The Mermaid and the Monster

While Ann Blyth was filming Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), Glenn Strange was busy on another soundstage filming Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.  He was the monster.  At the time of this photo, the Monster came to visit the Mermaid.  Maybe he was taking her to lunch.  Maybe she was lunch.

We discuss Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid in this post on my Another Old Movie Blog, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein here at this post.

Both creatures were created by Universal-International makeup department head Bud Westmore.  Universal, of course, was famous for its monster movies.  From the Monster and the Mermaid--Happy Halloween!

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The audio book for Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is now for sale on Audible.com, and on Amazon and iTunes.

Also in paperback and eBook from Amazon.

Makeup Man Jack Pierce with Ann Blyth

Before there was Bud Westmore, there was Jack Pierce at Universal.  He was responsible for the iconic monster makeup of the early 1930s, especially the look of Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein monster, which has become the template for how we see author Mary Shelley’s creation.

Reportedly not terribly well liked at the studio, and having a tendency to go over budget with his creations, Pierce was fired in 1946.  He’s here with Ann Blyth on a considerably easier assignment gilding the lily. 

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The audio book for Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is now for sale on Audible.com, and on Amazon and iTunes.

Also in paperback and eBook from Amazon.

Makeup by the Westmores

Here's a magazine photo clipping of Wally Westmore touching up Ann Blyth's makeup on Top O' the Morning (1949).

Mr. Westmore, of course, was one of the famous band of six Westmore brothers who all had important careers in the field of motion picture makeup. They all worked in different studios. Wally was at Paramount, which produced Top O' the Morning.

Bud Westmore, of Universal, was responsible for Ann's resplendent fish tail in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), and in most of her films, as the bulk of her career took place at Universal.  (See Chapter 13 of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. for photos of the mermaid-creation process.)

Twin brothers Perc and Ern were at Warner Bros. Perc, who rose to head the makeup department there, worked on Mildred Pierce (1945).

Introduced to the business by their father, the entire Westmore makeup clan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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The audio book for Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is now for sale on Audible.com, and on Amazon and iTunes.