deceiving appearance

www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/profile...dy-lamarr-invention/

As I researched this story, I kept finding articles that took little digs at Lamarr, praising her beauty while dismissing her acting.
Discussing her invention, but always in the same line as a mention of
her first ex-husband—the inference being that she parroted the work from
someone else. In a PBS podcast I listened to—through a Bluetooth
connection, naturally—Bombshell director Alexandra Dean recalled how multiple engineers believed Lamarr was a spy, that it made
more sense for a beautiful woman to have stolen a man’s idea than come
up with it on her own. Even today, the idea of a scientist resembling a
goddess chafes against our ideas of who creates the world, and who
merely decorates it.

slim36 wrote: www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/profile...dy-lamarr-invention/

As I researched this story, I kept finding articles that took little digs at Lamarr, praising her beauty while dismissing her acting.
Discussing her invention, but always in the same line as a mention of
her first ex-husband—the inference being that she parroted the work from
someone else. In a PBS podcast I listened to—through a Bluetooth
connection, naturally—Bombshell director Alexandra Dean recalled how multiple engineers believed Lamarr was a spy, that it made
more sense for a beautiful woman to have stolen a man’s idea than come
up with it on her own. Even today, the idea of a scientist resembling a
goddess chafes against our ideas of who creates the world, and who
merely decorates it.

I remember Hedy Lamarr being discussed back in Engineering school in the 70’s. She wasn’t in any textbook, but I had a professor who knew all about her. Who said her patent would change the world.  And then he showed us a picture of her, a rather racy one (it was the 70’s and electrical engineering was still a boys club), and he had my attention. 

One of My takeaways was that extreme beauty can be a fantastic disguise (or impediment), and that women can have fantastic brains, even very pretty women. Also, women’s lib was becoming a thing, and guys who bought into that scene were suddenly hanging out with some really dynamic women and having a new kind of campus sex that didn’t start with “I love you” lies. 

I always connected Hedy with that, even though she wasn’t part of women’s lib that I recall. It was when I began to realize that beauty and brains could be in the same package, even if most men (and women) didn’t buy it. But women’s lib was coming fast, and women who were accepted for being smart, as long as you never commented on their beauty or acted as if it was even a thing, were very rewarding to hang out with. 

Weird times that your post reminds me of. 

Shadar

lfan wrote: It's Hedley!!  

The only Hedley I know is a pop group from Abbotsford, BC, Canada that borders Mission, BC where Carly Rae Jepsen "Call me Maybe" came from. Clearly many of her influences were from Hedley given they've got the same "happy happy pop" kind of BC style that gets stuck in my head and drives me crazy trying to knock it out before my ears bleed. 

But then, British Columbia, whose border I live very near, is a ridiculously happy and sometimes silly place compared to most, so the musical style fits. 

Shadar

shadar wrote:

lfan wrote: It's Hedley!!  

The only Hedley I know is a pop group from Abbotsford, BC, Canada that borders Mission, BC where Carly Rae Jepsen "Call me Maybe" came from. Clearly many of her influences were from Hedley given they've got the same "happy happy pop" kind of BC style that gets stuck in my head and drives me crazy trying to knock it out before my ears bleed. 

But then, British Columbia, whose border I live very near, is a ridiculously happy and sometimes silly place compared to most, so the musical style fits. 

Shadar

Lfan was quoting from Blazing Saddles.  Hedy Lamar sued as they were going to use her name for Harvey Korman's character.  Brooks then changed the named to "Hedley" and Korman's character fussily corrects anyone who gets it wrong in the movie as a little in joke to that.

She's also well known for suing the vector illustration program Corel Draw.  An artist had used Corel Draw to take a famous photo of her and turn it into a vector image.  It won a contest. Corel then used that image on their box and in ads.  But they never got her permission to use her likeness...



But it's always a shame that most don't know of her geek creds and smarts.  Her patent really is the foundation of all modern cell phone tech.  She didn't steal it.  As Shadar says I think that's people who can't accept that a brilliant mind is in such a beautiful body.

She does seem to get more props lately, which is great.

Got it!

Gentlemen, gentlemen, affairs of state must take precedent over the affairs of state.

lfan wrote:

TwiceOnThursdays wrote:

shadar wrote:

lfan wrote: It's Hedley!!  

The only Hedley I know is a pop group from Abbotsford, BC, Canada that borders Mission, BC where Carly Rae Jepsen "Call me Maybe" came from. Clearly many of her influences were from Hedley given they've got the same "happy happy pop" kind of BC style that gets stuck in my head and drives me crazy trying to knock it out before my ears bleed. 

But then, British Columbia, whose border I live very near, is a ridiculously happy and sometimes silly place compared to most, so the musical style fits. 

Shadar

Lfan was quoting from Blazing Saddles.  Hedy Lamar sued as they were going to use her name for Harvey Korman's character.  Brooks then changed the named to "Hedley" and Korman's character fussily corrects anyone who gets it wrong in the movie as a little in joke to that.
.

Was wondering if/who would get it...

