GRACE PERSONIFIED

The view from here is just about perfect.

Since we were talking about Rear Window yesterday, here’s a shot of co-star Grace Kelly wearing one of the famed Edith Head designed dresses made for the movie. This is the most written about outfit from the film, the one Kelly tells Jimmy Stewart cost $1,100 dollars, which would be almost $10,000 in today’s money. Her character quickly follows that up by saying it’s a good thing she didn’t have to pay for it (because she works in the fashion industry and gets free clothes). That was the clever solution to making Kelly as glamorous as possible, but without alienating the ticket-buying audience. Though this dress is nice, it’s the green and white backless number she wears later that really sticks in the memory. Unfortunately, there are few good shots of that ensemble, and none showing her without the covering jacket. That may seem amazing, but Rear Window promo photos are somewhat rare. We have a couple of screenshots below, but if you want to see Kelly in action you’ll just have to watch the movie.

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1976—Gerald Ford Rescinds Executive Order 9066

U.S. President Gerald R. Ford signs Proclamation 4417, which belatedly rescinds Executive Order 9066. That Order, signed in 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, established “War Relocation Camps” for Japanese-American citizens living in the U.S. Eventually, 120,000 are locked up without evidence, due process, or the possibility of appeal, for the duration of World War II.

1954—First Church of Scientology Established

The first Scientology church, based on the writings of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, is established in Los Angeles, California. Since then, the city has become home to the largest concentration of Scientologists in the world, and its ranks include high-profile adherents such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

1933—Blaine Act Passes

The Blaine Act, a congressional bill sponsored by Wisconsin senator John J. Blaine, is passed by the U.S. Senate and officially repeals the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, aka the Volstead Act, aka Prohibition. The repeal is formally adopted as the 21st Amendment to the Constitution on December 5, 1933.

1947—Voice of America Begins Broadcasting into U.S.S.R.

The state radio channel known as Voice of America and controlled by the U.S. State Department, begins broadcasting into the Soviet Union in Russian with the intent of countering Soviet radio programming directed against American leaders and policies. The Soviet Union responds by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts.

1937—Carothers Patents Nylon

Wallace H. Carothers, an American chemist, inventor and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont Corporation, receives a patent for a silk substitute fabric called nylon. Carothers was a depressive who for years carried a cyanide capsule on a watch chain in case he wanted to commit suicide, but his genius helped produce other polymers such as neoprene and polyester. He eventually did take cyanide—not in pill form, but dissolved in lemon juice—resulting in his death in late 1937.

Unknown artist produces lurid cover for Indian true crime magazine Nutan Kahaniyan.
Cover art by Roswell Keller for the 1948 Pocket Books edition of Ramona Stewart's Desert Town.

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