September, 1943 – Actress Rita Hayworth and “Boy Wonder” Orson Welles have married after having been inseparable since their meeting at a private film screening last spring. Earlier this year the duo joined together on a morale-boosting tour entertaining our troops. 

This is the second marriage for Welles who divorced first wife Virginia Nicholson and also the second for Hayworth whose first marriage to businessman Ed Judson didn’t work out. Before meeting and marrying Welles, the beautiful actress had a succession of engagements that included actors Victor Mature, Gilbert Roland, and David Niven, millionaire Howard Hughes, and singer Tony Martin.

The wedding itself was as glamorous and the bride and groom with the newspaper headline reporting the event as “The Marriage of Beauty and the Brain.”

Having to once again endure war years, Hollywood, and its top film stars of the 1940′s, continued to provide quality entertainment to their audience. Although the early part of the decade provided financial challenges to the entire nation, Americas desire for entertainment was still in great demand. In an effort to meet the demand, and continue with its Golden Era, Hollywood was once again successful in providing a number of talented new stars and producing many popular films.

One of the most iconic movie stars of this period, or any peried, was Bette Davis. Davis has been regarded by numerous feminist historians as one of the most influential actresses in leading the way for more important and meaningful women’s roles on the silver screen. 

Her film accomplishments are legendary, having won two Best Actress Awards for her roles in Jezebel (1938) and Dangerous (1940). She would also receive five more Oscar nominations for her performances in Dark Victory (1940), The Letter (1941), The Little Foxes (1942), Now Voyager (1943) and Mr. Skeffington (1944). Her talent has firmly established Bette Davis as one of the most honored and respected actresses in Hollywood history.

During the 1940′s, Davis would become one of Hollywood’s highest paid actresses, and used her notoriety and wealth to contribute greatly to supporting the World War II effort by assisting the Hollywood Canteen’s programs for GI’s who passed through the Los Angeles area. 

Another 1940′s film icon, and one of Hollywood’s most popular stars, was the great Humphrey Bogart. During this decade, Bogart deservedly earned his reputation in Hollywood as one of their most talented and hardest working stars. 

Bogart’s impact on the silver screen was huge. Some of his more notable staring roles included High Sierra (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and the classic war time propaganda film Casablanca (1942). His role in Casablanca would earn him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, launching him into stardom and making him the highest paid actor in Hollywood.

Some of Humphrey Bogart’s most popular roles were those in which he teamed up with actress Lauren Bacall. The most notable being To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and the famous and memorable Key Largo (1948).

 The success of their screen pairing carried over to their personal lives as the two stars would eventually be married and come to be recognized as the  “star power couple” of Hollywood.

Another movie fan favorite to kick off a very successful film career in the 1940′s was femme fatale Rita Hayworth. Although she began making films during the 1930′s, it was her role in Gilda (1946) that put her on the map as major movie star and sex symbol.

With one little strip of a glove, while dancing in Gilda, she managed to cement her image into American film audiences. This audience would continue their love affair with the beautiful actress in the black satin dress with that sultry, wavy auburn hair for many years to come. 

Take some time to explore these films as the 1940′s was a great decade for film stars and the many enjoyable films they made.

The definition of the “Femme Fatale” archetype is derived from the french phrase that translates in English to mean “deadly woman.” A classical example of a film femme fatale is a woman who uses her charms to engage men into an overpowering desire for her that could only lead to dangerous, compromising, and even fatal situations.

Additional adjectives associated with the description of the femme fatale are seductress, vamp, sultry, demon, witch, black widow, and even heroine. The enchanting and hypnotizing effect of the femme fatale lies in her ability to be villainous while seeming vulnerable in nature, yet beautiful, alluring and virtually irresistible to the opposite sex. These are the qualities that bring her power of manipulation up to a nearly supernatural level.  

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Released - November, 1942 

Directed By - William A. Seiter

Starring – Fred Astaire (Robert ‘Bob’ Davis), Rita Hayworth (Maria Acuna), Adolphe Menjou (Eduardo Acuna), Isobel Elsom (Mrs. Maria Castro).

Description – American dancer Bob Davis is in Argentina both looking for work and gambling away his money. A bandleader friend invites him to perform at the wedding of a local nightclub owner’s daughter with the hope that this might lead to a job.

At the wedding Bob meets Maria another of the nightclub owner’s daughters. He is immediately attracted to her, but she brushes him off.

Maria then begins to receive a series of flowers and love notes from an unknown suitor who she believes to be Bob. It isn’t, so just who is the mysterious suitor and will Bob ever get a chance with Maria?

NOTABLE: This motion picture was nominated for three Academy Awards; Best Music, Original Song, Best Music, Scoring of a Motion Picture, and Best Sound, Rocording.

The beautiful music in the film was composed by Jerome Kern who was unhappy with the selection of Xavier Cugat and his orchestra. However, after production ended, Kern was so pleased with Cugat’s work that he presented him with a silver baton.

Rita Hayworth’s performance in the movie firmly established her as one of Fred Astaire’s premiere dance partners.

Rita Hayworth has stated that this film was her favorite.

You Were Never Lovelier

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Released – September, 1941 

Directed By - Sidney Lanfield

Starring – Fred Astaire (Robert Curtis), Rita Hayworth (Sheila Winthrop), Robert Benchley (Martin Cortlind).

Description – A musical comedy with a war time theme has stage star Robert Curtis finding himself drafted into the military just before his big show is to premiere. Not giving up, show producer Martin Cortlind bring the show to boot camp.

While trying to get his production completed, Cortilind’s wife discovers a diamond bracelet and thinks her husband is interested in beartiful showgirl Sheila Winthrop. In the mixup of events, Curtis finds himself right in the middle, trying to serve his country and romance the beautiful showgirl himself.

Music and lyrics by Cole Porter.

NOTABLE: This motion picture was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Music, Original Song, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.

This was Rita Hayworth’s first big-budet starring role for Columbia Pictures.

Tremendously successful at the box office, this film was a needed shot-in-the-arm for Fred Astaire who felt his career was suffering since breaking off with Ginger Rogers.

Personal Comment: While not one of the strongest musicals of the era, I’m such a fan of Fred Astaire that I believe just about anything that has him on the dance floor is worth viewing. Especially with the beautiful, graceful, and sensual Rita Hayworth as his dance partner.

You’ll Never Get Rich

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