Fashion Friday #4: Shakespeare's 400th Birthday

To mark William Shakespeare's 400th birthday in 1964, Vivien Leigh and her good friend, Robert Helpmann, attended an outdoor celebration for the Bard. The party took place on an overcast day at the partially finished Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford.

In addition to Robert Helpmann, Vivien was joined by Michael Redgrave (who would star in the theater's opening play,  A Month In The Country with Ingrid Bergman, in 1965) and Diana Wynyard, (who sadly passed away from kidney failure three weeks after this picture was taken).

For this special occasion, Vivien chose to wear a hot pink, two piece outfit. The boxy shaped jacket featured five buttons down the front, pocket flaps and side buttons. Vivien accented her outfit with a fur stole around her neck, gloves and a black velvet hair band a la Alice In Wonderland.

Michael Redgrave and  Vivien Leigh

For their part of the celebration, Vivien and Helpmann recreated one of their scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream, titled Ill Met by Moonlight.  The two had co-starred in the play twenty-six years earlier in late 1937 to early 1938, as Titania and Oberon, respectively.

Vivien Leigh and Robert Helpmann as Titania and Oberon

Here's part of that scene:
Oberon: Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.
Titania: What, jealous Oberon! Fairies, skip hence:
            I have forsworn his bed and company.
Oberon: Tarry, rash wanton: am not I thy lord?
Titania: Then I must be thy lady: but I know
            When thou hast stolen away from fairy land,
            And in the shape of Corin sat all day,
            Playing on pipes of corn and versing love
            To amorous Phillida.

Vivien Leigh and Robert Helpmann

Then Vivien recited the Quality of Mercy speech by Portia from The Merchant of Venice. Since the theater wasn't completed yet, they stood on a platform built into the scaffolding.

The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
‘T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown:
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.

This next picture of Vivien was taken at another event. She's wearing the same outfit, but this time we get to see her ensemble in color. Note how vibrant the pink would have been in person.

A side view of Vivien, at the theater, with Helpmann looking on:

Members of the audience included several swans, from the River Wey, who came ashore to enjoy the tribute to Shakespeare :)

Thanks for joining me for this Fashion Friday post!

Fashion Friday #3, On the Golf Course

Today's Fashion Friday outfit comes from the 1937 comedy, A Storm In A Teacup. 

If you haven't seen A Storm In A Teacup, here's a very brief synopsis for you: The movie stars Vivien Leigh, Rex Harrison, Sara Allgood, Cecil Parker and Scruffy the dog. Vivien plays Victoria, the daughter of the local provost (similar to a mayor) played by Cecil Parker. Rex Harrison's the reporter who's come to town and stirs up trouble. Sara Allgood's fur baby, Scruffy, is at the center of all the trouble. The movie is based on a play, which was about the politics of the time, specifically dictatorships.

Vivien Leigh shows up fashionably dressed on the golf course. For this scene, Vivien wears a checked tweed skirt in red, green and fawn. She tops the skirt off with a green suede jacket, along with a green felt hat. Vivien's feet are encased in brown suede shoes with buckle straps and fringed tongues.

Above are a couple of shoe advertisemnts from 1937. I don't know the particular shoe brand that Vivien wears in this golfing scene, but these shoes are somewhat similar to what she wears in the movie. I think it's kind of fun to see the styles that were popular when the film was made.

This photo is a colorized image for one of the film's lobby cards. It was normal for photographers to take publicity pictures in black and white. Once it was decided which pictures would be used for the lobby cards, those pictures would then be colored in by hand. As you can see, the photo specialists who colored this in, imagined her coat, socks and hat in red.

Thanks for joining me for today's Fashion Friday post!

Fashion Friday #2, Beaded Gown by Lanvin

In 2003, one of Vivien Leigh's dresses went on the auction block at Sotheby's. This stunning evening gown was created by Lanvin and sold for 1,320 GBP, inclusive of the buyer's premium.

This white silk evening dress is only a size two. Vivien was tiny! The fitted bodice features embroidery and beading in an intricate pattern, while the floor-length skirt flares out into a tulip-shape. Vivien wore a purple wrap with this dress.

