Maria Montez

At 39 years old, Maria Montez has this physical status:

Mara Gracia Vidal, born in June 1912, died on September 7, 1951, becoming known as The Queen of Technicolor, a Dominican motion picture actress who made her name and fame in the 1940s as an exotic beauty starring in a series of filmed-in-Technicolor costume drama films.

Her screen portrait was of a hot-blood Latin seductress, dressed in elaborate costumes and sparkling jewelry.

She became "The Queen of Technicolor" after being so linked to these adventure epics that she was dubbed "the Queen of Technicolor."

Montez made 26 films, 21 of which were made in North America, and the last five in Europe.

Early life

Montez was born Mara Antonia Gracia Vidal de Santo Silas (some sources cite Mara Gracia Vidal or Mara as her birth name) in Barahona, Dominican Republic. Teresa Vidal, a Dominican of Criollo descent, was one of ten children born to Isidoro Gracia Garca, a Spaniard, and Teresa Vidal, a Dominican of Criollo descent. Montez was educated at the Sacred Heart Convent in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. Her father was appointed to the Spanish consulship in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the family moved in the mid-1930s. Montez met her first husband, William G. McFeeters, who died at the age of 17. Maria Montez, Su Vida by Margarita Vicens de Morales, there is a copy of Montez's birth certificate revealing that her initial name was Mara Gracia Vidal. Teresa Vidal was her father's name, not Garcia, and her mother's name was Isidoro Gracia (not Garcia). Montez was also a copy of a fake biography made by Universal Pictures, where it claims that she was born in Tenerife and that she lived in Ireland, which was never true. Montez, on the contrary, lived in the Dominican Republic for the first 27 years.

Personal life

Montez was married twice. William G. McFeeters, a wealthy banker who served in the British Army, was her first marriage. Montez and his wife married when Montez was 17 years old and later divorced. Jean-Pierre Aumont, her second husband, described him as "an Irishman who was old enough to believe he'd lock her up in a frosty castle." Montez was reportedly engaged to Claude Strickland, a flight officer with the Royal Air Force who was stationed in New York for more than a year. However, it was later discovered that this was just a publicity stunt.

Montez met French actor Jean-Pierre Aumont while working in Hollywood. "To say that it was love at first sight would be an understatement," Aumont wrote later. They married in Montez's Beverly Hills on July 14, 1943. Charles Boyer, Aumont's top man, and Jannine Crispin, Montez's matron of honor, was Manuel Crispin. It was a strange house, according to Aumont. If you didn't answer the phone or read the mail, the doors were still open; no one answered the phone or read the mail. Diamonds were left around like ashtrays. The lives of the Saints are divided into two issues of film magazines. The furnishings included an astrologer, a physical culture specialist, a Chinese chef, and two Hungarian masseurs. Montez granted audiences during her massage sessions.

In the European Theatre of World War II, Aumont had to leave a few days after marriage Montez to serve in the Free French Forces, fighting against Nazi Germany. Maria Christina (also known as Tina Aumont) was born in Hollywood on February 14, 1946, and at the end of World War II. Aumont and others reported getting divorced in 1949, but they remained together until Montez's death.

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Career

When visiting New York, Montez was noticed by a talent scout. Boss of Bullion City (1940), a Johnny Mack Brown western directed by Universal Pictures, was her first film. This was her first film in which she appeared leading and in the only role in which she speaks fluent Spanish.

In The Invisible Woman (1940), her next film appearance was in The Invisible Woman (1940). It was created for Universal Pictures, who resigned her to a long-term deal that began at $150 a week.

She appeared in two films with Richard Arlen and Andy Devine, Lucky Devils, and Raiders of the Desert, and the Los Angeles Times said she "was charming as the oasis charmer" in the latter. She has appeared in Moonlight in Hawaii and Bombay Clipper. She appeared in That Night in Rio (1941), a film made at 20th Century Fox.

As in other studios, Universal did not have a "glamour girl" (MGM), Dorothy Lamour (Paramount), Betty Grable (Columbia), or Ann Sheridan (Warner Bros). Maria Montez was groomed to play the role, and the actress gained a lot of attention. Montez was also a keen self-promoter. "She borrowed an old but sure-fire weapon to get ahead in the movies," the Los Angeles Times says. She seemed like a movie star. She leaned on the vainistic heritage of Nazimova and Theda Bara... She delved into astrology at a prolific rate. In simple harem pantaloons, her name became synonymous with exotic enchantresses. In her private life, she played a "star" character. According to one newspaper, she is "the best commissary actress in town." Maria puts on a real show in the studio cafe. Maria makes an appearance."

Montez's deal with Universal was renewed in June 1941. She debuted with leading roles in Tahiti's South, co-starring Brian Donlevy. Peggy Moran was also cast in The Mystery of Marie Roget (1942). The public reaction to Tahiti's South had been enthralling enough for the studio to cast Montez in her first starring role, Arabian Nights. She said she was making $250 a week in 1942.

Arabian Nights was a prestigious production for Universal, its first attempt in three-strip Technicolor, directed by Walter Wanger and starring Montez, Jon Hall, and Sabu. The resulting film was a big hit and established Montez as a hero.

