The Sewing Circle

[Deleted member 6607120]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/KjH7oMnmInHhFYphp1Fi87pG40XU4CFhEDrmBHUNvobWr6RSG0MQEKtpX6tV37U6Mty6cOG9Rt0X1sa__NEiXA
"In 1933, it would be Dietrich’s off-screen trousers that generated a disapproving pushback. It was a warning shot of the oncoming Hays (Motion Picture Production) Code, which – closer to Nazi ideology than many like to admit – associated visual excess, queerness, feminism, and physical and mental illness, and censored them harshly. Horak’s exhaustive research reveals a media whirl around Dietrich’s decision to wear a tuxedo suit specifically to the premiere of “the wickedest film in the world”, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Sign of the Cross (1932). The film’s so-called ‘lesbian dance’, which DeMille refused to cut, led indirectly to the introduction of the Hays Code in 1934, when the scene was, indeed, removed."

Source

 

[Scareltt]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/KjH7oMnmInHhFYphp1Fi87pG40XU4CFhEDrmBHUNvobWr6RSG0MQEKtpX6tV37U6Mty6cOG9Rt0X1sa__NEiXA
"In 1933, it would be Dietrich’s off-screen trousers that generated a disapproving pushback. It was a warning shot of the oncoming Hays (Motion Picture Production) Code, which – closer to Nazi ideology than many like to admit – associated visual excess, queerness, feminism, and physical and mental illness, and censored them harshly. Horak’s exhaustive research reveals a media whirl around Dietrich’s decision to wear a tuxedo suit specifically to the premiere of “the wickedest film in the world”, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Sign of the Cross (1932). The film’s so-called ‘lesbian dance’, which DeMille refused to cut, led indirectly to the introduction of the Hays Code in 1934, when the scene was, indeed, removed."

Source

My gosh.. she’s stunning. That’s a great angle, I read somewhere she was 5’8” but I’d have guessed taller from that shot.

 

[Deleted member 6607120]

My gosh.. she’s stunning. That’s a great angle, I read somewhere she was 5’8” but I’d have guessed taller from that shot.

I always thought she was taller too. I think many pictures that I've seen of her emphasize her legs and are shot to highlight them.

 

[Scareltt]

I always thought she was taller too. I think many pictures there I've seen of her emphasize her legs and are shot to highlight them.

You have an eye for great photos.

 

[MarieChalice]

I always thought she was taller too. I think many pictures that I've seen of her emphasize her legs and are shot to highlight them.

MD was a great curator of her own image. She learnt a lot about lighting from her directors and applied that knowledge brillianly. I saw her stage show, with a young Bert Bacharach directing the band, i think, and she looked ageless in an apparently semi-nude gown. She had selected a top designer for the lighting too so she shimmered and looked tall and so graceful. She dominated the audience effortlessly.
Afterwards, a crush awatited as she came out to her car. She now looked tiny, and much older but still exuding energy. She climbed up on the car to wave to the crowd. There is a You Tube video "Dietrich in London". She would have been about 63 years old.

 

[Deleted member 6607120]

MD was a great curator of her own image. She learnt a lot about lighting from her directors and applied that knowledge brillianly. I saw her stage show, with a young Bert Bacharach directing the band, i think, and she looked ageless in an apparently semi-nude gown. She had selected a top designer for the lighting too so she shimmered and looked tall and so graceful. She dominated the audience effortlessly.
Afterwards, a crush awatited as she came out to her car. She now looked tiny, and much older but still exuding energy. She climbed up on the car to wave to the crowd. There is a You Tube video "Dietrich in London". She would have been about 63 years old.

It doesn't surprise me that she applied all those different aspects to create her esthetic. She always looked so elegant with an underlying layer of "don't fuck with me".

I was trying to find that video but several came up. This is not the same video but it is a great watch to see many different film kisses between women starring Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. I'm not a huge fan of the Katy Perry song that's dubbed over it but it's fitting.

I got chills at the 1:00 mark. I would have melted if I were the woman at that table.

 

[Deleted member 6607120]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/6107c28a7d30bfc87b9d976c40663301/35a34352dd633059-d5/s1280x1920/0f9ccfc1025debb26afb82109ec76f619d74c4c9.jpg
https://64.media.tumblr.com/7b4cd7185787371ceeb5fdf48977c38c/35a34352dd633059-6d/s1280x1920/725030315b183726d8fe18ceb19e61a1d547a5ad.pnj
Peter Basch, Lesbian Pulp Fiction Novel Covers, 1950s

The look in her eyes...

Edited to add this caption that I found accompanying the photo:

“A vintage circa 1958 original 2 ¼" camera negative featuring a portrait of two women in an intimate embrace and used for the cover of the lesbian pulp fiction novel, Evil, by photographer Peter Basch and from his personal archive. Mr. Basch shot several different sessions for use as covers of lesbian paperback novels. This is the original negative that was in the camera at the time of the photo shoot and is therefore the only one of its kind in existence.”

