Summertime

I'm really excited to be joining The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon, hosted by Margaret Perry.

For my entry, I've chosen to write about Summertime, a bittersweet, romantic movie from 1955, directed by David Lean. The film's based on the play, The Time of the Cuckoo, by Arthur Laurents and was adapted for the screen by Lean and H.E. Bates.

Summertime, also known as Summer Madness, premiered in June, 1955 with the first opening in Venice and the second opening in New York City. The NYC premiere was held at the Astor Theater with approximately 1,300 people in attendance. A large crowd gathered outside the theater to catch glimpses of the stars as they arrived.

There are many reasons to love this movie, which is set, and filmed entirely, in Venice, Italy. The cinematography by Jack Hildyard almost plays like another character as he adroitly captures Venice and all her charm with vistas of centuries old buildings that sit alongside the city's watery veins. Then there's the movie's brilliant soundtrack by Alessandro Cicognini, which is perfectly scored, and haunts the viewer at all the right moments.

Katharine Hepburn plays Jane Hudson, an unmarried, middle-aged, 'fancy secretary,' from Akron, Ohio. Jane's been saving quite awhile for her first trip abroad and the movie opens with her arriving in Venice by train. Her excitement is palpable. She's drunk with delight, giddy for Venice and for some romance in her ordinary life. She's in love with the idea of being in love and is "looking for a wonderful, mystical, magical miracle." But as she later finds out, sometimes miracles "need a little push" in order to happen.

Jane's staying at Pensione Fiorini, run by the widow Signora Fiorini, played by Isa Miranda. Other guests include an American couple Jane met earlier en route to the Pensione: Lloyd and Edith McIlhenny (MacDonald Parke and Jane Rose). They are a little crass and Venice is but one European stop of many for them. The other couple we are introduced to are the Yaegers (Darrin McGavin and Mari Aldon); Eddie's an artist and his wife, Phyl, likes to shop.

Signora Fiorini: Is this your first trip to Europe?
Jane: How did you guess?
Signora Fiorini: You don't mind traveling all alone?
Jane: No, I like it.
Signora Fiorini: Oh, I would hate it.
Jane: I'm the independent type, always have been.

We feel Jane's first stirrings of loneliness at the Pensione as the two couples and the landlady all have dinner plans and no one wants to have a quick drink with her. She's left alone on the terrace and the film's music invades the viewer, giving Jane's loneliness a life of its own. The large terrace, with its multiple seating areas, is used as backdrop in several scenes to showcase Jane's solitary existence.

Jane ventures out by herself to Piazza San Marco, where she finds herself slightly shocked at the forwardness of some of the young men. It's here in the Piazza that we have our first glimpse of Renato di Rossi (Rossano Brazzi), an antiques dealer with a shop nearby. She catches him admiring her and becomes embarrassed by his attention. Unnerved, she fumbles for her sunglasses and il conto.

The next day, Jane is out sightseeing and is drawn to a shop with a ruby red goblet in the window. The shop is Renato's. Later, that night, they meet again at Piazza San Marco. Romance is about to enter Jane's life. No more lies to her married friends at home: "This time we'd be a quartet [instead of a trio]."

The best known scene in the film is when Hepburn falls into the canal. Her character is busy with her movie camera, filming Renato's store, when she starts backing up to get a better shot and falls into the water. She's horribly embarrassed when she comes out of the canal and calls for Mauro to return her to the Pensione. Mauro is a street urchin, whom Jane hired to guide her through the streets of Venice.

Of course, Renato hears of her ignominious fall and comes to see her at the Pensione. Jane's not used to being on the receiving end of male attention, therefore, she's nonplussed by Renato's visit.

Renato: I thought everything happened so fast in America.
Jane: Not this sort of thing, not to me.

Spoilers ahead!

They meet the next day and he buys her a gardenia, a flower that's been haunting Jane's romantic dreams since her college days. It represents the past, present and future. It foreshadows the movie's ending as the gardenia reappears later in the film and is as elusive to Jane then as the one that gets away now, floating down the canal, out of reach of her's and Renato's grasping hands.

Then comes heartbreak for Jane before their affair even begins, when she finds out that Renato's married with four children.

