Yesteryear

Beautiful Portraits of Jean Harlow From ‘The Girl from Missouri’ (1934)

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The Girl from Missouri is a sassy, pre-Code comedy-drama film released in 1934, starring the iconic Jean Harlow as Eadie Chapman, a spirited, ambitious young woman determined to marry a millionaire and escape her humble, small-town roots.

The film’s plot follows Eadie as she navigates the competitive and often ruthless world of New York’s elite, using her sharp wit and undeniable charm to secure her future. It is a classic example of pre-Code Hollywood cinema, where Eadie’s character embodies the era’s liberated female protagonists—she is overtly sexual, independent, and unapologetic about her pursuit of wealth, a portrayal that would become heavily censored after the full enforcement of the Production Code later that year.

Co-starring Franchot Tone, the movie is remembered for its snappy dialogue and Harlow’s vibrant performance, solidifying her status as the “Blonde Bombshell” of the 1930s. These beautiful photos capture portraits of Jean Harlow during the filming of The Girl from Missouri in 1934.

50 Gorgeous Photos of Gloria Grahame in the 1950s

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Gloria Grahame (born Gloria Penelope Hallward; November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an American actress. She began her acting career in theater, and in 1944 made her first film for MGM. In the 1950s, Grahame was a prominent Hollywood actress, primarily known for her compelling performances as a sultry femme fatale in film noir classics. Her decade was marked by career highs, including an Academy Award win, and dramatic personal life scandals that ultimately led to the wane of her Hollywood career.

Grahame’s career peaked in the early-to-mid 1950s. She was celebrated for her ability to portray complex characters, blending vulnerability with a husky drawl and distinctive physical presence (including a famous “pout” she sometimes enhanced by tucking cotton in her lip).

Starring opposite Humphrey Bogart in In a Lonely Place (1950), Grahame delivered one of her most acclaimed performances as a woman who falls in love with a troubled screenwriter, in a haunting exploration of suspicion and identity. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), a performance that lasted only nine minutes of screen time, a record at the time.

In The Big Heat (1953), her role as a gangster’s moll who is shockingly disfigured with hot coffee became one of the most indelible and iconic images in film noir history. In a departure from her usual noir roles, she played the “can’t-say-no” girl Ado Annie in the film musical Oklahoma! (1955), showcasing her versatility, though rumors of her being difficult on set began to surface.

Grahame’s personal life was often as tumultuous as her on-screen roles and garnered significant tabloid attention, which eventually impacted her career. She was married multiple times, including to director Nicholas Ray, with whom she made In a Lonely Place. Their marriage ended amid controversial circumstances, including allegations by Ray that he caught Grahame in bed with his then 13-year-old son, Anthony Ray. Grahame later married Anthony Ray when he was 23 and she was 37, a scandal that further fueled the tabloids and contributed to the decline of her mainstream Hollywood career after the mid-1950s.

Funny Photos of Classic Hollywood Stars Walking the Turkey

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During the Golden Age of Hollywood, it was a common publicity stunt for movie studios to stage seasonal photo shoots featuring their biggest stars posing with live turkeys for Thanksgiving. These publicity photos were part of a coordinated, seasonal effort by major studios to promote their contract players. Studio photographers and publicity departments would create fun, campy, and often glamorous images to keep the stars and their upcoming films in the public eye during the holiday season.

The pictures offered a playful contrast to the stars’ typically glamorous on-screen images, humanizing them for the public. These images were often sent to magazines and newspapers nationwide to generate buzz.

Bette Davis

Virginia Gibson

Barbara Bates

Vera Ellen

Irene Vanbrugh: A Leading Light of the Edwardian Stage

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Irene Vanbrugh (1872–1949) was a distinguished English actress who had a prominent stage career spanning over fifty years. She was a leading lady particularly known for her performances in plays by playwrights like Arthur Wing Pinero, J.M. Barrie, and Oscar Wilde; she notably created the role of Gwendolen Fairfax in the original 1895 production of The Importance of Being Earnest.

Although primarily a stage performer, Vanbrugh also appeared in a number of silent films and talking pictures in her later years. For her extensive contributions to the theatre, she was honored as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1941.

Vanbrugh was also a keen supporter of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), of which her brother was the principal, and the Academy’s theatre was later named the Vanbrugh Theatre in honor of her and her sister, Violet, who was also an actress.

Jimi Hendrix Photographed by Rob Bosboom in London, 1967

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The images feature a 25-year-old Jimi Hendrix early in his solo career in London, shortly after his arrival in England the previous September. The photos were taken by Rob Bosboom in January 1967. The session took place at 34 Montagu Square in London. This was the flat rented by Ringo Starr of The Beatles, and it was a significant hub for London’s music scene in the 1960s.

