfires.

MGM indulged her. If it was Judy, they wouldn't have, so why Lana? I don't know.

I think perhaps because it was Cukor directing - the woman's director.

Is Joyce/Josh - Cheryl’s partner still alive? Didn’t they do real estate in Palm Springs for years?

R188 Well, I meant MGM basically let Lana take time off and kept trying to get her to come back - after the movie, Homecoming (1948), I think. A big hit. She went off on an extended honeymoon, and to live with her new husband back East. They kept trying to lure her back, finally getting her to come back and make A Life Of Her Own (1950). I can't imagine Judy getting away with that.

In the A Life of Her Own trailer you can see Lana dancing with Hermes Pan in a party scene.

A Life of Her Own is such an underrated movie. Quite ahead of its time. I think it's her best performance. She plays an unapologetic tough cookie that doesn't give up her femininity.

Yes she's a bit dumpy to be a fashion model. Unlike the skinny Ann Dvorak.

Lana says that Hedy Lamar was the most beautiful woman in Hollywood. "She couldn't act, but she was beautiful."

She says that Morgan Fairchild and Victoria Principal are the most glamorous actresses of today.

I liked her laugh when Joan wanted her to meet her dentist cousin.

More big cock stories and evening gown pics!

Cheryl and Christina on Donahue!

If you watch some of her early films, circa 1939-40, you can see why she became a star. She was drop dead gorgeous but also very unaffected and charming. She was very much herself and you can't take your eyes off her. Later, when she started to "act" she became very affected. Also, her features hardened quite early, by the end of the 40's, and she looked much older than she was.

How did they come up with the name Lana? She was originally Judy Turner but they already had a Judy who was formerly a Frances.

R199, “lana” means wool in Spanish.

Her name backwards is “Anal Renrut”.

Was anyone named Lana before Lana Turner? Even in Spanish-speaking countries?

In her biography, she emphasized that her name was pronounced "Laaana," with a soft "A," not "Lahna."

Lana Wood was not named after Lana Turner.

Her birth name was Svetlana.

Remember that line from postcards from the edge when Shirley MacLaine asks Meryl Streep “how would you like to have Joan Crawford or Lana Turner as a mother?”

The novel of 1936, Drums Along The Mohawk, has a main character named Lana (so does the movie, 1939). Set in NY state in the 1700s.

Lana revealed in her 1982 autobiography that it was sixth husband Robert Eaton who satisfied her sexually more than any man had before or since.

I read both Lana Turner's and Cheryl Crane's autobiographies.

Without a doubt, Cheryl's book was much more honest and forthcoming, but I never got the sense that Cheryl resented her mother. I think she just saw her as a somewhat distant person who didn't quite know how to be a mom.

Cheryl was also candid about what a rebellious hellion she was during her teen years, and she never blamed her mother for her difficulties.

Lana loved partying and staying up late…like Joan Crawford, it eventually affected her looks. She also got way too much sun.

She should have hired someone to murder Lex Barker for what he did to Cheryl.

Johnny Stompanato was hot as f

R205 These are the options?

Did you guys know Lana and Cheryl had a falling out before her death? Lana was dying of cancer and felt abandoned by Cheryl. She disinherited her and left the bulk of her estate (about 3.5 million in today’s dollars) to her longtime maid who nursed her through her illness. Cheryl challenged the will, but most of the money was squandered by the legal team and financial managers for the estate. Very sad.

“In “Detour”, Cheryl recounts the gossip that Johnny was nicknamed “Oscar” because the size of his penis recalled the Academy Award statuette.”

So it was after the falling out and being disinherited that Cheryl wrote that affectionate coffee table book??

R207 With all the talk here about how badly she aged, it's nice to see from that photo that she still looked great (in the 1960s). She and Doris Day were about the same age and looked good fore a long time.

I read the book her longtime hairdresser/stylist/ companion wrote after her death.

He happened to be away the day she died and was hurt that no one ever contacted him. He was informed of Lana’s death by a friend who called him when she heard the news on the radio.

[quote]She disinherited her and left the bulk of her estate (about 3.5 million in today’s dollars) to her longtime maid

It amazes me that Lana, Bette and Joan worked continuously throughout their lives, but they all died with very little money by Hollywood standards. None of them lived extravagantly, either. Each of them needed that Social Security check each month. By comparison, TV stars like Angela Lansbury, Bea Arthur and Betty White were worth much more towards the end of their careers, even though they were never A-list stars.

Here's Lana at 52, still in her drinking days, in 1974's hag horror film "Persecution." She looks 20 years older!

R217 That's the studio system for you. The stars of the golden age of Hollywood were salaried employees. No cut of the profits, no residuals, no nothing beyond their weekly pay.

Some invested their money wisely or they married into money. But so many spent lavishly on themselves and their families and had nothing to show for it. You don’t think that Joan Crawford married Alfred Steele for love do you? She was always one or two steps ahead of her creditors.

Back in the '30s and '40s, 85% or more of the salaries of the rich went for taxes.

Speaking of Joan Collins - here is an opinion on how she attracts men.

I posted this video as a thread (but no one looked at it). If you check out at the sides of Joan's face, you'll notice that the long strands of her her wig seem to be glued to her face, so that the rest won't show.

While a young ingénue at MGM, Lana revealed that her favorite childhood actresses were Kay Francis and Norma Shearer. No love for poor Joan.

R230, Christina Crawford claimed that Joan hated Alfred Steele and probably murdered him.

At the least, she drove him to a heart attack with her greediness and demanding ways.

Dame Joan Collins appears to not want to show her old lady ears.

Did Joan ever get to give the Lex cock a ride?

Joan Crawford and Lana Turner made good money in their day, but also lived like movie queens, with their spending. Lana got a nice cut from "Imitation of Life" and maybe a few later pictures. But they were both past their prime to get the million dollar salaries/10% of the gross that Elizabeth Taylor got through the '60s. Also, a lot of these female stars seemed to have family that leaned on them for money...

