Original Sins

by Kim Krizan

  Lana’s Living Space

  Early in her career the laudable Lana Turner bought a modest cottage north of Sunset Boulevard and filled it with frills and flounces, china figurines and ruffles. In the late sixties, Lana lived atop one of the Hollywood Hills in a spacious and formidable mansion with a white door and white columns, a small fountain, and a small fish pond. Her secretary and manager describes first seeing the house in his book, Always, Lana:

  Dr. Dante [Lana’s husband at the time] grasped my shoulder and ushered me through a white marble foyer into what was one of the largest living rooms I’d ever seen… . The walls of Lana’s home were white and covered with dozens of oil paintings done primarily in reds, oranges, and greens. The carpeting was white shag beneath an array of handsome sofas, a bumper-pool table in the bar area, and, at a remote end of the room, a white, baby-grand piano on which a silver-framed photograph of the Lady of the House was prominently displayed. Beyond it hung the framed document issued by the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences citing Miss Turner for her Best Actress of the Year nomination as Constance MacKenzie in Peyton Place. There was a fireplace faced in white marble and, in contrast to the blank street-side of the house, the inside consisted of floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out on the canyon below and across the pool and rows of cypress trees, an arboreal regiment that surrounded the hilltop and guarded the privacy of its occupants. Altogether it was a stunning place, though far from overpowering, due to the good taste of its appointments.

  Catherine Tramell’s Mansion

  Catherine Tramell, played by Sharon Stone in “Basic Instinct,” lives in a mansion of neo-classical styling. A grand, sweeping staircase, marble statues, and fine art provide the perfect backdrop for the work of art that is our divinely Fatale protagonist. Not surprisingly, the color scheme includes white walls, all white decor, an all white bedroom, and a big bed with gold bed-frame. Naughty Catherine also has lesbian lover on hand.

  Kathryn’s Chateau

  The truly superlative apartment in “Cruel Intentions” is a modern take on 18th century French decor. Though she pretends to be Mary Sunshine to the world, Kathryn’s room is where her true colors show. Rich, jewel-tone blue walls with silver detailing, sheer silver curtains, a satin bedspread and sheets over a gigantic bed, thick shag carpet, mirrors … Kathryn is Mata Hari in a schoolgirl uniform. Her divine living room has vast marble floors, sumptuous antiques, red satin chairs, large romantic paintings, and pots of orchids.

  Cleo’s Digs

  But of course the final word in lairs suitable for the femme fatale is Cleopatra’s awe-inspiring palace as seen in the 1963 film of the same name. It is a vast Egyptian crib by way of early ’60s Hollywood built mainly, it seems, of marble. It has the requisite huge carved marble tub, enormous bed hung with gauzy canopies and curtains, statues, the ever-present vanity table, and private chambers strewn with handmaidens and Nubian slaves. What better place to be dissatisfied?

  Lair Essentials

  Universally, the femme fatale likes feminine décor. Her tastes hint at her dreams, her love of mystery, her sensuality, her love of exoticism, and her secretly romantic nature. She likes comfort and she likes drama and these two needs war it out in her constantly.

  The femme fatale will probably avoid anything too practical, casual, utilitarian, cheerful, or dull. She is not likely to be drawn to a nautical theme, gingham curtains, or roughly-hewn hippie pottery. She will draw the line at anything made of plastic and she hates framed posters with smarmy, inspirational messages. On the other hand, there are objects that make her dark little heart sing.

  •A vanity table with a big make-up mirror

  •A sweeping staircase

  •A satin settee

  •A cool, old-fashioned phone

  •Numerous mirrors

  •Lamps of miniature classical statues

  •A canopied bed

  •A vast marble hallway (possibly with a floor in a checkerboard pattern)

  •Window treatments involving tasseled curtains, swags, draping fabrics

  •Huge pillows

  •Richly upholstered furniture

  •Lush shag rugs

  •Potted plants

  •Dramatic flowers in dramatic vases

  Illuminating Her World

  When Garbo first came to Hollywood she didn’t particularly impress anyone. Then Lillian Gish suggested that Garbo use Gish’s tried-and-true cameraman to take photographs and he lit her using his own special technique. Suddenly it was a whole new Garbo: luminous, otherworldly, goddess-like. And then the dip-shit studio finally realized what it had.