The evening gown was designed by Antonio del Castillo for Lanvin in 1957. The House of Lanvin was created by Jeanne Lanvin in 1889, when she was just twenty-two years old. Jeanne began her career at sixteen, as a milliner, and later moved into dressmaking. After Jeanne's death in 1946, her daughter, Marie, hired Castillo to design for the house. Castillo had been working for Elizabeth Arden when he left them to join Lanvin in 1950. Castillo also designed costumes for the stage and screen, winning an Academy Award in 1971 for Nicholas and Alexandra.

A peek inside Jeanne Lanvin's House

Though the dress was designed by Castillo, the bodice's beaded design was created by Francois Lesage, an embroiderer with his own workshop, Maison Lesage. Lesage's skills were utilized by several Parisian fashion houses including Balmain, a favorite designer of Vivien's.

Sotheby's website gives the following description: shaped and boned bodice with elaborate amethyst chenille and floss silk embroidery studded with blue and pink pastes and faux pearls, with matching deep purple stole, bust 86cm (34in), waist 66cm (26in). 

Vivien wore this gorgeous dress on at least three occasions in the 1960s. The first two times were in 1961, when she attended the ballet and a revival showing of Gone With the Wind. On both occasions, she's wearing the floor-length purple shawl as seen in the first image on this post from Sotheby's. The pictures above and below are from the Gone With the Wind showing.

Vivien also stepped out in this Lanvin number for a performance at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. She attended the opening night of the Leningrad State Kirov Ballet's season. She accented the dress with a three strand pearl necklace with a diamond drop pin, which she also wore to the GWTW revival. 

Vivien at the ballet (Photo from Alamy)

The third time we see Vivien in this Lanvin dress is at a party for Tovarich in 1963. The party was held at the Americana Hotel to celebrate their first night on Broadway. Vivien is pictured below with her co-star, Jean Pierre Aumont, and a gigantic cake complete with candles for the occasion. 

Below is another detailed shot of the bodice. Francois Lesage was a complete genius when it came to beading and embroidery. To see some of his other beautiful creations, click here for an article on him originally published in Elle Magazine.

Lanvin made several of these dresses for their clients. These detailed images are from one of those dresses; the difference being ownership and size.

Vivien Leigh loved to wear French designers. In the spring of 1957, it was reported by the newspapers that she had just spent $4,500 on clothes from Paris, which is about $40,000 in today's money. 

A lot of women will tell you that the most elegant person in London is Vivien Leigh, and I see what they mean. Miss Leigh is one hundred percent the perfect modern woman. -Leonard Mosley

Thanks for joining me for today's Fashion Friday post!

Fashion Friday #1

In 1958, Vivien Leigh attended a charity event for the Boys and Girls Exhibition. At the National Spastics Society's stand, Vivien recruited youngsters for The Whistlers, a new club for children with Cerebral Palsy. The club's motto was "whistle for the kids who can't."

From the National Spastics Society's webpage: In 1952, three parents of children with cerebral palsy set up The Spastics Society because no one would educate their children. The organisation grew and changed to become a household name. But attitudes to disabled people changed as well. The word 'spastic' became a term of abuse. Suddenly, The Spastics Society's name was holding it back. We wanted to say something positive about disability. In 1994, The Spastics Society became Scope. To read more about this organization, please click here.

For the occasion, Vivien topped her curls with a white boater hat, traditionally made from straw, and which featured a dark band and veil. The outfit she chose to wear for this event was a blue, trapeze-line dress by Dior. A trapeze-line dress is one which is fitted at the shoulders, then progressively flares out as it travels down the female form. Trapeze-line dresses were the new rage from Paris, as seen in the 1958 spring collection from the House of Dior.

A Dior trapeze-line dress from the spring 1958 collection.

These dresses were designed by 21 year-old Yves Saint Laurent, who had recently taken over the helm at Dior. Just a few months before his passing, Christian Dior had personally chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him after his death. The trapeze-line dresses were a continuation of Dior's 1955 A-line collection.

Yves Saint Laurent and an assistant make a few adjustments on one of his trapeze-line dresses, being modeled by Svetlana Lloyd. According to Svetlana, Yves was unbelievably shy.

In between whistling and signing autographs (about 300 in thirty minutes), the forty-four year old Vivien bragged that she would soon be a grandmother. My daughter Suzanne is having a baby in December. I'm fixed up in films and plays until mid-1960-- not bad going for a grandmother. Not bad at all!

