Silver Screen Magic with Lana Turner

She was born as Julia Jean “Lana” Turner on February 8, 1921, and became a memorable actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Turner was also a pin-up model and in the mid-1940s had become one of the highest-paid American actresses and among the biggest stars at MGM.

Director Vincente Minnelli directed the American melodrama “The Bad and the Beautiful” in 1952. The film starred Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame, and Gilbert Roland. The film won five Academy Awards.

In Hollywood, director Fred Amiel (Barry Sullivan), movie star Georgia Lorrison (Lana Turner), and screenwriter James Lee Bartlow (Dick Powell) each refuse to speak by phone to Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) in Paris. Movie producer Harry Pebbel (Walter Pidgeon) gathers them in his office and explains that Shields has a new film idea and he wants the three of them for the project. Shields cannot get financing on his own, but with their names attached, there would be no problem. Pebbel asks the three to allow him to get Shields on the phone before they give their final answer.

Director Victor Fleming directed the American horror film “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in 1941. It starred Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, and Lana Turner. The storyline is based on the 1886 novella “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson.

Lana Turner portrays Beatrix Emery, the sheltered fiancée of Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde (Spencer Tracy), who becomes emotionally terrified by her beloved’s strange behavior. As Mr. Hyde, he ventures into a music hall and spots barmaid Ivy Peterson (Ingrid Bergman), whom he saved from an attacker in the streets weeks before.

Director Douglas Sirk directed the American film “Imitation of Life” in 1959. It starred Lana Turner, John Gavin, and in supporting roles Sandra Dee, Dan O’Herlihy, Susan Kohner, Robert Alda, and Juanita Moore. The gospel music singer Mahalia Jackson appears as a church choir soloist. This is the second adaptation of the 1933 novel of the same name by Fannie Hurst.

In 1947, white widowed mother and aspiring Broadway actress Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) meets photographer Steve Archer (John Gavin) while frantically searching for her young daughter, Susie Terry Burnham, at age eight and later at age 16 (Sandra Dee) at a crowded Coney Island beach. She finds her daughter in the care of Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore), a single Black mother with a light-skinned Black daughter, Sarah Jane (Karin Dicker), age 8, and later (Susan Kohner), age 18. Since Annie and Sarah Jane have no place to go, Lora invites the two to stay temporarily in her small New York City apartment. In exchange, Annie offers to keep house and look after Susie while Lora pursues an acting career.

Director Tay Garnett directed the American film noir “The Postman Always Rings Twice” in 1946. The film starred Lana Turner, John Garfield, and Cecil Kellaway. It is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by James M. Cain.

Lana Turner portrays Cora Smith, whose marriage to a much older man, Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway), comes under threat when Frank Chambers (John Garfield) comes into their diner, Twin Oaks, a rural diner/gas station on a highway in the hills outside Los Angeles. Frank begins working there.

Director Wesley Ruggles directed the American screwball comedy “Slightly Dangerous” in 1943. It starred Lana Turner, Robert Young, Walter Brennan, and Dame May Whitty.

The storyline follows a bored young woman, Peggy Evans (Lana Turner), in a dead-end job who runs away to New York City and ends up impersonating the long-missing daughter, Carol Burden, of a millionaire (Walter Brennan).

Director George Sidney directed the American film “The Three Musketeers" in 1948. The film starred Gene Kelly and Lana Turner. It is based on the classic 1844 novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas.

Lana Turner portrays the right-hand woman Milady, Countess de Winter, of the arch villain Richelieu (Vincent Price), who charges her with helping him to topple Queen Anne (Angela Lansbury) and the musketeers who have sworn to defend her led by d’Artagnan (Gene Kelly).

Director Robert Z. Leonard directed the American musical drama film “Ziegfeld Girl” in 1941. The film starred James Stewart, Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr, Judy Garland, Tony Martin, Jackie Cooper, and Eve Arden.

The film is set in the 1920s, telling the parallel stories of three women who became performers in the renowned Broadway show “The Ziegfeld Follies”—Susan Gallagher (Judy Garland), Sandra Kolter (Hedy Lamarr), and Sheila Regan (Lana Turner). The musical numbers were by Busby Berkeley. Two of the girls excel, but Sheila’s rise from elevator operator to glamorous showgirl drives away her long-time boyfriend Gilbert Young (James Stewart) and sets her on a path toward self-destruction.