  Precise lighting was also Dietrich’s special trick, one that director Joseph Von Sternberg created for her and one that she did well to utilize. When Von Sternberg cast Dietrich in “The Blue Angel,” he began experimenting with lighting and directed it from different angles at what had seemed her rather unremarkable face. He tried straight on, from the right, from the left, and a haloed silhouette from behind. Then he hit upon the lighting that created the look he wanted and the look Dietrich was known for: overhead illumination that carved out her beautiful cheekbones with key-lights above and in front, and possibly with another light behind her head to light up the hair. The result was the classic Marlene Dietrich face: spectacular cheekbones, heavy-lidded and deep-set eyes, a lovely nose, and sensuous lips. It was a face quite different from the simply- and flatly-lit version.

  Dietrich mimicked this technique in her own home, positioning lights so that when she “hit her mark” in the perfect spot next to her mantle she could wow guests with her exotic beauty. When working on films, the great M.D. was renowned for always having a mirror so she could check herself before each shot. She was said to be able to feel if she was correctly or incorrectly lit by the heat of the lamps.

  And for the femme fatale who hasn’t been lit by a genius director, pink light bulbs are a tried and true way to flatter any girl’s complexion. They say that Mae West festooned her Ravenswood apartment with scores of pink 25-watt bulbs. As Raquel Welch reported after an audience with eighty-something year-old West in her famous pad, “It was dark in there.”

  Appropriate Ensembles for Every Occasion

  Greeting a Patsy in Her Home

  A towel. Oh, and a pastel scarf around the head.

  Hair should be platinum with “voodoo dolly” bangs.

  Change into a light-colored, belted shirtdress with tuxedo-style ruffles on the chest and wrists. Wear a bracelet and large ring.

  Most important accessory: a delicate anklet.

  Also, shoes must have pom-poms over the toe.

  (As worn by Phyllis, played by Barbara Stanwyck

  in “Double Indemnity.”)

  Fatale Cuisine

  At her Chinese New Year’s banquet in “Shanghai Gesture,” Mother Gin Sling served birds nests, seaweed, and shark fins (plus “an appetizer for the male guests”: pretty girls in cages who were forcibly auctioned). Yes, there’s always that chance that the femme fatale is a whiz in the kitchen.

  Any food or drink that involves flames will thrill the Fatale. For that reason she likes crepes, fondue, and those Japanese places where she sits close while the chef wields knives in dramatic fashion. Dessert will most likely be Bananas Foster, Baked Alaska, Pears Flambé, or Cherries Jubilee. And though she isn’t much for camping, she loves a restaurant that provides a burner so she can roast her own marshmallow and make S’mores right at the table.

  Ava : As Domestic as She Wanted to Be

  When Ava Gardner started dating Mickey Rooney she discovered the joys of Crepes Suzette and ordered them every opportunity she could. A couple marriages down the line she whipped up bacon and eggs for Clark Gable, who is reported to have been seated at her kitchen table wearing only a smile. Ava also taught her maid to cook Chinese dishes, Italian specialties, Southern fried chicken, and Sunday roasts with gravy. She liked to barbecue up a whole mess of delicious stuff for guests, and when attending dinner parties
she was quick to kick off her shoes and lend a hand in the kitchen.

  When “The Sphinx” Supped

  Rather than eating in the Metro commissary with all the other actors, Garbo preferred bringing healthy Swedish delicacies from home including rye crisp and cheese, and enjoying them—how else?—alone in her dressing room. As a new and green studio acquisition, she was also said to have picked a piece of fruit from a tree growing on the Metro lot, incurring a scolding from a Metro employee. Her response? In true Fatale form, she leveled her icy gaze at him and said, “Beat it!” (No one was sure where the non-English speaking vamp learned the term.) Garbo was once seen eating alone in a busy restaurant. Her meal? Spaghetti and strawberry ice cream. Another time she was seen in a restaurant eating chopped beef, fried potatoes, cake, and fresh fruit juice. Journalists reported that while vacationing in Sweden she ate porridge, boiled eggs, bread and butter, coffee, and filibunke (thick sour cream). While in Sweden she also went fishing and cooked fresh trout, and ate her vegetables with lemon and sugar.