 

[LincolnDuncan]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/6107c28a7d30bfc87b9d976c40663301/35a34352dd633059-d5/s1280x1920/0f9ccfc1025debb26afb82109ec76f619d74c4c9.jpg
https://64.media.tumblr.com/7b4cd7185787371ceeb5fdf48977c38c/35a34352dd633059-6d/s1280x1920/725030315b183726d8fe18ceb19e61a1d547a5ad.pnj
Peter Basch, Lesbian Pulp Fiction Novel Covers, 1950s

The look in her eyes...

Edited to add this caption that I found accompanying the photo:

“A vintage circa 1958 original 2 ¼" camera negative featuring a portrait of two women in an intimate embrace and used for the cover of the lesbian pulp fiction novel, Evil, by photographer Peter Basch and from his personal archive. Mr. Basch shot several different sessions for use as covers of lesbian paperback novels. This is the original negative that was in the camera at the time of the photo shoot and is therefore the only one of its kind in existence.”

The woman on the bottom looks like Shirley MacLaine

 

[Deleted member 6607120]

The woman on the bottom looks like Shirley MacLaine

From that angle, she does!

 

[Deleted member 6607120]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/fd1e395dd3a0312eaf9c5686a530dea0/dc20ab9416068c63-8a/s1280x1920/d5bbbe18a4c3be98b6f6353f60f9cce61b266fd3.gifv
More MD because she's a badass.

In 1933, Dietrich crossed the Atlantic in the SS Europa making headlines for dressing in a gorgeous white pantsuit. The Parisian police warned her that she would be arrested if she wore menswear in the French capital. In response, Dietrich stepped off the train and onto the Paris platform wearing her most mannish tweed suit, complete with her hair slicked back under a beret and sunglasses fashioned after the monocle, a coded symbol of lesbianism.

Images and text taken from the Dietrich exhibition at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington

 

[Deleted member 6607120]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/67b2fc5d3123d09188bc913433757871/c0b1a3346b92ff00-da/s2048x3072/361b2811b0d6e97101ce1e8109c0d44c549605ea.jpg
Audrey Hepburn and Shirley McClain in The Children's Hour

"A 1915 Supreme Court ruling opened the way for censorship of film along many fronts, including sexuality. The Court ruled that movies were a for-profit business and therefore not protected by the right to freedom of speech spelled out in the First Amendment of the Constitution. Within a few years of this ruling, several states began to pass censorship laws that addressed obscenity and 'inappropriate' topics for film. But it was not until 1931 that the film industry began policing and censoring itself through the Production Code and the Hays Censorship Office. Reference to homosexuality, gay and lesbian characters and themes, and even words like "pansy" were out. Thirty years later, in 1961, the Production Code changed once again and homosexuality was permitted official visibility provided it was portrayed with 'care, discretion, and restraint.' Despite these cautions, words such as 'fag, faggot, fruit, dyke, pansy' were freely admitted on the big screen. By 1968, the Production Code was eliminated completely and homosexuality was, for the first time, fair game for filmmakers."

-Excerpt from Media Messages What Film, Television, and Popular Music Teach Us about Race, Class, Gender, and Sexual Orientation by Linda Holtzman
.....
Thanks for the thread mention, @hotwords229_A !

 

[Prudence_Art]

great thread ! thank you !

 

[Deleted member 6607120]

great thread ! thank you !

Thank you for checking it out!

 

[Prudence_Art]

Thank you for checking it out!

my pleasure. as soon as i saw the title it clicked.
surprises me how few know the hidden herstory.
i use the imagery of this era as inspiration in some of my art works.

 

[Deleted member 6607120]

my pleasure. as soon as i saw the title it clicked.
surprises me how few know the hidden herstory.
i use the imagery of this era as inspiration in some of my art works.

I started learning about it after reading a bio on Joan Crawford a few years back and was enthralled. I'd love to see some of your work if you're willing to share.

 

[desire30]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/fd1e395dd3a0312eaf9c5686a530dea0/dc20ab9416068c63-8a/s1280x1920/d5bbbe18a4c3be98b6f6353f60f9cce61b266fd3.gifv
More MD because she's a badass.

In 1933, Dietrich crossed the Atlantic in the SS Europa making headlines for dressing in a gorgeous white pantsuit. The Parisian police warned her that she would be arrested if she wore menswear in the French capital. In response, Dietrich stepped off the train and onto the Paris platform wearing her most mannish tweed suit, complete with her hair slicked back under a beret and sunglasses fashioned after the monocle, a coded symbol of lesbianism.

Images and text taken from the Dietrich exhibition at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington

and she was not arrested

 

[Prudence_Art]

I started learning about it after reading a bio on Joan Crawford a few years back and was enthralled. I'd love to see some of your work if you're willing to share.

...my love of old b&w film was formed at school, once in a while the nuns wheeled in an old creaky projector and showed us approved movies, one I remember was 'Bells of St Marys', but most of them were ' made by Catholics for catholics' movies, focussed on sin and redemption, later this combined with my love of post-punk music and the uncredited bauhaus influences, no wonder i turned out 'complicated'

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8e/3c/ef/8e3cef7a0399db21495967f6da56b8bf.png
Ingrid Bergman in 'Bells of St Marys'

btw thanks for your interest..in fact i originally only came here to share my visuals as a of kind market research but it's been more complex than i thought it would be, not sure this thread is the right place tbh, a bit off topic maybe.....but there are a few examples scattered across the boards.

