Startled Dowager
Girl Holding Dog
Drunk Butler
Pilot With Not Enough Parachutes
Hard-Drinking Prospector
‘I Say’ Top Hat Man
Cop Who Doesn’t Believe Anything
Lion Tamer In Love With Acrobat
No Guff-Taking Waitress
Shopgirl With Only One Mink Coat
Lonely Stenographer
Man Who Drops Packages
Red-Haired Song-and-Dance Man
Italian Snake in the Grass
Secretly Wounded Divorcée
Sexual Male Cheerleader
Man Whose Car Won’t Start
“Say, Just What Are You Getting At” Cigar Man
Increasingly Confused Traffic Policeman
Awful Rich Face
Pyramid of Line-Dancing Women Covered in Feathers
Second Banana
White Slaver
“Say, What’s The Gag?” Gal
Lustful Soda Jerk
Zeppelin Director
Sleepy Rich Husband
Flabby Boxer
College Boy With Ukelele
Sneering Mustache Swordsman
Dancing Girl Who Shows Her Knees
Tall Lesbian With Cigarettes
A Millionaire and A Hobo Who Are Best Friends
Tags: history, movies, stock characters
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I wish I were ‘Tall Lesbian with Cigarettes’ but I suspect I am ‘Dancing Girl Who Shows Her Knees’.
I’m definitely the [wo]man who drops packages, and I’ve made peace with it.
Sadly, today I think I’m “Lonely Stenographer.”
I think I might be the flabby boxer
I feel like the Increasingly Confused Traffic Policeman a lot.
I suspect I’m College Boy with Ukulele, even though I’m 30.
And a cis-woman. And a college dropout.
I am, and always will be, Girl Holding Dog.
I’d like to be The Guy Who Says “We’re Gonna Do Things My Way, See,” but I suspect I am Startled Dowager.
“Tall Lesbian With Cigarettes” shouldn’t this be “Aviatrix with Cigarettes”?
Every movie needs a Startled Dowager.
I carry one around with me just so that I can say I’m shocking.
ETA: I’m not even sure if it’s relevant, but I mostly really just wanted to browse through Lucille gifs today.
Well, it’s not like I’m going to discourage you.
Every day is a good day for Lucille gifs.
I wonder which movie squeezes in the most of these. I’m thinking something by Sturges or Capra.
My Man Godfrey
Probably one of the Thin Man movies, but almost certain something with Myna Loy and William Powell.
HA!
I’m probably that full-bosomed matron who hits men with her handbag and exclaims, “Masher!”
“FRESH!!”
No respect for the Plucky Orphan, I see. And what of Boxcar Rider / Dispenser of Cheeky Salutes?
Margaret Dumont was the best Marx Brother. I need her to be in more things, and with today’s technology, there’s no reason she shouldn’t be. Can we make her at least one of the stuffy aristocrats in Titanic (and why not, all of the background characters)?
Margaret Dumont should have a cameo in every movie. Like Hitchcock, only more ubiquitous.
Margaret Dumont should be my best friend and benefactor. I will paint on a black moustache if that’s what it takes.
Sigh, I wish I had business cards that said “Zeppelin Director” on them.
And why not? Got a printer?
Everyone Who Pretends Fred Astaire is Good at Singing
True story: courtesy of the days when my dad would wander around Tower Records (RIP) and buy whatever was on sale, I actually own an album that is just Fred Astaire singing.
Hey, I own that, too! I’m pretty sure I accidentally (but really-accidentally, not fake-accidentally) acquired it in the same break-up that cost me my Edith Piaf collection. I sometimes think about my lonely Piaf CDs sitting on a shelf next to ex’s Gwar and Negativland albums, fluttering their little digitally-rendered hands in a shy attempt to make friends, and always failing.
It ain’t half bad! I think the liner notes claim that he was the Gershwins’ favorite interpreter of their songs, at which I cock a single skeptical eyebrow (over ELLA?! REALLY?!), bu the album is perfectly pleasant listening and makes excellent background music for a Classy Cocktail Party.
*politely; icily* His voice was charming, reedy, distinguished, and capable of great emotional restraint. I trust you can see yourself out.
Funny, Mel Torme called Astaire his favorite singer. I think I’ll let the pros decide this one. I love Astaire’s singing voice.
BRB, covering myself with feathers before forming a pyramid.
I want to be a dancing girl covered with feathers. Would be a blast.
Join me! We’ll need a few of us if we’re going to make pyramids.
Next Toast meetup: BYO feathers, FYO pyramid
This list is everything.
And now I’m trying to think of a companion list of Worst 1930s stock characters (keep in mind that I mostly know German film). So far I only have one worst character: man who is so weak-willed that his entire life can be ruined, just because he met a woman who wears eyeliner and maybe shows her knees.
