Episode 400 - Lupe Velez Part 1

0:00Hello, welcome to Hollywood crime scene. This is Rachel Fisher. Hi. This is Desi Jadokin. Hey, awesome. We have some, I guess they say house cleaning, house keeping. Oh house keeping. I guess it's the same thing. Who came up with that? I don't know. It's just like, is that just like, oh, it's the boring technical stuff we have to do. It's not that exciting. Well, I think this is exciting. Okay. We have a new city added to our tour. Yeah. New York City. The big apple. New York City. We're going to be in New York in Manhattan on November 10th. Yeah. A caveat. Caviott, the lorry side. So please buy tickets for the show. I think you're going to discount if you buy them early. But also I do feel like the show might sell out. I think it might sell out. So get your tickets early. You don't want to regret. Don't be don't procrastinate like I would. Then I'd miss out. There's not going to be

1:06any scalpers. So you can't even buy them resale. No, get your tickets. Get your tickets. I'll have a link in the show notes to our link tree, which has all the cities listed. So also Atlanta and Austin coming up in two weeks. So get your tickets to those as well. Exactly. We need we need to have some representation in the south and Texas. Yeah, that's like our those are our only southern ish cities. Yeah, we're doing this go around. So come see us in Atlanta. Come see us there. Austin, we've done before and it was really fun. So I hope everyone comes back. I hope we see some new faces. But Atlanta, we've never been to. You're in the southeast at all. So no, hopefully you guys can make it to that show as well. We're going to waffle house for sure. That's already on the docket. You have any good restaurant recommendations. Let us know. I definitely want some southern food. Yeah, absolutely. So authentic cuisine. I want to place where you pick your protein and three sides. That's my goal. I like that. The side pick in

2:10and barbecue obviously in Austin. Yeah, we're going to have to get that. So yeah, I'm excited for New York and Philly also, but New York's the new one. So we're highlighting that. Yeah, we're going to get some some good food there too. Obviously, the food. It's all about the food. We like doing the shows, but also food. It's nice to eat different food. Our next item of business is I wanted to wish listener Emily a happy belated birthday. It was her birthday on September 5th. Yeah, and I was just made aware of that. So I wanted to wish her happy birthday. Thank you for being a long time listener. Your support means everything. Happy birthday, Emily. And I hope you ate something delicious. Yes, of course. So what are we doing? I'm excited. Well, today for our main episode, it will be a multi-parter. I don't know if it'll be two or three, but this is part one of loop Ava

3:11Les. Oh, oh, yeah. I think she's been on our list for a long time probably since the beginning. Yes, she is a Hollywood Babylon gal. That's where I first heard of her. Me too. And I feel like a lot of people who weren't alive in the 30s and 40s probably first heard about her from Kenneth Engers book Hollywood Babylon, which as we've discussed before was a book that both does E and I read and loved as kids. Look, my mom gave me the book. My mom gave me the book, but I loved it. I know you loved it. We've talked about the book a lot on the show because we've debunked a lot of the stuff that's been in that book on the show. But it doesn't take away from how good the book is. The book is iconic. Unfortunately for loop Ava Les, much of what people know about her nowadays is

4:14her death from the book. Yeah. In Hollywood Babylon, Kenneth Enger asserts that loop Ava Les took a bunch of second all to kill herself. But the second all didn't kill her. And because she had eaten a spicy Mexican dinner beforehand, it mixed with the second all made her have to throw up. She runs to the bathroom, leaving a trail of vomit, hits her head on the toilet and then proceeds to drown in the toilet. Yeah. Now, this is something that I feel like people kind of just this became canon. For sure. For loop Ava Les. And that's all I knew about her at the time. I didn't know about her career. I didn't know about anything else about her. Which is unfortunate because she did have an interesting career and she does have an interesting story. And she was immensely talented. So, we're going to take the next couple episodes to discuss her life and career and the juicy

5:17feuds that she had with other actresses. I like loop Ava. Good. I'm excited to meet her. I watched one of her movies in preparation for this. And I got to say it's kind of criminal that she's not regarded as one of like the iconic comedic actresses from the Golden Age. I think she's so funny. Okay. And much like Lucille Ball, I think she has like an elastic face. Oh nice. So it's unfortunate that she's not regarded that way. Anyway, my main source for this episode is the book Strickly Dynamite by Eve Golden. And I also read some old newspaper articles. Let's get started. loop Ava Les was born Maria Guadalupe Villalobos on July 18 1908 in San Luis, Patosi, Mexico. Her mother was an amateur singer and her father was a colonel. Her childhood was not the fantastical tale

