A 1931 Hollywood marquee for Daybreak, co-starring Helen Chandler and Jean Hersholt. By the early thirties, with Novarro's drinking increasing, his tradeable asset, his looks, had taken a hit. At a house party in 1933 at Una Merkel's place in the Hollywood hills, he had apparently gotten VERY intoxicated, gone upstairs and stripped naked, bounced on a bed and yelled that he was Queen Victoria "on her death bed." Pulled down and brought to his senses, he later apologised to his host. Merkel noted that his antics had been "the highlight of an otherwise dull party." In 1935 MGM did not renew his contract, and his reign as a matinee idol and silver screen latin lover had come to an end.
4 comments:
By 1935 MGM had Cooper and Gable and the Latin lover types of the 1920’s like Navarro were over. The day Valentino died in 1926 is when the latin lover began to gradually fade away. Much like the blond, bosomy bombshell type ended with the death of Monroe in 1962.
At least the Egyptian Theater (built in 1922) is still around to remind us of the glory and salad days of old Hollywood. Salad days remind me of the famed Brown Derby restaurant and its famous Cobb salad specially made for actors and actresses when the studios put them on strict diets.
-Rj
Salad days! I first read that expression in Charlie Chaplin's autobiography. I think it was a chapter heading :)
The Cobb Salad was named for Robert Cobb owner of the famed Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, a favorite luncheon spot for film stars.
The salad was made from iceberg lettuce , chickory and watercress, finley chopped onions, parsley, tomatoes, avacados, turkey, hard boiled eggs, crumbled bacon and blue cheese. Topped off with a vinaigrette dressing. -Rj
OMG love a Cobb! I didn't know that :)
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