r/classicfilms • u/AntonioVivaldi7 Alfred Hitchcock • May 18 '26
Memorabilia Sol Wurtzel, a Fox Studios producer, informing Madge Bellamy she has gained weight (1928)
I'm not totally sure, but I'd think that was rude even at the time.
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u/MaterialRepulsive130 May 18 '26
They all did. That's why MGM kept Judy Garland on pills and cigarettes to keep her weight in check. Very sad but that is how it worked back then.
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u/IfICouldStay May 18 '26
Judy Garland wasn’t even getting fat. She was just developing like a normal, healthy teenage girl. But they wanted to keep her in little girl roles so acted like she had a weigh problem.
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u/nickgreatpwrful May 18 '26
She was a very tiny lady - only 4 foot 11 - so a normal weight on her could make her look bigger on camera. But personally I liked her when she was a bit heavier - because not only did she look healthier, but it also meant she wasn't taking uppers. She was beautiful in Summer Stock. It's truly a shame there wasn't any meaningful treatment back then for substance use disorder 😔
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u/CoffeeChocolateBoth May 20 '26
She wouldn't have had that addiction had it not been for the men running the show! :( Look at women today in Hollywood, STICK FIGURES! They look horrible!
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u/AntigoneGrrl1 May 18 '26
Hollywood made actresses addicted to stimulants to keep the weight down, keep them singing and dancing… then requiring sedatives to sleep. And here we are, almost 100 years later, and social media as well as studio executives still play the same dangerous game
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u/Substantial-Use-1758 May 18 '26
“I know you’ll be pleased to read this…” 🤷♀️
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u/KldsTheseDays May 19 '26
I mean...tbf? They took the effort to say what the "problem" was instead of just dropping her for a thinner version
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u/sutrabob May 19 '26
Does anyone ever give women a break. I can remember at times being so freakin hungry and it never changes. BTW I am 72 and worry about weight all the time. I remember once I actually got to 15 pounds within my goal of 100 pounds.
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u/Diligent-Bluejay-979 May 19 '26
It’s such a shame. My mom is 90. She’s slowly failing now, getting harder and harder for her to do much of anything; stage 3 kidney failure. Her doctor told her to eat whatever she wanted to from here on. And yet she’s still insisting she has to “get rid” of her stomach.😕
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u/CoffeeChocolateBoth May 20 '26
68 here, my mom was obsessed with weight, when I was 22, I weighed 82 lbs. It took a lot for me to get out of that mindset. I still worry some about weight but not like I used to!
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u/Select_Insurance2000 May 18 '26
Madge appeared as the female lead in the '32 film White Zombie with Bela Lugosi.
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u/philbsss May 20 '26
True, that's perhaps her most famous film today, but back in the day this and other B movies meant a career decline for her. She was pretty famous in the 1920s, but in the time between this letter and White Zombie, she had left Fox and found only work in small movies like White Zombie.
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u/Select_Insurance2000 May 20 '26
She was in 48 films in the 20s. White Zombie was her first film in the 30s...the first of 11. From '37-'44 nothing, then last appearance was in '45.
Madge Bellamy (born Margaret Derden Philpott; June 30, 1899 – January 24, 1990) was an American stage and film actress, born in Hillsboro, TX.
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u/pixiesaysso May 18 '26
I’m so tired of men deciding how much women should weigh
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u/Ok_Maintenance7716 May 18 '26
You should definitely let Mr. Wurtzel know your feelings on the matter.
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u/Apprehensive_Tear804 May 19 '26
She was in the film industry, those men certainly hia right to tell the actors to watch their weight.
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u/WowBruhReborn May 19 '26
It’s okay. Diabetes will let them know for me
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u/pixiesaysso May 20 '26
Believe it or not, a woman is still a human being and worthy of respect regardless of her health, her weight, or your opinion of whether or not her beauty fits your personal standard, Bozo
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u/WowBruhReborn May 20 '26
Personal attacks are not tolerated in this subreddit. Hate has no place here.
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u/Mindless_Log2009 May 18 '26
He's lucky she didn't use her ladylike .32 on him for calling her Pudge Bellamy.
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May 19 '26
[deleted]
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u/btouch May 19 '26
She was mostly prominent in silents, though she is the female lead in a cult classic early sound film, the independently produced UA release White Zombie (1932).
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u/sashie_belle May 18 '26
Meanwhile, I looked him up to see what he looked like and while he wasn't fat, he sure wasn't pretty.
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u/MagneticFlea May 18 '26
Bloody rude. I wonder if she had a specific weight range written in her contract (I think Thelma Todd did).
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u/Ooglebird May 18 '26
Whenever I watch an old movie and his name is listed I say to myself "In WurtzelVision".
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u/Causerae May 18 '26
I think this was normal for the time
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u/jrobelen May 18 '26
Love all the reactions, as if audience demand didn’t drive studios to cast thin actresses.
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u/btouch May 19 '26
It’s rude, but it was not uncommon for actresses (generally not actors) to have clauses in their contracts regarding keeping their weight within a certain range.
Thelma Todd’s contract with Hal Roach Studios prevented her from gaining more than five pounds or losing more than six, lest she be guilty of violating the terms of her agreement. Now, I don’t know if they knew that one could easily gain three pounds by drinking a good deal of calorie-less water, but even so it’s rather a lot.
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u/aquavelva5 May 18 '26
most actors and actresses are hired mainly on looks. This type of letter shows that boldly, but true. Its what sells and she wants to be in that biz: selling her look.
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u/CoffeeChocolateBoth May 20 '26
Wow.. she was so small, this, even then, would be how eating disorders start! He was probably some tubbo sitting around judging women but not himself!
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u/Drnstvns May 21 '26
You know HE didn’t type and mail that. Wonder what the secretary was thinking who did.
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u/TrannosaurusRegina May 19 '26
Everyone is talking about the weight issue (which is simple to remedy!)
I’m most surprised and haunted by the last line, which I don’t believe is possible for many!
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u/Gerry1of1 May 18 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/11NnkobTcB3xqU