Renato: You are like a hungry child who's been given ravioli to eat. 'No,' you say, 'I want beefsteak.' My dear girl, you are hungry. Eat the ravioli.
Jane: I'm not that hungry.

Oh, but she is that hungry. He soothes her with a tale of separation and before long, she's back in his arms, dancing. Eventually, they make their way to his apartment. The viewer is left with the image of this one red shoe on the balcony, which touchingly says what doesn't need to be said.

Jane only has one way out of this summer affair. Her moral code and semi-sheltered life she led at home won't permit another choice. She tells Renato, It's the happiest time in my whole life. She has one last glimpse of Renato as he rushes to see her off at the train station: in his hand, a white gardenia.



This is an amazing role for Katharine Hepburn. She plays Jane Hudson with a fine nuance, showing the character's longing in simple glances and gestures. There are moments when no dialogue is needed, simply the expression on Jane's face is enough to convey her thoughts. There is no confident character here, rather a false bravado front with vulnerability stirring close to the surface. In her autobiography, Kate wrote: It was a very emotional part and I tell you I had to be on my toes to give David enough of what he wanted practically on call. 

Rossano Brazzi is brilliant as the Venetian shop owner emitting old world charm. He's suave, masculine and knows what he wants. For him, there is no fear in pursuing a woman like Jane Hudson. Though Brazzi had been acting since 1938, appearing in over fifty movies, this part for him acted as a breakout role. He received international fame, along with several thousand female hearts.

After watching the movie, Katharine Hepburn gave the characters an alternate ending and said: In real life, she gets off [the train] at Mestra, only 7 miles away and goes right back to him. 

Behind the scenes with Kate and David Lean (next to her)

At the start of filming, Brazzi and Hepburn had what one newspaper called a royal tussle, which culminated with Hepburn walking off the set. Brazzi recalled, "No one ever thought I would finish my picture with Katharine. We are good friends now, but the first day she was telling me: 'Look at me, Mr. Brazzi, when I speak.' I say nothing to this, but I didn't look at her. Then she said, 'Mr. Brazzi, I don't think there will ever be a picture released with Rossano Brazzi and Katharine Hepburn.' Miss Hepburn, I say, that's fine with me... Now we are the best of friends and I think she's the greatest actress in the world."

Five fun facts about Summertime:
1. Katharine Hepburn received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
2. David Lean received an Oscar nomination for Best Director.
3. Kate's character's name 'Jane Hudson' reappeared a few years later in the Bette Davis/Joan Crawford movie "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?"
4. Katharine Hepburn did her own stunts, including the fall into the canal, which gave her a lifelong eye irritation.
5. Rossano Brazzi was nine years younger than Kate. He was born in 1916 and she was born in 1907.


Thanks for joining me in this celebration of Katharine Hepburn!

Clark Gable Takes a Selfie

Article by Harrison Carroll, 1948

This week I walk along the row of portable dressing rooms on the "Command Decision" set. Signs upon the doors proclaim the names of famous occupants: Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Brian Donlevy, Charles Bickford and so on.

There are few sounds of life from within the dressing rooms. Only Walter Pidgeon is standing outside. He is talking in desultory fashion to some other men.

Clark Gable's door is ajar. I peer in. Clark is sitting in a chair pointing a small German camera at a mirror. He sees me and grins. "How conceited can you get," he says, "taking your own picture?"

I come in at Clark's invitation and flop down in a red leather chair. One of the MGM photographers is giving Clark some pointers on the camera, which Gable will take along on his trip to Europe. [Clark will sail to England on July 9th aboard the Queen Mary, but his vacation will be cut short due to his father's death on August 4th].

Hanging on the wall, to Clark's right, is the best proof in the world of his lack of conceit. It is one of the most exaggerated caricatures of Gable and his ears that has ever been drawn. It's been hanging in Clark's dressing rooms since he made "Honky Tonk."

This is the first Gable picture with an all-male cast. "How does it feel?" I ask.
"Very strange," says Clark, "let's not have this happen again."
"Nobody to talk to between scenes, huh?"
Clark flashes that famous smile. "I'm not crippled, am I?" he asks. "I can visit the other stages."

An assistant pops his head in the door. "We're ready, Mr. Gable." We go out to the set, a command headquarters of an American bomber squadron in England, and I watch director Sam Wood rehearse a scene.

