Prove me wrong. With pictures.
Her best feature was one you can’t really see in those photos, her overbite. In fact that line in Casablanca about what she was doing 10 years ago, “I was having my teeth straightened” always makes me chuckle a bit.
It’s more pronounced in her younger shots. Would not be surprised if she had training to hide it.
Ingrid Bergman was very cute, and was flawlessly cast as the spineless, indecisive Ilsa Lund Laszlo.
But if you want the loveliest actress of Old Hollywood, look no further than Greta Garbo.
“What, when drunk, one sees in other women, one sees in Garbo sober.” – Kenneth Tynan
I agree that Ms. Bergman was among the most lovely, and I can’t find an image of anyone MORE lovely than she was, but there might be a few whom were AS lovely as she was on their best days. I always believed Linda Darnell was adorable as the underage niece in THE MARK OF ZORRO.
In addition, I never thought Vivian Leigh was hard to look at:
I also understand *Kate Hepburn *was easy on the eyes when she was younger (sorry, no image), and that reminds me that the other actress named Hepburn, Audrey was a looker too. (Although she might have been after ‘old Hollywood’ but I am pretty old guy and I remember her from movies on the late, late show which were rarely current. I do seem to recall her being cast in romantic leads after the others were being cast as mothers or bosses but that might be a faulty memory.)
Ingrid has always had my vote.
Others you can call beautiful, cute, sexy, glamorous, whatever, but watching her come down the stairs in Gaslight in that white dress… she’s incandescent.
Now I don’t believe I have ever seen a *Greta Garbo *movie, and perhaps there is an essence I am missing, but I have never seen a single still photograph of Garbo that makes me think she was any more than average looking. In addition, every shot of her I can recall seeing looks like she is actively trying to look seductive or attractive. Perhaps she had a very expressive face that does not translate well into stills. Also, it was the style of the time – and the photos I linked to above show women fully made-up, but Garbo always looks overdone in that regard to me.
I am not going argue against Ingrid…but Audrey Hepburn
I always thought that Hedy Lamarr topped the list of old Hollywood beauties.
BTW, it only recently struck me how similar Hedy Lamarr and a young Lucille Ball look. Does anyone else see it?
You’re all picking classy but boring dames. I’m going for Veronica Lake.
Young Lucy didn’t have the personality or voice or body to go with that look, which I think is why she didn’t stay with it long.
Ingrid Bergman was a very ‘modern’ actress in many ways. (she supposedly boinked every leading man and director she came across.) . But she was as different from simpering ladies of the screen of the time as could be - bold, brash, fresh, and very modern in looks and acting ability. A strong, beautiful woman.
Greta Garbo was in a class of her own, a classic, iconic ageless beauty. She didn’t even CARE for her career much and showed up to work filmed in gowns, wearing grubby old bedroom slippers on her feet. I am pleased she retired early before descending into ‘character actress’.
She and Marilyn Monroe, something about them, the camera captured …something. They were transformed. Not just makeup or wardrobe, I think, that was a big part, but something more. (it’s said without makeup, in everyday clothing, no one would even recognize them on the street.)
Another vote for Hedy Lamarr
I think the thing with Ingrid which stands out for me is that her face doesn’t reference the troubled times of the 1930s-1950s (1940s if you’re an American) - there is no sharpness to her features ala Leigh and Garbo, far more softness is expressed by Bergman.
But not characterless, of course not. There’s a… sadness, a wistfulness… about her expression which I find appealing, as well as the simple fact that I prefer brunettes.
Anyway, I think she’s just devastatingly lovely and is possibly the finest looking woman to grace this planet.
But, again… prove me wrong, with pics. 
(I appreciate the counters so far. Keep 'em coming!)
I believe cigarettes lit themselves in the presence of Jane Greer.