Joan Collins and her great leading men, in their worst movies!

Do you think Liz Taylor didn't have family that leaned on her for money?

Liz had a lot more dough to spread around, r231. And outside of Fortensky, none of her other husbands were blue collar.

A few years after Lana's stint on "Falcon Crest," her galpal Ava followed suit with several appearances on "Knots Landing." When asked why she came out of retirement to do the primetime soap, Ava responded, "I'm doing the show for the loot. It's that simple." Those MGM goodtime girls ended up with no spouse and less money than we thought.

Frank paid Ava’s bills for a while, didn’t he?

Good Lord. How many marriages did she have??

Fred May was Lana's Al Pepsi.

Lana was the Goldilocks of cocks. She married many times until she could find the cock that was just right.

[quote]She married many times until she could find the cock that was just right.

I don't think Lana ever found one that was "just right."

What I don't like about Lana's looks in later years is that she looked slightly emaciated. She said she thought she looked better thinner, as she got older, but it gave her a hollowed out look.

She smoked. It's an appetite suppressant.

Good cock increases the appetite though. I wonder if Lex was bigger than Buster Crabbe?

She said on the Joan Rivers interview she married 7 times.

Was it her personal assistant that wrote about how loud and uncouth Lana acted in public in her later years, scandalizing other diners in restaurants with her language and such? I seem to remember a thread about that, maybe a few years ago.

Wait a minute, Lana had Buster Crabbe too?

^Doesn't sound like Lana.

I wonder how Lana felt about Helen Lawson's "loose" portrayal of her in "Where Love Has Gone"? Instead of a glamorous cock-loving actress, Helen's character was a glamorous cock-loving sculptress.

Live by the chisel...

Long dong Lana…that’s what they called her at the Riviera Country Club

[quote]Wait a minute, Lana had Buster Crabbe too?

And Joan had crabs.

[quote]Lana was a movie star, she did movie star acting. —Joan, Clark, Barbra

R15, by "Barbra" do you mean Stanwyck. The name is always spelled BARBARA, except by Streisand.

No, r250, I mean't Barbra. You can add Redford as a practitioner of movie star acting. Stanwyck really didn't do it. Her performances were more honest and it gave her a wider lane.

^meant

I would have cut off my left tit for a chance to have been pounded by Buster. Even Esther Williams has confirmed his size meat and that if she didn't keep moving he was trying to stick it in her. He's one of the most handsome and well built men ever.

That was Weissmuller, t253, not Crabbe.

^ r253

You're right. It was Johnny that schtupping Esther.

Neither of them had Esther.

Okay, didn't they all do "movie star acting"? That more natural style didn't really start until 50s and didn't really become a thing until at least a decade later, right?

Tracy always had the natural style.

[quote]Neither of them had Esther.

Johnny used to rub up against Esther with his big hard dick when they swam together in an aquatic show before they were movie stars, r257....

R260 Yeah, I know. That doesn't mean he was schtupping her.

[quote] I always thought Lana should’ve been included in the AFI Top 50 Actors/Actresses list. I thought she should’ve had the overrated Loretta Young spot.

Boy, I sure don't. Lana was the greater star, but she could not have acted her way out of a wet paper bag if there were a big-dicked muscleman on the other side.

Loretta o the other hand could genuinely act. If you ever watch the audition reels for the part of the 2nd Mrs. de Winter in REBECCA, you'll see she gives by far the most moving and finely calibrated performance of all the auditioners, better even than those of such superb actors as Vivien Leigh (who is much too vixenish) and Margaret Sullavan (who is too neurotic), Young is even better than Joan Fontaine, although Fontaine was the right choice for the role in the end since Young was too glamorous for the role.

R262, Loretta Young was an exponentially better actress than Lana Turner.

Loretta was a good actress, I think Bette Davis said she was underrated. But too flowery and overdramatic an actress for the part in Rebecca.

Barbara was pretty natural for her era and more versatile, which is why her standing as an actress endures...

Marlene Dietrich hated Loretta Young.

Is it true that she and Nat Turner share bloodlines?

Who knew?

“Johnny Stompanato’s roommate one year was a former New Trier High School student named Hugh Krampe, who went on to fame as the actor Hugh O’Brian, star of the 1950s TV show The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. “He was a pretty amazing person in many ways,” O’Brian says of Johnny today. “Unfortunately, not all of it was put to use in the right direction.””

Didn't Marlene think Loretta was hypocritically pious?

Here's a cool pic of the two of them.

In a new book I've just been reading about the murder, I learned Stompanato was gay for pay, one of his johns being Liberace.

The book is so full of factual errors, though I believe that.

Marlene had such style.

Marlene thought Loretta was a sanctimonious holier than thou cunt.

But Loretta was better looking.

Like Stephen Crane, Stompanato made up a background and told Lana his name was John Steele. He was hoping Lana would get him into the movies.

She was hopelessly trusting, apparently.

[quote][R260] Yeah, I know. That doesn't mean he was schtupping her.

I don't remember if they did or not (via her book), r261.

[quote]In a new book I've just been reading about the murder, I learned Stompanato was gay for pay, one of his johns being Liberace.

If I'd known that, I would have knifed him.

R274 Not.

[quote]Marlene Dietrich hated Loretta Young.

Didn’t pretty much everybody?

Damn, r269, Marlene looks so chic.

Here's a dollar, Loretta. Now go fuck yourself!

Wily but not so smart.

Bent when young.

[quote]Barbara was pretty natural for her era and more versatile, which is why her standing as an actress endures...

More versatile and she wasn't showy, r265. To use the quote (again) from a book I used to have:

[quote]Stanwyck may never have been as good as Davis at her best, but she was never as bad as Davis at her worst. In fact, she never gave a bad performance.

She was fresh and beautiful for a while, but all the drinking, smoking, and sun aged her fast. Like it did Lauren Bacall.

