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Question
I loved the scene in All About Eve where Bette Davis was in bed on the phone barefaced. While I know Bette is used to doing unglamorous things for film, it felt so raw that I thought it was pretty unusual for a 1950 movie. I was wondering if there were any other classic films with that sort of vibe where this sort of thing is shown. (Also I put the quotations because of course she’s probably still made up, just not the usual full face beat.)
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"Possessed" (1947)'s opening scene, Joan Crawford wandering the San Francisco streets and struggling to speak on the hospital bed.
"Caged" (1950), basically every inmate in the women's prison... I think?
What about Stella Dallas (1937)? There's that scene where Stanwyck is applying cold cream in the mirror while her daughter is talking up her father's new girl friend. And also the last scene in the rain.
I think in the Constant Nymph Joan Fontaine had less makeup or free for the first few scenes as they wanted her to look young and a bit wild. Speaking of makeup I watched a video recently that showed how they used green makeup so it would appear red in black and white I can’t stop thinking about women wearing green lipstick to film.
In Flesh & Fantasy (1943) Betty Field played an embittered seamstress, but despite unflattering lighting and an absence of makeup, the attempt to make her appear unattractive failed miserably.
Thank you! That’s what I’m looking for lol
I just watched this film last week. Betty Field was wearing makeup, but it was to make her look ghoulish rather than glamorous. It was in combination with the lighting.
Yes, I guess they couldn't/wouldn't have dispensed with makeup completely, but I still contend that when she finally received the standard Max Factor treatment it only served to bland her down into just another Hollywood face.
Joan Crawford in ‘Strange Cargo’ (1940)!
I've heard that in "Ninotchka" Garbo doesn't wear make up while she's a "good" Soviet Russian in her first few scenes.
Jean Peters in Anne of the Indies directed by Jacques Tourneur. She hated glamour roles and plays the captain of a pirate ship. She's wearing some makeup, but nothing caked on.
Nina Pens Rode in Gertrud. The director, Carl Dreyer, detested makeup and said he wanted to see the woman.
"Romancing the Stone" When we first see Kathleen Turner crying over the scene she just wrote. She has no makeup. "Oh, God that's good!" -- Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) breaks herself up in Romancing the Stone (youtube.com)
Stella Dallas and possessed with Joan Crawford and caged with Eleanor parker
Three Came Home, Claudette Colbert is very dressed down playing a prisoner of war in a Japanese internment camp.
I doubt there are any. There are many where they eschewed glamorous or monster makeup, but the realities of filming and lighting would require makeup for them to look natural,
Yep.
If there are any, it would be very low budget and indie, to the point where they don't hire a makeup artist. Even then, many actors will just their own base makeup.
People's skin is naturally a bit reflective, and without makeup, it will look "shiny" on camera. Bette Davis is 100% wearing makeup in that photo, even if it's designed to look like she isn't.
"Monster" 2003 A unrecognizable Charlize Theron played Alieen Wuomos. Her transformation is incredible.
Uh, there was an awful lot of make-up being used there along with prosthetics. She doesn't look like that without make-up.
I read she gained 20 lbs. and wore fake teeth.