  Because Garbo created such a public fuss every time she ventured from her home she got in the habit of bringing a meal with her in the car, one that sat beside her on the car seat. It was usually a huge salad comprised of raw vegetables, olive oil, lemon, and salt, which she ate with Swedish crispbread. If she really liked someone she might allow them to share her salad. Most consistent with her image, Garbo was also known to eat dinner alone while sitting up in her bed.

  Joan Crawford, Happy Homemaker

  Crawford, with her predatory ambition and drive, followed the advice of her doctor and ate nearly-raw meat along with large servings of spinach, as well as salads served on properly-chilled plates. She was also a big one for pinky-perfect dinner parties, having learned the ways and means at Pickfair while married to Douglas Fairbanks Jr. One of her favorite appetizer recipes called for peanut butter spread on black bread topped with cooked bacon that was broiled until it sizzled.

  Deitrich: A German Hausfrau in Disguise

  Dietrich—that delightful hybrid of exotic vamp and quaint hausfrau—was quite the cook. She loved aprons and took great pride in her special recipes—though it was noted that she sometimes didn’t wear underwear while leaning over and digging around in cabinets in full eyeshot of guests. She also seemed to revel in descending her perch as the world’s most exotically glamorous woman and whipping up dinner for boyfriend actor Jean Gabin. (Reportedly, Dietrich was disconcerted when, in typical male form, Gabin failed to perceive the aspect of foreplay obvious in his lady’s effort, simply gobbled down his lovingly homecooked meal, grunted, and retreated behind a newspaper. This goes to show that doing nice things for men, even if one is Marlene Dietrich, is always a questionable proposition.)

  German cuisine was Dietrich’s real love and it was common for her to bring homemade soups, strudels, and cakes to share on her film sets. She waxed poetic about a number of treats in her amusing book, Marlene Dietrich’s ABC, and included several recipes along with ruminations on poets, politicians, and style.

  The Joy of Junk Food

  Never let it be said that the femme fatale is a snooty elitist. Both Dietrich and Ava Gardner claimed that their favorite food in this rotten world was the humble hot dog. Ava liked hers with Coca-Cola, while Dietrich adored hers with champagne. And when Rita Hayworth returned to America after separating from Prince Aly Khan she said, “The first thing I’m going to do is have a hot dog.”

  Liquor : A Little of What She Fancies

  Femme fatales, what with all their troubles, are known for being boozers. One hardly sees a Fatale lady in any film without a drink in her hand, though she isn’t known for getting drunk.

  In “Shanghai Gesture,” beautiful Poppy drank an exotic Jamaican punch while at Mother Gin Sling’s decadent gambling establishment, while Phyllis Dietrichson made quite a production out of preparing iced tea for Walter Neff in “Double Indemnity” before she lured him into her web. (Being the perfect compliment for the femme fatale, tough-guy Neff tasted it and said, “I wonder if a little rum would get this up on its feet.”) Meanwhile, Gilda drank champagne and toasted her own destruction.

  Garbo liked whiskey, drank martinis, and also consumed a lot of mineral water. Dietrich drank Scotch. Rita liked a nice martini at lunch. Monroe is famous for her love of champagne (she liked it with a pill-chaser). Anaïs Nin tried her first “American cocktail” in the ’20s, the decade that introduced mixed drinks as the chic new thing. She was known to enjoy an occasional martini, especially if it annoyed her conservative Catholic mother.

  Ava’s Drink

  In real life Ava Gardner drank anything alcoholic, even though she disliked the taste. For one party she created a punch by pouring several bottles of seemingly unmixable types of hard liquor into a large punchbowl—a concoction that was specifically designed to smash anyone who got near it. And while filming “Night of the Iguana” in Mexico, she put tequila and gin (God help us) into a coconut and stuck a straw in it. That’s our girl.