I love the story about Loretta Young and her on set swear jar. I can’t remember the star but they got so frustrated with Loretta they took out a $20 bill put it in the swear jar and loudly told Loretta to go fuck herself.

R283, there are quite a numer of stories about Loretta's swear jar:

1. While making "Rachel and the Stranger" with Loretta, Robert Mitchum reputedly held his tongue about his pious co-star until shooting was completed. As he exited the set on the final day of production, Mitchum smiled, dropped a $20 bill into the jar, and said, "This should just about cover everything I've been wanting to say to Loretta."

2. Once while rehearsing for an appearance on the Loretta Young television show, Ethel Merman was told it would cost her a dollar each time she swore since Young disapproved of foul language. As she was fighting to get into an ill-fitting gown, Merman shouted: "Oh shit, this damn thing's too tight." Young held out her curse box and said, "Come on Ethel, put a dollar in. You know my rules." Merman is said to have replied: "Ah, honey, how much will it cost me to tell you to go fuck yourself?"

/number

That story is also credited to Joe Mankiewicz.

Which story? We've heard so very many of them by now.

The one about how much will it cost me to tell you to go fuck yourself.

Lorenzo on Fernando's penis, so to speak.

"Suddenly, Dad appears right behind me. I turn and look. He is standing there naked with a huge erection. Never in my life have I seen anything like it. I am this seven-year-old kid, a guest in my father’s home. Still learning the ways of the world. Still trying to figure things out. And now my father is standing there as if nothing is wrong, his corn dog sticking in my face as I try not to stare. “Hey, amigo,” he says, “you must be getting hungry.” I avert my eyes away from Dad’s big salami. “Yeah, a little,” I mumble. I’ve watched National Geographic specials and stared at enough pictures in magazines to know what penises look like. Dad’s, however, is beyond my comprehension. I add, “I was wondering when you guys were going to come out.” Dad carries on like we are having a normal conversation, as if nothing is out of the ordinary as his flagpole still stands at attention. “We took a swim, amigo,” he says matter-of-factly. “Esther is taking a shower and then she is going to start dinner.” I can only think of one thing: “Wow, is that the way I am going to be? I hope so!” The fact Dad is so well endowed makes me realize later why women loved him and put up with his shenanigans. As the years went on, I never mentioned the incident of the erection or its effect on me. I do ask once, much later, “Did you ever play around on Esther?” And Dad says, “I never fooled around on Esther.” “Nothing ever stopped you before with other people.” “Well, with Esther, it’s different,” he admits. “She loves having sex and we do it a lot.”"

Lana had a piece of Joe Louis. Because of the times, he’d sneak in through the servants door of her house. He fucked Sonia Henie too. Cheryl didn’t mention it in the book she wrote about Lana but Joe did in his memoir. And Lana never denied it.

I think it’s creepy for Lorenzo to write about his father’s penis. Shirley Jones did that with her sons and it is so unseemly.

r283 I've heard it was Barbara Stanwyck who told Loretta to go fuck herself.

Lana and Joan.

Loretta wasn't much of an actress until later in her career, starting around 1946. She's far worse, in my opinion, than Fontaine in those audition reels. But, I still think she deserved her Oscar for The Farmer's Daughter. She great in it.

My mom (not much of a Stanwyck fan to begin with) thought she was terrible in The Thorn Birds.

I think a lot of people told Loretta to go fuck herself.

I’m so sick of the “all the drinking and smoking aged her” posts. At east she had some fun.

Stanwyck's performance in Thorn Birds was all about the dentures.

Also, Merman never worked with Loretta Young, so let's put that urban legend to rest, please.

I met her in 1980 when she joined the cast of OH! CALCUTTA! onstage. I was surprised at how petite she was. She was friendly and a bit shy. Nice lady.

She looked like she was 100 in that picture

Loretta’s dentures seemed like a problem in the TV movies she did as an old lady. She had a sort of whistle.

I used to watch reruns of her show around lunchtime (if I was home) because my mom would have it on. It sure showed her versatility (it was an anthology). Several stars tried it, including Stanwyck and Joseph Cotten, but Loretta’s show was the most successful.

R301, Her “whistle” is evident here.

R302, Kudos to Loretta for navigating those stairs in heels.

Ross Hunter had approached Lana's childhood idol, Kay Francis, about playing Lana's mother-in-law in "Madame X," even though Kay hadn't appeared on the silver screen for nearly 20 years. Kay was in poor health, however, and declined. The part went to Francis' movie queen rival and fellow style icon, Constance Bennett. Ironically, Kay outlived Connie by three years, succumbing to cancer in 1968.

I find it quite interesting how Kay and Connie were such big stars in their day but are now nearly forgotten, never even registering among the top 10 or 20 beloved classic films stars.

Geez, I think I know that guy on the right in the Oh Calcutta photo! I had no idea he was in it!

Connie Bennett was offered the role of Lana's mother in law, promptly accepted, went out and had her face lifted and showed up looking the same age as Lana!

R302 That was a lot better than this:

Well, hello!

Lana and Jane Wyman have a cig break on the Falcon Crest set.

Loretta aged really well.

1982 must have been before the teeth bleaching craze.

Cheryl was prettier than her mother. Bitch.

R33 She was really fucked up if she let her daughter take the rap for murder. She would make Mommie Dearest look like a saint.

Lana on The Tonight Show with Joan Rivers

"You were always the high class tramp."

[quote]And now my father is standing there as if nothing is wrong, his corn dog sticking in my face as I try not to stare. “Hey, amigo,” he says, [italic]“you must be getting hungry.”[/italic]

What the holy hell?

Loretta Young was absolutely gorgeous in the early 1930s in her pre-Code films. Utterly ethereal and very sexy. And she aged more gracefully than any of the other actresses mentioned in this thread.

Loretta's good in Cause For Alarm!

Yeah Loretta was something else.

Loretta's Oscar gown...

Loretta gave herself a frau look way too soon though.

Some of the comments here really are reinforcing my need to watch Madame X. It is one of Lana's later films (she only did a handful after it) but I've read here and elsewhere that it is her best performance. I've never seen it. She won the David di Donatello for it, which is pretty prestigious.

Pauline Kael said Lana is Product X.

I'll take drunk Marlene in bed in Paris anytime over Loretta.

Pauline Kael is irrelevant.

Pauline Kael died eight days before 9/11.

At least we know she didn’t do it.

R319 Designed by her future husband, Jean Louis.

^Who she married in 1993.

After Lana’s final marriage (to another guy who misrepresented himself, was a con artist, and stole large sums of money from her) she said she was celibate for the rest of her life.

R329, And am I grateful for that.

R317 A really good underrate movie. Yes, Loretta is excellent in it, too.

Couldn’t stand Loretta. Beautiful face,Myles, but mannered acting style. The director of SUEZ complained about her habit of making sure that her perfectly manicured hands were in every shot she took. When doing press for COME TO THE STABLE with Celeste Holm where they portrayed nuns, the reporter asked Celeste what nun she was playing and she deadpanned, “The one that’s slightly out of focus.”. Plus Loretta was a hypocrite. What actress said that every time Loretta committed a sin, she built a church, hence the proliferation of so many churches in Malibu?

You know, I'd watch a movie told from the perspective of Lana's Vagina. It would be a long watch, but fun.

Loretta is quite wonderful in Platinum Blonde and Zoo in Budapest when she was very young. Both are must sees for any movie buff. Zoo in Budapest is wild in every which way not only the animals but the plot turns. Enormous fun with some very beautiful photography. Gene Raymond plays interestingly enough a very contemporary animal rights activist.

Men wanted to fuck Lana but women loved her too. When she was doing 40 Carats shouldn't it have been called 60 Carats?

R33 Good point, but I looked it up and she did it in 1971 when she was 50.

I don’t think anyone who ever did 40 Carats was actually 40! June Allyson replaced the original star, Julie Harris, on Broadway, and she sure wasn’t 40.

Liv Ullmann made the film version when she was 34.

Lana I believe showed up to work on time. As opposed to Judy who would show up at 12 in the afternoon then claim she was wasn't feeling well and ended up spending the afternoon at the races. It cost her the Oscar which went to Grace Kelly. Even though people felt she deserved the Oscar they didn't want to give it to her.

Strangely Judy when she had her Palace engagements always showed up on time and gave it her best. She wanted to follow Angela in Mame on Broadway very badly. If given the chance with no matinees I wonder how many performances she would have shown up for. Martin and Preston had stopped doing matinees for I Do, I Do. Maybe Mame was just too big a show to take such a risk. As much as I like Janis Paige I just don't see her bringing the necessary star power to Mame. And then Jane Morgan?!!! At least Merrick got star wattage for Dolly.

Anyone remember this TV mega bomb? So bad that you're lucky to find clips of Harold Robbins' "The Survivors." Looks like cheesy fun. Here's Lana at just 48, with eyelashes that weigh more than she does!

In these old movies, bitches just got slapped all the damned time.

[quote]I don’t think anyone who ever did 40 Carats was actually 40! June Allyson replaced the original star, Julie Harris, on Broadway, and she sure wasn’t 40.

Ginger was doing it the same time as Lana and don't forget...Zsa Zsa.

Didn't they rename the play 40 Carats and a Stool (in my bladder pads!) when June Allyson took over the role?

No.

I wish more bitches would get slapped today!

Loretta is trying to take over this thread. I like Loretta. One of my faves of hers is The Accused. I love the Victor Young score but not the wet blanket leading man Robert Cummings.

When she was making "The Survivors," Lana infamously demanded a chauffered limousine to convey her to the nearby loo when necessary. When a reporter asked her about it, she said "Just because I'm doing television now is no reason for me to change my way of living and working."

The writer of a book about TV bombs referred decades later to Lana's "gold-plated bowels!"

Bette Davis wrote about Lana in a limo to the loo in her memoir. She thought it was ridiculous.

Lana and Marlene at the Hollywood Canteen during WWII. You just know Marlene would've dived in to Lana's muschi in a second, had she had the chance.

and Deanna Durbin.

I think Lana was feeling her oats again with the interest in her memoir and appearing on "Falcon Crest." Apparently, she forgot that it was 1982 and not 1952 at Metro! Her book tour was cut short because of her demands and sounds like the same of "Falcon Crest" with Jane Wyman. Lana was Joan to Jane's Lucy, when the former appeared on her show, and didn't put up with nonsense...

Was she ever on What's My Line?

We've done Miss Crawford, Lana, who is the next classic starlet due for a DL deep dive? This time, pick someone who is really messy.

Joan and Lana were *not* starlets.

Marjorie Main was a prolific actress during the 30's through the early 50's and co-starred in countless movies as a loud mouthed dowager type as well as everyone's favorite 'Ma Kettle' in a series of popular movies. Maybe not a glamorous star but well known and liked by many.

[quote]Joan and Lana were *not* starlets.

I know. I was just trying to be cute and failed.

When did we start calling it the loo?

R351 - Yes.

Wasn't there a funny story Sue Mengers told about Constance Bennett as Lana's mother in Madame X, in which Bennett was constantly bugging Mengers about wanting better billing and insisting her name be outlined in a box in the credits? And then Bennett died not long after the film was made and at her funeral Mengers said: "Well, Connie finally got her box."

I love that scene in The Bad and the Beautiful where Lana has won the Oscar and rushes over to Kirk Douglas's house to share her excitement when who should she find on the staircase in his home but the drop dead gorgeous Elaine Stewart who looks at her sneeringly and says cooly 'You're business, I'm company.' Of course Lana becomes hysterical and drives away and you can just imagine the Metro men shaking the car with the back screen making it look like she's driving the car wildly. You keep expecting a horrible car crash which never happens.

[quote]Loretta is trying to take over this thread.

Get back, Loretta!

