Thursday 13 August 2009

The Glamour of Betty

Pin up girl to the American GI's during World War II - her pin up body adorning the sides of American jets, the iconic beauty of this Hollywood actress is lost in contemporary films. Noted and credited for her legs - insured by her film studio for the sum of $1,000,000, she began as a Chorus Girl and went on to grace such films as Follow the Fleet (1936) and Gay Divorcee (1934) alongside Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Her deal in 1940 saw the highlights of her career - Down Argentina Way (1940), Pin Up Girl (1944) and Dolly Sisters (1945).

Betty Grable offers us a glimpse into a forgotten Hollywood and it's films, her appeal may not be as known or as overt in sexuality as Marilyn Monroe, nor her film as breathtakingly rich in dance and singing as Ginger Rogers. While this may be so, she has a aura of a naturalised glamour and "femininity". Her photographic appeal captures her in time, capturing her often staring and gazing deep into us through the camera lens - she stares at us completing and happily as she did in her era and still looks and drawing us in. Her playful charm, lustful and elegant gaze draws us deeply into an era that may have long been forgotten.

Through her dancing and singing, her perfected talent is through her talents and hidden appeal behind Hollywood's overt stars. So much so her influence draws my addiction to inking her as a Pin Up girl on my skin - just when this twenty something finds the money.

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