# Prettiest actress from 40's-50's crime/film noir
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 8, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971 "2006-06-08T22:51:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/21 "2006-06-09T13:36:40Z")
From the book \*\*[Femme Noir: Bad Girls of Film](http://www.allthatnoir.com/act.htm) \*\*
```auto
Lauren Bacall Joan Bennett Ann Blyth Peggie Castle
Jeanne Crain Joan Crawford Peggy Cummins Rosemary DeCamp
Yvonne DeCarlo Faye Emerson Hope Emerson Rhonda Fleming
Nina Foch Sally Forrest Ava Gardner Gloria Grahame
Coleen Gray Jane Greer Jean Hagen Dorothy Hart
Signe Hasso Susan Hayward Rita Hayworth Virginia Huston
Adele Jergens Evelyn Keyes Veronica Lake Ida Lupino
Dorothy Malone Marilyn Monroe Agnes Moorehead Cathy O'Donnell
Dorothy Patrick Jean Peters Ella Raines Ruth Roman
Gail Russell Jane Russell Lizabeth Scott Barbara Stanwyck
Jan Sterling Gene Tierney Audrey Totter Claire Trevor
Lana Turner Helen Walker Marie Windsor Shelley Winters
Loretta Young
```
I would vote for [Ava Gardner](http://images.google.com/images?svnum=30&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=Ava+Gardner+) or [Gene Tierney](http://images.google.com/images?svnum=30&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=Gene+Tierney+) though I only recognize about half the names on this list.
Jim
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/22 "2006-06-09T14:57:55Z")
There can be no question, for pure pretty and acres of sexiness, none can approach Miss [Joy Page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Page), who played Annina Brandel, the Bulgarian refugee who comes to Rick for advice in _Casablanca_.
She never played another role. She only got the role because she was family.
Darn she was good!
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### Author:  [@Don\_Logan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Logan)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/23 "2006-06-09T14:58:04Z")
Yea the Barbara Payton story is one of the saddest in Hollywood along with Inger Stevens and Jean Seberg, but unlike the other two it appears to be mostly of her doing. In a span of 10 years to go from dating Sinatra to turning two dollar tricks? Sad sad sad. She definitely would make for an interesting biopic.
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### Author:  [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/24 "2006-06-09T15:24:10Z")
Ava Gardner was always one of my favorites.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/25 "2006-06-09T15:49:37Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#):
>
> Miss [Joy Page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Page),
Thanks for the link, Paul.
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### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/26 "2006-06-09T15:58:28Z")
> [@bluethree](#):
>
> Does [Hedy Lamarr](http://www.bluetoothnews.com/graphics/Lamarr2.gif)count?
That’s _Hedley_.
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### Author:  [@Calliope\_82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calliope_82)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/27 "2006-06-09T21:08:51Z")
Kim Novak. Just saw her in Pushover, her first major role, in a B-Noir festival. So beautiful.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/28 "2006-06-10T03:07:19Z")
> [@RobotArm](#):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > Originally Posted by kunilou
> > Don’t you remember when she slipped a mickey to Dick Powell in his martini?
>
> How could you tell?
Granted, it didn’t seem to faze Nick, but then she threw Asta under the wheels of the oncoming truck. . .
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/29 "2006-06-10T03:07:08Z")
> [@RobotArm](#):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > Originally Posted by kunilou
> > Don’t you remember when she slipped a mickey to Dick Powell in his martini?
>
> How could you tell?
Granted, it didn’t seem to faze Nick, but then she threw Asta under the wheels of the oncoming truck. . .
---
### Author:  [@louisebrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/louisebrooks)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/30 "2014-04-27T17:32:04Z")
ruth roman is a splendid choice, BUT Ida wins by a landslide. she was more than just an ornament…she could really conjour evil and danger. watch They drive by night to see. beautiful, great actress and totally underrated. sad.
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### Author:  [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/31 "2014-04-27T20:32:01Z")
It took me a while to realize this was a zombie–but I dropped in to mention [Ida Lupino](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Lupino), too. She had an excellent career in film–as an actress, director, writer & occasional producer. Then she went on to pioneer television.
Lupino appeared in noirs & was quite beautiful…
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/32 "2014-04-27T20:38:12Z")
I am surprised that eight years ago I did not submit Lauren Bacall.