One of the funniest things I've ever seen was the brilliant Everett Quinton in *Movieland*.

[quote]In "Movieland," Everett Quinton's expert, very funny one-man show presented by the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, he appears as Ruby Stevens, which also happens to have been the real name of Barbara Stanwyck. Mr. Quinton's Ruby is somebody quite other, a self-described former "male actress on the illegitimate stage." She has the only mildly disguised build and voice of, well, a man. "Not being very beautiful," she confides girlishly at the start of the show, "I had to be" (significant pause) "good." The line brings down the house, and Mr. Quinton is off and running.

[quote]"Movieland," which was directed by Eureka, ends its run next Sunday at the Charles Ludlum Theater. It's a frequently hilarious take on Hollywood's so-called golden age, written and acted by Mr. Quinton with the kind of rare discipline and control that elevates drag to theatrical art. The frame of the show is this (with no apologies to Scheherazade or "Kiss of the Spider Woman"): the aging Ruby, pursued by a voracious dragon that could be death, keeps the monster on the other side of her door by acting out the plots of a bunch of old movies, most successfully "The Spiral Staircase," "The 10 Commandments" and the Lana Turner version of "Madame X."

[quote]Mr. Quinton is far more than a mimic. He does imitate some of the actors whose roles he plays, including both Yul Brynner and Anne Baxter in a priceless give-and-take scene from "The 10 Commandments." More important, he evokes the sense of the performances and the effect such performances had (and possibly still have) on the audiences that adored them. As he moves around the stage, picking up, using and discarding props with the speed of light, he has the low-comedy grace of Groucho Marx and the timing of Jack Benny. He also possesses a sense of the absurd that embraces both highly sophisticated contemporary camp and the innocent comedy of "Charley's Aunt." He's a wizard.

In The Bad and the Beautiful, Lana is coming from the party following the successful premiere of The Faraway Mountain. She hasn’t won the Oscar.

No, wait. Iit was another movie. But it was supposed to be her character’s first big movie.

Love Meryl Streep as Madeline Ashton, in "Death Becomes Her," having her own hysterical rainy drive away from her cheating lover. Sees herself in the rear view and really screams... ha ha. A Hollywood homage for sure!

Kind of a little too much about Everett Quinton.

I find men terribly exciting, and any girl who says she doesn't is an anemic old maid, a streetwalker, or a saint.

R359 - see R184

You *would* think so, r365.

R368 I would? Why?

I just didn’t know why I was reading that long review, I expected it to be more relevant to the topic. Then at the very end we find out he did a take-off on Madame X, covered in one sentence.

Joan Crawford wanted Lana's role in Peyton Place, but the studio thought she was too old.

The studio initially wanted Jane Wyman or Olivia de Havilland for the role, but it ended up going to Lana.

I also heard they were thinking of Susan Hayward.

More and more I realize Olivia de Havilland’s reputation as a “great actress” is because of GWTW, Hold Back the Dawn, To Each His Own (maybe), The Snake Pit, and The Heiress. And that’s about it.

99.99% of actresses would kill for Livvy's filmography.

Her choice at the end of this is inexplicable

Exactly, r372, plus two Oscars.

Have you ever SEEN To Each His Own?

I love the list of Olivia's roles and then the ending "and that's about it". LOL.

[quote]99.99% of actresses would kill for Livvy's filmography

Let's leave that cunt out of this. Awful, awful woman.

Lana and Kirk Douglas played off each other well in The Bad and the Beautiful. I love that movie. Didn't they date for awhile after?

99.99% of actresses would kill for Livvy's filmography

Take a look at it and tell me what they’d kill for? Devotion? The Well Groomed Bride? The Ambassador’s Daughter? Lady In A Cage?

R378: She "dated" everyone. I think Yvonne DeCarlo was probably her only competition for "most dates" in those days.

Livvy was also wonderful opposite Errol Flynn in so many films, especially as Lady Marian opposite his Robin Hood.

And if she'd done nothing but The Heiress she could be very proud indeed.

Olivia was always coy about having slept with Errol Flynn.

But, come on . . .

[quote]In The Bad and the Beautiful, Lana is coming from the party following the successful premiere of The Faraway Mountain. She hasn’t won the Oscar.

Was that the year she lost to Lora Meredith?

I find Olivia's performance in The Heiress a bit overrated. She's...fine, but nothing special. Sacrilege, I know.

Olivia’s acting was stilted.

Her performance as Melanie in “GWTW” was amateurish.

Joan Fontaine has entered the thread

I always found Joan Fontaine to be a bit warmer onscreen than Olivia.

R387, And Joan was a better actress.

Not a fan of either one, although I do like Livvie in "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte".

Back to Lana Turner, here's a fun one where she's Lady a, a wealthy playgirl who wants to unchaste Indian doctor Richard Burton! Watch Lana chain smoke so much that another character even comments on it!

Lana's Lady a, her name got deleted... Playing the Myrna Loy role, with Burton filling in for Ty Power...

‘The Rains of Ranchipur’ is a title that evokes glamour, intrigue, and colonialist disdain for extreme weather.

And Richard Burton playing an Indian!

No kidding, he was supposed to be Indian.

[quote] [R283] I've heard it was Barbara Stanwyck who told Loretta to go fuck herself.

It was Eleanor Roosevelt.

Can’t stand her.

Madame X reunites Lana with Ricardo Montalban. He plays a swinging bachelor and they have a funny camp exchange.

Holly Parker: Why, you contemptible, rotten...

Phil Benton: Contemptible, rotten what? Never end on a dangling insult.

I'm surprised the über ridiculous The Big Cube isn't more beloved on DL. It makes Valley of the Dolls look like Citizen Kane.

R390 Glad you appreciate The Rains of Ranchipur. I've not read the book or seen the earlier version "The Rains Came." Reading the synopsis it sounded like something I'd love but then the film itself left me cold. For two people famous IRL for having lots of sex, it astonished me how little chemistry Burton and Turner generated together. And the scene with Lana and the snake is shot so safely and without risk that it's hysterically funny, knowing she's acting her face off trying to react to nothing. The rainstorm is impressive for the SPFX of the time.

