The Glamour Aesthetic of Gene Tierney

Gene Tierney wasn’t known as the most talented actress in Hollywood. She never won an Oscar. She didn’t merge into character roles in her later years.  But she grew as an actress and she naturally evoked mystery.  What really went on behind that remote facade?  Grace Kelly was perhaps the actress whose looks most resembled hers. The white luminous skin and cool guise belied an inner turmoil in the case of Tierney, which she was able to channel in her acting when required. Although Gene is somewhat aloof like Grace Kelly, there is a profound warmth that comes through in her performances. This must be why I favor her over Kelly as an actress. 

“The Get Girl”, Gene Tierney acted in the 1940’s and 50’s.  She was admired for her striking features, including her high cheekbones and sparkling green eyes. I can’t help but wonder if she was Taylor Swift’s inspiration for the iconic Wildest Dreams music video, embodying the simultaneous anguish and glamour of old Hollywood. Don’t ask me how I know anything about Taylor Swift; I just do. (Look it up and you’ll see what I mean, although Taylor also evokes Ava Gardner in Mogambo. Moving on…)

BIOGRAPHY

Gene Eliza Tierney was born to affluent parents in Brooklyn New York, in 1920. Her mother, Belle Lavinia, was a former teacher, and her father Howard Tierney was an insurance broker. During a visit to the Warner Brothers Studios at the age of 17, Gene was told by director Anatole Litvak that she should work as an actress. However, her parents were adamant about her taking her position in society. As a result, Gene studied and worked on Broadway, and made her motion picture debut in 1940 alongside Henry Fonda in The Return of Frank James.

In 1941, she married Oleg Cassini, a fashion and costume designer known for being a bit of a casanova. Their marriage was tumultuous, beginning with an elopement to Las Vegas that horrified Gene’s parents. Their marriage lasted until 1952. Fittingly, he romanced Grace Kelly next and was even engaged to her for a stretch prior to her marriage to the Prince of Monaco. (A favorite fact of mine about Oleg Cassini is that he received the James Herriot Award (All Creatures Great and Small) as the Man of the Year from the Humane Society of the United States for his work and love for animals. He was one of the first to create man-made fur for his fashion lines, called “Evolutionary Fur.”.)

FILM

Laura (1944): It wouldn’t be the 1940’s without a good old-fashioned film noir, and Laura is one of the most celebrated film noirs in film history. It tells the story of a Manhattan detective named Mark McPherson, who is investigating the murder of a high-profile executive named Laura Hunt. As he interviews those closest to Laura, trying to collect the pieces of the mystery, he grows more and more entranced by her, and begins to develop feelings for the victim of his case. She has a sweetness about her in this film but she’s unreachable and doesn’t connect for me. Perhaps she was still numb after the birth of her daughter Daria, who was born with a mental disability blamed on a case of German measles Gene contracted while pregnant.

Leave Her To Heaven (1945): Leave Her To Heaven follows Gene Tierney as the beautiful, mysterious, and unstable Ellen Berent. While on a train, writer Richard Harland meets Ellen and the two begin chatting. There’s a comic scene in which she’s staring at him in the coach, making him uncomfortable as he fidgets with his newspaper and cigarettes. It reminds me of the scene in I Love Lucy when Lucy is staring at William Holden over the side of his booth at the Brown Derby, making him squirm. In the world of romantic comedies, this would be the beginning of an adorable love story, but this drama tells the tale of the unraveling of this relationship when Ellen leaves her fiance for Richard, only for Richard to discover that she is dangerously jealous. This is the first film I saw of Tierney’s and she made a lasting impression on me. She very subtly displays Ellen’s inner distress that leads to a shocking conclusion. She was nominated for an Oscar for this role, deservingly so.

The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1947): In The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, a young widow named Lucy Muir departs London with her young daughter to start anew in a seaside cottage following the death of her husband. When she discovers the ghost of the former owner, captain Daniel Gregg, she stands up to him, thus beginning an unlikely friendship. She decides to write his memoirs as a favor to her new friend, as well as a way to support herself and her daughter financially. But when a charming young man (who has a pulse) enters the picture, Lucy and Captain Daniel must confront their feelings for each other. This is a fun movie and Gene has electric chemistry with Rex Harrison. I would’ve loved to see them paired again. Find me a ghostly man, if he’s anything like Rex Harrison!