6:19that the tabloids and fan magazines would later invent for loop Ava. They did this most likely in an attempt to further exoticize her, which was a common theme in her career. While loop Ava was in the army, the claims that he was some swashbuckling conquisitor or that loop Ava wrote off into battle with him as a small child are not true. But they, you know, you know how the papers were. They want some lore. They want some like crazy lore about her childhood. She had a pretty relatively normal childhood in Mexico. One thing about loop based childhood that was true is that she had dreams of becoming an actress from a very early age. But before she could do any acting, her mom sent her and her sister to a convent in San Antonio, Texas for schooling. loop Ava was 14 when she was sent there. And I'm sure, well, she did think it was bullshit.

7:21She was kind of a handful at home. Right. Like she was a very active girl and she had no qualms about like she didn't give a shit about like being the nice good girl. Okay. She wanted to have fun. Yeah. And her mom was like, you need to go to a convent. No fun. No fun. You'll have no fun with the nuns. This is too much. She was also like not the best student in terms of like her behavior. I guess loop Ava was later quoted as saying that her sisters were quote, so good. They like to go to school. They like to be ladies. They made me nervous. Always being so good like a lady. They have no fun. Wow. Honestly, I relate to this. Yeah. At some point during this time, her dad left the family. Now it's not clear whether this was accidental. Oh. Like he died. I already took the wrong turn. Or he took the wrong turn. Or if it was on purpose. Okay. And loop Ava's mother was now left to

8:27raise her four daughters and young son all alone. Oh my God. And they didn't have a source of income without the father. Yeah. So this was tough. There wouldn't be any more money for loop Ava to continue at the convent school. So she had to return back to Mexico with her sister. But obviously she was fine with that. Yeah. Loop Ava got a retail job at a department store in Mexico. She hated all she wanted to do was perform. And so in 1925, she found herself in Mexico City asking or demanding rather for an audition at the theatrical lyrical. Nice. Despite her lack of training, loop Ava had personality and charisma. And she was given a part in the show. loop Ava was a hit with the audiences. And she was making a little money performing at this theater. The following year, she was spotted by a theatrical agent named Frank Woodyard. He introduced loop Ava to actor and theater director Richard Bennett, who needed a Mexican actress for his play, which was called The Dove. And that was performing in Los Angeles.

9:32Oh nice. So she's got a ticket to LA now, which is really good. Um, she gets to LA in 1927. Luella Parsons later described her first encounter with loop Ava. She said, I met her her first date. She arrived in Hollywood in 1927. I was living there at the Via Carlotta and loop Ava moved into the same apartment house. She had dark hair and enormous black eyes and could speak only a few words of English. But there was something about this young vivid laughing girl who was homesick for her family that attracted me to her. Another writer, Gladys Hall, claimed that at the time the only English loop Ava knew was the words banana split and go to hell. Two important phrases. They're important, but it's not true. She knew more English than that. But she might have said go to hell. Yeah. To some people. She obviously knew more English because she had gone to school in Texas for two years as a teen.

10:34She wasn't like maybe the best, but she could speak it and understand it. When loop Ava began to work on the play, it was clear that she was too inexperienced to handle such a big role. Like she really didn't have much experience. Yeah. Conno was just like thrown into the theater and was already like given this big part. Yeah. So she was dropped from the play, which is really disappointing. This part was given to another actress named Dorothy McKay. Now, I didn't go down a rabbit hole too deep, but this actress Dorothy McKay would wind up in legal trouble during the show's run. She had been having an affair with the actor Paul Kelly who ended up killing Dorothy's husband actor Ray Raymond. I think I've heard of this case. Through my research. Yeah. It might even be a Hollywood Babylon too. It might be.

11:35So that's not good publicity for the play. No. Not at all. This is happening while the show is up. Dorothy ended up going to prison for 10 months after she was convicted of perjury. But back to loop Ava Les. Even though she had lost the part in the play, the playwright Richard Bennett felt really bad about it. And so he worked to find something else for her. He got her an audition with a brother and sister dance duo. They were always like putting on shows. So she got a part with this dance duo because she could dance. Yeah. She could dance. She could sing. She could act. And from there loop Ava Les got other opportunities. She ended up getting a show with the legendary comedian Fanny Bryce at the music box theater. That would later become the Henry Fonda. I mean the Fonda theater. Loop A's performance was so well received that she was signed on to regularly appear at this theater. She eventually caught the eye of MGM's Harry

12:38Rapp who gave her a screen test. Hal Roach saw it and he was like, we gotta sign her. Nice. She's amazing. Roach put loop A in a few shorts, one of them starring Laurel and Hardy. And while she was being promoted to the studio, the press was already playing up this fiery Latina stereotype in their coverage. Now, Dezi, I read a lot of old newspapers during my research in this and my jaw was on the floor at some of these headlines and descriptions about her because of her ethnicity. Yeah. And yeah, this was like, this was how they talked about her. Yeah. She wasn't just in a talented up and coming actress. She was a quote, hot tamalee. A spit fire and a Mexican spit fire. That's the movie I watched. Oh yeah. I remember something. Yeah. But she and she was described and she's seen a variety of ways that was like, get it, she's from Mexico. Yeah. She's a spicy Latina woman. That's crazy. It's crazy. The Los Angeles

13:46evening post record wrote a blurb about loop A that said, new Spanish sauce is on the menu. Signorita, loop A Vales hails from the tepid southern climate where men or men and they eat hot tamales. But loop A was discovered to be a comedy actress by Hal Roach and now she's eating chicken all a movie queen. What? It makes sense. To force this menu. Yeah. That's crazy. Adding to this propagation of these stereotypes is a story that was later told in a fan magazine that loop A was discovered by director F Richard Jones after he saw her having a meltdown on the set of one of Hal Roach's films. Oh my god. So that was another narrative was like, oh, she's spicy. She's got a temper. She's got a hot temper. And the reality is, we've seen we've seen the papers from back then talk about these women and talk about these

14:47starlets from various salacious ways. We've seen them talk about other starlets who were known for having these tempers. But with loop A, it was always like her ethnicity is why she's having these tempers. Yeah. In reality, there probably wasn't any sort of temper tantrum or meltdown that loop A had in front of this director. Maybe she shouted a swear word or something. Remember, she's like 19. Yeah. She's very young. It's more likely that loop A was noticed for her undeniable talent and charisma, which as I said earlier, like she was pretty much just like, she was just getting jobs on the spot because she was so likable and it was clear that like, there was something there. Yeah. She was definitely a star. Efforts your Jones thought that she would be perfect for the new Douglas Fairbanks movie. Okay. Now that is a big gap. Yeah. She was then cast in the Goucho opposite Fairbanks.

15:48She was released from her contract with MGM and whisked away from MGM to Joe Shanks United Artists. During the filming of the Goucho, rumors in the tabloids world of an affair between loop A, the Les and Douglas Fairbanks. Now Fairbanks was obviously famously married to Mary Pickford and they were Hollywood's number one power couple. Right. Can you imagine getting an invite to pick fair back in the 20s? Yeah. You got to. Like the place to be. Yeah. So loop A's making news because they're like, Oh, like what's this sexy young lady doing with our star? Yeah. Doing with Douglas Fairbanks. And how does Mary Pickford feel about it? Now at the same time, Mary Pickford was also accused of having an affair with her co-star Charles Buddy Rogers. Well, she was on the set of her movie, my best girl. Pickford and Rogers did end up getting Mary 10 years

16:48later. Oh, so maybe they did have a little something. I think they were all fucking. I think they were too. Yeah. Because there's a lot of overlap with these stars in these stories that we do. Like there's going to be a lot of reoccurring characters here that were in Clara Boe's life. And I'm sure any other people we've covered from this era. This movie, The Goucho premiered in November 1927 and it was a huge success. Loop A received rave reviews and she was poised to become the next big thing. At this time, the press began making comparisons of loop A Vales and another Mexican actress Dolores Del Rio. Oh, by 1927 Dolores was already a bonafide star. She came from a family of wealthy Mexican aristocrats and part of her public image was that she was this high class, high social status, glamorous lady. And like that was just her whole thing.

17:51Like she's the fabulous Dolores Del Rio. Yeah. She was very glamorous, very poised, unbelievably beautiful. Contrast this with loop A Vales who was portrayed in the press as low class and wild. And the press loved pitting these two women against each other and sort of inventing this explosive feud between the two of them. It was always like loop A can't stand her. Dolores Del Rio can't stand her. She's disgusted by this look trash. By the right. Exactly. Now to be fair, in 1930, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on loop A's famous mocking imitations of Dolores Del Rio that she would whip out at parties. I mean, I can believe that she did make fun of Dolores. She did. Yeah. And I can see why because Dolores Del Rio was like very hotty. And on her little high horse. And yes, and she was very fancy. Yeah. And loop A was a lot more relaxed and more regular like one of us. Yeah, for sure.