Bosboom was a prominent Dutch music photographer in the 1960s, primarily working for magazines like the Dutch Muziek Express. He developed an especially good relationship with Jimi Hendrix. These images offer a glimpse into Hendrix’s time in London as he launched his solo career with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, before gaining massive fame back in the US at the Monterey Pop Festival later that same year.

Vintage Photos Capture Street Scenes of Seattle in the 1970s

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The streets of Seattle in the 1970s presented a gritty, transitional urban landscape, a distinct departure from the gleaming tech hub of today. Downtown, areas around First Avenue and Pike Place Market buzzed with a diverse mix of long-haired counter-culture youths, sailors from the nearby port, and working-class locals.

Fashion was a collision of styles: bell-bottom jeans, tie-dye shirts, and military surplus jackets were commonplace sights, often worn under the perpetual gray skies. The air carried the smells of fresh fish and strong coffee mixed with exhaust fumes from classic American cars: Chevys, Fords, and Volkswagens that dominated traffic, as the city had not yet fully embraced modern public transit.

The 1970s vibe was defined by an earthy, slightly rough-around-the-edges authenticity, as Seattle navigated a period of economic fluctuation and cultural change. These vintage photos, from duckswim2, capture street scenes of Seattle in March 1977.

View from bus to downtown, the Hat ‘n’ Boots Texaco Gas Station, Seattle, Washington, 1977

Hat ‘n’ Boots, Seattle, Washington, 1977

View from downtown to Space Needle, Seattle, Washington, 1977

Pioneer Building, Downtown Seattle, Washington, 1977

A building at night, Seattle, Washington, 1977

42 Publicity Photos of Bruce Lee as Kato on the Set of “The Green Hornet”

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Bruce Lee’s portrayal of Kato in the 1966-1967 television series The Green Hornet was a pivotal moment in his career and for martial arts in American media. The film was Lee’s first major adult role in the United States and introduced his unique martial arts style to a mainstream American audience. While the show starred Van Williams as the Green Hornet (Britt Reid), Lee’s energetic and groundbreaking performance as Kato, the Green Hornet’s valet, masked driver, and crime-fighting partner, often stole the spotlight. The show was so popular in Hong Kong that it was known as The Kato Show.

Lee refused to follow the standard American fisticuff fight choreography. He insisted on using his authentic martial arts skills, which was a key factor in the character’s popularity and the show’s distinction. He effectively brought high-tech martial arts to American television. His speed was so legendary that the show’s film crew had trouble capturing his movements at a normal frame rate. Bruce Lee was reportedly asked to slow down his punches for the cameras because, at regular speed, his movements appeared as a blur.

On one occasion, during a planned crossover episode with the Batman TV series, Lee refused to participate in a fight scene that depicted Asian-style martial arts being defeated. He walked off the set in protest, as the original script had the Green Hornet and Kato being beaten by Batman and Robin. He reportedly insisted that his character would not be defeated.

His time as Kato is credited with helping to popularize martial arts in the United States in the 1960s, paving the way for his later feature films like Enter the Dragon. The success and attention he gained from The Green Hornet ultimately led to his starring roles in Hong Kong feature films, which cemented his status as a global pop culture icon.

Carving Up the Myth: Serving Gratitude With a Side of Mashed-Up History

by Sprite Gravier | Style Life, Yesteryear | 0 Comments

Thanksgiving is America’s most polished lie. We’ve been spoon‑fed the image of Pilgrims and Wampanoag breaking bread in harmony,...

Nan Grey: A Graceful Star of 1930s Hollywood

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Born Esmée Nanette Grey in Houston, Texas, American actress Nan Grey (1918–1993) rose to prominence during Hollywood’s Golden Age in the 1930s.

Often cast in supporting roles as a sympathetic young woman, Grey gained recognition for her work in horror and comedy films. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the Universal Pictures classics Dracula’s Daughter (1936) and the musical comedy Three Smart Girls (1936), the latter of which starred Deanna Durbin and led to a successful sequel.

After a brief but active career, Grey retired from acting in the early 1940s following her marriage to singer Frankie Laine, choosing to focus on her family. Though her filmography is relatively short, Nan Grey remains a memorable figure of pre-war cinema.

The Story Behind Robert Croft’s Iconic Photograph of John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza, Before the First Shot Struck Kennedy

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Assassination eyewitness Robert Croft took this up-close picture of John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy after the limousine had made its fatal turn onto
Elm Street. Jackie, probably to the photographer’s immense delight, appears to be looking directly at Mr. Croft when he clicked his camera’s shutter.