To Each His Own was a makeup Oscar—it should have gone to Celia Johnson for Brief Encounter, one of the great, real film performances. Had voters known The Snake Oit and The Heiress were in the offing, they could have waited. I don’t The Snak Pit ages well, but she’s better than Jane @Mumbles” Wyman in Johnny Belinda Carlisle. And I do think her Catherine Sloper is matchless.

Watch Lana in THE PRODIGAL. The ending is hysterical.

I visited Lana Turner's childhood home in Wallace, Idaho a few years back (just saw it from the street). At the time, it was terribly overgrown and the outside was not well-maintained. The address was listed as one of the notable places int he town in a city guide I nabbed from a local museum or something. Wallace itself is a strange little former mining town tucked in a canyon in the Panhandle. It very much has a "lost in time" feel to it. I grew up driving by it many times while traveling to visit family members in Montana, so I've always been familiar with it, though I didn't know until many years later that it was glamour queen of the silver screen, Lana Turner's birthplace. Humble beginnings for certain.

Why did man hungry Lana break off her engagement to Turhan Bey?

He went into the Army.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (one of Loretta's many lovers) said she told him once in the Fox studio commissary to put .50 cents in her idiotic swear/blasphemy box and he said he would give her $5 instead and tell her to go fuck herself. He also said she was "a rabid Paulist Catholic, the worst kind in the world."

I didn't know that Lana's father was murdered. She was about 9 years old at the time.

From Wiki:

[quote]The Turner family struggled financially and relocated to San Francisco when she was six years old, after which her parents separated.[23] On December 14, 1930,[24] her father won some money at a traveling craps game; he stuffed his winnings in his sock and headed home, but was later found bludgeoned to death on the corner of Minnesota and Mariposa Streets, on the edge of San Francisco's Potrero Hill and the Dogpatch District, with his left shoe and sock missing.[21][25] His robbery and homicide were never solved,[21] and his death had a profound effect on Turner.[26] She later said, "I know that my father's sweetness and gaiety, his warmth and his tragedy, have never been far from me. That, and a sense of loss and of growing up too fast."[

R404 see R286

Thanks. I missed that.

Big time gang hitman Johnny Stompanato 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧

According to his autopsy, Stompanato died from a "single knife wound that penetrated his liver, portal vein and aorta, resulting in massive internal hemorrhaging." The fact that it was a single stab makes me think it actually was Cheryl who committed the murder. If it had been Lana, I imagine she'd have gone to town with the knife and slashed him to bits. Per the police account, Cheryl stabbed Stompanato, dropped the knife on a marble table, and immediately called her dad on the phone. To me, that tracks as a realistic series of actions for a 14-year-old in those circumstances.

The Rains Came is a very good movie. (Myrna Loy plays Lana's part in it.) Tyrone Power, George Brent, Nigel Bruce, Maria Ouspenskaya, Joseph Schildkraut, Jane Darwell. Marjorie Rambeau, Brenda Joyce. The Rains Of Ranchipur is bad.

Lnaa's most erotic role

The Sea Chase wasn't bad. Tab Hunter was in it, too.

This thread is why I love DL. So many of you have such great knowledge of Classic Hollywood.

And so many of you have so many boring and unfunny conflicting stories about Loretta Young's swear jar.

It's too bad the late Suzanne Somers (may she rest in peace) was blackballed by Hollywood after The 3's Company fiasco, as she really could have provent to be the "next Lana Turner". I would love to have seen her in The Postman Always Rings Twice or Ziegfield Girl, she would have been off the charts!

r71 I have often found, at leat with the stars of the golden age of Hollywood, that searching out an actors lesser known films often uncovers some real gems that showcase some of the best or most enjoyable of their work.

R408 After reading Cheryl Crane's autobiography, I do believe she stabbed Stompanato and wasn't covering for her mother.

She describes hearing her mother and Johnny fighting in her mom's bedroom, and it sounded violent, so she ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. She was holding it in front of her and was getting ready to walk in the room when Sompanato opened the door and literally walked onto the knife.

Not for a second do I believe that Johnny walked into the knife. That’s absurd. But I do believe she was on high adrenaline because she was scared for her mother and it wasn’t intentional so much as reactive. You know, when someone is in fight or flight mode.

Seems to me whichever way the door opened - inward or outward - he would have seen her first.

R418, To create a wound so deep that several organs were affected would take more than Stompanato “walking” into the knife.

[ R112 ] watched LOVE HAS MANY FACES on Apple TV last night and you were not kidding about hot stuff Hugh O' Brien in the yellow Speedo! Damn! That's Prime Grade "A" Beef! Lana told Joan Rivers she didn't fool around with her co stars but I'm not sure she could have kept her hands off! What a sexy cad! She certainly did smoke and drink her away through this sizzler! Lana knew how two work those stoles while drinking AND smoking. There's a talent to that!

I had to look up Hugh O'Brien. Did Lana have him?

^ How many straight men would pose like that?

R419 In her book, Cheryl Crane says Stompanato opened the door, but was looking behind him and yelling at Lana, so he didn't see her and walked onto the knife.

R424, In order to sustain his injuries, either he was more than walking or she was in a stabbing mode.

Cheryl was traumatized by witnessing his physical abuse of her mother. He had it coming. Threatening to kill Lana is she ever left him. He gave Lana a serious beating when they returned from the Oscars.

R425 I recall her writing that he was storming out the door, so he must have been moving pretty quickly.

I'll have Hugh for breakfast.

R428 I'd lick those nipples.

So many actresses back then had boyfriends/husbands who were abusive assholes.

Lana and Joan liked to get roughed up a bit by macho men. I think it turned them on.

R431, So did Elizabeth Taylor, especially with Mike Todd.