Almost everybody is in it except Marshall Thompson, one of the younger members of the cast. He sits beside me. On his coat is a string of ribbons. Marshall examines them curiously. "Gee," he says, "I've sure been around, haven't I?"

A scene from "Command Decision"

Out on the set, Gable and Pidgeon now are lighting up big, fat cigars. "I thought you had quit smoking," I yell to Walter. "That was cigarettes," he shouts back, "And I haven't had one in five days."

Gable is puffing gingerly. It strikes me that I have never seen him before with a cigar in his mouth. He wanders over toward us and I ask him about it. "Don't tell anybody," he says, "but I smoke a cigar about once every four years."

"Did you hear about Mickey Rooney?" I ask. "He got dizzy on [a cigar] the other day on the 'Words and Music' set."

"You're a big help," says Clark. Suddenly, he looks over my shoulder and his eyes snap with interest. I crane my neck. Four pretty visitors have come onto the set. You guessed it. That's the last I see of Gable.

Gone With the Wind Auction Highlights

In case you haven't heard, Scarlett's Shantytown dress sold at auction for $137,000 this past weekend. The price isn't too surprising if you factor in the starting price of $60,000, along with the auction house fee and the fact that the dress is a piece of cinematic history.

We first see Vivien Leigh in this dress, as Scarlett O'Hara, when she encounters Rhett, played by Clark Gable, outside her store. She drives off to take a short cut through Shantytown, where she's attacked. Unfortunately, the color of the dress has faded over the years, from the blue-gray seen in the above photo to the light gray pictured below. The dress features a zigzag applique with decorative buttons on the front. It's lined with silk and the skirt is pleated.

The auction pieces came from James Tumblin's collection of Gone With the Wind memorabilia. Other items of interest that were sold include the hat Scarlett wears to the barbecue at Twelve Oaks along with a green sash made for the barbecue dress. This hat sold for $52,500 and the sash sold for $3,250.

Another item on the auction block was the top half of one of Scarlett's calico dresses, which sold for $32,500. James Tumblin says this was originally auctioned off by Vivien's daughter, Suzanne Farrington, and subsequently purchased at Christie's. Originally, there were approximately fourteen of these calico dresses made, in various stages of disrepair, as Scarlett wore this from working in the hospital in Atlanta until her return to Tara with Melanie and baby Beau.

From Heritage Auction's website:
Cotton, mauve, purple, and white floral pattern, high collar trimmed in white lace, 16 black button front closure, puffy, gathered long sleeves, same black button adornment and white lace on cuffs, numerous hidden snaps and hook-and-eye closures.

This suit worn by Clark Gable went under the hammer and sold for $55,000. It was worn during the scene when Scarlett tells Rhett she doesn't want to have any more babies. He then proceeds to leave the room by kicking in the door and shouting no locked door would keep him out.

From the auction's website:
Two pieces; the jacket gray wool, rounded lapels, one button front closure, two front welt pockets, 'Selznick Int. Pictures Inc.' label reads "20-108M-140," costumer's stamps on both sleeve linings, 'Eddie Schmidt Inc.' [tailor to male Hollywood stars] label on lining, further 'Eddie Schmidt, Inc.' label reads in part "Clark Gable / 4-25-39 / 3718;" together with matching trousers, five button fly, same 'Eddie Schmidt, Inc.' label as jacket, another label evidently removed, numerous costumer's stamps on waistband lining.

The 'Return to Tara' hat sold for $25,000 with eleven bidders vying for it. Vivien Leigh holds this hat in the scene where she and Rhett have returned from their honeymoon.

From the auction's website: Grayish-beige silk, gathered top, ruffled brim, two trailing pieces of fabric at back, 'Selznick Int. Pictures Inc.' label reads "Scarlett / 20-108-WW-435," another label reads "SL 74.153.1...



Olivia de Havilland, as Melanie Hamilton, is pictured below wearing her black bonnet. The bonnet, made from black silk, sold for $30,000 at this past weekend's auction. Melanie wears this hat while she and Scarlett search for Ashley's name (and thankfully don't find it) on the recently deceased list handed out to the public. Then later, the bonnet is seen on Scarlett as she's fleeing a burning Atlanta with Rhett, Melanie, Beau and Prissy.