 

[Prudence_Art]

this lovely pic came up on twitter today....

https://twitter.com/x/status/1666508319434088454

 

[Prudence_Art]

louise brooks on the run from the law in man drag

'beggars of life' 1928

https://www.lalibre.be/resizer/EA7iak1q4qEqNC4MC_13pzLONiY=/1200x800/filters:format(jpeg):focal(465x240.5:475x230.5)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/WUZSJVB6RVFQBCTGFFP3Y6VIH4.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ee/92/e7/ee92e79371b3713f2c7f34870a236daf.jpg


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018684/

 

[Prudence_Art]

oh no ! Glenda Jackson has left us......a national treasure in the U.K, and a bit of a personal favourite of mine.

Glenda May Jackson CBE (9 May 1936 – 15 June 2023)

https://i.pinimg.com/474x/20/72/a2/2072a25233fec3b057c57dc8e054ce28--glenda-jackson-labour.jpg?nii=t
https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/2/portrait-of-glenda-jackson-jack-robinson.jpghttps://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/08/21/15/17529868-7379573-Mandatory_Credit_Photo_by_Armando_Pietrangeli_REX_Shutterstock_5-m-23_1566399432159.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jgS6EOyl1S0/UYKG0F2xVCI/AAAAAAAAP00/XCLYzF5Awv8/s1600/Glenda.Jackson.port.JPEGhttps://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2lFAQP4j8EA/V613pqqFVVI/AAAAAAAAE3c/UbFxDNYrNAgLjzBrbucJW-cW1guJoGF_ACLcB/s1600/Women_in_Love_pic_4.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/87/fe/19/87fe191bc706f1fd843acbd920ab46c7.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/10/c6/08/10c60867804976a0004be87aa87e64c8.jpg

 

[Deleted member 6607120]

I didn't know much about Glenda Jackson, but I found this and thought it was pretty cool. She narrated the LGBTQ film "The Microcosm".

“The Microcosm” has been adapted as a film featuring two-time Oscar winner Glenda Jackson. In 1966 London, when homosexuality was still criminalized, The Gateways Club in Chelsea offered a haven for women to dance, express themselves, and love who they want. In the book, based on her own experience, Duffy examined if this gay bar, and those like it, really offered the freedom its patrons crave. In the film, Jackson, along with director Joe Ingham, draws parallels between the past and the present and explores the uncomfortable paradox that exists within queer spaces."

Source

 

[Prudence_Art]

I didn't know much about Glenda Jackson, but I found this and thought it was pretty cool. She narrated the LGBTQ film "The Microcosm".

“The Microcosm” has been adapted as a film featuring two-time Oscar winner Glenda Jackson. In 1966 London, when homosexuality was still criminalized, The Gateways Club in Chelsea offered a haven for women to dance, express themselves, and love who they want. In the book, based on her own experience, Duffy examined if this gay bar, and those like it, really offered the freedom its patrons crave. In the film, Jackson, along with director Joe Ingham, draws parallels between the past and the present and explores the uncomfortable paradox that exists within queer spaces."

Source

have not seen 'the microcosm' but I never even considered that Ms Jackson was anything but a staunch ally. btw the general belief in the UK is that Lesbianism has never been criminalised in the same way that male homosexuality was, the powers that be choosing to believe it didnt happen at all, thinking doing so might even encourage it. Of course this view does not take account of things like peer pressure, or social stigma. and in fact women living together as a couple might be subject to legal action, because the one in the 'male' role could be deemed to have broken misogynistic laws around property....i'm not a lawyer though, wrong type of brain, so this kind of thing goes over my head a bit, not like there was much choice anyway beyond staying in alone and knitting tea cosies.

 

[Zootonius]

Dietrich was a remarkable woman. She took her USO tour to the front lines in WWII. As Wilder remarked, she was at the front lines more than Eisenhower.

She had a a "mindreading" act where she would ask men them to concentrate on whatever came into their minds. Then she would walk over to a soldier and earnestly tell him, "Oh, think of something else. I can't possibly talk about that!"

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Marlene_Dietrich%2C_somewhere_in_France_24372_150px.jpg

 

[Oshkosh60]

I also read the Sewing Circle ....great book and great thread. Thank you !

 

[Deleted member 6607120]

Dietrich was a remarkable woman. She took her USO tour to the front lines in WWII. As Wilder remarked, she was at the front lines more than Eisenhower.

She had a a "mindreading" act where she would ask men them to concentrate on whatever came into their minds. Then she would walk over to a soldier and earnestly tell him, "Oh, think of something else. I can't possibly talk about that!"

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Marlene_Dietrich%2C_somewhere_in_France_24372_150px.jpg

MD was such a huge influence in this era. Thank you for sharing here!

I also read the Sewing Circle ....great book and great thread. Thank you !

Thanks for checking it out here! Glad you found the space