In those days, female stars past 40 could play mothers or grandmothers in supporting roles, or just retire. Actresses such as Alice Faye and Betty Grable couldn't display their ebullient romantic personas anymore and be accepted by the attitudes of the time, so they left the business. Meanwhile, aging male stars could glue on their toupees and continue to play romantic roles, leading to some rather creepy pairings as James Stewart and Kim Novak; Gary Cooper and almost-young-enough-to-be-his-granddaughter Audrey Hepburn; and Bing Crosby croaking along with a song next to Grace Kelly in
High Society--the song was "True Love," which sounds like a lovely tune for a couple of the same age, but a bit weird being sung by Kelly and a guy who could be her dad. Stars who wanted to remain big, like Davis and Crawford, had to do these horror roles just to get something showy to play.
I loved MAD magazine's take on this trend. This was their parody of the genre:
HACK, HACK, SWEET HAS-BEEN, or
What Ever Happened to Good Taste? STARRING
Olivia DeHackahand............as Cousin Phoebe
Bette Devious.................as Bubby Jean
Tallulah Banghead.............as Precious
Joan Clawfoot.................as Honeybunch
Barbara Stunwhack.............as Poopy
Mary Ghastlier................as Kitchykoo
Agnes Gorehead................as Charlie
Victor Booboo.................as Papa
Joseph Cuttin.................as Selig
WITH
Greer Garson..................as a Headless Torso
Ginger Rogers.................as a Torsoless Head
Joan Fontaine.................as a Pool of Blood
AND
The Gabor Sisters.............as Three Exposed Ganglia Nerves
AND FEATURING
Maria Ouspenskaya.............as Herself (Right Now)
