Icons of the 1950's

With Elizabeth Taylor's death my dad and I have been writing to each other about the female icons of the 1950's.

Four women, each displaying unique qualities, exemplified idealized qualities which women at the time (and even women today) long to have. As my dad said, Taylor was the great beauty. Audrey Hepburn was the thin, birdlike and foreign beauty. Marilyn Monroe was the sex bomb. And Grace Kelly was the refined ice queen (to quote my dad). Nowadays we have copies of these women but do not have actresses who together define a generation of women as perfectly as they do.

Why is it that even today these actresses still capture the public's interest? Go to any gift shop in Los Angeles and you'll find mugs, t-shirts and postcards with images of these four actresses. Even if people don't know the majority of their movies it's their image that continues to survive.

My fascination with these women goes beyond the image. It is the dichotomy of the image versus the real woman that has led me to read their biographies. My favorite biographer, Donald Spoto, has written a book about each of these women. In his books he not only describes these actresses’ lives but also dissects what it is about these women that make them the icons they are today and how their image was only that, an image not the reality.

In his latest biography about Grace Kelly Spoto described this perfectly;

"Never mind that Marilyn Monroe was actually a woman of keen intelligence and serious purpose: she had to serve the studio's manufactured image of her if she wanted to maintain her popularity and position. And never mind that Audrey and Grace were both healthy young women who dated, had love affairs, wore jeans, occasionally used a four-letter word and liked to balance hard work with a good time and laughter. They both exhibited a natural refinement and were unfailingly courteous to colleagues and strangers, but these qualities were presented as the sum total of their personalities. They were nothing like goddesses in person, although they were certainly beautiful, stylish and always considerate. They were women to respect, but they could never be fully defined as merely respectable- a term that alternately amused and annoyed them both. "

Now, studios do not have complete power over its actors. At the time of Grace, Marilyn, Audrey and Liz the studio had the power to tell its actors what movies to make, whom to date and how to dress. The studios even controlled what the gossip columnists would say about its stars, feeding the public these images which collectively define how generations now view the 1950's. Since Taylor's death gossip, entertainment and news websites have been flooded with stories and photos of her life. Her movies have been shown on film networks day and night. It is a true testament to the power of these icons from the past.

So in remembrance of Liz, Grace, Marilyn and Audrey here are my recommendations of their films:

Liz- National Velvet, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Place in the Sun, Giant

Grace- Rear Window, The Country Girl, Dial M for Murder, High Noon

Marilyn- Some Like It Hot, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Bus Stop

Audrey- Roman Holiday, My Fair Lady, Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany's