Déjà Vu Crush: Lana Turner with John Garfield, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly

Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth in "The Lady from Shanghai" (1947)

In noir film, déjà vu is prevalent and serves as a common trope, used as a storytelling device or to emphasize a character's blocked memory. Have you ever had the feeling that something that happens has happened at a past time? Have you had an experience that seems very familiar and felt that you've been through it before? This phenomenon called déjà vu is a French expression for 'already seen'. Psychologists and memory researchers say that it is usually life's more unnoticed detailes -the click of a radiator, the movement of some shadows on the curtains- that trigger this sudden and sometimes breathtaking sense of familiarity. In surveys, over half of population report having had at least one déjà vu experience, and the sensation seems to occur most often in persons with lively imaginations. In a series of experiments, researches at Duke University in North Carolina and Southern Methodist Univesity in Texas, have tried to reproduce this déjà vu feeling, showing students pictures of buildings, trying to locate a small black or white cross. The students were asked to say whether they had ever been to the places shown. The expectation was that while the students focused on finding the crosses, the photos would imprint on their memories unconsciously, leaving the impression that they seemed familiar to them time later.

Lana Turner must’ve had a strong feeling of déjà vu when Lora confronts her daughter about her feelings for an older man.

Johnny Stompanato and Lana Turner in 1957

Turner suffered through a similar and very public romantic triangle with mobster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato and her daughter Cheryl. The boyfriend ended up dead and a fictionalized version of the story became the Cool Cinema Trash favorite 'Where Love Has Gone' (1964). Source: www.coolcinematrash.com

John Garfield and Lana Turner in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946) directed by Tay Garnett

Gene Kelly and John Garfield, friends, members of The Committee for the First Amendment and 'Hollywood Players' on Old Time Radio (Hollywood Stars on 'All Through the House': Gene Kelly, John Garfield - with Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotten and Janet Leigh)

Lana Turner with Gene Kelly

Lana Turner and Gene Kelly in "The Three Musketeers" (1948) directed by George Sidney

Lana Turner in a polka-dot blouse dancing with Frank Sinatra (June 1946). Before Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra dated Lana Turner.

Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner, friends and co-stars in "Magnolia" (1951) directed by George Sidney

Frank Sinatra married Ava Gardner on 7th November 1951. They got divorced on 5th July 1957.

Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson and Gene Kelly in "Anchors Aweigh" (1945) directed by George Sidney

"I have deduced that he [Gene Kelly] was warm, loving, highly intelligent, amazingly hard working, self-contained, sociable, strong, virile, charismatic, tactile, childlike, charitable, straightforward, pragmatic, unpretentious, fair, tenacious, happy in his own skin, other-worldly, unselfish, emotional, single-minded, generous, funny, honest, serious, home-loving, democratic, protective of those he cared for, self-critical, courageous in the face of personal tragedy, a man of integrity, a born leader and teacher.

  He was an excellent, natural, actor; a singer who, although being no Caruso, could touch the heart; a highly competent inspirational director and producer; an incomparable dancer who could weave a story without words and move an audience to tears or laughter; and a truly great choreographer. He was a creative genius and a good human being. Is it any wonder that every day, somewhere in the world, someone is still writing about, talking about, reading about, watching or falling in love with Gene Kelly? Source: www.freewebs.com

Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth in "Cover Girl" (1944) directed by Charles Vidor