  Ava’s publicist described her making a martini for him in “the prescribed Beverly Hills fashion—powder-dry, eight-to-one.” She then mixed the drink with her fingers, saying, “Never bruise the gin… . Never use metal. I just put the slightest scent on my fingers when I mix martinis.”

  Lana’s Drink

  Lana Turner preferred vodka and tonics and she liked them strong. She also often drank vodka mixed with juice or even Gatorade, and when her third husband proposed he dropped a huge diamond ring in her martini. The day her doctor relegated her to only one shot glass of liquor per day was not a happy one. Still, she was willing to blow 100 calories on booze rather than saving it for food, which shows just how crucial vodka tonics can be for the femme fatale.

  Rita’s Drink

  The beloved and now-ubiquitous tequila-laden margarita is said to have been created in a Tijuana nightclub and named after a young Spanish dancer. It just so happens that a young teenager named Margarita Cansino danced professionally with her father in some disreputable Tijuana nightclubs (she had to masquerade as her father’s wife), so a rumor persists that the drink was named after the girl long before she was legal. Of course a number of years later, Margarita took her mother’s maiden name and became Rita Hayworth, the heartbreakingly talented actress who played some of film’s best Fatales.

  Other Favorite Fatale Bevvies

  Classic femme fatale beverages include any sort of champagne cocktail, including the “Chamtini,” made with champagne, vodka or gin, and a fruit juice such as pineapple or cherry. Fruity cocktails with cherries and umbrellas will always do the job. Good choices are Pearl Divers, Paradise Losts, Widow’s Kisses, Scorpions, Singapore Slings, and Voodoos. A “Joan Collins,” made with vodka, grapefruit juice, and 7-Up is another favorite. A “Skinny Bitch” is a drink with vodka and any kind of diet soda. The femme fatale also loves creamy drinks such as Amarettos, Castaways, Irish Creams, Mudslides, Pina Coladas, Pink Ladies, White Russians, and Chocolate Black Russians. If she’s really had a hell of a day, you might find her nursing a plain Black Russian or a nice Brandy Alexander. And if she’s had a hell of a night, there’s nothing like a Bloody Mary (which was originally called a “Bucket of Blood”).

  The Legend of Cleopatra’s Cocktail

  Roman politician and general Mark Antony summoned the supreme Egyptian ruler Cleopatra to appear before him and answer charges that she conspired with Brutus to kill her boyfriend, Roman dictator Julius Caesar. (At least that’s what Antony said. Some believe he wanted to meet her so as to propose a political alliance. Others suggest he wanted to meet her because he thought she was hot stuff.) Cleopatra traveled by barge to meet Antony and promptly hosted a lavish feast. She wagered that she could give the most expensive dinner party in history, and the bet was on. At the end of the dinner, Antony said it had been a nice meal all right, but the most expensive in history? Cleopatra responded by taking off one of her enormous pearl earrings and dropping it in a glass of wine vinegar. T
he pearl dissolved and she drank it down. Cleopatra won the bet.

  Flowers

  Femme fatales love flowers (the sex organs of nature), especially gardenias, orchids, and gladioli. Lilies are also a favorite, especially calla lilies, tiger lilies, and Casablanca lilies. And she’ll always have a place in her bruised heart for roses.

  Dietrich, who particularly loved the smell of tuberoses, chivalrously sent masses of flowers to Mercedes De Acosta. Tuberoses were also Lana’s favorite flower. Ava Gardner had a thing for yellow roses and planted them herself in her yard right after she purchased her first home. Joan Crawford went through a long phase of wearing gardenias every day in the Jungle Gardenia ’40s. (She was also said to have hacked down her spectacular rose garden one night while surfing one of her recurrent rages.)

  Appropriate Ensembles for Every Occasion

  Lounging at Home

  White shorts, white midriff top, white heels, white turban.

  Carry lipstick and mirrored compact around the house.

  (As worn by Cora, played by Lana Turner

  in “The Postman Always Rings Twice.”)

  Attending a Cozy Family Birthday Party at Home

  The head must be covered with little

  metallic baubles on springs,

  giving the appearance of shimmering afro.

  Over a bandeau bra wear a very short,