Old-School Idols: My Top 5 Screen Sirens

All righty, since I am in a nostalgic mood I thought I would post my Top 5 Classic Movie Godess List. This isn't actually about whom I think are fantastic actresses, but rather those Movie Stars whose beauty and energy is so compelling that you are drawn to them like moths to a lamp. Or a flame. Or a streetlight. Whichever.

They all also happen to be great actresses in their own right.


At #5, we have Ingrid Bergman. A star in her native Sweden before coming to the States, Ingrid was actually a fantastic actress and adept at choosing great movie roles (Casablanca, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and my personal favourite, Notorious, with the equally stunning Cary Grant). She came under a lot of heat, however, when she "shocked" America by leaving her Swedish husband for the Italian film director Roberto Rosselini (together they would have twins, one of whom is actress Isabella Rosselini). Ingrid had always played the virginal good-girl, so when she admitted to be an adulturess, the America public shunned her and they actually banned her from setting foot in the country for many years! Later Ingrid had her comeback with her Oscar-winning role in Anastasia.





At #4 we have none other than Grace Kelly. Grace Kelly, whose blue-blood looks really did come from blue-blood (her family were wealthy aristocrats, which would make her something of a socialite today),had a relatively short career. Though being the object of Hitchcock's lust and affection led to her top film roles in Dial M for Murder, To Catch A Theif, and my personal favourite, Rear Window, Grace left the film industry behind to marry the now-late Prince Ranier of Monaco.



Their marriage left us with silly royal subjects like Prince Albert, Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie, although her grandchildren, Charlotte and Andrea are really hot. Especially Prince Andrea. Who wouldn't want to be his Princess?











At #3 we have the lovely Audrey Hepburn. I could go on and on about her. So I won't. There's not too much to say about her that people don't already know. She's Belgian, survived attacks by Nazis by hiding in her cellar for days and living on nothing but turnips and muddy water. She wanted to be a ballerina but turned to acting as she didn't have the right stuff for it (her ballerina's body remained the same though).
Speaking of which, she was the first real gamine actress, who flaunted her naturally tiny body (22 inch waist and all) in a time where curves were the rage (my times have changed) and was/is a fashion icon (where would capris and ballet flats be without her?). She did excellent movies, all of which are classics (Sabrina, Love in the Afternoon, Funny Face, and my favourite, Charade). She was also the original Angelina Jolie and started this whole celebrities going to Africa/India and campaigning to make a difference. In fact, she devoted the end of her life to Unicef and other charities. She had a big heart, a big smile and great talent. Everyone that knew her, loved her and we still love her till this day. Sigh. I did go on and on about her, didn't I? Oh, and check out what a knockout she was at age 60.









#2 is Rita Hayworth. Gorgeous, transcendent, "Fairy Tale Pretty" Rita Hayworth was born Margarita Carmen Dolores Cansino. Margarita was nothing at all like the Rita we know nowadays. In fact, Rita Hayworth was completely engineered by the Hollywood Studio System. Grooming her to be a big star, Columbia Pictures did the following to the pretty, cherubic Spanish (yes, Rita Hayworth is actually a Latino, see above right): They dyed her hair from black to red, they lightened the skin on her face, they gave her a new nose, a new chin, and most painful of all, they removed about two inches of her hairline to raise her forehead. And this was all done by many torturous sessions of electrolysis (I can only imagine how painful that would have been back in the late 30's.)

But this was how Rita was born. She went onto become a great power player for Columbia and was in the wonderful Gilda, where she plays a real trampy bitch. But oh, she was a gorgeous trampy bitch. Later, she married tubby genious, Orson Welles, whom later put her in his movie The Lady From Shanghai, in which he cut off her hair and dyed it blonde. Her fans were appalled at the change and the marriage didn't last long. Rita went on to marry Prince Ali Khan, but that too, like most limelight marriages, didn't go for too long either.

I don't know what it is about Rita. But she just totally floats my boat.

















And of course my #1 is many people's number one: Marilyn Monroe. She doesn't need an introduction, other than me saying she was as smart as a whip (not stupid), was a great actress (see Bus Stop), and was horribly insecure (see all men she's slept with and drug problems). She, like Rita Hayworth, was also engineered. She was given a new nose, a new chin, a new jaw, and rumoured breast implants. But regardless of what was done to her, Marilyn was still Norma Jean Baker, who as you can see in these photos, was a gorgeous girl indeed. For a partly-fictional account of her life read Joyce Carol Oates book Blonde. It will keep you hooked.