Femmes Fatales | Mar 24 2021 |

This is what happens when you send a dancer to do a killer's job.
This is just ridiculous from Cyd Charisse. She has nowhere near proper shooting stance. Her base is totally off. She doesn't have her firearm properly braced. Where do you even start with this? She isn't going to hit anything. Luckily, she didn't have to rely on marksmanship to make a living. Instead, she danced and acted in numerous hit movies, including Singin' in the Rain, Brigadoon, and The Silencers. This image was made as a promo for her 1956 musical Meet Me in Las Vegas, which was a who's-who of musical talent, including Lena Horne, Liliane Montevecchi, Frankie Laine, the Four Aces, Sammy Davis, Jr., and others. Interestingly, it was also known as Viva Las Vegas, a decade before the Elvis movie. We can already picture Elvis fans raising an interjecting finger, but it's absolutely true. We explained it way back in 2011, and if you check out that write-up you'll also see Charisse in a slightly better shooting stance. She still won't hit anything. But at least she's on two feet.
Femmes Fatales | Feb 16 2020 |

Lady sings the blues and reds.
U.S. born actress and dancer Dee Turnell sports two accessories that have gone out of fashion—the ornamental headpiece, and opera gloves—and wears both well in this promo image made for her 1948 film Words and Music. Turnell appeared in about twenty movies between 1947 and 1956. Nearly all of those were musicals, and while she's considered to have been a real talent, all her roles were minor or uncredited except 1954's Brigadoon. We don't expect to run across her again in our excavations for gun toting femmes fatales, but we're glad we stumbled upon this rare color photo. It's by Tom Kelley—the same Tom Kelley who shot the most famous photo of Marilyn Monroe ever.
Femmes Fatales | Nov 14 2012 |

Having a merry go ’round in Hollywood.
American actress and model Elaine Stewart first caught Hollywood’s attention as See magazine’s Miss See for the month of January 1952. She immediately launched a film career, winning small roles in seven movies that year, and eventually appearing in The Tattered Dress, Night Passage, High Hell, The Bad and the Beautiful and other productions, as well as in several television shows. This shot was made in 1954 when she was filming MGM’s musical classic Brigadoon.