[Hubba-Hubba!](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000002/)
There are no cheese cake pictures of her, for Humphrey Bogart would kill.
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/33 "2014-04-27T21:05:46Z")
It’s kind of odd. But I have seen Lee Remick in several movies and she has often looked very different in each movie. But in the 1959 movie “Anatomy of a Murder”, she looked and acted extremely sexy. Very pretty as well. I have never seen her look or act anything like that in any other movie. It’s very interesting that the way an actress behaves can often affect just how pretty the audience thinks she is.
When it comes to Ava Gardner … how can anyone dispute that choice? She is just amazingly beautiful … and very pretty too, natch!
Have you ever seen Debra Paget? She is one of the most incredibly beautiful (and pretty) women in films from the 40s and 50s. If you ever get the chance, do see her in Princess of the Nile (1954). She has a rather small part as Princess Shalimar. But, when she does her dance, she elevates her beauty way past the level of the 1950s. She would knock out any audience from the 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond. What an incredible beauty! And she is still alive!
Farewell My Lovely starring Robert Mitchum and Charlotte Rampling was made in 1975. It featured a stunning Charlotte Rampling and she just knocked me out when I saw it. I know this thread is looking for pretty ladies from the 1950s and Charlotte Rampling was not active until the 1960s. But, if you ever see Farewell My Lovely be prepared to be left breathless. She may not have held up terribly well. But she was just a real knockout in this 1975 film noir.
The Killing (1956) starred Coleen Gray as Sterling Hyden’s love interest. She may never have been all that well known. But she was an incredible beauty - very pretty.
Virginia Mayo apppeared in many film noir. She was well known for White Heat (1940) in which she played the female lead opposite Cagney. Personally, I never found her to be very pretty. But many people did. So I am including her in this list for all those people who like a kind of “trashy” looking blonde.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/34 "2014-04-27T21:09:31Z")
I see I’m almost a decade too late to mention Linda Darnell.
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/35 "2014-04-27T21:11:44Z")
Doggone it! I missed the edit window time out. But I wanted to post this:
If you have never seen the movie “Caged” (1950), it is one of the best film noir movies ever made. It’s a film about a womens’ prison. But it is extremely well done. It’s a great great movie. It stars Eleanor Parker and she is extremely pretty in this movie. I can’t recommend hardly any film noir more than this one. Do yourself a big favor and watch this movie. I’m sure you will love it!
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/36 "2014-04-27T21:33:13Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#):
>
> Doggone it! I missed the edit window time out. But I wanted to post this:
>
> If you have never seen the movie “Caged” (1950), it is one of the best film noir movies ever made. It’s a film about a womens’ prison. But it is extremely well done. It’s a great great movie. It stars Eleanor Parker and she is extremely pretty in this movie. I can’t recommend hardly any film noir more than this one. Do yourself a big favor and watch this movie. I’m sure you will love it!
This was just on TV (probably TMC) about a month ago. It also starred Ellen Corby (Grandma Walton) and Agnes Moorehead (Endora), who were NOT the prettiest actresses from 40s-50s film noir.
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### Author:  [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/37 "2014-04-27T22:48:33Z")
Why are zombie threads always resurrected with some **boldface** title? Is that one of the rules?
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/38 "2014-04-27T23:13:02Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#):
>
> Why are zombie threads always resurrected with some **boldface** title? Is that one of the rules?
I have no idea how the rules work re boldface type in thread titles. I’ve been trying to figure it out. But it remains a total mystery to me.
No clue!
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### Author:  [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/39 "2014-04-27T23:19:56Z")
Angela Lansbury should be on the list.
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2014, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-actress-from-40s-50s-crime-film-noir/359971/40 "2014-04-28T11:55:48Z")
> [@pokey](#):
>
> I am a big fan of Gloria Grahame but every time I look at her I’m completely distracted by her lipstick. It’s strange but it’s her daring disregard for the lipline nature gave her that first made me so interested in her.
Heh, gotta love this place. Today I spoke with a woman whose perfectly-drawn Cupid’s bow was quite unrelated to her actual lips; I was wondering whether there are people who find that attractive. The answer appears to be “yes”.
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