From the auction's website: Interestingly, in Margaret Mitchell's book, Scarlett takes Melanie's hat from the hall table as she and the others make their escape. David O. Selznick, being the stickler for detail he was, had the hat made and sized for De Havilland and then had Leigh use the same one for her scenes, knowing it wouldn't fit her correctly as it wasn't supposed to as it wasn't her hat!

Melanie's hand-knit sweater sold for $18,750. From the auction's website: Gray wool with maroon trim at collar, on front, and on cuffs, three-quarter length butterfly sleeves, front portion purposely longer than back of sweater, two small front pockets with maroon wool bow appliqué, two decorative maroon wool buttons on front, hidden snap and hook-and-eye closures.

Olivia de Havilland as Melanie and Leslie Howard as Ashley greet each other at the train station. Ashley's received a few days furlough for the Christmas Holidays. The sweater is seen again as Belle Watling, played by Ona Munson, meets Melanie outside the hospital.

This scarf and brooch set, also Melanie's, sold for $10,000. Another hand-knitted item, the scarf, now faded to purple, was made from navy blue wool and featured gray trim. The scarf was also used in auditions for the part of Melanie. 

Olivia de Havilland originally gifted this cameo brooch to her stand-in, Ann Robinson, from whom James Tumblin acquired it.

Ashley Wilkes' Confederate uniform, minus its gold stars, sold for $16,250. Ashley, played by Leslie Howard, wears this uniform when he returns to Tara, after the end of the war. From the auction's website: The jacket made of wool (now gray due to fading but originally blue), yellow wool collar and cuffs, decorative yellow detail on sleeves, seven button front closure (four buttons missing), blue wool patch on right elbow, purposely distressed with stitching, staining, and holes, 'Selznick Int. Pictures Inc.' label reads "20-108-M-33," inside right sleeve has a 'Western Costume Co.' stamp; together with a pair of purposely distressed uniform pants with numerous holes, patches, and stitching evident as well as a tattered hem, 'Western Costume Co.' label and stamp in waistband.

Ona Munson played Belle Watling in Gone With the Wind. One of her best known outfits is this red velvet costume she wears to visit Rhett while he's in jail, just after Scarlett has left. Only the top half was available for auction, fetching $15,000. I think Belle would be proud.

From the auction's website: Red velvet, ruffled hems, white hair trim at collar, on front hem, and on upper back, white lace trim at cuffs, four button front faux closure, hidden hook-and-eye closures, 'Western Costume Co.' label reads "#41;" together with a matching white hair muff, secret pocket inside with a zip-up closure.

Adorable Cammie King was selected to play Scarlett and Rhett's daughter, Bonnie Blue Butler. Her fatal riding habit went for $15,000. The hat and gloves are not the original ones Cammie wears in the movie, but are replacements.

From the auction's website: Teal blue velvet, long sleeves, 12 button front closure, lace collar, ruffle at front waist, peplum in back, numerous hidden hook-and-eye closures, 'Selznick Int. Pictures Inc.' label reads "Bonnie / 108 W.W.-470;" included with a reproduction hat made of similar teal blue velvet and adorned with a red feather.

Additional information on other pieces from Gone With the Wind sold during this auction can be found at Heritage Auctions. Pictures of the costumes are from Heritage Auction's website.

Broadway's Billboard Signs

Part One
"Good Signs on Broadway Soon Junked"
November, 1946
by Saul Pett

Outside they were carving up 30 feet of Jane Russell and loading it into a truck. Inside, grey-haired, practical minded Jacob Starr observed, "In my business, you can't be sentimental. When we're through with 'em, we just throw 'em away."

Starr's business is signs. He is secretary of the Artkraft Strauss Sign Corp., which claims to be the birthplace and graveyard for 90 percent of the spectacular outdoor display signs blinking on Broadway --the ones that make the tourists stare.

Jacob Starr with a semi-demolished billboard sign of Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra, 1946

Elsewhere in the firm's plant at 57th Street, facing the Hudson river, were the grotesque remains of a 140 foot picture of Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra, a yard wide head of Paul Whiteman, man-sized letters and other ghosts of the White Way's synthetic glamour, all awaiting the scrap heap.

