Rita Hayworth: Blonde Bombshell?

As I continue to age and become increasingly feeble, forgetful, and just plain dopey, I nevertheless come up with theories that appear to be accurate. Case in point: Rita Hayworth. The movie goddess and dreams of millions of men the world over was best known for being a red-headed pinup during World War II. However, in the 1948 film noir The Lady From Shanghai, hubby Orson Welles had Rita dye her hair for her role ass a sick and twisted femme fatale. But you knew all that. Now before I go forth with my crackpot belief, I'll have you know that what I don't know about style could be stuffed into the Grand Canyon. But what I've always found interesting about Rita-as-blonde is how well she makes that look work for her. Rita was of latin extraction, so her looks were such that her dark complexion wouldn't really work all that well with blonde hair. In fact, I see zillions of bleach blondes of all ages out there in the real world and I can tell from their olive or yellowish complexion--or black eyebrows--that they're not real blondes. How did Rita Hayworth pull this look off? Perhaps the fact that Shanghai was filmed in black and white helped. But the color still pictured above shows Hayworth aquitting herself quite well with this look, latina extraction and all. I guess some women are just plain beautiful no matter how they're made up.

Wanted: Katharine Hepburn in a Car, Circa 1930s

Being the "odd bird" that I am--"odd bird" was a term my grandmother used to describe eccentrics--Something I've been desperately searching for is a photograph of Katharine Hepburn, from the 1930s, in California, at the wheel of a car, with a Spanish Villa-style home or building in the background. It's an image I've burned into my mind and it's imagery defines the very concept of Hollywood Dreamland. I recently managed to find the above photograph, but it doesn't look like the 1930s; maybe early-fifties and it doesn't embody that 1930s fantasy. Anyway, if someone out there knows of a Katharine Hepburn photo with her at the wheel of a convertible, please contact me! I'm sure such a photo exists and I'd love to see it.

In fact, I intend to track down pics of any 1930s/40s movie star at the wheel of or posing with their cars. It sounds like the theme for a coffee table book: Stars and Their Cars In Hollywood's Golden Age. I found this absolutely wonderful Rita Hayworth photo. It's tantalizingly close to what I'm looking for--no, please don't use Photoshop to put Kate into the image!--it captures the leisurely pace of early Hollywood and I love photographs of the stars at play, especially when it's in and around Los Angeles. The whole idea of the photo, the time frame, and that locale are all part of my shameless glorification of Hollywood's Golden Age. There's just so much about all of this that captivates me.