Kenneth More on the Well Endowed Actress

British actor, Kenneth More, Jayne Mansfield's latest movie costar, said Sunday that bust size, rather than measure of talent, has become the gauge for an actress' success at the box office.

More said Miss Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren were killing off such sophisticated performers as Lauren Bacall, Rosalind Russell and Barbara Stanwyck.

He told United Press International in an interview that he likes the last three because- "I like a little bit of wit and polish, but that kind of actress has sort of died out due to the bosom cult."

More, [who is] in the United States for the opening of his latest movie, "A Night to Remember," in which he is costarred with the sinking liner Titanic, offered these evaluations of the bosomy actresses:

On Miss Loren: "I don't see much in this woman at all."

Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield at a Paramount party for Miss Loren

On Miss Mansfield: "Her talent is very limited, but she is a good trooper. She's always on time and always knows her part. She knows all the other parts, too. She never fluffs."

On Miss Monroe: "She is wonderfully effective on the screen. She's like Lassie- one bark and she steals a scene."

Marilyn Monroe

More said he did not understand how Ingrid Bergman, a non-bosomy type, has remained popular at the box office in the face of this voluptuous competition.

"The idea that girls can get to the top on bosoms is extraordinary," he said. "It is not merely a passing phase, either. Films are bigger and showier than ever before. Bigger screen plays require bigger screens. Bigger screens require bigger girls. Perhaps there is no place for the flat-chested girl any more."

More, a veteran actor, has costarred with Vivien Leigh and Kay Kendall, both slender, witty and polished. His next picture will be with Miss Bacall, who, in his view, is even more so.

Kenneth More and Vivien Leigh in a scene from The Deep Blue Sea, 1955

He said that he had been less worried about appearing opposite the liner Titanic than with Miss Mansfield in a film they recently finished called "The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw."

"The idea of me getting the best of three falls with Jayne was amazing," he said. "People are still wondering how I got close enough to her to kiss her."

More said his fellow Britons rely mainly on American imports for their "bust pictures," despite the existence of Diana Dors and Sabrina.

"There are no British bust pictures," he said. "We haven't got any busts in England. We're flat-chested. Our actresses are deflated when it comes to bosoms. It must be because there is too much rain."


Article published by UPI, 1958

Evil Under The Sun

Evil Under The Sun is a 1982 murder mystery, based on an Agatha Christie book with the same name. The movie was adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer and directed by Guy Hamilton. Peter Ustinov once again utilizes the little grey cells as Christie's Belgium sleuth, Hercule Poirot.

The setting for this whodunnit is an island situated off the coast of Albania and the year is 1937. When the King of Tyrania decided to marry, he gave his former mistress an old summer palace. She turned it into a resort and named it Daphne's Place. The movie is actually filmed on location on Majorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean. 

We begin with a death on the moors and Hercule Poirot is called in to investigate. Sadly, he can't find the perpetrator of this murder, but the insurance company he works for has another assignment for him. Sir Horace Blatt (Colin Blakely), a millionaire industrialist, wants to insure a diamond brooch, but the brooch he sent in is a fake. Monsieur Poirot is sent to find out why. Sir Horace shares with Poirot how he met a stage actress named Arlena (played by the fabulous Diana Rigg) who left the play she was starring in to run away, across the ocean, with him. He gave her the brooch as an engagement gift, but then she met someone else on board and dumped Sir Horace for her new love, to whom she is now married. As Sir Horace says, a diamond brooch is too much to pay for three days fondling on the high seas.

Sir Horace and Hercule agree to meet at Daphne's Place, run by Daphne Castle (Maggie Smith). Sir Horace is delayed by a day while Hercule arrives with the Marshalls. Arlena's new husband is Kenneth Marshall (Denis Quilley), a widower with a teenage daughter, Linda (Emily Hone).

Soon everyone at the resort is acquainted and reacquainted.  The producers of the play that Arlena walked out on, Myra and Odell Gardener (Sylvia Miles and James Mason) are also there. They lost a great deal of money when Arlena left. Yet as the Gardeners harbor their bitter hatred, they still hope to convince Arlena to return to the stage in their new production. Then there's Rex Brewster (Roddy McDowall), a shallow gossip columnist, who's written a scandalous biography of Arlena, but can't get it published without her release.

The proprietress, Daphne, is an old acquaintance of Arlena's and the two had once tread the boards together. Smith and Rigg have some delicious dialogue in the movie. Daphne on Arlena: She could always throw her legs up in the air higher than any of us [pause] and wider. The two actresses play very well off each other with their catty remarks. Daphne also knows Kenneth Marshall, who'd been at the resort three years ago after the death of his first wife. The last guests are the Redferns, Christine and Patrick (Jane Birkin and Nicholas Clay). The Redferns argue a great deal and it's made clear from the beginning that Patrick is an adulterer. 

The cast of Evil Under The Sun-- Standing: Peter Ustinov, Colin Blakely, Jane Birkin, Nicholas Clay, Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, Emily Hone and Denis Quilley; Sitting: Sylvia Miles and James Mason; Reclining: Roddy McDowall

Unfortunately, one of these characters will be murdered shortly and it will be up to Hercule Poirot to figure out who the killer is before he or she leaves the island. The biggest obstacle for determining the murderer is that everyone has an alibi.

Daphne: You mean nobody did it?
Poirot: And yet we still have a body, madame. 

The costumes in this movie are almost another character. They are visually stunning in color and style. The costumes were designed by Anthony Powell and created by: Barbara Matera, Germinal Rangel, Bermans & Nathans; hats were made by Freddie Fox and Woody Shelp. 

Diana Rigg wears no less than three swimsuits: a polka dot kind of print; a red one with a white leaf design at the neck; and a white one with a red Chinese hat. 

Jane Birkin is so plain and dowdy in this movie, it's hard to believe that Hermes named a purse after her. She plays a shy and timid wife, always nagging at her husband, yet bending to his will. Christine Redfern has delicate skin and burns easily in the sun, hence the head scarves, long sleeves and long skirts. Everything is billowy on her and centered in the beige family.

Jane Birkin as Christine Redfern

The opening credits are not to be missed as they feature the fine artwork of Hugh Casson, while the film is filled with the music of Cole Porter. There's even a scene where Arlena sings You're the Top, with some help from Daphne, of course.

Besides the costumes and music, there's the amazing photography of Christopher Challis. Challis takes full advantage of the natural beauty of Majorca. You can almost feel the heat from the sun, hear the gentle lapping of the water against the shore and taste the salty air, all through the lens of his camera. There are glorious shots of the Mediterranean with the light bouncing off of the water and the island's cliffs become a place one aspires to hike. 

Sylvia Miles as Myra and Nicholas Clay as Patrick go for a spin around the island.

Ustinov is absolute perfection as the brilliant, picky, Belgium detective. He'd previously tackled the role of Poirot in the 1978 movie Death On The Nile (and would later reprise the role in four more movies). The summation Poirot gives is a not-to-be-missed scene. As the murderer says, Poirot is the well-known romancer and teller of tales.

This is one of my favorite Agatha Christie movies. It's well worth watching if you've never seen it. I really can't discuss the plot in more detail without giving away the victim or the murderer, because quite frankly, that's half the fun of a whodunnit.

The most notable side-effect of watching Evil Under The Sun is that after viewing, you may want to pack your bags and head off to Majorca.

This post has been my contribution to The Beach Party Blogathon (click here for more entries). Thanks for stopping by!

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Happy 75th Anniversary, Waterloo Bridge!

This weekend marks the 75th Anniversary of Waterloo Bridge, which premiered on May 16th, 1940. Waterloo Bridge is a beautifully filmed, romantic melodrama, directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor. The movie was based on the stage play (same name) by Robert Sherwood and had already received the Hollywood treatment once before in 1931. The pre-code version is definitely worth watching for the fantastic performance given by Mae Clarke in the lead role. In 1940, the play was adapted for the screen by Hans Rameau, Samuel Behrman and George Froeschel, and produced by Sidney Franklin.

Waterloo Bridge was a very important movie for Vivien Leigh as it marked the first screen role she undertook after her Academy Award winning performance as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With Wind. Everyone was waiting to see if she was a flash-in-the-pan or if she was here to stay. Vivien portrayed Myra with a beauty and sensitivity that left no movie-goer, critic or Hollywood mogul in doubt that here indeed was true talent.

