MovieChat Forums > Across the Pacific (1942) Discussion > Worst 'do of '42?

Worst 'do of '42?

posted 19 years ago by vaneyck
25 replies | jump to latest

When I saw the Maltese Falcon again recently it struck me that Mary Astor had probably the frumpiest, least becoming hairdo of any female lead in any movie. (Well, maybe Elsa Lanchester in Bride of Frankenstein comes close.) Now I've just seen Across the Pacific, and she has her hair done in a very similar manner, with a couple of twists and curlicues to make it even more repulsive.

Mary Astor was no great beauty anyway. I notice in each movie the Bogart character raves about how beautiful she is: the filmmakers quite rightly wouldn't trust us to come to that conclusion ourselves, I guess. How did she ever get these roles?

[–] marcolm 19 years ago

Couldn't agree with you more. My wife and I were just commenting on her while watching "Across the Pacific" the other night on TCM. The best she looked was in the original Prisoner of Zenda with Doug Fairbanks circa 1936. But, still NO ravishing beauty!

[–] 80334080 18 years ago

I find it hard to believe that anyone would measure the value of an actress by her hairdo! In the first place public perceptions of hair styles have changed considerably in the last 65 years and in the second place she was an excellent actress so who cares if she wasn't a sexpot by current standards!! She got the roles she did because of talent and hard work and because a lot of people, including me, found her pleasing to watch!

[–] buxtehude99 18 years ago

Sorry, Mary Astor was HOT! I wish she'd come into my cabin when I was drunk, or better yet, sober.

[–] Harold_Robbins 18 years ago

Astor was actually quite a beauty in her day and a fine actress who could hold her own opposite John Barrymore, Gable, Walter Huston, Bogart, or Bette Davis. She had a rather turbulent private life that sometimes wasn't very private, as the tabloids made much of her off-screen affairs, and she later developed a drinking problem which somewhat blunted her good looks - she had been in films since her teens - at the time she made ACROSS THE PACIFIC she'd already been in films for over 20 years - by the time she appeared in DON JUAN with John Barrymore (their off-screen love scenes were supposedly the equal of those on-screen) in 1926 she'd already appeared in over 30 films. She made a successful transition to sound films and was memorable in such 1930s films as RED DUST, DODSWORTH, and MIDNIGHT. In 1941 she made a great impression as the deceitful Brigid O'Shaughnessy in MALTESE FALCON, yet instead was Oscar-nominated that year as Supporting Actress for THE GREAT LIE, which she won (she always believed it was actually for FALCON). Not long after her Oscar win she left Warners and signed with MGM, who put her in supporting or character roles (such as Judy Garland's mother in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS and an excellent turn as a hooker in Fred Zinnemann's ACT OF VIOLENCE), effectively ending her leading-lady days.

Those of you who think you know everything should politely defer to those of us who do!

[–] maria6419 10 years ago

As usual Harold Robbins you are correct and articulate!

[–] butaneggbert 10 years ago

Yes. To my eye, the alcoholism particularly was beginning to show at this point. There's only so much you can do to hide the bloating and deep eye circles.

She had an additional disadvantage in her relative status at the studio: she wasn't one of the powerhouse players. She couldn't - as Davis could - refuse to work unless, say, Ernie Haller was called in to oversee the lighting and angles.

I was rewatching this last night, and a particular shot was so unflattering to her, with the angles of her face all but flattened into a pie and huge rings under her eyes - almost to the effect she was peering from under a mask. Davis or Crawford would have killed that in the dailies - if they'd let the set-up get by in the first place. Astor didn't have that kind of power or, if I understand correctly, the inclination.

[–] billybadu 18 years ago

Yeah, she definitely seemed to suffer in the looks department compared to Bogey's other leading lady, Lauren Bacall, but who wouldn't? Anyway, I thought Mary was a better fit for the roles she played with Bogey. But, enough about her, how about her character in "Across the Pacific"? At the end, did she really walk smiling into Bogey's arms, leaving her freshly dead father lying in the house behind her? What were the writers thinking? I guess the substitute director just wanted to wrap it up and move on.

[–] krorie 18 years ago

It's the old "eye of the beholder" game. I personally think Mary Astor was sexually more appealing than Lauren Bacall. No matter, both were gifted actresses--Bacall still is.

Kenneth Rorie

[–] krains 17 years ago

If you want to see a bad hairdo take a look at Norma Shearer in "The Women"..

Read Mary Astor's personal quotes on this site, seems she had quite a sense of intelligent and almost sardonic humor.

[–] Rand-o 17 years ago

If you want to see a bad hairdo take a look at Norma Shearer in "The Women"..

Norma Shearer's 'do' in The Women always reminds me of the Joker on Batman!

Re: Mary Astor: I always thought she was striking and very attractive. Especially in the early '40's in this film, The Maltese Falcon and The Great Lie.
Mary Astor rules!

I can resist anything but temptation.

