Lili Damita - Third of four Postings

Lili met her husband to be Errol Flynn aboard an ocean liner that was taking her and the then relatively unknown actor from England to America in 1935. He felt attracted to her, but she rebuffed him and it led to a mutual dislike. Of course six months later, the couple that publicly hated each other in Hollywood eloped to Yuma, Arizona and were married.

In 1939, Lili said, although contentedly, "Being married to Flynn (she called him Flynn and he called her Damita) is exactly like living on top of a volcano. I like that. A volcano which does erupt. Constantly - yes, but daily! We are always just arriving or just leaving. Flynn and I." She was also quoted that she knew Captain Blood would make him a star and she was right. Her favorite film of his was The Adventures of Robin Hood (What wonderful Technicolor) .

Lili also offered this obvious insight, "He likes a woman to be feminine. That is because he is so very masculine. He is a man's man. He is a man, a young, attractive man. But he has an eye, too, for a pretty face." And that is what eventually led to their divorce in 1942. What a wild marriage that must have been. Her images leave no question in my mind as to why Errol was attracted to her.

Lili Damita - What do you think? Allure?

Asides

I just received a copy of the April 1933 edition of "Hollywood", sub-headed The Screen's Only Pictorial Magazine, which I don't understand at all - there were of course dozens of movie magazines at the time. Anyway, the back cover caught my eye because the ad uses the word "alluring" and its a movie mag from 1933, so of course I have to post it!



Here is the cover, with Sally Blane (not sure who the illustrator was) and the intriguing cover story, How Lupe Velez Gets Her Man - in this case he was Tarzan, aka Johnny Weissmuller.



Lastly, and completely aside, this magazine contains an ad for Murders in the Zoo, a 1933 film I saw years ago, but the ad prompted me to view it again. It is quite gruesome actually - the opening scene has the always creepy Lionel Atwill sewing up the lips of a man who kissed his wife. His insanity proceeds from there as others become victim to various zoo animals. Charlie Ruggles has an unnecessary comedic role. Gail Patrick also stars. At the time the censors were outraged by various scenes and the film underwent numerous edits before its theatrical release. Not sure if this slipped under the Hayes code - it was released right around the transition to the code's restrictions.



Click on the images for a larger view.

Lili Damita - Second of four postings

As we continue our look at Lili's career we know that in 1928, at the invitation of Samuel Goldwyn, she went to Hollywood, making her American debut in a film titled "The Rescue", where she shared the lead with Ronald Coleman. She then was leased out to several studios where she appeared with Gary Cooper, Maurice Chevalier, Laurence Olivier, Cary Grant, and James Cagney. Her films included the 1929 box office success Raoul Walsh's The Cockeyed World. She then made 11 more films, mostly in staring roles, before she met husband to be Errol Flynn. More on that in the next post.

Lili Damita - What do you think? Allure?

Asides

A quick mention of the current (March 2007) Vanity Fair. There are two items that caught my interest (thanks Aimee for the heads up). Annie Leibovitz has a photo essay in conjunction with a short narrative that recreates, using today's "stars", a short film noir screenplay. Following the 32 page Leibovitz shoot is a concise essay on film noir by Ann Douglas, Columbia professor and author of "Terrible Honesty: Mongrel Manhattan in the 1920s". Check it out.

In my prior Asides I posted what I thought was a rather amusing 1933 letter to Movie Classic magazine by Mrs. Hannah Feldman of Atlanta, Ga., on Marlene Dietrich's fashion sense, and how it wasn't going to last. Well, I was looking through the April 1934 issue of Modern Screen, and none other than Cecil B. DeMille weighed in on the same issue. Asked about what defines glamor, DeMille says, "It's all your old friend sex appeal anyhow, dressed in fancy clothes, but not, if you please, in trousers." This when he was a Paramount director and Marlene was its biggest star. He finishes with these words, "When they wear 'em they take away all the allure, all charm, all subtlety. In other words, I'm agin 'em and agin' em strong!" So there you have it, Feldman and DeMille have spoken.

Lili Damita - First of four postings

Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carre was born in Bordeaux, France. She was educated in convents and ballet schools in several European countries, including France, Spain and Portugal. At 14, she was enroled as a dancer at the Opera de Paris and by age 16 was a music hall sensation, succeeding the legendary Mistinguette as star of the Casino de Paris revue. Lili also worked as a photographic model and was offered a role in film as a prize for winning a magazine beauty competition in 1921. She appeared in several French silent films before being offered her first leading role in Das Spielzeug von Paris by director legendary director Michael Curtiz.

She soon became the second wife of Curtiz, but the marriage was over in less than a year following Curtiz's emigration to the USA.

More about Lili and her marriage to Errol Flynn in subsequent posts.

Lili Damita - What do you think? Allure?