If you've got the room, here's the place to get huge pictures of your favorite movie star for nothing. As Starr explained, it costs more to remake an old sign than to build a new one. About all that's saved is some wiring, sockets and other metal.

"Gone With The Wind" New York premiere, December 1939

Starr's firm designs, manufactures, operates, sells and rents signs that idea men think up. Rentals range from $5,000 to $15,000 per month.

The company's biggest project is 75 by 250 feet, with one letter 40 feet high.

The most complex and most expensive sign in the Strauss stable hangs over the Palace Theatre on Broadway. It's worth a quarter of a million, uses 27,000 bulbs in four colors and can be changed completely every 20 seconds. The light bill for this averages about $500 per month.

The company's biggest new project destined for Broadway is a girl made out of plexiglass. She will stand four stories high and display a leg two and a half stories long. The lady will advertise slips.

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Part Two
Excerpt from "Daddy Dearest"
Inc Magazine, January 1991
by Edward O. Welles

The genius and force behind Artkraft was Jacob Starr, known by all who did business with him simply as Jake. Jake started out as an ironworker in the Ukraine, but his talents exceeded banging hot metal. He built some of the first electric signs in his native country, and after immigrating to the United States, in 1902, he developed the first electric automobile starter, which he sold to Pierce Arrow for $500 -- a business giveaway he would not soon repeat.

In New York City, Jake landed work for a small sign company on the Lower East Side. At night he went to school, earning a degree in engineering. He saw the advantages of adapting assembly-line techniques to the sign-making trade while preserving the craft component of the business. He also understood the value in adapting new technologies to signs. One such technology was neon lighting, invented in France, and Starr acquired the North American rights to it. By 1930 Jake had risen to control his own sign company. His fortunes soared in tandem with those of the burgeoning industries of motion pictures and advertising.

To many, Jake was a quick-tempered tyrant, far tougher on his family than on his other workers. His nephew Philip Marshall, who has worked off and on for the company since 1954, recalls Jake as "a self-made man of the school that the only way to succeed is if things are not made easy for you; he went out of his way not to make things easy -- particularly for his relatives."

Jake's toughness toward his family was the flip side of the affection he showed his workers. A bare-knuckled manager and driven businessman, Jake nonetheless helped found the sheet-metal union local at Artkraft. "He felt very strongly about people who put themselves out for him," says Marshall. "Since we were so involved with the theater business, deadlines were extremely important. Many times, to meet a deadline, guys would work around the clock. It was not unheard of for them to work until 12:00 or 1:00 in the morning, then crawl up on the workbench and sleep a couple of hours before waking up and going back to work."

Jacob Starr died in 1976.

"Fire Over England" Billboard sign in Times Square, New York City

15 Things About "Gone With the Wind" and the Oscars

The Oscars are almost upon us, so I thought it would be fun to look back to when Gone With the Wind swept the awards' ceremony. The 12th Annual Academy Awards took place on February 29th, 1940, at the Coconaut Grove, located inside the Ambassador Hotel.

Arriving at the Oscars: David Selznick, Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Olivia de Havilland and Jock Whitney

1. David O. Selznick and his wife, Irene, hosted a pre-Oscar party at their home on the day of the Oscars. They had invited all the nominees and their guests from Gone With the Wind. When it was time to leave for the Oscars, David jumped in the first car with some of the guests, which included Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier, completely forgetting about his wife. Irene was so mad that when she finally made it to the Oscars, (on her own), she refused to speak to David for the rest of the night.

Olivia chats across the table, while Vivien Leigh & Irene Selznick have a tete-a-tete. About David? Hmmm... 

2. At the Oscars, Bob Hope, in his first gig as Oscar host, joked that it was “a benefit for Dave Selznick" and that Selznick should've worn roller-skates, since he came up to the podium so much.

Bob Hope emcees the Academy Awards

3. Gone With the Wind swept the Oscars, winning eight competitive Oscars and two special awards. The nominations were as follows: 

Best Actor: Clark Gable
Best Actress:  Vivien Leigh (winner)
Best Supporting Actress: Hattie McDaniel (winner)
Best Supporting Actress: Olivia de Havilland
Best Screenplay: Sidney Howard (winner)
Best Director: Victor Fleming (winner)
Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler (winner)
Cinematography (Color): Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan (winner)
Film Editing:  Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom (winner)
Music (Original Score): Max Steiner
Best Picture: Selznick International Pictures (David Selznick) (winner)
Sound Recording: Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Thomas T. Moulton, Sound Director
Special Effects: John R. Cosgrove, Fred Albin and Arthur Johns
Scientific or Technical Award:  F.R. Abbott, Haller Belt, Alan Cook, Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Mitchell Camera Company, Mole-Richardson Company, Charles Handley, David Joy, National Carbon Co., Winton Hoch, Technicolor Motion Picture Corp., Don Musgrave, Selznick International Pictures, Inc.

Additional Awards:
Special Award: William Cameron Menzies, for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of "Gone with the Wind."
Irving Thalberg Award: David Selznick

David O. Selznick with the Irving Thalberg Award and Ernest Martin Hopkins

4. Clark Gable and his wife, Carole Lombard, skipped the Awards ceremony. The Los Angeles Times leaked the winners beforehand, so one reason Gable and Lombard may not have attended is that they knew he hadn't won Best Actor for his role in Gone With the Wind. 

Carole Lombard, Clark Gable and David O. Selznick

5. Victor Fleming also skipped the Academy Awards, saying he was too sick to attend.  David Selznick accepted the award on his behalf. The next day, the Academy had all of the winners report for photo ops with their statuettes.

Victor Fleming

6. Y. Frank Freeman was asked to present the award for Best Picture. Freeman joked, The only reason I was called upon to give this honor is because I have a Southern accent. Upon handing Selznick the award, Freeman said,  I never saw so many soldiers as were used in "Gone With the Wind." Believe me, if the Confederate Army had that many, we would have licked you damn Yankees.

David O. Selznick and his Best Picture Academy Award

7. When David Selznick accepted the award for Best Picture, he must have been feeling a little sorry for Olivia de Havilland not winning the Best Supporting Actress Award. While on the podium, he said that for Olivia’s brilliant work, the picture might have fallen apart.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland and Jock Whitney

8. David O. Selznick’s Oscar, for  Best Picture for GWTW, was sold at auction in 1999 to Michael Jackson for $1.54 million. This is the highest amount ever paid for a statuette.

Irene Selznick, Jock Whitney, Olivia de Havilland, David Selznick, Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier

9. Hattie McDaniel received a standing ovation upon her arrival at the Oscars. Hattie wore a blue dress with a gardenia corsage along with gardenias in her hair. Her date for the evening was Ferdinando Yorba.

Hattie McDaniel with her date

10. Both Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel were nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Hattie won, making history. At that time, Best Supporting Actors/Actresses received a plaque instead of the statuette. 

Hattie McDaniel at the podium

11. Hattie McDaniel willed her Academy Award to Howard University. Unfortunately, Howard University has lost her award. It hasn’t been seen since the early 1970s.

Hattie McDaniel with her Best Supporting Actress Award

12. Vivien Leigh arrived at 9:30pm, but didn’t receive her Academy Award until 1:15am.  When she returned to her table, Bette Davis, nominated for Best Actress for Dark Victory, congratulated Vivien on her win.

Bette Davis attends the 1940 Oscars for which she was a Best Actress nominee

13. When Vivien Leigh returned to England at the end of 1940, she left her Best Actress Oscar in the states with her good friend and secretary, Sunny Lash. She didn’t collect it until 1950, when she returned to Hollywood to film  A Streetcar Named Desire. At the time, she said it was too heavy to cart back to England.

David O. Selznick and Vivien Leigh

14. Vivien Leigh’s Gone With the Wind Oscar was sold at auction fetching $510,000 in 1993, at that time, the highest amount ever paid for an Academy Award. It’s now part of the James Tumblin Collection.

Vivien Leigh and her Best Actress Academy Award

15. A shot of the interior of the Coconaut Grove, located inside the Ambassador Hotel on Oscar night, 1940. Hattie wasn't allowed to sit at the Gone With the Wind table, so she and her date sat to the side of the room. They can be seen in the lower right of the photo.

Academy Awards, February 29, 1940 

Thanks for joining me for today's post!

P.S. You might also enjoy the following:

11 Things About Vivien Leigh & the Oscars

Fashion Friday #9: The 12th Annual Academy Awards