Obviously went right over me. I'm the old kind of geek -- as in engineer (EE) from the middle of the last century -- who doesn't do memes well. They are going to pull my geek-card any day now. Then I'll be... geekless?

Shadar

shadar wrote:
Obviously went right over me. I'm the old kind of geek -- as in engineer (EE) from the middle of the last century -- who doesn't do memes well. They are going to pull my geek-card any day now. Then I'll be... geekless?

Shadar

I don’t believe in gate-keeper stuff.  “If you haven’t done X or Y you aren’t a TRUE fan”.  Or if you don’t know this you aren’t a geek.

If you feel like a geek, then you’re a geek.  Welcome to the club.

OTH, if you’ve not seen Blazing Saddles and you like classic screwball comedies — or like classic westerns — you should give it a watch.   It really is a classic, and there’s a reason it generally shows up highly on movie/comedy lists.  Probably Mel Brooks at his best. 

Young Frankenstein is worth it too, if only for how hot Teri Garr is. It’s slower than Blazing Saddles, but it also works straight up as a classic horror movie and as a comedy (They actually use the old Frankenstein electrical equipment in the movie!).  The push/pull between Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder resulted in a great movie.  The hermit scene with Gene Hackman is one of my favorite scenes.  (Not the one I laughed the most at, that would be the Christopher Walken Watch scene from Pulp Fiction.) 

I love Mel Brooks, but to me that early set of The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein are his best work.

TwiceOnThursdays wrote:

shadar wrote:
Obviously went right over me. I'm the old kind of geek -- as in engineer (EE) from the middle of the last century -- who doesn't do memes well. They are going to pull my geek-card any day now. Then I'll be... geekless?

Shadar

I don’t believe in gate-keeper stuff.  “If you haven’t done X or Y you aren’t a TRUE fan”.  Or if you don’t know this you aren’t a geek.

If you feel like a geek, then you’re a geek.  Welcome to the club.

OTH, if you’ve not seen Blazing Saddles and you like classic screwball comedies — or like classic westerns — you should give it a watch.   It really is a classic, and there’s a reason it generally shows up highly on movie/comedy lists.  Probably Mel Brooks at his best. 

Young Frankenstein is worth it too, if only for how hot Teri Garr is. It’s slower than Blazing Saddles, but it also works straight up as a classic horror movie and as a comedy (They actually use the old Frankenstein electrical equipment in the movie!).  The push/pull between Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder resulted in a great movie.  The hermit scene with Gene Hackman is one of my favorite scenes.  (Not the one I laughed the most at, that would be the Christopher Walken Watch scene from Pulp Fiction.) 

I love Mel Brooks, but to me that early set of The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein are his best work.

I've watched most everything from Mel Brooks, some a few times, long ago, but I'd completely forgotten Hedley Lamarr. Memories are funny. 

Shadar

shadar wrote:
I've watched most everything from Mel Brooks, some a few times, long ago, but I'd completely forgotten Hedley Lamarr. Memories are funny. 

Shadar

It was a minor little in joke in the movie.  And if you didn’t know WHY it was in there, it’s just a fussy little bit of brilliance from Harvey Korman.

As for memory being funny, on this topic specifically you don’t have to tell me that!  I watched Young Frankenstein when it came out as my dad loved Mel Brooks.  I should check the release date, but I wasn’t very old at the time.  Then I didn’t see it for decades. My father and I quoted from it all the time, including the hermit scene.   In retrospect, I probably remembered the movie more from my dad doing scenes from it than the actual movie itself (I was quite young).

When I saw it I had no idea who Gene Hackman was (It was before Superman where I first knew who he was).  To me the hermit is just a hermit.

Fast forward a few decades and I’m watching a special on Gene Hackman, and they mention Young Frankenstein.  And I’m like ??? “Who was he in the movie?

They play the hermit scene and it’s unmistakably Gene Hackman and probably couldn’t be anyone else as he’s spot on perfect for it.  My head exploded.

I mean I KNOW the movie and I quote from the scene but it’s like someone changed everything and yet did not.  My own personal Berenstain Bears they changed reality moment.

Seriously I hit pause on the show and just sat with my mouth hanging opening going W-T-F for a good while.   Now when I see the scene in my mind it’s Hackman .. but it wasn’t before.  I’m not terribly visual and I’m not face blind but .... I’m in the territory.  Orphan Black messes with me, it doesn’t look like the same actress to me.  Especially given that I rewrote the movie in my head due to my dad,  I really shouldn’t have been surprised .. .but it’s not just his face, it’s his voice and his acting.  HOW DID I NOT KNOW?!?

I also have a thing where I remember a bit from a Mel Brooks movie and sometimes I don’t know which one it’s from.. as they have run together for the same reason..  I saw the movies, but I’m really remembering my dad doing things to the movies and if he did two bits together from two movies ... well they’re in the same movie in my head.

So yeah, it’s really funny what sticks in your memory and what does not and how you remember things.

lfan wrote:

TwiceOnThursdays wrote:

shadar wrote:
I've watched most everything from Mel Brooks, some a few times, long ago, but I'd completely forgotten Hedley Lamarr. Memories are funny. 