18:57And loop A Vales is very good at impersonations. So she would imitate Dolores Del Rio at parties. The San Francisco Chronicle said Del Rio, born and bred the lady, had been netted frequently at the antics of Madcap loop A, who has never missed an opportunity, public or private to do a takeoff of the Petrician actress with mincing steps, head held extremely high and an exaggerated imitation of Del Rio's mannerisms loop A will prance into an opening not too far behind the statue-esque Del Rio. Now the perceived feud between these two stars was not the worst of what the press had stirred up. During the 1920s, Hollywood was experiencing what was described as this Latin lover craze. Oh, Hispanic actors and actresses were rising in prominence. You have loop A Vales, Dolores Del Rio, Ramon Navarro, who we've covered before Gilbert Rowland, who we talked about in

20:00Clare Boe and Rudolf Valentino, who was dubbed a Latin lover but was actually Italian. Yeah. But they put him in the mix. It was, it was the Latin explosion, 1.0. Yeah. Nice. Suddenly, of course, now there's this fear among idiots that immigrants from Central and South America were here to take away all the Hollywood jobs. Oh my God. It's the tail is old. It never ends. Right. It never ends. Luella Parsons posited in a 1927 article that following the success of loop A and Dolores, Hollywood seemed to be giving more jobs to Mexican actresses than of any other nationality. All two of them. All two of them. I mean, this is obviously not true. Right. But it's like crazy house. How low the number is. Even if like if you wanted to make that claim, you'd think they'd have a little more than two. It's crazy. I mean, even the list I gave you of like the most

21:06prominent Hispanic stars of the time, there's way more white stars at the time. Like this is crazy. Yeah. It's crazy. So nevertheless, there was obviously this fear mongering that was happening in the press. And it was really ugly. The following year, loop A Vales was romantically linked to three very famous older men, Charlie Chaplin, Tom Mix. He's the cowboy guy. Okay. And Al Jolson. Oh wow. Now Jolson was really impressed by loop A's singing skills. And he introduced her to Irving Berlin. Okay. They would later work together on DW Griffith's 1929 film Lady of the Patents. This film was part silent, part talkie and loop A Sang Berlins Ballad, where if this where is the song of songs for me? Hmm, not a great title. No. Doesn't roll off the

22:11tongue. But she's saying it. Good. And did a great job. As the films began transitioning into full sound, the press speculated which stars would survive the transition. Now we discussed this a little in our Clara Bow series. Clara had been criticized for her Brooklyn accent. And they were worried that when films would become full sound, like what are we going to do with this this broads accent? Yeah. Like we're finished. Press wondered, would audiences respond well to loop A's Mexican accent? And she wasn't the only actor who people were fretting about. Would they make this transition? The LA Times wrote Ramon Navarro speaks English with peculiar excellence. And then too, he has his music, his singing voice. Ramon, they feel is safe. Such players as loop A Valese, Rical Torres, Dolores Del Rio, Jedogudal are likely to encounter difficulties. Hmm. During production of Lady of the Patents,

23:17the press described loop A Valese in her co-star Jedogudal as two temperamental divas who were very difficult to work with. Wow. A headline in the United Press said, Jedogudal has temper to earth directors. The article then erroneously referred to Jedogudal as Latin. Yeah. What is Jedogudal? She is a Dutch-born Jew. Yeah. Because I was like the name doesn't sound very Latina. My last name is literally Gouda. Like the cheese? Like Goudal. It's Goudal. But it's almost Gouda. Okay. Yeah. So I think that'd be your first hint. I agree. I didn't, she didn't sound Latin to me at all. Latina. I mean. She's not. Yeah. And I think maybe because she had, what's her first name? Jedogudal. Like Jedogudal. Sorry. Jedogudal. Okay. Maybe because she had dark hair and

24:18they're like she's not from America. She's size. She's like she must be Mexican. Yeah. She's not from here. Where she from. No, but she was they just grouped her in. Got it. Basically because she was foreign and she had dark hair. And she had dark hair. This is what the United Press article said about this feud on the set of Lady of the Patements. Miss Goudal became known as the most consistently erratic motion picture player when she was working on the DeMille lot. Subsequently, she went to Paramount where she walked out during the filming of the Spaniard. She sued Paramount for back wages and Paramount sued her for loss of time and money through her action. The article continued taking shots at loop Avales. Incidentally, loop Avales, the Mexican star who is to be co-featured with Miss Goudal and William Boyd in the picture, has a reputation of her own in the temperament line.

