Tallulah did . . .

It appears that during the filming of Lifeboat, our dear Tallulah Bankhead picked up a nasty habit from Carmen Miranda: one of not wearing any panties under her dress.

Well many of the cast and set members were quite upset about this, especially as Tallulah was constantly getting in and out of that lifeboat during filming. Finally someone visiting the set went, a female reporter complained to Darryl F. Zanuck, head of the studio. Zanuck sent a man to talk to the director, Alfred Hitchcock, about the problem.

Hitchcock, who was always amused by Tallulah's antics, refused to interfere and told the man that it wasn't his department. The man asked, "Well, whose department is it?" Hitchcock mused for a moment and then said, "Makeup, or perhaps hairdressing."

Gay Bars Before Stonewall

I just want to point out a quick site that I have been visiting lately. All you young'uns take note of how life used to be for us bar flies before Stonewall - it is all here at Gay Chronicles - Before Stonewall Bar Guide.

Compiled by the fabulous Len Evans you can see what bars in your city existed pre-Stonewall along with some great stories of how patrons behaved or what hardships police and politicians imposed on our brothers and sisters.

My favorite story has to do with Tallulah Bankhead, of course, and her experience at the 365 Club:

"There was a gay bar where the air line terminal used to be on Taylor Street. It had a special shaped staircase, and this lovely oval shaped bar with back to back registers. You didn't know if you were looking into a mirror or not the way it was set up. They had muzak type music, but there wasn't any juke box, they had a painting on the wall with a microphone in the corner and a slot, and you put your money into the slot and the girl would come and ask you your selection. This was a piss elegant bar. As Tellulah Bankhead said as she went in, "This is really a white collar cocsuckers bar." There was a white balustrade and red carpeting and all the queens just loved to walk down that spiral staircase. It was the cuff-link crowd."

For those of you who can open files in Microsoft Word, here is the link to the guide in document form which is much easier to read: http://www.geocities.com/gueroperro/Bars.doc

Photo: The Black Cat, a legendary gay bar from the 1950s in San Francisco.

Tallulah said . . .

Tallulah Bankhead gets into an elevator. There is already a very handsome gentleman in the elevator who smiles and turns to look at her.

Already knowing her by reputation, the man speaks up and whispers to her:

"I sure could use a little p*ssy right now."

To which Tallulah replies:

"So could I, dahling. Mine's as big as my handbag."