doctorxx Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Recently watch DVD of Sundown 1941 and Tierney is startlingly beautiful! Even with that slight overbite she was a knockout. Most buffs know the story of her pregnancy. She dated Kennedy who knew a pretty woman when he saw them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenia_H Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I haven't seen *Sundown*, but of what I have seen of her filmography, my favorite has to be *Leave Her to Heaven*, hands down. On that DVD there is an interesting commentary by Darryl Hickman, who played the unfortunate Danny Harland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrence1 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Eugenia, my favorite Gene Tierney movie is also "Leave Her to Heaven". She is so great in this. And I don't remember her ever being so beautiful in a movie as she is in this. When she stands at the top of the stairs just before hurling herself down, there is something about her appearance that makes her look like the most desirable woman in the world! And for pure escapism, I love "The Mating Season." She did not appear in a comedy very often. Perhaps that's why I'm so fond of this. Terrence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbefree25 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 She is drop dead gorgeous and the chemistry is huge with Dana Andrews in Laura. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir chokes me up every single time. Boy was she pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenia_H Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Hi Terrence - I also enjoyed her in *The Razor's Edge* and she had great chemistry with Tyrone Power (thanks to another poster here, I've been seeing some terrific Tierney and Power movies). But for me "Heaven" edges out the others because of the character she plays. She's pretty fascinating in this. ****SPOILERS**** To sit there coldly and watch a boy drown... Whew. The first time I saw this scene I never forgot it, and after that, I had to cover my eyes, LOL. Edited by: Eugenia_H on Feb 15, 2012 2:58 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arturo Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 *Recently watch DVD of Sundown 1941 and Tierney is startlingly beautiful!* Gene was one of Hollywood's most stunningly beautiful women EVER (and that's saying something!)! SUNDOWN I believe, is on the schedule in the next couple of days on TCM. *And for pure escapism, I love "The Mating Season." She did not appear in a comedy very often. Perhaps that's why I'm so fond of this.* She didn't do many comedies, true, but I too enjoy her in those she made: besides the classics HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1943) and THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1947), she did a late screwball with Henry Fonda, Spring Byington and Laird Cregar, RINGS ON HER FINGERS (1942); plus a remake of a screwball with Tyrone Power: THAT WONDERFUL URGE (1948). Another remake, ON THE RIVIERA (1951) was a comedy with music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanceroten Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Check her out in Son of Fury with Tyrone Power B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 They call Julia Roberts the pretty woman of Hollywood. But I think there were only two real pretty women in Hollywood. *Gene Tierney* is definitely one of them. And *Anna Sten* who never photographed badly (ever) (even in her later years) was the other one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stjohnrv Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 She was absolutely stunningly beautiful in the scene in "Laura" when she comes into the room and startles Dana Andrews who believes her dead I've always thought Dana's response was a very natural reaction by a man who is first laying eyes on this stunner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Agreed. She is usually forgotten when listing the most beautiful women in classic films, but she was in the same ballpark as Ava Gardner and Hedy Lamarr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JefCostello Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 My favorite actress of the 40's. And along with Hedy and Liz Taylor, she's the most beautiful actress ever. However, unlike Hedy Lamarr, Gene was a really good actress and played in a lot of important movies. I guess I've seen just about everything she was in. She gets played a lot on FMC, but rarely on TCM. Although that seems to be changing recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbefree25 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 She gets played a lot on FMC, but rarely on TCM. Although that seems to be changing recently. You are correct, and not for the better. I could at least count on FMC for a rerun and rerun and rerun of the really good Victor Mature movie (whatever its name was) and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, sans commercials. No more. Now FMC is garbage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 It's not even called FMC any more, is it? They still have it at my gym, and I believe I am seeing a different logo in the corner of the screen, no? Something like FX something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I like Tierney a lot because she did play in 4 very good film noirs and a few other movies I like (e.g. The Razor Edge), but she wouldn't be my favorite actress of the 40s (that would be Olivia DeHavilland or Stanwyck). I think her early 40s performances were only OK but she did get better as the decade moved on. As for being a beauty; No question about that. Right up there with Ava and Hedy. We can only hope TCM gets the rights to show more of Gene's movies. I do have her autobiography. I got a paperback copy at a used book sale for something like 50 cents. Her life story is somewhat sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arturo Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 *I could at least count on FMC for a rerun and rerun and rerun of the really good Victor Mature movie (whatever its name was) and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, sans commercials.