In Appreciation of Nineteen Fifties ‘Scream Queen’ Kathleen Hughes

“Scream queen” Kathleen Hughes Rubin thrived for practically a century in Hollywood. Regardless of her picture as a horny display siren of the Nineteen Fifties, she loved a permanent marriage to producer Stanley Rubin, and was the beloved mom of 4 kids and a pleasure to all who knew her.

The loss of life of Kathleen Hughes Could 19 at age 96 concluded a nostalgic chapter of cinematic historical past for the child boomer era who grew up along with her movies. For me, her passing was additionally the lack of a cherished pal. Kathy’s film profession started throughout the late Nineteen Forties because the studio system entered its Cretaceous Interval by subsequently deploying CinemaScope, Vista Imaginative and prescient, Cinerama and related improvements in an try and lure audiences away from their tv units and again into film theaters. Science fiction and movie noir grew to become melded with the short-lived phenomenon of 3D, with Kathy changing into distinguished by her appearances in “It Got here From Outer Area” and “The Glass Internet.”

Drop-dead beautiful with a determine to match, she remarked on these roles with attribute humor: “I used to be very three-dimensional in these days.”

Humor characterised by an infectious snicker had been Kathy’s emblems. They had been a part of her effervescent delight of being a Hollywood actress that she by no means misplaced. She liked every thing about “the biz,” even whereas enduring its typically merciless ups and downs. She may candidly specific her disappointment about lastly enjoying reverse a number one man she had “drooled over” and discovering he was not a pleasant individual, or dealing with a widely known director whose boorish conduct constituted a digital commercial for the “me too” motion. This was throughout a time when vulgarity directed at girls by highly effective males was a taken-for-granted facet of the image enterprise. Kathy was by no means bitter and even offended; she was straightforwardly trustworthy whereas making it clear that she by no means put up with any nonsense.  

I met Kathy and her husband Stanley Rubin over twenty years in the past once I first chatted with Stanley about his manufacturing of “The Slim Margin” (1952) for my biography on robust man actor Charles McGraw. They had been a pleasant couple who had been all the time seen collectively round city at screenings and varied occasions — we grew to become associates. Regardless of a short heyday as a debonair Hollywood bachelor (he dated Judy Garland and Gloria Grahame) earlier than marrying Kathy in 1954, Stanley was a loyal household man and an old-school gentleman. In his nineties, he would all the time stand when a lady entered the room. Stanley and Kathy’s first date could be in a Fox screening room watching the reply print for Stanley’s manufacturing of “River of No Return” (1954), starring Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum. His diplomatic abilities as a producer had been sorely examined as he grew to become the mediator between an insecure Monroe and the image’s mercurial director Otto Preminger. Stanley and Kathy received to know Marilyn fairly nicely and years later would attend and converse at symposiums commemorating her 1962 passing

Their dwelling above the Sundown Strip was adorned with visible montages of their respective careers. Kathy’s memorabilia held forth in varied areas, most notably a toilet festooned with foyer playing cards from her movies. Household photos had been preeminent in the lounge, which included a piano, the highest of which was lined with framed pictures. One night, I seen a framed picture of actor Herbert Lom on the piano and requested Stanley how he knew the actor. He rolled his eyes, smiled and stated, “Ask my spouse about that.”  I queried Kathy, who responded with attribute enthusiasm, “I by no means met him, however I simply adored Herbert Lom… He was sooo good-looking, so I put his image there!” 

This response was typical of Kathy — her unbridled enthusiasm as a fan of actors and performing by no means modified from the time she was born as Elizabeth (Betty) von Gerkan in Los Angeles on Nov. 14, 1928. She typically stated that she grew to become an actress to show her uncle, screenwriter F. Hugh Herbert, improper. “He stated I used to be too tall for the films (she was 5’9”) as a result of all of the main males at the moment had been so brief!”

Stanley and Kathy had been a crew. You didn’t simply invite one to a screening of their respective movies; it was all the time each of them, and it was heartwarming to look at how they supported one another. As her personal profession waned beneath the calls for of elevating 4 kids and the vagaries of a altering Hollywood, Kathy ardently supported Stanley’s profession in addition to that of her associates. From Marilyn Monroe to Mamie Van Doren, Kathy was all the time there at each occasion that celebrated her associates and colleagues over time. Having her as my visitor at screenings of her movies was all the time a joyous event. The viewers warmed to her infectious zest and treasured her recollections whether or not it was recounting how she filibustered her approach right into a small however memorable function in “It Got here From Outer Area,” delightedly horse-whipped Marla English in “Three Dangerous Sisters” or dud a love scene with Edward G. Robinson in “The Glass Internet” — confiding, “He was a wonderful kisser!”

Kathy’s most memorable picture was the well-known publicity shot picture from “It Got here From Outer Area” along with her screaming and throwing up her arms. Her face grew to become immortalized on ads, greeting playing cards, bottles of scorching sauce and all method of gag presents; it was even used as promoting décor on flags adorning a Manhattan file retailer — all with out permission or compensation. Ultimately it received out of hand. As Stanley famous, “When my spouse’s picture turned up on wrappers for condoms, I telephoned my legal professional.”

As 2014 started, Stanley, who had appeared ageless, started failing in what could be his 97th yr. When Kathy telephoned me a number of months later and advised me that he had handed away peacefully in his sleep, I discussed that I used to be deeply saddened, however not shocked. Kathy stated, “I do know. That’s why I invited you and Jemma over for dinner earlier. I needed you to go to Stanley for a ultimate time.” 

We stayed in contact and I invited Kathy to be one in all my friends at a traditional sci-fi competition in Palm Springs a yr later. Once I screened “The Slim Margin” for a noir competition on the Hollywood Legion Theater in 2021, I once more invited Kathy, who was starting to be diminished by age however nonetheless enthusiastic over being amongst grateful movie followers who cheered her and appreciated one in all her husband’s most revered films. 

I’ll all the time keep in mind Kathy with nice fondness. She was rather more than “the higher half” of an exquisite couple who complemented each other with love and assist, raised an achieved household and made everybody who knew them really feel grateful for his or her friendship. Kathy was a particular, joyful individual. It was a privilege to know her. She can be sorely missed.

Famous movie historian Alan Okay. Rode is the writer of “Michael Curtiz, A Life in Movie,” amongst different books. He’s the director-treasurer of the Movie Noir Basis and the host and producer of the annual Arthur Lyons Movie Noir Competition in Palm Springs.