NINA BONITA

One last roll of the dice.

These photos of American actress Nina Mae McKinney certainly capture her beauty, even if they don’t quite capture her complexion. McKinney was actually paler than seen here, however her part black ancestry of course made her an all black actress, a designation that severely limited her commercial prospects. But thanks to her good looks—and quite a bit of talent—she became a star anyway. In Europe, she was even known as the black Garbo.

There’s not a ton of material out there on McKinney, but when we saw these photos we had to share them because we’d seen her in both the pre-blaxploitation adventure Sanders of the River, and in her debut role in Hallelujah! In the latter she plays a woman so gloriously wicked that the term femme fatale is inadequate to describe her.

She’s dressed up here as her character in that movie, and the fact that’s she’s wearing dice on her chest that show the number seven should be a warning to men that gettting involved with her is a bad gamble. But of course, bad women are irresistible, and in fact, McKinney is such a siren in Hallelujah! that she completely wrecks the leading man’s life not once, but twice. The movie came out in 1929, and that’s the year on these shots. If you’re curious, you can see McKinney performing a song with Eubie Blake here.

Sanders of the River, Hallelujah!, Nina Mae McKinney, Eubie Blake, cinema

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

January 12

1960—Nevil Shute Dies

English novelist Nevil Shute, who wrote the books A Town Like Alice and The Pied Piper, dies in Melbourne, Australia at age sixty-one. Seven of his novels were adapted to film, but his most famous was the cautionary post-nuclear war classic On the Beach.

January 12

1967—First Cryonics Patient Frozen

Dr. James Bedford, a University of California psychology professor, becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation. Bedford had kidney cancer that had metastasized to his lungs and was untreatable. His body was maintained for years by his family before being moved to Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona.

January 11

1957—Jack Gilbert Graham Is Executed

Jack Gilbert Graham is executed in Colorado, U.S.A., for killing 44 people by planting a dynamite bomb in a suitcase that was subsequently loaded aboard United Airlines Flight 629. The flight took off from Denver and exploded in mid-air. Graham was executed by means of poison gas in the Colorado State Penitentiary, in Cañon City.

January 10

1920—League of Nations Convenes

The League of Nations holds its first meeting, at which it ratifies the Treaty of Versailles, thereby officially ending World War I. At its greatest extent, from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, the League had 58 members. Its final meeting was held in April 1946 in Geneva.

January 10

1957—Macmillan Becomes Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan accepts the Queen of England’s invitation to become Prime Minister following the sudden resignation of Sir Anthony Eden. Eden had resigned due to ill health in the wake of the Suez Crisis. Macmillan is remembered for helping negotiate the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty after the Cuban Missile Crisis. He served as PM until 1963.

January 9

1923—Autogyro Makes First Flight

Spanish civil engineer and pilot Juan de la Cierva’s autogyro, which was a precursor to the helicopter, makes its first successful flight. De la Cierva’s autogyro made him world famous, and he used his invention to support fascist general Francisco Franco when the Spanish Civil War broke out in July 1936. De la Cierva was dead by December of that same year, perishing, ironically, in a plane crash in Croydon, England.