Mary Astor, the lady in the plumed hat: an appreciation.

I recently watched the 1939 comedy "Midnight" which was co-written by Billy Wilder, who must have been a pretty young man at the time. It was the first time I'd seen Mary Astor outside of "The Maltese Falcon", which was made/released in 1941. Astor's character in 'Midnight' is equally amazingly dressed in the fashion of the era. What you particularly notice is the hat. Someone tries to rib her about her hat at the card table and she lets them know it's THEIR taste problem, not hers. Based on just these two films I'd say Astor was

a very good actress but what I really like about her is she so encapsulates a particular style of woman of the Modernist era. The clothes and hats are important to her character, they are almost like a suit of armour. They are attractive, in one way, but formidable. They seem to say ' I have gravitas, I'm possibly available, but I'm not to be trifled with'. Her appearance, looking almost like an exotic black-plumed bird, presages the first appearances of Faye Dunaway in "Chinatown" (hat and veil) and even Sean Young (the same tailoring and padded shoulders) in "Blade Runner". Her whole demeanour suggests high society haughtiness and yet something underneath that is vulnerable or thrill-seeking: or as Bogart told her in "The Maltese Falcon", "You're not exactly the person you pretend to be, are you?" Perhaps John Huston saw 'Midnight' before casting her in "The Maltese Falcon". A few Noir critics I've read seemed to have been disparaging about her looks and even her age at the time of "The Maltese Falcon" but I think they miss the point of her attraction. Lana Turner is your prototype blonde bombshell, but Astor has something else-- intrigue and mystery. Anyway, she's a bit of an underrated figure in discussions of Noir actresses. (Pictures: Mary Astor in "Midnight" with Frances Lederer)