Shadar

It was a minor little in joke in the movie.  And if you didn’t know WHY it was in there, it’s just a fussy little bit of brilliance from Harvey Korman

Check out 1:30 and 2:55 of the clip below:  ;P

That’s the video I found when I was trying to Find Hedley (after realizing my brain had a hole in it). It took about ten seconds of that video to bring it all back from my mental dustbin. 

BTW, this thread, which has wandered deliciously off topic, is one of the reasons I love SWM. In almost any other forum on the planet, when threads wander, it usually doesn’t end up in a good place. But here, the Admins are tolerant of most thread drift and the journey’s are usually enjoyable and educational, given a lot of smart people here (and some forgetful ones).

I chalk that up to this being a forum about imagination, and we all know how imagination wanders. Imagination doesn’t like rules. But still, SWM is a hidden island in a stormy sea of online conversation. Our Themoscyra where the sun is always shining despite the clouds around us, and no one has a clue what we will be talking about tomorrow. We only know it will be kind of interesting. 

Shadar

Frau Blucher!

guimachajo1 wrote:

On of my D&D Characters researched a 1st level spell named “Blucher” which freighted even trained horses and other draft animals.  Great for causing a disturbance or getting away from people on horseback.  But mostly for the joke.

Figured that this fit here.

Gal Godot is going to play Hedy Lamarr in an 8 episode show for Apple TV+.

variety.com/2020/tv/news/gal-gadot-hedy-...es-apple-1234619029/

lfan wrote: Hedley!

HA!

My brain is completely warped... I can't say Hedy. It always comes out as a rather high-pitched Hedley !. 

Curses...

Shadar

On a slightly related topic despite her reputation Florence Nightingale was apparently pretty rubbish  as an nurse (when it came to practical skills) but her real contribution was as a mathematician and statistics. Indeed she is as revered by statisticians as nurses.

Just another example of a woman who's major contribution was from her brains rather than any 'feminine' attributes.  

She's credited as inventing the pie chart as a way of illustrating the data she collected.  But she wasn't the real nursing hero of the Crimean war.  I wish we had "Horrible Histories" when I was at school...

 
Bringing this thread even further off-topic:

Gene Hackman's scene in Young Frankenstein put me in mind of another hilarious but uncredited comic cameo by an actor not commonly associated with comedy. I refer to John Houseman's driving instructor in The Naked Gun.

Since I have yet to subscribe to YouTube Channel, it appears I can't embed a live link, but you can go to YouTube and search "naked gun student car chase."

I don't know why Hackman and Houseman weren't listed in the credits of these movies. Maybe some contractual issue?

And the student driver is great, too. I love the moment when she rolls up her window when Leslie Nielsen starts shooting at the other car.

argonaut wrote:  
Bringing this thread even further off-topic:

Gene Hackman's scene in Young Frankenstein put me in mind of another hilarious but uncredited comic cameo by an actor not commonly associated with comedy. I refer to John Houseman's driving instructor in The Naked Gun.

Since I have yet to subscribe to YouTube Channel, it appears I can't embed a live link, but you can go to YouTube and search "naked gun student car chase."

I don't know why Hackman and Houseman weren't listed in the credits of these movies. Maybe some contractual issue?

And the student driver is great, too. I love the moment when she rolls up her window when Leslie Nielsen starts shooting at the other car.

I looked for more info, but all I could find is essentially what I knew before about Young Frankenstein.   Hackman wanted to be in a comedy and knew Wilder so asked for a part in the movie.

"“And Gene said, ‘There’s a blind man in a hut.’ And I told him, ‘There’s no money in it.’ But he said, ‘I don’t want that. I just want to do it.’ And he was very eloquent, very soulful. He came up with that line: ‘Where are you going? I was going to make espresso!’ He said, ‘Let me try a few things.’ And that was one of the things he tried, and I said, ‘Oh, that’s a keeper.'

rare.us/rare-humor/heres-the-story-of-ho...unniest-of-all-time/

So I guess he's uncredited as he just didn't care to be, he just wanted to have fun and be in a comedy.  there are a lot of uncredited roles -- and some are to avoid the cameo overshadowing things.

Off the top of my head I can think of John Cleese in Dr. Who where he didnt' want any publicity featuring him and he wanted to be credited as someone else.  Sting didn't want credit in Money For Nothing -- his record company threw a snit fit and made him be given credit.   Daniel Craig is a Stormtrooper in Force Awakens, and I don't think he's credited in the movie either.

I think a lot of major artists just want to do things for fun, and don't want it to be a big thing.

As for Hackman, it turns out a lot of people didn't recognize him as the hermit!  I mean I have an excuse, I was young and had no idea who he was.

Ah, John Cleese. His few minutes on screen as Sheriff Langston in Silverado is just about the only thing I remember from that movie.

"As you may have guessed, I am not from these parts."

"Today my jurisdiction ends here. Pick up my hat."