Ava and Liz also got roughed up by abusive beaux and husbands. Ava fought back, but Liz I think liked it.

Zsa Zsa liked it rough with Rubirosa, who gave her a black eye.

Gary Merrill drank 24/7 and smacked Bette Davis around on a regular basis. Their 10-year marriage was insane. Back in those days domestic abuse wasn't really taken seriously, there were no laws etc.

In today's world a man who behaved like Gary Merrill did would be in prison.

R435, I’ve read that Bette used to provoke Gary Merrill and former husband William Sherry, as well, to hit her.

I have to admit I'd get a little hot being roughed up by Lex.

Had Playboy started in 1943 than 1953 Lana would’ve challenged Pamela Anderson for the most covers and layouts.

We learned to roll with the punches. They came left, right, and below the belt.

It seems to be that Lana was getting beaten up more than others, maybe because she attracted to rough necks or something.

Well, it looks easy until Jessica Chastain tried to do it and failed.

You must be talking about that execrable THE HEIRESS Broadway revival. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Seriously, how do you fuck up a well-made play like?

Yes, I am. Credit to Livvy & Cherry, the two that made it work.

vivien leigh got beat up on the regular by Lex too.

R442 Why no credit to Wendy Hiller, the original actress who played it on Broadway?

Stompanato also had film of Lana (who was unconscious, I think, having been drugged) made to look like she was participating in a threesome. He was a real scumbag.

Was Janet Leigh or Lana Turner the bigger star? Who do you think was prettier? Janet had the much better body.

Lana was bigger than Janet.

Yes but Janet was prettier by a long shot.

The scene that got Lana noticed.

What is the film where they had to do a few days' shooting of Lana in shadow because she was so roughed up?

Just watch where that bullet bra points---that's where the trouble's gonna be.

That's one thing about Joan, you never heard about men smacking her around.

Why do people have to make every thread about JOAN?

Don't hate the player. Hate the game.

Was she named after Shirley Temple?

I watched LOVE HAS MANY FACES again tonight and I must admit it was for Hugh more than Lana. The yellow Speedo, the red Speedo, the navy Speedo, the towel he wears in the scene with Ruth Roman, the cabana boy outfits. On most actors they would have looked just plain silly but Hugh can still give the boys what they want since decades later. Can AI recreate him for an Onlyfans account? I'm obsessed I tell you. OBSESSED!!

Lana does look a bit long in the tooth in this film. Edith Head designs some ultra glam short sets and sequined hostess ensembles for her to smoke and drink in and she does have a way with a stole and stacked wrist bangles.. Miss Turner definitely scores points for knowing how to work a costume. I'm lukewarm about Stephanie Powers and Cliff Robertson here but Ruth Roman almost steals the show in a fun supporting role as an American divorcée of a certain age on the prowl for Acapulco beach boys. I'm thinking that one of Lana's demands was that Miss Roman dressed as a tacky frump so as not to steal too much of the limelight.

By the way, Ruth is great in Nicholas Ray's BITTER VICTORY.

Everything Cliff Robertson has done stinks. He's harder to watch than Glenn Ford.

R451 - was it Another Time, Another Place?

Ruth Roman must have really impressed Hitchcock. She was one of few brunettes to play a lead for him in STRANGERS ON A TRAIN.

R459, Stompanato flew to London and got into a fistfight with Sean Connery on the set because he suspected Lana and Sean were fucking.

R450 Quite big tits.

. . .

[quote]Lana was bigger than Janet.

Lana may have been bigger at the time, but Janet won in the end. Janet will always be remembered and known by every new generation because of Psycho. Lana is forgotten today by younger generations.

Robert Wagner wrote in his autobiography that Janet Leigh had the biggest tits in Hollywood.

R465 I think not

You honestly think millennials or gen z remember Janet Leigh or Psycho, R464?

R467, “Psycho” is an iconic film, constantly being being rediscovered by new generations.

Janet Leigh wore a 34C size bra.

Jayne Mansfield wore a 36D size bra.

Janet Leigh didn't even have the biggest tits at MGM

Kathryn Grayson had really big breastuses

She ripped more than a few bodice seams in her day, r471.

R460 I seem to have read that Hitchcock was not pleased with Ruth Roman and she was forced upon by him by Warners.

R472 39 inches of titties

Unfortunately Kathryn later had a waist size to match her tit size.

[Quote] You honestly think millennials or gen z remember Janet Leigh or Psycho

Quite honestly yes R467

Re Vertigo: Alfred Hitchcock originally wanted to cast Lana Turner in the lead role, but she "wanted too much loot" and was dropped from consideration. (IMDB)

By the time Hitchcock started working on Psycho, he was one of the most famous filmmakers in the world. According to WhatCulture, the shortlist for the role of Marion Crane was pretty long: Angie Dickinson, Piper Laurie, Hope Lange, Shirley Jones, Eva Marie Saint, and Lana Turner were all considered.

“When Rex Reed interviewed Ava Gardner many years ago, she had this to say about working with her in ​Show Boat. I remember the interview almost verbatim: "And Kathryn Grayson? She had the biggest boobs in Hollywood.“

Victor Mature had the biggest jugs in pictures.

Say what you want about her, but that bitch could rock a turban!

Jane Russell hasn't even been mentioned in a discussion of Hollywood boobs?

Looks like it oughta have a highball around it

[quote]Victor Mature had the biggest jugs in pictures.

Not to mention...

Speaking of Jane Russell - a hilarious interview of JR by our Joan Rivers!

I just can't get emotionally attached to her. She always has this mean look on her face and seems really icy, and that's not my jam.

I’ve read that Lana’s periods were so painful that she would be unavailable to film for a day or two each month.

R486 That's hardly the standard perception of Lana.

Around 5:20...

You know, it’s just possible that the studio system was a bit stressful for Lana too.

Let’s get this baby to 600 replies

She was pretty, but she had no butt whatsoever.

Doris Day had a butt.