* Would this be THE EGYPTIAN, a mid-50s cinemascope biblical spectacle? They also costar in Sternberg's bizarre, fascinating THE SHANGHAI GESTURE from 1941 (at around the time Gene was getting typecast as an exotic); however, since this was a UA release, it wouldn't have played on FMC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbefree25 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 No, it was a film noir - Kiss Of Death, I think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arturo Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Nope. Gene was not in KISS OF DEATH, it was Colleen Gray. She WAS in several noirs at Fox, but none with Mature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Kiss of Death stars Coleen Gray but it is a very good Mature film. Arturo mentions The Shanghai Gesture since it stars both Mature and Tierney. It is a film noir also (a very early one), and as noted an exotic and unique early 40s movie. Edited by: jamesjazzguitar on Feb 17, 2012 8:09 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rover27 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 > {quote:title=doctorxx wrote:}{quote}Recently watch DVD of Sundown 1941 and Tierney is startlingly beautiful! Even with that slight overbite she was a knockout. Most buffs know the story of her pregnancy. She dated Kennedy who knew a pretty woman when he saw them. Very beautiful face. Seemed to be proportionally a little broad across the beam, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JefCostello Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I should mention that to me no one ever looked more beautiful in any movie than she does in "Leave Her to Heaven". Which is scary when you consider the character she plays in that film. That's just my observation. It's an addictive performance. I keep being drawn to that film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbefree25 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Arturo, Kiss Of Death was one of the films FMC showed over and over. The Ghost And Mrs. Muir was another. If TCM doesn't run them, I won't be seeing them again, since I won't watch any movie on a channel with commercial interruption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I never thought that the heavenly Miss Tierney ever looked more beautiful than in my favourite film of her's, Laura. Tierney had an overbite when she smiled which, I'm sure, many found rather charming.To me, she is at her most beautiful, though, when her face is in repose. Laura deals with a lot of upper New York society sophisticates who stand around at social gatherings, smoking a lot and looking worldly. Tierney looks like she was born to be in those kind of surroundings in this film. (Quite a leap from the screen "exotic" roles of just a couple of years before). I've always wondered if that may be the reason why her character smiles so very little in Laura, to avoid that somewhat toothy overbite, making her appear more elegant, especially during those medium shots and closeups while smoking a cigarette (cigarette smoking in posh surroundings, '40s Hollywood's idea of sophistication). She got her Oscar nomination for Leave Her to Heaven, but I always thought that one of her most effective performances was as (once again) a socialite, but a selfish, manipulative one, in The Razor's Edge. She's remembered more for her beauty than acting ability (as per this thread) but I think her performance holds up very well in the midst of some pretty illustrious company in that Maugham screen adaption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 The problem with being that beautiful is that people will never take you seriously as an actress. Ingrid Bergman was beautiful, but she wasn't in Tierney's league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM108 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I never thought that the heavenly Miss Tierney ever looked more beautiful than in my favourite film of her's, Laura. Same here. In fact I've seen Laura so many times and enjoyed it on so many levels that it's almost impossible for me to think of Gene Tierney in any other role, even though I've seen at least half a dozen of her other movies. And while Tierney's looks didn't have the staying power of Loretta Young, who stayed slim and glamorous well into her later years, for a decade or so she was right up there with Rita Hayworth, Jane Greer, Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner and Brigitte Bardot, and of course the one and only Louise Brooks. Not that there's anything subjective about that list, mind you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 The "one and only" Louise Brooks? Huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts