Fashion in Film: My 10 Favorite Costumes

10.  Rita Hayworth’s “Put the Blame on Mame” dress from Gilda

On a lot of other women, that gown would have been pretty unremarkable.  But Rita Hayworth had so much charisma in that movie and had such an incredible screen presence that she turned what could have been a forgettable gown into the most iconic costume of her career.

9.  Elizabeth Taylor’s white slip from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

This right here is proof that Elizabeth Taylor could take the simplest garment and turn it into a definitive screen costume.  Nobody worked a white slip better than Elizabeth Taylor.

8.  All of Norma Shearer’s gowns from Marie Antoinette

I’d be very hard pressed to pick just one favorite costume from Marie Antoinette.  Adrian put an enormous amount of time and effort into designing all those exquisite gowns, no detail was overlooked.  They are all works of art.

7.  Debbie Reynolds’ “Good Morning” dress from Singin’ in the Rain.

Plain and simply, she looks absolutely adorable in it.  She had a lot of wonderful costumes in Singin’ in the Rain, but whenever I think about her in that movie, this is the first costume that comes to mind.

6.  Myrna Loy’s striped party dress from The Thin Man

I just think this dress is pure Nora Charles.  It’s fun, but classy.  She looks like the life of the party.

5.  Grace Kelly’s black and white outfit from Rear Window

This just epitomizes Grace Kelly to me.  It is so clean and simple, it’s not bogged down with a lot of accessories or jewelry, but it’s one of the most elegant dresses I’ve ever seen.

4.  Jean Harlow’s party dress from Dinner at Eight

It’s slinky and ridiculously glamorous.  This is Jean Harlow at her finest.

3.  Marlene Dietrich’s tuxedo from Morocco

In an era when women rarely wore pants, Marlene Dietrich went all out and donned a tuxedo.  Not shocking by today’s standards, but it’s no surprise that her tux caused a commotion when Morocco was released in 1930.

2.  Gloria Swanson’s outfit from her first scene in Sunset Boulevard

This outfit tells us right off everything that we need to know about Norma Desmond.  She looks rich, she looks like a movie star, and she’s definitely got some issues.

1.  Charlie Chaplin as The Little Tramp

As far as I’m concerned, this is the most iconic movie costume of all time.  It doesn’t just represent one movie, it represents Chaplin’s entire body of work and it’s a symbol for that whole era of film history.  When you see that hat, the cane, those shoes, that mustache, there’s no mistaking him for anybody else.  Even when people who don’t know silent films try to describe silent films, odds are they’re going to describe Charlie Chaplin and what he wore.

The Mating Game (1959)

Pop Larkin (Paul Douglas) isn’t a big believer in using cash.  Instead, he prefers to trade for the things that he needs for his farm and for his family.  Most of the community is totally okay with this, but when his neighbor Wendell Burnshaw gets fed up with it, he wants to take legal action to get the Larkins off their land and out of his hair.  He talks to a lawyer who starts investigating the Larkins’ tax history and finds that they have never filed a tax return.  Of course, the IRS starts investigating and they send Lorenzo Charlton (Tony Randall) to the Larkins’ farm to figure out how much the farm is worth and whether or not they owe anything.

At first, Lorenzo is greeted by a warm reception from Pop, Ma (Una Merkel), their feisty daughter Mariette (Debbie Reynolds), and their other children Lee, Grant, Victoria, and Susan.  There’s even a mutual attraction between Lorenzo and Mariette, but Lorenzo tries to focus on his work the best he can.  After talking to Pop, Lorenzo finds out that they have no financial records and that the Larkins’ tradition of trading dates back to the Civil War when the government stiffed some of his ancestors for some horses.  The only thing Lorenzo can do is go around and try to estimate the value of everything they have, which Mariette gladly offers to help him with.  Despite his all-business attitude, Lorenzo can’t help but secretly be distracted by the farm’s laid-back attitude and Mariette’s charm.  A quick call to his boss gets him focused again, but Ma and Pop have noticed that Mariette likes Lorenzo and scheme to make him stay longer.  Grant and Lee are pretty mechanically inclined, so they mess with Lorenzo’s car and at dinner, Pop gives him a drink.  It turns out it was a really good drink, too, because before Lorenzo knows what hit him, he’s dancing all around the house.  When his boss calls and discovers that Lorenzo is drunk, he’s ordered to go to a motel.  But with his car out-of-order, oh darn, he has to stay at the Larkins’ place.

They put Lorenzo in Mariette’s room for the night and Mariette slept in the living room.  When Lorenzo wakes up the next morning, he wakes up with the wrong impression and Mariette is insulted that he would think such a thing.  But when she calms down again, she helps him look for a document proving how much the farm was worth when it was inherited.  In the process, she finds proof that the government stiffed her family all those years ago.  Eventually any animosity fades between the two and they kiss.  But just then, a few of Mariette’s boyfriends happen to walk in and find them together and they get into a huge fight with Lorenzo.  And to top it all off, Lorenzo’s boss stops by to see how it’s coming.  Of course, Lorenzo’s boss insists on taking over and Lorenzo goes back to the city.  When Lorenzo’s boss get through with his evaluation, he declares the Larkins owe $50,000.  If Pop can’t pay it, he’ll lose the farm.  Livid, Mariette races into the city and finds Lorenzo to ask his advice.  He suggests trying to get the government to pay up for the horses, but that process could take forever.  However, Lorenzo helps Mariette find a way to push her claim through faster than normal.  They find out that with interest, the government owes the Larkins about fourteen million dollars!  When they get back to the farm and tell everyone the news, Pop doesn’t want to take the money.  He feels he hasn’t earned it, but says the government can keep the money to pay off the past taxes and for any future taxes, as well.

The Mating Game was absolutely delightful.  Leave it to Debbie Reynolds and Tony Randall to make problems with the IRS look like a good time!  Debbie Reynolds’ energy was completely off the charts here.  I don’t know how one person can have that much energy, but Debbie somehow managed to do it!  If you want something purely light, frothy, and totally inoffensive, this is a good one to go with.

What’s on TCM: August 2011

It’s that time of year again!  Let Summer Under the Stars commence!  I love this year’s line-up.  Even though there are plenty of the usual SUTS suspects like Bette Davis, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart, more than half of this year’s stars have never been part of SUTS before.  And many of those who have been featured before, haven’t been featured in quite a few years.  Let’s take a look at the full list of stars:

Auction Wrap-Up Post

So, yesterday was a very busy day here.  Now that the auction is over, I just thought I’d post a few things here to wrap things up:

I’ve really got to applaud Debbie Reynolds for all the work she put into maintaining this collection over the years.  Not only did she have a great eye for the really important pieces, she did a wonderful job of keeping them in good condition.  Things that are white can be especially hard to maintain, but Audrey Hepburn’s Ascot dress from My Fair Lady looked as pristine as the day Audrey first wore it.  She certainly tried to get her museum up and running, but I’m happy she was able to preserve this stuff for as long as she did.

This was actually the first of I believe three auctions of items from Debbie’s collection.  I don’t know whether or not I’ll be live blogging the other auctions yet.  Judging from the traffic I got yesterday, there was definitely a demand for live updates and it was fun knowing I was offering better coverage than mainstream news outlets, but the auction ultimately ran for over twelve hours.  If the other auctions have fewer lots for sale, I’ll definitely consider it.

Speaking of live coverage, a video stream with audio really would have been nice.  I mean really, they were able to have two cameras for different angles, it really wouldn’t have been difficult to get audio, too.

As for the auction itself, I don’t think there were a lot of huge surprises.  I think everyone expected the costumes worn by Marilyn, Audrey, the Wizard of Oz pieces, Chaplin’s hat and Harpo Marx’s hat to be big draws and they definitely were.  Profiles in History really low-balled their estimates and in a lot of cases, literally, all I had to do was blink and the high end of the estimate would already be blown clear out of the water.  I think I actually laughed out loud when I first looked through the catalog and saw a $200-300 estimate on a lot of three Gloria Swanson lobby cards from the silent era.  I was not at all surprised when the bidding flew to $1,200 within seconds.

There were a couple of surprises, though.  I thought the Barbara Streisand stuff would have gone for a lot more, the dress she wore to sing “My Man” in Funny Girl only went for $16,000 and her famous gold dress from Hello, Dolly (which cost $100,000 to make in 1969) sold for $100,000.  Even though that still exceeded the estimate, consider this: according to Inflation Calculator, $100,000 in 1969 is over half a million in today’s money. So basically, that dress somehow depreciated in value.  I kinda thought the Garbo gown would have sold for more just because not only was she one of the biggest stars of the era, she’s also the most mysterious and stuff she wore on screen really doesn’t turn up very often.  Most surprisingly, I was shocked that a couple of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. costumes did not sell.  I can’t believe that someone out there paid for something worn in Grease 2, but two Doug Fairbanks costumes didn’t sell.  But on the other end of the spectrum, a few things resulted in bidding frenzies I didn’t expect, specifically the Marion Davies portraits and the furniture from The Good Earth.

Of course, one big question remains: who on earth bought all this stuff?  I’m sure more details will come out in the next few days, especially if there were some high profile bidders. According to this article, a lot of stuff was bought by someone representing a Japanese museum and the test costume from The Wizard of Oz and ruby slippers were bought by someone in Saudi Arabia with lots of money from oil. This article names Oprah as a rumored bidder for Marilyn Monroe’s white dress. It also says a lot of Hollywood stars were phone bidders, it would not be surprising if some of those turned out to include Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, or Hugh Hefner. I will update this post if I find more articles that name buyers, or stay tuned to the Facebook page for updates.

Live Post: The Debbie Reynolds Auction

Even though I’m broke and can’t afford to actually bid on anything in today’s auction, there’s so much amazing stuff up for sale today that I can’t resist trying to follow the auction as best I can.  So I figured I’d try my hand at live blogging and cover the auction the best I can as it happens.  I’m not going to cover every single item up for sale, but I’ll try to keep you updated about some of the more noteworthy items.  So stay tuned, sit back, relax, and live vicariously through other people who can afford to spend insane amounts of money on movie memorabilia.  And I’m just putting it out there right now: I would not be even remotely surprised if Hugh Hefner buys Marilyn Monroe’s white dress from The Seven Year Itch.  A million dollar absentee bid has already been placed on it, so it will definitely be sold for at least that much today.

If you want to follow along with the auction live, just go here, click on “Live Bidding”, then click the option to just watch the auction. There is a live video stream, but no audio.

Updates:

Note – The selling prices I list here don’t include the buyer’s premium.  If you see articles about Judy Garland’s Wizard of Oz test costume selling for more than a million, that source factored in the buyer’s premium.

3:12 PM – The first lot, a 1915 35mm Bell and Howell camera just sold for $32,500!

3:16 PM – Rudolph Valentino’s matador suit from Blood and Sand just went for $210,000.

3:19 PM – Mary Pickford’s headpiece from Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall went for $3,250.

3: 21 PM- Francis X. Bushman’s charioteer helmet from 1925′s Ben Hur sold for $30,000!

3:26 PM – Harold Lloyd’s suit and hat went for $4,000!

3:34 PM – Mary Pickford’s gown from The Taming of the Shrew sold for $17,000.

3:36 PM – Lots 17 and 18, both Douglas Fairbanks costumes from The Taming of the Shrew sold for $20,000 and lot 18 didn’t sell.

3:38 PM – One of Charlie Chaplin’s infamous hats went for $110,000!

3:40 PM – A Model T used by Laurel and Hardy sold for $32,500 and a pair of their suits went for $16,000.

3:42 PM – Carole Lombard’s gown from No Man of Her Own sold for $11,000.

3:47 PM – Claudette Colbert’s Cleopatra gown went for $40,000.

3:52 PM – Greta Garbo’s gown from Anna Karenina also sold for $40,000!

3:53 PM – Harpo Marx’s hat and wig went for $45,000!

4:10 PM – Lots 42, 43, and 44 are the paintings commissioned by Marion Davies and respectively went for $10,000, $11,000, and $17,000.  These really got the bidders going.

4:17  PM – W.C. Fields’ joke box sold for $35,000.

4:39 PM – Norma Shearer’s purple gown from Romeo and Juliet went for $20,000.

5:04 PM – Now we’re into stuff from The Good Earth and people went nuts for some of the furniture!  The pair of chairs went for $20,000, the opium bed for $20,000, two Paul Muni robes for $4,000 each, Luise Rainer’s shirt for $2,000, the lot of stands and other furniture for $3,500, and Luise Rainer’s jacket for $3,000.

5:13  PM – A gown worn by Norma Shearer in Marie Antoinette and Lucille Ball in Du Barry was a Lady sold for $11,000.

5:44 PM – Oh, now we’re into a busy bunch of lots!  First up was Marlene Dietrich’s outfit from “The Boys in the Backroom” number in Destry Rides Again, which went for $8,000, one of Judy Garland’s test costumes from The Wizard of Oz went for $910,000, a test pair of the ruby slippers sold for $510,000, an extra’s jacket from the Emerald City scenes of the Wizard of Oz sold for $22,500, Clark Gable’s dressing robe from the production of Gone With the Wind went for $10,000, and Basil Rathbone’s famous Sherlock Holmes caped overcoat sold for $50,000!

