Bacall believes one pair of knickers too many have been dropped and prefers the style of yesteryear:' ‘Glamour was great, it was total glamour in the movies and it was so seductive you just wanted to be part of it.

‘It had such an aura and now it's kind of too graphic. Everyone knows everything abouthow movies are made, what goes on, how special effects are done and who wears what and who's doing it to who. I don't know...I don't know...

‘It's just too explicit in every direction. The great thing about what we now call “ old movies” is that you were able to use your imagination. You were able to envision whatever you wanted, whatever you were able to imagine instead of having it all laid out in front of you.

‘I think romance is almost a thing of the past as far as movies are concerned. I think it's sad because think romance is something people always want and look for. It's what you hope for, what takes you out of your reality.

‘I think the sex thing -- I mean, I like sex as much as anyone but don't wanna watch it on television or on the screen in a movie theatre. I don't want to watch Michael Douglas at it all the time, thank you. I really don't, cute as he is.'

What of today's female stars? 'Julia Roberts -- she's only 20-years-old or something and she's making a comeback. I mean, that's pretty stupid, isn't it?

‘Sharon Stone, who came from nowhere, right, and she's been around as it turns out but it's always one break that makes the difference. She's made a noise and she's got kind of an old-time movie star look about her which is great. There's always a place for that but who knows how long any of these women are gonna last if it's only based on a small thing.

‘Madonna certainly was one person who made a wave but I think she was different because she was really so smart about selling herself in such a major way that she's become almost aworld unto herself. You can't call her a flash in the pan because she's been around too long, For actresses you can't just shoot your wad the first time out -- you have to have some talent that's going to last..

‘When I went out to California I was 18 and I didn't know anything about anything. Bette Davis was the big star -- she owned the Warner Brothers lot. Barbara Stanwyck and Ann Sheridan -- they were the top ones. And you had Garbo and Katharine Hepburn and Lana Turner , Ava Gardner, Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. I mean, endless women stars.'

But stars without power. Bacall agrees that men did and do run Hollywood :'It's still a chauvinistic town. Women have to struggle and fight. The sex and violence -- I don't blame television to some degree for doing that obvious kind of cheap stuff. It's not quality time that is spent watching these shows.. I think if women were more in control the stuff would be better.'

But, she admits, women have never been in control. She's asked about sexual harassment in Hollywood . She clearly doesn't regard it as some new politically correct art form:' That's always existed at any business at any office. The casting couch theory was always true, people in the theatre, in the movies. Lots of executives have their girlfriends in movies.If they're lousy they don't last very long.

‘Maybe I should have paid more attention to my career. I made a lot of mistakes in my life and I'm not foolish enough to think I will never make another one. I've lived well but I'm not going to sit around. I'm going to keep moving. What else could I so -- sit around and give soirees for the rest of my life? That's not where my head is at. If I fall on my ass I'll pick myself up, dust myself off and go on.' knows how to whistle.

<Previous