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INTRODUCTION |
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HER
STORY |
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QUOTES |
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TRIVIA |
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NICKNAME |
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GALLERY |
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CURIOS |
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VOX
POPULI |
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SHOP |
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LINKS |
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FILMS |
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BOOKS |
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WALLPAPERS |
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E-CARDS |
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MAGIC |
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SORCERESS |
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VAULTS |
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CHAT |
Ciro's, Earl Carroll's, the Mocambo, Slapsy Maxie's, the Trocadero, the
Cocoanut Grove. For the average filmgoer, the names of these famous
Hollywood night spots were enough to evoke an atmosphere of glamour and
sophistication.
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The subject of who were the best
party-givers in Hollywood was much discussed in the fan magazines. In an
August 1939 Photoplay story, Elsa Maxwell-- who certainly qualified as an
expert-- rated her movieland correspondents. High on her list were the
Bennett sisters, Constance and Joan, Kay Francis, the Gary Coopers, Mrs.
Samuel Goldwyn, Myrna Loy and Arthur Hornblow ("best chicken sandwiches and
cake at their Sunday afternoons"), the Rathbones, Louella Parsons ("greatest
barbecue thrower"), Chaplin ("educational evenings" with Albert Einstein and
Thomas Mann), Douglas Fairbanks (the "Continental touch"), the Darryl
Zanucks ("most elaborate dinners west of the Hudson"), and the Jack Warners
("spectacular").
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Norma's beauty and charisma cast a spell upon whomever was fortunate
enough to be graced with her presence. Modest and gracious as she was, her
nevertheless vibrant glow was reflected and multiplied a thousandfold
thanks to her multi-faceted inner glow. Witness...
Additional photographs of
Norma socializing can be found in following galleries :
Mrs. Thalberg
beyond Thalberg
dueling eyebrows
color photographs
[ click here to return to Norma's
galleries ]
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At a partry thrown by William
Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, with an all-American theme, Norma
Shearer, who disliked being dictated to, chose to disregard the terms of the
invitation and arrived as Marie Antoinette. Her period skirts were so
voluminous that the seats had to be removed from her car before she could
enter it, and she was unable to pass through the main door of the Davies
beach house. Marion, according to her own account, told Shearer she would
have to take off the dress. A noisy argument ensued, which was joined by
Hedda Hopper, who berated Shearer for indelicately appearing as a
Frenchwoman when Mr. Hearst had just been thrown out of France. The Queen of
the M-G-M lot eventually managed to effect an entrance by way of the
ballroom.
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Party Girl |
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Hearst and Davies were the
movie colony's most inveterate and extravagant part-givers. Marion, in
particular, was never more ebullient than when she was playing the role of
hostess.
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Mary Pickford was one of the
organizers of the Mayfair Society, the club comprising the aristocracy of
the film community, which held ceremoniously elegant white-tie dinner-dances
each month, first at the Biltmore, later at other hotels. In 1936 Carole
Lombard was chairman of the ball and her escort that evening, Cesar Romero,
recollects an incident that came close to upsetting the decorous traditions
of the society: "Carole was in charge of the ball and she decreed that all
of the ladies should wear white. Carole and I got there early, because she
was to be in the reception line. The ladies were all coming in, everybody
beautifully gowned in white. Except Norma Shearer. she was wearing bright
red. And Miss Lombard had a few words to say to her! But nobody was going to
tell Norma Shearer.
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Books |
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