25:19The opinion prevails that Griffith will have his moments if Miss Goudal and Miss Vales get rampaging at the same time. I think I like Jetta sounds cool as fuck. They're like just mad because she's standing up to the system. It sounds like I know it was like what's the problem? She sued for the money she made and she's supposed to just be grateful like yeah. It gets screwed over. Yeah. Yeah. Then stories started coming out about not only are these actresses difficult to work with. They're fighting with each other on set. I mean, we've discussed this enough to know the studios use the press to put these people in their place. Yes. And I think people wanted to be actors and stars and they're not going to risk it. So they don't want to have bad press

26:19like at this point. Right. So it's like this is why we don't know some of these people. Because if they disappeared, it's like what happened here? They didn't follow the rules probably. Yes. Yeah. The United Press wrote in another article that quote, Miss Vales took to storming about the lot threatening to scratch Miss Goodle's eyes out. Miss Goodle's name is synonymous with temperament in the colony and Miss Vales is frequently is substituted for violent and passionate outbreaks. Now this article claims that it all started when Jetta Goodle, who was older than Lupé, gave Lupé some pointers on the set and that Lupé didn't like that very much so she flew into a rage. This article said that everyone in Hollywood could see this coming a mile away putting these two fiery actresses together on one set. Jetta Goodle was then later added to the

27:20roster of Lupé's imitations. Nice. So she also did glorious wanson too. Of course, Jetta. She did John Barrymore as well. Wow. So she crossed genders, which I appreciate. I did too. Let's take a quick break here and we'll be right back. The New York Daily News reported that Lupé Vales would yell and curse at herself whenever she messed up a scene, one time scratching her peron arms and frustration. Now apparently she was known to curse herself out or even hit herself when she messed up a scene. But this of course just added to the like see she's very hostile. Yeah. That same year Lupé was having lunch at Cafe Montmartre, it's French in Hollywood. When a reporter asked her for an autograph photo of her, Lupé happily obliged. Lupé wrote on the photo, I am glad to autograph this for my friend, which was apparently very funny to this reporter.

28:23She thought it was dumb. Yeah. Lupé then caught this reporter pointing at the picture and laughing with a friend. And she didn't like that. Yeah. She felt insulted. So Lupé shouted from her table, I hate you. Lupé never want to see you. Then Lupé went to the bathroom, put on a thick layer of red lipstick, walked over to the reporter's table and planted a big kiss on her nose, leading a huge red smear. I mean, it is a funny thing to write. But also, I think it's funny that Lupé did this. I think everything is funny in this story. Like I get her reaction, but I also get the reporters reaction. Like, yeah. Lupé said, I'm sorry, I forgive. Lupé not mad anymore. That's sweet. Lupé was quoted in 1929 saying, always people say I am a wild girl, but I am not wild. I am Lupé. Wow. I like that. Yeah, I like that too.

29:24Lupé of course wasn't the only young starlet being accused of being wild or difficult in the press, but unlike say a Clara Bow being called wild, Lupé's ethnicity was also being brought into the discussion in all of this coverage as if that were the reason for why she was wild. Next, she starred opposite Gary Cooper in 1928's The Wolf's song. Directing the film was our boy, Victor Fleming. He's back. He's always showing up. Yeah. During filming, she entered a relationship with Gary Cooper. Now, this was a hot couple. Yeah. And everyone was like obsessed with them. They had passion and they could not keep their hands off each other. And he had a big dick. Yes. Famously. Famous big cock. Yeah. And he's hot when he's young. Yeah. Because we looked up pictures before. Because we see with Clara Bow too. He was also with Clara Bow. He had it. Yeah. He did. By the spring of 1929, everyone in the press was like, when

30:30are you guys going to get married? And Lupé and Gary Cooper were always being like, well, you guys shot up. We're not going to get married. We're just like boyfriend, girlfriend. Yeah. Why? And why would they? They're having hot sacks. They're having hot sacks. Lupé Vales' is like in her early 20s. Right. She's so young still. She's so young. She doesn't want to get married. Gary Cooper doesn't want to get married. They love going out with each other. But you know who didn't love that they were an item. Gary Cooper's mother, Alice Cooper. Oh, right. I remember her. I remember this. I remember Alice Cooper. She's a real, real bitch. This lady's a real cut. She's like the OG boy mom. Oh my god. She's so, she's so awful. Oh, dude, put this woman to go. She, she, we talked about this bitch in our Claribo episodes because she was like