Lana does the hula in Bachelor in Paradise (1961).

Wide screen isn't great for capturing dance moves.

Shelley Winters had a butt. (Hamburger Helper to get the thread to 600).

And people saying Lana didn't look good at 40 are crazy.

Here's Lana doing her best with her pal Judy Garland's number from Ziegfeld Follies

....

r497 - Oh honey, that number cries out for taps!

When Lana was a brunette ---- I don't know wtf she was thinking.

Brunettes don't think.

Ann Miller doing that number makes no sense. She WAS known for her torso.

Lana WAS a brunette. The blonde was a dye job.

I bet she liked anal while playing with her clit.

Her nickname was Lana Banana.

[quote] Robert Wagner wrote in his autobiography that Janet Leigh had the biggest tits in Hollywood.

John Wayne got to confirm that as well as any 50s costar could and still get the movie released

I don't know if it was natural but before she was blonde Lana was a redhead.

Lana said the public (when she met them) often mixed her up with Betty Grable.

[quote]This thread is why I love DL. So many of you have such great knowledge of Classic Hollywood.

The same here, I love these threads.

R508, And Lana would always correct them by saying, "No, I'm Lana, I'm the one who was in The Postman Always Rigns Twice. Betty Grable is the one who had to have a used condom pulled out of her downtown Suzie by her OB/GYN because the odor was so bad..."

My late aunt, born in 1929, was most complimented when I once told her she brought to mind Lana Turner.

No one has mentioned By Love Possessed (1961), have they? It had a large amount of filming done in Pepperell and Groton, MA (and in Fitchburg, as well - such as the main title sequence). Lana was kind of more somnambulistic than usual and was part of an ensemble cast that had her married to Jason Robards and having an affair with Barbara Bel Geddes' husband, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. George Hamilton (son of Barbara and Efrem) was also cheating on his sort-of girlfriend, Susan Kohner, with the local tramp, who I think was Yvonne Craig.

^I remember a scene with Lana riding a horse at the gallop.

Was she a good rider?

R512: If Efrem Zimbalist Jr is in it, you know it's got to be a stinker. Zimbalist could easily give anyone competition for being somnambulistic.

R515 It was a somewhat quiet, serious drama (I think directed by John Sturges) not a florid Douglas Sirk melodrama. It was okay, not a stinker. Zimbalist was part of the ensemble, as was Lana. Nobody's role really carried the picture. I agree Zimbalist was always dull.

“Portrait in Black” is a real guilty pleasure.

....

A lot of these movies were on TV when I was a kid. I liked Portrait in Black, then seeing it years later I thought it was awful. I also liked Madame X but was confused as a kid as to why Lana's mother-in-law looked the same age as her (discussed above). You couldn't use the internet to look up ages, and I had no idea who Constance Bennet even was. The other movie I remember was a comedy with Dean Martin, Who's Got The Action? that I don't think has been seen in years, and Bachelor In Paradise, with Bob Hope, which I still find funny (and a time capsule of the early 60s in the San Fernando Valley).

One of my favorite Lana movies is Slightly Dangerous. It's a lot of fun. She was always better if she didn't have to act so much.

Lana Turner was GLAMOUR, bitches. She was a Golden Age of Hollywood MOVIE STAR right to the very end and she never disappointed.

R521 I'm the poster upthread who claimed that Turner had a face that melted and was generic and uninteresting, not memorable. But I do think she had glamour in her later years. In terms of relative physical beauty, her last decades were her best.

An earlier performance from Lana that I've always liked is in the 1941 version of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" with Spencer Tracy and Ingrid Bergman. People seem to be divided on that film, but I've always been a fan. I love the hallucination sequence.

Apparently Ingrid and Lana were originally cast in the opposite roles, but Bergman wanted the more challenging one and the producers agreed to switch them. I read somewhere that director Victor Fleming struggled getting the performances he wanted out of them both, and actually slapped them in the face to make them cry realistically.

[quote]Lana Turner?

If Lana Turner is the question, what's the answer?

One of my friends always referred to her as Lahner Turner.

Never heard of her.

[quote]One of my friends always referred to her as Lahner Turner.

Was the friend from the Boston area, by any chance?

[quote]Never heard of her.

Your ignorance is fascinating. Thank you for sharing it with us. Please keep us updated by letting us know about all the other DL subjects you know nothing about.

r512 - Yvonne Craig was the quintessential starlet.

Take your meds, r528.

Her breasts were always strong, raised, proud and confident!

I taught her how to ice them, R531.

Female Warren Beatty- good looking, some good films, highly sexed.

Lana loved a big stiff dick and she made no apologies for it.

And she got a lot of hot dick in her life.

I keep reading how Lana loved big dicks but I have no idea where people are getting this info. She liked men. Maybe dick size wasn't important to her.

Barker and Stompanato were both known for their endowments, r535.

R536 So therefore all the many men she liked had big dicks.

R537 Fernando Lamas, Ricardo Montalban...also two big-cocked studs Lana engulfed with her mouth and twat.

And her asshole

R538 Montalban was famously faithful to his wife (Loretta Young's sister).

Supposedly Lana was very unhappy with the casting of John Garfield opposite her in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE. Did she ever talk about him in any interviews?

R541 Oh, I think she got over that...

Well, I wondered if the disappointment was before she met Garfield.

I wouldn't be surprised if she took a roll in the hay with Uncle Milte.

R527 No, Long Island.

On Donahue Lana said she was in her 40s before she properly enjoyed sex. She didn't name the man. I think her drinking interfered with her ability to keep her legs crossed.

R546, She named him in her autobiography. It was husband #6, Robert Eaton.

R546 I don't buy that. Even from the beginning, she always exuded that self-satisfied, morning-after glow of a gal who's been properly fucked.

R548, Specifically, Lana said that Eaton turned her on to oral sex.

R548 Then why would she say it?

'I liked men and men liked me.'

The overwhelming majority of DLers wish they could say that.