5:54 PM – Vivien Leigh’s suit from Waterloo Bridge sold for $16,000.

6:09 PM – Gary Cooper’s military uniform from Sergeant York went for $55,000.

6:16 PM – A couple of costumes worn by James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy, the satin jockey shirt went for $27,500 and the clown outfit sold for $15,000.

6:19 PM – Not so fast, Louis!  A suit worn by Claude Rains in Casablanca sold for $55,000!

6:53 PM – Took a dinner break and missed another busy bunch of lots!  Elizabeth Taylor’s riding outfit from National Velvet went for $60,000, Judy Garland’s “Under the Bamboo Tree” dress from Meet Me in St. Louis sold for $16,000, Judy’s dress from the snowman building scene in Meet Me in St. Louis went for $10,000, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra’s sailor suits from Anchors Aweigh went for $27,500 and $15,000 respectively.

7:00 PM – $22,500 for Joan Crawford’s waitress uniform from Mildred Pierce and $5,000 for Ann Blyth’s Mildred Pierce suit.

7:05 PM – Edmund Gwenn’s Santa suit from Miracle on 34th Street just sold for $22,500.

8:12 PM – The gold lame dress worn by Ginger Rogers in The Barkleys of Broadway went for $8,000.

8:51 PM – The chiffon robe worn by Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire sold for $18,000.  Then it went into a bunch of items from An American in Paris with Leslie Caron’s peacock dress from the fantasy ballet number for $15,000, Nina Foch’s white halter gown from a party scene for $3,000, and a showgirl costume from the Stairway to Paradise number for $1,100.

9:05 PM – We have reached the Singin’ in the Rain part of the auction.  First were the green and white checked suits worn by Donald O’Connor and Gene Kelly, $8,000 and $14,000 respectively.  Jean Hagen’s Marie Antoinette-esque dress sold for $5,500 and Gene Kelly’s period costume went for $9,000.  Debbie’s green and white leaf print dress went for $15,000, Gene Kelly’s jacket from the Broadway Melody Ballet number went for $6,500, Jean Hagen’s black and white fur coat went for $6,000, Donald O’Connor’s “Good Morning” suit didn’t sell, Cyd Charisse’s white Broadway Melody Ballet outfit for $7,000, and Debbie’s “Good Morning” dress went for $27,500.  A pink dress worn by Gwen Carter sold for $3,750, and a bunch of costumes from the “Beautiful Girl” montage brought $5,500.

9:22 PM – Now we’re getting into some of the Marilyn Monroe and Marilyn-related items.  First up is Marilyn’s red “Two Little Girls from Little Rock” dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which brought $1.2 million!  Then came the feathered hat worn by Jane Russell when she impersonates Loreli Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, that sold for $4,250.  Lauren Bacall’s wedding dress from How to Marry a Millionaire went for $8,000 and the car used by Marilyn and Cary Grant in Monkey Business sold for $210,000.

9:48 PM – A lot of two safari outfits worn by Grace Kelly in Mogambo sold for $47,500.  A Winchester rifle used by Clark Gable in Mogambo brought in $15,000.

10:00 PM – A couple more from Marilyn Monroe.  The gold dress from River of No Return went for $510,000 and her costume from the “Heat Wave” number in There’s No Business Like Show Business brought in $500,000!

10:52 PM – After a little break, we’re back with the dress everyone’s been waiting for — the infamous Marilyn Monroe white subway dress from The Seven Year Itch.  I fully expected bidding to be out of control for this one and I wasn’t disappointed.  It brought in an astonishing $4.6 million!

11:03 PM – Now we’ve got a couple from To Catch a Thief.  A coat worn by Cary Grant brought in $15,000 and an outfit worn by Grace Kelly earned a jaw dropping $450,000!

11:41 PM – A couple of dresses worn by Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember brought in $6,000 and $11,000.

12:17 AM – One of Lana Turner’s dresses from Peyton Place sold for $4,250.

12:22 AM – Lot number 407 is rather unique because it includes things worn by both Kim Novak and Rita Hayworth in Pal Joey.  It went for $6,500.

12:29 AM – Leslie Caron’s iconic plaid schoolgirl outfit from Gigi went for $65,000.

12:40 AM – Charlton Heston’s tunic and cape from Ben Hur could have been yours for the low, low price of $320,000!

1:32 AM – Marlon Brando’s naval outfit from Mutiny on the Bounty just brought in $90,000!

2:12 AM – Elizabeth Taylor’s famous headdress from Cleopatra went for $100,000 and Richard Burton’s tunic, cape, and sword brought in $85,000.

Oh, who cares what time it is anymore?  Yes, I’m still going!  Aren’t these people tired and broke yet?!  Janet Leigh’s yellow fringed dress from Bye Bye Birdie fetched $3,750 and Bette Davis’ blood stained dress from Hush, Hush…Sweet Charlotte sold for $11,000.

Another big item to watch tonight was Audrey Hepburn’s Ascot dress from My Fair Lady.  I fully expected it to exceed the $200,000-$300,000 and it sure did.  It went up to $3.7 million!

I would say that the hills are alive with the sound of music, but at this time of night, I’m pretty sure that’s a noise ordinance violation.  Julie Andrews’ guitar went for $140,000, her jumper from the “Do Re Mi” number for $550,000, her turquoise and green dress for $45,000, the peasant dress went for $42,500, and a pair of the Trapp children’s outfits sold for $35,000.

And at long last we have reached the Barbara Streisand part of the auction.  First from Funny Girl is her costume from “I’d Rather Be Blue” for $65,000, a lot of the other roller skating costumes for $2,500, the black velvet dress from “My Man” for $16,000, a bunch of stuff worn by the Ziegfeld girls in the “His Love Makes Me Beautiful” number for $7,500, Anne Francis’ silk dress for $1,800, and Kay Medford’s beaded shawl for $1,400.

A jacket worn by Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid brought $8,500 and a dress worn by Katharine Ross went for $16,000.

And back to Streisand.  The purple Hello, Dolly dress went for $55,000 and the gold dress for $100,000.  Surprised the gold dress went for that little, that’s how much it cost to make that dress back in the day.

You’ll be fascinated to know that a shirt worn in the cinematic masterpiece known as Grease 2 sold for $475.

We have finally made it to the final segment of posters/portraits!  The title cards for Blind Husbands fetched $2,000, the lot of three Gloria Swanson title/lobby cards sold for $1,200, the portrait of Gloria Swanson went for $8,500, the lot of two Mabel Normand lobby cards for $800, the pair of silent title/lobby cards for $1,600, the lobby card for Lon Chaney’s The Penalty for $1,700, and the lobby card for Chaplin’s The Idle Class for $1,600.  The portrait of Jean Harlow went for $11,000!

Now it’s high time I called it a night!  Good night everybody!

Just Gotta Match Those Six Numbers…

So was I the only one who downloaded the Debbie Reynolds Profiles in History auction catalog and looked through it while making a mental list of all the things I would so be bidding on if only I had an obscene amount of money?  She’s got so many truly iconic pieces of film history going up on the auction block, how could I not go through it and say, “I want that!” about a thousand times.  So, just for fun, I’d love to know what are the pieces of film history that you’d most love to own.  They don’t necessarily have to be from the Debbie Reynolds auction catalog, but if you had millions of dollars just lying around, what movie memorabilia would you want to spend it on?

Some of my picks (all from that auction catalog):

• All the costumes from the silent film era, especially Valentino’s costume from Blood and Sand, Harold Lloyd’s suit, Charlie Chaplin’s hat, and any of the Mary Pickford estate items.
• Carole Lombard’s dress from No Man of Her Own
• Claudette Colbert’s Cleopatra dress
• Garbo’s dress from Anna Karenina
• Any of Norma Shearer’s Marie Antoinette gowns
• The Judy Garland Wizard of Oz test costume and ruby slippers
• Vivien Leigh’s suit from Waterloo Bridge
• Claude Rains’ suit from Casablanca
• Joan Crawford’s waitress uniform from Mildred Pierce
• Ginger Rogers’ dress from The Barkleys of Broadway
• Leslie Caron’s peacock feathered dress from the American in Paris ballet number
• All the Singin’ in the Rain costumes
• Marilyn Monroe’s white dress from The Seven Year Itch (who wouldn’t buy that?)

What’s on TCM: April 2011

April is looking like it’s going to be a pretty busy month on TCM, especially if you’re interested in the Civil War.  TCM will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War by playing movies about the Civil War every Monday and Wednesday this month.  There will also be lots of Ray Milland to look forward to since he will be the star of the month.  The Lost Weekend, The Major and the Minor, Dial ‘M’ For Murder, all his best movies are in there.  There’s even a night full of real rarities that I’m very much looking forward to.