Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Claudette Colbert at Christmas

Starting off the first of four consecutive photo postings between now and New Year's, we reveal a candid shot of Claudette Colbert... I love those early Paramount Pictures films she did in the thirties. Especially in those pre-codes. It might be because she was obsessed with how she was photographed. She even preferred to do her own hair and makeup. But these candid shots, sent to me by James Culpepper, are a fascinating tid-bit in the life of the actress. A Christmas wreath bearing her image was hung on a pole on Vine Street in California in November or December of 1932. This was the same year Cecil B. DeMille's Sign of the Cross was released and Colbert plays the cruel, seductive Empress Poppaea, and appeared topless in the notorious milk bath sequence.