[–] indy_go_blue44 16 years ago

I didn't think she was "pretty" in the classic sense of the word, but she had a certain carriage and presence about her that made up for any looks that might have been lacking. She was a darned good actress and could teach some of these pinups that pass for actresses today a thing or four.

**********
Is that a rumor or did you just make that up? -Mom

[–] tarmcgator 17 years ago

Keep in mind that Mary turned 35 in 1941, when "The Great Lie," "The Maltese Falcon," and "Across the Pacific" were released or being filmed at the height of her career. Betty Bacall was not quite 20 in 1944 when "To Have and Have Not" made her a star and won her Bogart's heart.

Betty still looks great into her 80s, but please spare me the comparison with Mary. Ms. Astor was indeed "hot," and nowhere moreso than in "Across the Pacific." And apparently a very bright and funny woman to boot. Alberta Marlow from Medicine Hat coulda had me any day.

[–] bjnevin 16 years ago

I think that she looked simply beautiful in Dodsworth... Furthermore, she seemed more attractive in The Great Lie than The Maltese Falcon, even though both of them were released in the same year.

[–] noobzilla 14 years ago

Mary Astor was 'average' at best, and I think you hit the nail right on the head with the term 'frumpy'.

Most all of Bogies other leading ladies were hotties.. but not Astor.. she may have been more attractive in the 30s, but by this time.. no.. When I watch Falcon or Across.. I am turned off by her appearance.. but who knows, maybe on set in real life (in color) she looked better...

her hairdo had nothing to do with my assessment.. She just wasnt very pretty...

Now, Ann Sheridan.. there was a HOTTIE. Ingrid, Audrey, Ava.. they were all MUCH prettier than Astor..

-- “A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz.” Humphrey Bogart

[–] continuousmonsterdrip 14 years ago

any oppurtunity, however forced it may be, to say how perfect gene tierney was, i have to take. mary astor, schmary schmastor. gene tireney in "laura" was the perfect woman. she's beautiful in other films but i think she tried to get too skinny or maybe it was from her unfortunate depression. i'd be depressed too if, well i am but nevermind that... if i looked like her because nothing is better. everything is downhill. art loses it's integrity when stacked next to gene tierney. how depressing. a shout out for runner up: teresa wright in hitchcock's masterpiece "shadow of a doubt". i was watching the dvd extras on that one and poor old and wrinkled, 80 year old teresa wright was interviewed and i said to my girlfriend "she's still hot" and she was. bam!

[–] vaneyck 13 years ago

Mary Astor has a part in The Kennel Murder Case, made in 1933, and indeed she was a looker in her younger days. She still left me cold, but I can now see why she was spoken of as beautiful, though by 1942 it was more a tribute to her past than her present.

[–] feodoric 13 years ago

Error, sir !! Mary Astor is to me one of the most strikingly attractive non-conventional beauties Hollywood featured in the '30s and '40s. I was first mesmerized by her, not even knowing her before (or having noticed her) I saw Dodsworth. What a sensitive, brilliant and silky expression in her slightly drooping eyes ! Her eyes are even more memorable and sensually expressive than Bette Davis', who is not shabby by any means to me ! In fact, I was so struck by her looks after seeing Dodsworth that I wanted to watch more of her movies, so I am glad that the 6-DVD Humphrey Bogart boxset I recently purchased contained Across the Pacific and The Maltese Falcon. I have to say, though, that her most sophisticated character and interpretation to me is that in Dodsworth - which deserves to be better known. She manages to be so believable in the role of the free-spirited, but secretly enamored woman...

Naturally, there is general agreement (or objective evidence) about the beauty of most famously handsome women, but that makes only a fraction of their overall attractiveness. In general, that fraction is that which makes possible an agreement by men as well as women. The more subjective part of a woman's beauty can only be superficially described, and highly depends on the beholder's responsiveness (and being highly sexual in nature, is mostly perceived by males - and lesbians - only. Mary Astor's beauty is slightly more sexual than objectively aesthetic (except maybe for her eyes) in nature. Of course, this is not the type of discourse a man would like to have with a woman in his bed, unless he really wants to stop the action !

Vaneyck, you need to check your vision :-)

[–] fireeater 13 years ago

I didn't used to like Mary's hairdos either but the more I saw of her the less I cared about it. For a good comparison of her deep sensual elegance versus an alleged sex kitten (Harlow) see Red Dust from 1932. Even her "do" gets into the act.

[–] johnlsullivan 12 years ago

If you read Bette Davis's autobiography, she says that Astor's hairstyle in "The Great Lie" was widely copied at the time by women all over America. When she passed away in the 80s, Leonard Maltin called her "one of the most beautiful women ever to appear in movies."

[–] wmss-770-394192 10 years ago

People were copying Farah Fawcett's 'do in the 70's and that "Rachel" 'do that J.Anniston wore on "Friends" so nothing surprises me, but this hairstyle of Mary Astor's is seriously ugly. Granted, times and styles change, but if you think about some of the leading ladies of the era, most had much more attractive hairstyles.

[–] wmss-770-394192 10 years ago

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[–] 10 years ago

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