The Joyce Compton Look

This is too funny: blogger and retro style enthusiast Lisa Freemont demonstrates how to restyle your hair exactly like Joyce Compton's in The Awful Truth. Lisa is correct that the combination of bangs and curls was unusual in classic moviedom, and Joyce owned that look. Speaking of bangs, Joyce herself shares an amusing anecdote in her book about clashing with fellow bebanged star Marlene Dietrich when the two were cast in 1941's Manpower. Apparently Miss Dietrich didn't take too well to having another actress with bangs in the picture, but luckily Joyce unruffled Marlene's feathers with her honeyed Southern charm. Enjoy the video, y'all.

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Joyce in Sitting on the Moon (1936)

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1936's Sitting on the Moon is one of several "poverty row" genre films Joyce Compton made a small contribution to. A brief and airy musical, Sitting chronicles the star-crossed romance of songwriter Roger Pryor and appealing singer Grace Bradley. Bradley's career is on the outs when Pryor pens a jaunty melody for her (the title tune, repeated ad nauseam) which lands the woman a featured vocalist gig on a top radio hour. She becomes a star while he lands in obscurity, until another song and complications involving a gold-digging hussy (Joyce Compton!) change things around for the hapless guy. On the whole, slight and forgettable stuff which benefits from nice Art Deco production design and a pleasing title tune. It's interesting to note that this is one of the earliest productions for Republic Pictures. Along with sister companies Monogram and PRC, Republic would become the source for several eclectic parts Joyce would do throughout the '40s. Sitting on the M...
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"The Abbott & Costello Show" (1953)

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