31:31really in Gary Cooper's ear about like, why are you dating this Scallywag or whatever? She's like the mother, the mother from it's a wonderful life. She's like, Sam, wait, what's on the phone? Like, she's like always buddy and marries business. She is like, go away, you crowled crown. That's totally what she looks like to me in my handsome way. She's a birdbatch on the phone. It's like George Shea's George Bailey. Yeah. She hated, she hated Lupé Vales. And like I mentioned before with, you know, she didn't like any of his girlfriend. No. So, but you know, she was probably also racist too. Well, that comes later. Yeah. More on that in a minute. Okay. Lupé was said to be a handful in her romantic relationships and her professional ones. She was very touchy-feely and she was very physical person. Probably sometimes she crossed some boundaries. Okay. She was known to

32:37jump into laps. Even like, so platonic people. She just like being, she's very touchy-feely. Yes. She would jump into laps. She would playfully bite or slap. Okay. Now you're getting a little more line crossy. Given what we know of her personality, Lupé probably thought she was being funny. That's not to say that it didn't cause people discomfort sometimes. But she also, it was part of her personality. She was, you know, and now I think we have a better understanding now of like boundaries. Of course. We're even like a woman. You can't do that kind of stuff. Like it's not just for guys. Correct. Lupé actually starred in this film in 1930 called East meets West, where she they bafflingly cast her as a Chinese woman. Oh, I mean, they were just, they're just like, whatever. She's ethnic. That was, I mean, it's like everyone was just playing different

33:43forces. What's enough? What the hell was going on? I don't know. Edward G. Robinson, who was her co-star, he said on stage, I could deal with her rubbing and roving hands off stage. I had my troubles, but I managed to elude her because she was the hot tomato. And I was not a rock. It was not easy hot tomato. He called her a hot tomato. I mean, at least didn't call her a hot tamale. He's trying what he said. He's a rock. I mean, he's saying some words. He says I was not a rock. Oh, he's like, I did not get rock hard. I did not get a boner. No, I think he was saying that he did get a boner. Oh, oh, I was not okay. I'm confused by the term rock. He shouldn't know. He shouldn't use the term rock, but he's basically saying like, I'm not, you know, I'm human. Got it. Of course I got bricked up. Yeah. Okay. Got it. So the, just the word rock confused. Unfortunately, Lupet was dropped from her next film, which was called Lumix.

34:46Honestly, sounds like a good thing. Sounds like it was a flop. Lumix. I mean, no, no, I never heard of it. Sounds boring. She apparently got into an altercation with the director. Okay. That same year, Lupet was pulled over for speeding. Uh-oh. She was going 40 in a 20 mile zone. I mean, what's the, what's even the point of 20 miles? First of all, that's so slow. This is LA bitch. Yeah. Unfortunately, things got worse. Uh-oh. When the officer gave her a ticket, she tore it up and threw it in his face. And then she drove away. Now, I think that's hilarious. I think it's very, because I'm like, this is getting jaja. It's very jaja. There's something very funny about doing that. It's kind of a fantasy, I think we've all had like, shut up. Do not accept. Yeah. Goodbye. It's what she did. It's like if you rip the ticket up, it's gone. It's kind of like, but it's in the system or something like, and it was in the system because she had a warrant out

35:52for her arrest. Oh my god. And so she got arrested a month later. Oh my god. I don't know why it took her that long. That's crazy. Like what, that's as you're waste. Why are we arresting that person for that? Yeah. I mean, it's a matter of time. I'm sure the cops were like, didn't like being had by this woman. Oh, I mean, they're the most thin skinned people on the planet. Yeah. For sure. So she gets arrested. She's bailed out really quickly. Joseph Shank is like spinning his top at the studio. They're bringing in the fixers. They're bringing in Eddie Mannix probably. I know he's at MGM. They're bringing in someone else. Um, she's made to pay a fine. She doesn't do any jail time running. That's good. Which is good. Next, she starred in her first all-talking film, 1929's Tiger Rose. Her co-star was Rintin Tin. Oh. The dog. Famously a dog. Now, Rintin Tin was a big deal in 1929. That was his, yeah, that's his golden age. She was a big, big dog actor. We don't really have

36:59animal stars like we used to. No. Like, I can't think of any. They're all cartoons. Even up until the 90s, we still had animal stars like the Taco Bell Chihuahua, airbud. Airbud, the dog from 7th heaven was in the credits. What about the Spud's Mackenzie? That's right from the 80s. Yeah, I can't think. Do we have any famous animals now? No. That are actio-caro Taco Bell. He was the last. That's like, I'm trying to think was, I mean, we have like internet cats. No, no. That's the closest thing. Doesn't count. Yeah. We're talking actors on a set. Actors. What, yeah, what actors do we have? We used to have so many. We had chimps, cats, dogs, horses. Horses, of course. We know that well. Yeah, who's the fucking animal? It's like there are animals in movies, but I wouldn't say there are stars. Well, because we're not on a first name basis with them anymore, which I think is unfortunate. Right. Because it's like war horse. I don't know who that guy played war horse. Or sea biscuit.