The movie opens in London during World War II. The screen is a dark gray matte, then a man's voice comes over a loudspeaker with wartime instructions for the Londoners. The camera spans over the crowds, then focuses on a group of schoolchildren. It's a grim reminder of war and the tragedy it brings. Joseph Ruttenberg's dramatic photography earned him a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Waterloo Bridge for Cinematography (B&W).

Roy Cronin (Robert Taylor) is a Colonel in the British army, who pauses on Waterloo Bridge and reminisces about a dancer named Myra (Vivien Leigh) he met when he was a young man, during World War I on that same bridge.

Roy and Myra met back then as sirens blasted through the air, warning of impending air raids. They sought shelter together, huddling among the masses, in an underground bomb shelter. Roy's a captain in the army and Myra's a ballet dancer for a troupe run by a strict Madame, played by Maria Ouspenskaya.

Roy and Myra embark on a whirlwind, forty-eight hour romance, which director Mervyn LeRoy vividly captured in close-ups, music and lighting. Though Herbert Stothart received an Oscar nomination for Music (Original Score), the song that stays with the viewer the most is Auld Lang Syne. It's the song that Myra and Roy dance to for the first time and marks the scene in which they fall in love. It's a significant, tender scene in which LeRoy decided no words would be necessary to convey the characters' thoughts.

Unfortunately for Myra, and their romance, Roy is called away to the front. Then disaster strikes her heart as she reads Roy's name on the casualty list and she falls into a tailspin of despair. Destitute and unable to find work, Myra now makes her living on the streets. One night, while plying her trade at the train station, a miracle happens: Roy returns. He's overcome with joy at seeing Myra and gushes nonstop, completely unaware of her emotional struggle. Vivien Leigh's expressive face shows well the inner turmoil Myra experiences: shock, disbelief, hope, love, tears and misery. All these emotions cross her face in a matter of seconds. What now for these two? Will they recover from the time apart or will their love be crushed by all that's happened since Roy went away?

Vivien gives a poignant performance, most notably during her reunion with Roy and later with his mother. In a rare moment, Vivien even gives us a taste of her comedic skills when she spies Roy waiting for her in the rain and rushes to get ready. Taylor's performance is all happiness as his character sees nothing but the good in Myra.

Other members of the cast include: Virginia Field as the memorable Kitty, Myra's best friend; Lucille Watson as Roy's mother; and C. Aubrey Smith as his uncle.

Robert Taylor, while in the midst of filming Waterloo Bridge, had this to say: This is the first good picture I've had in a year. I'm lucky to have Vivien Leigh with me. She's the biggest bet in Hollywood. People will come to see her who'd never dream of wanting to see me. 

On wanting to do a role like Myra as opposed to another role like Scarlett, Vivien said: The danger is one every actor dreads. It is being typed. Nothing could be more fatal. It would be pleasant to be able to live in the past. I cannot deny that playing Scarlett was a great satisfaction. I am not unaware of my good fortune. At the same time, I am sure audiences would soon tire of me as a perennial Scarlett. I know I would tire of a continuous Scarlett portrayal. It is variety that keeps an actor interesting. Besides, I am always keenly enthusiastic in whatever I am doing. The past can take care of itself.

Some trivia about Waterloo Bridge:

• This was the second pairing of Taylor and Leigh. Vivien had a co-starring role in Taylor's film A Yank at Oxford.
• Waterloo Bridge was remade once again as Gaby in 1956, with Leslie Caron and John Kerr in the lead roles.
• Mervyn LeRoy fell ill for a few days during filming and W.S. Van Dyke stepped in as director.
• Waterloo Bridge was Mervyn LeRoy's first time back in the director's chair since he'd given up the megaphone to be on the producing side of things.
• In between scenes, when Vivien wasn't entertaining guests, she: knitted woolen helmets for soldiers; studied lines for her upcoming play, Romeo and Juliet, with Laurence Olivier; and played chinese checkers and battleship with her co-stars.
• Due to the unsavoriness of the plot, the movie was marketed for "adults only."
• Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor were in the middle of a kissing scene, when "lights fell from the rafters" and crashed on the ground near the couple.

This post is part of My Favorite Classic Movie Blogathon and National Classic Movie Day, hosted by Rick from Classic Film and TV Cafe. Please pop over to see other contributions.