Anna Magnani

This is a 1955 Lydia Lane article where actress Anna Magnani talks about a bunch o f beauty stuff. Enjoy!

Anna Magnani, the Italian movie queen, was lured to Hollywood to star in “The Rose Tattoo,” the Tennessee Williams play that scored such a hit on Broadway. At a cocktail party given for her by Hal Wallis at the Beverly Hills Hotel, she appeared with her long black hair hanging below her shoulders, devoid of make – up, even lipstick. Yet her face is so mobile and lights up with such intensity that some consider her to possess beauty in the highest sense. “I have never considered myself beautiful,” Miss Magnani told me later in her suite, “and certainly any success I have had as an actress has not been because of it.”

“You are interested in your appearance, though, aren’t you?” I persisted. “1 am interested only in preserving my authenticity,” She replied. Her companion, who accompanied Miss Magnani from Rome and who is more familiar with our language, explained that “authenticity” in the Italian language is a combination of integrity and reality. “But,” Miss Magnani added, “when women who are not beautiful succeed in creating this through their own efforts, they ere very clever and deserve praise. Miss M a g n a n 1 confessed that art, not make – up interested her. “Do jou feel that American women pay too much attention to make-up?” I asked. She shrugged her shoulders as she lit a cigaret. “You are a young country.”

I’ve talked about the increasing popularity of Italian couturiers and I wanted to know if Miss Magnani was interested in fashion. “Individually interests me,” she said. “I choose what is for me. I wear gray, black and brown and I change my style very little.” As we chatted, I commented on the perfume Miss Magnani was wearing. Her face lit up and I knew I had hit upon the phase of grooming she was most enthusiastic about. “This I like very much,” she confirmed, and, excusing herself, she disappeared from the room and came back a moment later with two perfume bottles. One was a well-known French scent. The other, which I didn’t know, she held out to me. “See if you like it,” she urged and awaited my verdict. It was a lovely floral scent and when I told her I liked it very much, she was pleased.

“‘What do you admire most about American women?” I asked her. “Their slender figures,” she replied. “I think it is easier to stay thin in America because there are not the rich sauces and dishes with pasta as in Italy. “Exercise is good,” she continued, “and I like to do it every day, but the way the studios work here it is impossible.” She explained that in Italy they report for work at noon and work right on without a break until 8 p.m. “This getting up like plants on a farm,” Miss Magnani put her hands to her face in distress, “it is very difficult for me. In the morning it is too early to exercise and at night I am too tired.”

I wanted to know more about her thoughts on exercise. “I like to breathe deeply and bring my arms in and out as I inhale and exhale,” she said after some thought. “There is one exercise I do where I lie on the floor and try to touch my toes, and another standing on my toes as I stretch as high as I can, then bend down and touch the floor. You must exercise, you know, if you wish to move with freedom.” Soaps Molars Miss Magnani attributes her extraordinarily white teeth to scrubbing with soap and water. “Afterward,” she added, “I use tooth paste to leave a pleasant taste in the mouth.” She attributes her glistening black hair to natural drying in the sun. As I started to leave, she asked ,me to tell her exactly what American women du to slay thin. “They count calories,” I explained. Nothing would do but that I sit down and explain how this worked, slowly, so that she could understand every word. Before we parted 1 promised that I would send her a in the traditional manner .