38:03Sea biscuit. That was a famous horse, but the horse who played him. Not famous. Yeah, where's the fucking famous animals? It's like only animated, I think. I think. Yeah. Because I'm thinking, oh, I saw that movie where Kevin Spacey turns into a cat. No, that's not a real cat. That's not a real cat. Or is it a real cat? It's a real cat, but it's not a star. It should be a star. And I've seen great animal performances and films in the 21st century. Okay. Do you remember that John Tutoro mini series on HBO? Yes. The night of? Yes. That cat did some incredible work. No, there's been a lot of great turns by cats media recently, but they're not famous. And I think that's a problem. I do too. I do think it's time. Let's bring the animal stars back. Yes. Like you don't need AI. Just get us some animal stars. That'll, that'll cool. Wrench that need for something. I mean, even Leo the lion from MGM. Yeah. That's a famous animal.

39:08No, we don't have those famous stars. Like the cat that was in breakfast at Tiffany's. Orangey. Orangey. We need another orangey. Or a Morris. Yes. Morris. Like we don't even have a commercial cat. That's famous. That's sad. Morris was like a star. He had a personality. He did his gay. Wait, he was gay. In my opinion. I like a love that. He had like a Paul Lynn vibe to him. In my opinion. See, more is amazing. He was one of those personas when I was growing up that I would see. I'd be like, I really like that type of man not knowing it was like gay. Because I felt that way about like Paul and like the guy from Sigmund in the Rip Taylor. Yes. I love that kind of man. Like what is that? And I just always like that type of guy. Yes. So yes. I put Morris in that guy. So that's my child's opinion. I think it's time to bring back this celebrity animal.

40:09I agree. And like cast not just like, oh, they went to the red carpet. I'm talking their cast in multiple movies where they have a name and they have a different name in the movie. Exactly. That's what I mean. Exactly. Exactly. Where were we? We're at Rinton. Oh, Rinton. Now, Rinton, Tin was like a war dog. He was in World War One. I think this dog he fought on the front line. He was in the trenches. I think he, he, I was reading his Wikipedia he really fought in World War War. He did. He fought on the outages. I'm not kidding. He's a veteran. Rinton. He's a veteran dog. He was born in France. Oh, he had no idea. He was rescued from a World War One battlefield. He was in the war. He was rescued by an American bringing supplies and that little barrel. Rudd is neck. And he became a movie star. And then when he died, they tried

41:14to pass off other German shepherds as Rinton, which I think is outrageous. It's disgusting. It is vile. Like, come on. Animals, they're individuals. Yes. It's like, we're not stupid. That's not Rinton. That's not Rinton. Look at the markings. So he's like the first big dog star because this is pre-lassy. Well, what about our gang? They have a dog with a little circle around its eye. But I guess that's around the same time. Yeah. But I would say that's a, you know, Rinton's hand was a bigger movie star. He was a movie Pety. That's the dog, right? Pety. And Pety was only in little rascals. He's a sidekick. Rinton is the star. Like, he gets, he's built above the title. Right? Like, yeah. Pety is not. Pety. He's on sombal. So this movie is called The Tiger Rose. This received mixed reviews.

42:16People didn't really like it except universally praised both Lupe and Rinton Tins performances. That's kind of feel great. I mean, imagine not getting praised next to Rinton. There were some other actors, some other male actors in this and they did not get any praise but we're not. Yeah, that's crazy. In 1930, Lupe Vales started the storm, which was written by up and coming John Houston. According to the biographer of the film's director William Wiler, one down set, Lupe came up to him and said, do you know that Gary Cooper is an artist? He can draw good pictures. Look, then she proceeded to pull her top down and expose one of her boobs. The boob had two eyes and a nose and a mouth drawn on it in lipstick. That's crazy. She did that.

