They say pictures are worth a thousand words! I guess I could leave it at that and not say anything about the exquisite beauty of Halle Berry. But that's almost impossible to do! Captivating on film, her charms could once best be described as fragile and certainly no less than ethereal. Still lovely at 43, Berry's allure is slightly more human and is aging to ... well, I was going to say perfection, but how much more perfect can you get? Exactly how do you improve upon that which is already flawless?
One year ago this month, as the second woman of color to grace the cover of Vogue magazine's coveted September issue, Halle Berry was interviewed by Jonathan Van Meter. Her face was was beat by Linda Cantello for Giorgio Armani Beauty and the hair was bobbed by Oribe for Oribe Hair Care. She was dressed & draped and otherwise put the haute in the couture of Armani, Escada, Jacobs, Vera Wang, Fred Leighton, Stephen Russell, Lorraine Schwartz and the House of Lavande. Photographed by Marino Testino, the end results were nothing short of amazing. Berry was the quintessence of glamour!
Yet, there was something that seemed vaguely familiar about the whole thing. I think it was the new cut. It was very retro, very 20's, and most definitely very Louise Brooks. Like Halle Berry, Louise Brooks was one of the most scintillating and photographed women of her time. Also like Berry, she was cast in a score of lesser films (17 silents) before hooking up with the German film director, G.W. Pabst to collaborate on two signature films that would define her total career - 1929's Diary of a Lost Girl and Pandora's Box.
Both were produced right at the advent of talking pictures but were filmed as silents, and both are notable for their frank portrayal of raw sexuality (including lesbianism) the likes of which would not have been considered in Hollywood. More than anything, Louise Brooks is instantly recognizable today for THE LOOK! Juxtaposed against her porcelain beauty, her true signature was her famous bobbed, black, shellacked haircut!
Brooks bucked the system and found herself blacklisted in Hollywood at the height of her fame. She was eventually reduced to third-rate films and working as a prostitute to survive. In the later stages of her life, she experienced a renewed interest in her career when she wrote a bare bones memoir called Lulu in Hollywood. Louise Brooks died in 1985.
The magazines often channel golden-era glamour through Halle Berry with startling results but the comparison to Brooks ends there. Berry is an Oscar winning actress, an icon in her own time and I hardly doubt that she'll ever be destitute. At 43, Brooks was hardly recognizable and was even less so in her older years. Berry has the good fortune of good genes, and as the cultural daughter of Lena Horne & Dorothy Dandridge, the good fortune of good black! But unless you consider Monster's Ball (whatever you think of it) and a few made for television movies like The Wedding, Their Eyes Were Watching God and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, we're still waiting for those classic signature movies roles. Oh, and maybe Frankie and Alice IF ANYONE EVER GETS TO SEE IT!
I saw 'Introducing Dorothy Dandridge' and thought it was a pretty good movie. I thought Halle Berry did excellent work in that movie. Maybe I liked that movie so much because I'd always been fascinated by Dandridge's life and career. I've always thought her rise was something of a "miracle", considering the times she lived in.
If I may ask, why do you think Halle's 'Frankie and Alice' was a good movie? I might check it out.
Posted by: elg | October 09, 2011 at 06:50 PM
@ELG! I mentioned Frankie and Alice because she managed to snag a Golden Globe nomination for it BEFORE it was ever released. She WON an Image Award for Best Actress for it (and THEY had never seen it either). Some people claim it was NEVER RELEASED, some claim it was only in LIMITED RELEASE but I know it certainly never came this way in Ohio. To date, it is NOT available on DVD and there is no information about when (or IF) it ever will be. I don't know what's up with that, that's why I said IF ANYONE EVER GETS TO SEE IT!
Posted by: Corey | October 09, 2011 at 07:09 PM
Corey, I misunderstood the statement "if anyone ever gets to see it". I thought it meant that the movie was released and it was a massive flop. We can probably safely assume that if the movie hasn't been released in any format, it must be pretty bad.
Thanks for the information. I enjoy your blog. The articles and pictures are priceless.
Posted by: elg | October 10, 2011 at 01:28 PM
I admire Ms Berry also. I remember when she won her Oscar I was the only in my group of friends who thought she deserved it. They simply couldn't see what was so great about her performance in "Monster's Ball". I thought she was wonderful--especially the last 5 minutes of the film when she didn't speak a word of dialogue (speaking of channelling Louise Brooks and the Silent stars).
They would always argue that the "classically" trained stage & screen actress, Angela Bassett, deserved the attention and acclaim--not Halle. Well, I would have loved for Ms Bassett to get more attention, but every great actress aint a great movie star. And every once in a while a movie star (with no real stage training) can give a great screen perfomance. Halle Berry did.
I think Black folks--both Straight & Gay-- just didn't like that never-ending sex scene with Billy Bob Thornton. I didn't particulary like that scene either, and it did go on and on and on. I wonder if the sex scene had been with Brad Pitt would I feel differently? I wonder....
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | October 11, 2011 at 04:15 PM
@ELG! Well, I'M finally going to get to see Frankie and Alice. Someone just sent me a preview copy through email. Now, if I can only download it correctly?!
@Derrick! I agree - as usual - with everything you just said. I thought she deserved the Oscar, too! I like Angela as a personality but she has never really done anything for me as an actress. BOTH of them have a tendency to OVER-act from time to time, but Berry is a MOVIE STAR! You can't take your eyes off of her! Monster's Ball caught a lot of movie goers off guard because everything about it was STRANGE! I know I'm preaching to the choir with you, but different does NOT always equal bad. Thank God for LEE DANIELS, but how much support do "we" give him? Most folk who look like me and you want everything SIMPLE and linear - books, stories, movies, music. We don't want to have to THINK about anything! I'm not a prude but no, I didn't care for the scene either, and yes if it had been with Pitt - WE'D ALL FEEL BETTER!
Posted by: Corey | October 11, 2011 at 05:24 PM