Do you have any recommendations (auf Deutsch)? I’m always on the look out for more German movies to watch.
Oh man, I spend so much time writing about melodramas from the Great Depression, and I really wouldn’t consider recommending those ones (unless you’re into movies wherein old ladies gas themselves and a child, because of poverty and society?).
Wow, that’s in a movie? They really knew how to have fun /sarcasm.
In fairness, who’s life hasn’t been ruined, at least for an evening, by someone who wears eyeliner and maybe shows his/her knees?
Italian Snake in the Grass, always. We ethnics are simply not to be trusted.
My favorite is ALWAYS Man Who Drops Packages. He’s also in cartoons!
There’s typically also a Cynical Disaffected Socialite. Bonus pts if she is a divorcee!
You can also watch the “This is Hardcore” music video and find a lot of these.
Don’t forget the Harebrained Younger Sister (me, definitely me), and the Fast-Talking Coatroom Attendant/Mink Holder
Definitely read that as “Pilot with Not Enough Prostitutes.”
Ahhh, “lonely stenographer.” That trope alone employed Joan Crawford for a solid 10 years.
Poor Girl Caught in a Misunderstanding with Wealthy Older Gent
Wealthy Older Gent’s Down-to-Earth Son
(they will fall in love)
ALSO:
Sassy Best Friend Who Overhears Out-of-Context Information
Cop Who Believes Dancing Outside is Illegal
Fast-Talking Telephone Operator
Child Actor Saying Adult Things
Shy Sailor on Leave
Horndog Sailor on Leave
Clumsy Sailor on Leave
AND OF COURSE:
Girl Who Brought Tap Shoes to a Casual Luncheon
Everyone brought tap shoes everywhere back then. It was always good to be prepared for the inevitable musical number.
Might I also suggest:
Hyperactive Taxi Driver
Blustering Night Court Judge
White Haired Mother in Apron
Random Person Whom Franklin Pangborn Lifts An Eyebrow At
Dour Chorus Girl
Portly, Drunken Businessman Who Says “Whooops!” While Chasing Dour Chorus Girl
Angry Pomeranian
Jean Harlow’s Nipples
EVERYBODY’S nipples. Why can we not be so laissez-faire about this today? I’m tired of keeping my breasts in padded cells
Free yr nips!!! Soft cup bras are amazing! And (situationally appropriate) bralessness is a underrated pleasure, if your anatomy is OK with it.
Ah, would that my DDs were OK with it…but I got an unlined bra for the first time in years recently and so far so good. as a friend remarked once, “you are correct, I am a mammal”
I refuse to buy padded bras. I do not care if the world knows I have nipples.
You guys have all seen The Lady Eve, right? right? Directed by Preston Sturges, one of the best screwball comedies of all time, AND stars Barbara Stanwyck, opposite Henry Fonda as Befuddled But Charming Rich Guy
…sorry that picture was so huge. it is only as huge as my love for The Lady Eve
Oh, Hopsey!
SOO good. It’s so funny (and surprisingly sexy for a Code-era movie)
He’s an ophiologist (and also a befuddled rich guy), and she is a wise-cracking card sharp who inadvertently falls in love with her mark (and enacts a glorious class-smashing revenge scheme when he rejects her)
It’s perfect.
Sassy Chorus Girl with a Heart of Gold has been cruelly overlooked.
“Overly enthusiastic jazz musician/pianist. ”
“Asian with exaggerated features just in case the audience couldn’t tell it was an asian person well they couldn’t find any asians let’s just use a white person instead”
Precocious Newsboy on Corner
Shifty Childhood Friend in Need of a Loan
Gaggle of Men Waving Lighters at Heroine’s Cigarette
Cranky Neighbors
OMG. I don’t even smoke, but I would carry a cigarette with me if only to have a gaggle of men wave lighters at it every time I took it out. *sigh* I guess I have to become a heroine first, though.
Edward Everett Horton needs his own category.
Harried but calming buxom cook. OK it’s my category
Elderly Welshman who swears off drink while everyone else runs around in circles.
Lothario Best Friend of an Upstanding Young Man
Drunk Who Keeps Seeing Wackier Things Until He Throws Away His Bottle.
Everyone brought tap shoes everywhere back then. It was always good to be prepared for the inevitable musical number.
James Finlayson as That Double-Take Guy. (the original "Doh!)
*Woman of easy virtue who loves putting on and taking off her new silk stockings
(*pre-Code)
*Woman of easy virtue who loves putting on and taking off her new silk stockings
(*pre-Code)
Irritating tap dancing child