43:18Allegedly. Yeah. Now, we don't know if this is true. Yeah. It is a funny joke. Yes. And of course, this only adds to the lore that she's wild, that she's like, she's a comedian. Yeah. At this time, Lupe was signed with Universal Studios and they wanted to put her in a dramatic film that had Oscar potential. The film Resurrection was based on the Tolstoy novel and it came out in 1931. Lupe even made a separate Spanish language version of the film that same year. Oh, I mean, that is a lot of work. That is a lot. While Lupe's performance was well received, this film was kind of a flop, which is disappointing. Yeah. A month later, after the film's premiere, Lupe was dropped from Universal. She's moved around a lot. She has moved around a lot. She's even when she's been signed at these studios, she's getting loaned out,

44:18a bunch. And now, after getting dropped from Universal, she's a free agent. Do they just not know what to do with her? Or yes. They do not know what to do with her. It's really unfortunate because she is in high demand. People do want her for their films, but she'll do these films and they just won't hit. Yeah. And she's immensely talented. People do not know where to put her. Yeah. And she's not getting the best films. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Gary Cooper's career was on a steady upward trajectory. Right. I mean, he's like an Alzheimer. Yeah. The LA Times asked Lupe about rumors that Gary Cooper was having affairs with Marlena Dietrich and June Collier, to which Lupe replied, Gary meets lots of girls. He talks to them, well, I meet people too. I like them. I like laps. I go around. I sit in everybody's lap. That means nothing. Why should it mean anything if Gary talks to a girl?

45:20I mean, true. That doesn't mean he's not fucking someone. Their relationship officially ended the summer of 1931. And Gary Cooper's mother was to blame. Alice. Alice Cooper did this. The New York Daily News speculated that Cooper's family didn't want him marrying a non-anglo-saxon woman. I mean, I believe it. I believe anything's possible with this bitch. Yeah. There was even a rumor that Mrs. Cooper used her son's key to get into Lupe's house and get all of his shit out of there. And you know, I'm not even letting Gary Cooper off the hook here. You might have also felt like it wasn't good for his career because the country was so racist. Well, I was looking back through my notes from our Clara Bo series. And I was looking at the breakup with him in Clara. And Clara Bo basically said of Gary Cooper that like he, like his mom,

46:27like he's whipped by his mom. Yeah. Yeah. Like he has no spine when it comes to her. Like he'll go with them for a few years. But ultimately it's done. Yeah. He can't stand up to her. Yeah. Which I think is stupid. It's gross. It doesn't make up for the day. The dick doesn't make up for this behavior. It's a lot of energy. Not. Now Mrs. Cooper went to the press and denied that she had broken into Lupe Vales' house to take all of her son's things back. She said that she demands of Gary that I kept from bothering her that I threatened to kill myself if Gary married Lupe. Okay. I wouldn't put a past her mom to have done something like this. I wouldn't either. But I wonder if there's more to it. Like because who gives a shit about its stuff? He's rich. Like I wonder if she was looking for certain things that might have been more like love letters or

47:30things that might have. Do you know what I'm saying? Like something more important. Well yeah. I think she also just wanted to remove anything that reminded her of her son. Like get over it. Yeah. Like he's any trace of him is gone. Yeah. It is crazy to think some old bitch breaking into a place. You know? Yeah. Because Gary Cooper's older. He's like 30. So this mom's probably like in her 50s or 60s even. And you know it's like that's an old 50s. Well you know she's an old 50s and this is also 1931 50s. Yeah. So we don't know what that looks like. Yeah. Not good. Now Loupa had nothing but nice things to say about Gary Cooper himself after they broke up. She never said a bad word about him. But Gary Cooper apparently didn't share the same warm fuzzy feelings. He told the New York Daily News in 1931 quote she jilted me. Oh Cooper was then asked about Loupa

48:37again the following year and he responded. Great jump in Tom Katz. Why bring that up? Interesting. It's interesting that he would want to be seen as the victim of the relationship. Yeah. If I was her I'd clap back. Well maybe if your mom didn't suck. Yeah. I would be like yeah your mom did this. You do lying. Stand up. She's like mom. Anyway that's where we'll leave off this week. Okay. We'll get more into Loupa's career and successes and her rivalries with actresses and the rumors and the nastiness. Love it. Great. I'm excited to hear more. Yeah. We will have pictures. Absolutely. And go buy your tickets. Get your tickets for the show. Come see us live in New York. Saturday night. Did you like the picture I used for the flyer?

49:39Made me hungry. I made me hungry too. I'm excited to eat. Okay. Okay. See you guys. Bye.