{"id":135106,"date":"2018-01-20T11:30:31","date_gmt":"2018-01-20T16:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=135106"},"modified":"2023-02-07T10:25:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T15:25:13","slug":"r-i-p-dorothy-malone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=135106","title":{"rendered":"R.I.P. Dorothy Malone"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nThe actress – whose career spanned over 50 years, has died at the age of 93. <\/p>\n

My first exposure to her was in Howard Hawks’ The Big Sleep<\/i>, where she is absolutely unforgettable in her one scene with Humphrey Bogart in the bookshop. Her nameless character is one of the few truly liberated women in cinema. I don’t know anyone who isn’t affected by this scene in a primal way. Men flip their lids. Women find the character aspirational, relatable. A lesbian friend of mine – normally very articulate – can’t even discuss the scene. “Forget it. I’m hers forever.”<\/p>\n

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\nLiberation isn’t just about being able to say “no.” It’s about being ABLE to say “yes” – being okay enough with your own sex drive to say “yes” to it – and then move forward to get what you need. It’s such a great scene, starting with a little QA and then ending with hot afternoon delight … among the stacks, people … among the stacks! She makes such an impression you keep hoping she’ll return. (It’s a bold move to put such a strong female character in the film, since it’s mainly a vehicle for Bacall and Bogart. But Bogart, in the film, is surrounded by viable alternatives, including the sassy cab driver who gives him her card – yet another truly liberated woman. So he’s got options besides Bacall.) Malone’s character in The Big Sleep<\/i> – who doesn’t even have a name! She is listed on IMDB as “Acme Book Shop Proprietress” – is not an overt sexpot. Most men would overlook her at first glance, or at least not perceive the potential. She’s not a bombshell. She’s not a yearning explosive Tennessee Williams spinster. She’s a smart cookie, a businesswoman, a cool customer, who feels the heat with this strange man and decides to act upon it. <\/p>\n

And so she takes off her glasses. <\/p>\n

And, to quote my friend, “Forget it.” Bogart clears his schedule for the afternoon.<\/p>\n

In 1956, of course, Dorothy Malone won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as quintessential “bad girl” in Douglas Sirk’s Written on the Wind<\/i> (a film in which Lauren Bacall also appeared). Yet again, she’s unforgettable, and my God she looks divine in Technicolor.<\/p>\n

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David Lynch is on record with his love for Written on the Wind<\/i>, and you can clock references to it throughout his work. I always thought he was referencing Dorothy Malone in Written on the Wind<\/i> with this shot in Lost Highway<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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\nAnd finally, I can’t finish this post of tribute without mentioning her role in Peyton Place<\/i>, where she appeared with none other than Gena Rowlands, of course. <\/p>\n

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\nR.I.P. It’s the kind of career I love: long-lasting, hard-working, adaptive, intuitive. Change with the times. Move on. Look forward. Don’t repeat yourself. WORK. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The actress – whose career spanned over 50 years, has died at the age of 93. My first exposure to her was in Howard Hawks’ The Big Sleep, where she is absolutely unforgettable in her one scene with Humphrey Bogart … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,23],"tags":[2688,536],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=135106"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142442,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135106\/revisions\/142442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=135106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=135106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=135106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}