Montez wanted to portray Cleopatra, but Universal reunited her with Hall and Sabu in White Savage (1943) (where Montez went from second-billing to top-billing). They went on to make Cobra Woman (1944), their third film. Both three were audience favorites.

Montez was given two medals by the Dominican government in 1943 for her efforts to promote friendly relations between the US and her native country.

Montez, Hall, and Sabu are three more films that need to be seen by Universal. Sabu was drafted into the United States Army and was eventually replaced by Turhan Bey in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944). Hall, Montez, and Bey had intended to reunite in Gypsy Wildcat (1944), but Bey was shot on another film and ended up being replaced by Peter Coe. Sudan (1945) starred Montez, Hall, and Bey, with Bey as Montez's romantic interest at the time.

Flame of Stamboul was another planned Hall-Bey-Montez film but it was postponed due to its delay. Montez will appear in The Golden Fleece, based on a Bertita Harding tale, but it was never made. She appeared in Follow the Boys, Universal's all-star musical, and Bowery to Broadway.

Montez said she was "sexy but sweet...I am really easy to get along with." I am very generous. During the past year, I've changed a lot. I have outgrown my old media. I used to say and do things that shocked people. That was how I became famous. However, today it is different. First, the general public adores you because you're a natural performer. You may be a celebrity, but it needs you to be courteous. Now that I am a celebrity, I am gracious."

Montez said she was "tired of being a fairy tale princess all the time" and wanted to learn to act. She battled Universal for several, more intricate aspects.

"Sudan is making more money than others, and Universal believes that I should appear in more of these films." "I want to quit these films when they are at their best, not on the downbeat." The pictures aren't only that the photos are similar, but the stories are all the same."

Montez was suspended for refusing to lead in Frontier Gal; Yvonne De Carlo, a former Montez actor, was drafted to replace Montez's role in the studio;

Montez and Aumont went to France in 1946 and the two of them became excited about the possibility of filming there. In particular, Aumont acquired the rights to the book Wicked City and Jean Cocteau decided to make a film with both characters. Aumont claims they were determined to get out of their respective roles in Hollywood and move to France.

Montez was reunited with Sabu in the modern-day story, but not with Jon Hall, who was then serving in the US Army. Montez will appear in The Golden Fleece project (as King of Hearts) directed by Aumont co-starring. According to reports, the King Brothers paid her $150,000 more than 20% of the proceeds to appear in The Hunted. Neither film was made. Montez instead appeared in a Technicolor western for Universal, Pirates of Montez (1947) with Rod Cameron.

Siren of Atlantis (1948), a fantasy adventure conning 100,000 people, began filming in February 1947. She was borrowed by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in April to appear in the sepia-toned swashbuckler The Exile (1948), directed by Max Ophüls, but released by Universal, but not released by Universal. Fairbanks Jr. claims Montez wanted to play the role over Universal's objections; she later maintained on top billing despite the small size of the role. Universal refused to decide on Montez' contract in August 1947, and she went freelance. Montez sued Universal for $250,000 over a billing controversies; the case was settled out of court. Montez was paid $78,375 per year in February 1948, according to the publication.

Hedda Hopper, a 1947-born child, and her partner Montez and her husband would attend The Red Feather about Jean Lappe. She was also named Queen of Hearts, this time not the Elizabeth of Austria project but a French play by Louis Verneuil, Cousin from Warsaw. Neither film was ever made.

Siren of Atlantis had to pay re-shoots and was not fully released until 1949. It was unprofitable at the US box office (although it did well in France and other parts of Europe). Montez also filed a lawsuit against Montez for $38,000 in unpaid contractual debt.

Christina Productions, Montez and Aumont's own production firm, established Christina Productions. They moved to a house in Suresnes, Île-de-France, in the French Fourth Republic's western suburb of Paris. They were supposed to star in Orpheus (1950), which Aumont claims Jean Cocteau wrote for him and Montez, according to Aumont. Nevertheless, the filmmakers decided to use other actors instead.

Montez and Aumont produced Wicked City (1949) for Christina Productions in July 1948, with Villiers directing and Aumont contributing to the script. It was one of the first American-French coproductions after the Second World War. Christina retained Aumont, Montez, and Lilli Palmer; in exchange, Christina's share would be paid off first out of US receipts.

Aumont had started writing plays and Montez appeared in L'lle Heureuse ("The Happy Island"), a one-woman group; however, the reviews were not positive. Portrait of an Assassin (1949), Orson Welles' first film, was to star Arletty and Erich von Stroheim, but instead they co-starred Arletty and Erich von Stroheim.

In September 1949, Montez would make The Queen of Sheba with Michael Redgrave, but the film was not made.

Montez appeared in The Thief of Venice (1950), an Italian swashbuckler directed by John Brahm, a Hollywood film maker. She appeared in Love and Blood (1951), then, her husband, Revenge of the Pirates (1951), before being co-starring her husband. This will be her last appearance.

Montez also wrote three books, two of which were published, as well as writing a number of poems.

Louis Shurr, Montez's US agent, was planning to return to Hollywood to appear in a new film, Last Year's Show.

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