Jacqueline Kennedy looks at Robert Croft as he snaps a photo of her, her husband President John F. Kennedy, Texas Gov. John Connally, his wife Nellie Connally and two Secret Service agents in the presidential limousine just before shots rang out in Dealey Square on Nov. 22, 1963.

The photo was snapped by Croft at the equivalent of approximately Frame #161 of Abraham Zapruder’s home movie, which was almost exactly the same time that Lee Harvey Oswald fired the first of his three gunshots from the Book Depository (the first shot missed the car and its occupants completely).

Robert Earl “Bob” Croft was a 20-year-old missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

“It was the most gruesome, horrible thing I have ever seen in my life,” he told the Powell Tribune 50 years ago. “I don’t know if I will ever get over it.”

Croft decided to see Kennedy’s motorcade pass through Dallas, and he left the Union Terminal, where he was waiting for a bus to take him to Denver, to see the president pass. He walked over to Dealey Plaza in the downtown area — and took his Argus C3 35mm camera with him.

Croft told the Powell Tribune for a story published Nov. 26, 1963, that he was 30 feet from JFK’s limousine when the shots rang out at around 12:30 p.m. Central Time.

During an interview Croft did on April 20, 1988, 25 years after the assassination, with JFK researcher Richard Trask for Trask’s book “Pictures of the Pain,” Croft offered more details on what he witnessed in Dallas.

He said he was winding his camera to get as many photos as possible. He took three, and was trying to snap a fourth when he heard a shot ring out in the concrete canyon of Dealey Plaza. Croft told Trask the photo was “taken simultaneously with the shot which killed the President,” according to the book.

Then, the area was in pandemonium.

Croft also appears in some photos taken that day, as many people took cameras to capture an image of the glamorous president and his wife. He is also seen in the famed Abraham Zapruder film of the assassination.

After the fatal events of Nov. 22, 1963, Bob Croft was in contact with the Secret Service and the FBI. Both agencies examined his color slides.

Online and printed reports, based on an FBI file, state that Croft took 22 images on his roll of 36-exposure Kodachrome-X film before it was processed. Three were of the Kennedy motorcade. One was of the motorcycles in the advance guard; the other two showed the presidential limousine.

The more famous of the photos, frame 18 on the roll, shows first lady Jacqueline Kennedy looking right at Croft. He was standing on the south curb of Elm Street on the driver’s side of the limo, facing the Texas School Book Depository. President John F. Kennedy is next to his wife and is shown in profile.

Texas Gov. John Connally and his wife Nellie are in the middle of the 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible in the jump seats. The driver is Secret Service Agent William Greer, with Secret Service Assistant Special Agent in Charge Roy Kellerman riding next to him in the front seat.

It’s an iconic photo, one of the most famous taken on that day. It appears on dozens of websites and has been published in books, magazines and newspapers.

According to the book, “Matrix for Assassination: The JFK Conspiracy,” Croft took a fourth photo at the scene. He believed it was snapped at the exact moment as the devastating head shot struck Kennedy. But when he received his photos back from the FBI, this slide was a complete blank. The FBI told him his camera appeared to have malfunctioned at that moment.

Croft’s photos were first examined by the FBI, according to a Secret Service memo, after he turned his film over to the Denver FBI office.

According to Trask’s book, “… frame number 18 appears to show the Presidential car on Elm Street south of Houston Street just moments before the President was shot … Croft believed the last picture taken by him was taken simultaneously with the shot which killed the President. This no doubt refers to frame number 19 which is a complete blank which probably was occasioned by some malfunction of Mr. Croft’s camera or some other fault.”

Trask said he very much doubts the FBI tampered with the photo. Others, in the conspiracy-thick world of the JFK assassination, are not as convinced.

After the FBI returned his photos on Jan. 4, 1964, Croft mailed them to his parents in Powell. Two days later, the Secret Service office in Denver learned of the photos and asked Croft, who was living there as part of his two-year LDS mission, if they could examine them. He had his parents mail the photos back to him, and turned them over to the Secret Service, which, according to memos, was looking for its agents in the motorcade or any unusual activity which appears to be related to the attack.

Eventually, Croft called and asked for the photos, and the color slides were mailed to his Powell home, according to an April 20, 1964, Secret Service memo.

“Please accept our sincere thanks for your cooperation in making these slides available for our review,” the letter from Rolland H. Osborne, the special agent in charge of the Denver office states.

Rob Croft said he has no idea what happened to the photos, which captured a healthy, happy JFK and his wife seconds before their lives, and the fate of the nation, were forever changed.

(via Powell Tribune)