Movieland Mystery Photo -- Updated

I often wonder why people in movie stills sometimes have such dilated eyes. Then I found this very freckled mystery guest with about the most extreme example I’ve ever seen.   Los Angeles Times file photo   Updated: Our freckled mystery guest with the dilated eyes is Mary Astor! This week’s mystery guest was Diane Baker (with a surprise appearance by Valerie Gearon!) There’s a new photo on the jump!

Los Angeles Times file photo   Here’s our mystery guest – in the kitchen! Update: This is a problematic photo for me. It’s from “Return to Peyton Place,” a movie I had never seen until I got the DVD for comparison (shout out to Videotheque in South Pasadena!)  Like many movie stills, it’s slightly different from the actual scene.  I pulled the photo from Mary Astor’s file, it’s labeled “Mary Astor” on the back and Mary Astor is in the scene. And that is co-star Luciana Paluzzi. But I wasn’t sure that this lady was Mary Astor, even on a bad day. Here’s Mary Astor in a frame grab from “Return to Peyton Place.” At left, a frame grab from “Return to Peyton Place” with Mary Astor. At right, the publicity photo for “Return to Peyton Place.” Opinions? And here’s a bonus shot:  Mary Astor using a Chemex!

Comments

[Dewey Webb]

Mary Astor (or Golda Meir)

[Steve Stoliar]

Mary Astor?

[Gregory Moore]

Mary Astor?

[Mark Heimback-Nielsen]

Is it Mary Astor?

[normadesmond]

looks a teeny bit like vanessa redgrave.

[Rosalyn]

Deborah Kerr?

[fibber mcgee]

Sunday's photo sh0ws why folks like her have the zombie-like eyes -- too much coffee!

[Native Angeleno]

Judy Garland's stuntdouble.

[Shellie Lewis]

Mary Astor

[Steve Stoliar]

Well, even though the black-and-white shot is admittedly awkward, it's hard to believe they'd dress up another similar-looking actress in the identical robe, pull her hair back in the identical way, and have her hold the same large coffee cup in the same hand! So I'm guessing both Miss Astor and the photo had been "touched up" to some degree, hence the odd appearance.

[Mary Mallory]

Maybe that's just not one of her good sides, and we all take a bad photo now and then.

[william]

Re dilated pupils....In olden times, Ladies in Europe would use an extract (atropine) of a common plant to dilate their pupils thinking it would give a more youthful appearance. Children have larger pupils than the elderly due to ageing of the ocular iris muscle tissues. Thus the term, in Italian, "Belladonna", "beautiful lady". DO NOT TRY THIS BY YOURSELF! Can cause extreme medical damage, even systemically. I had never imagined this would be used in photography in modern times.

[Barbara]

Yeah, the minute I saw it I thought "Mary Astor". She did not age well.

[Periwinkle]

Yep. All the pictures are Mary Astor. However, in the second photo wearing the simple dress with the small collar and broach doesn't she seem to be channeling Auntie Em from the Wizard of Oz wondering where Dorothy has gone?

[william]

I see what I believe to be differences in Mary Astor & a possible "double". Just for kicks, I will guess the other lady is Seena Owen

[Stacia]

I thought it was Mary Astor until I saw the 2nd photo (before your comparisons were posted) and then I decided it wasn't her. The eyes in the B&W photo look like Astor's, but otherwise it doesn't look like her at all.