Old Movie Madness - Heartbeat (1946)

Aaaand - I'm back again.  I've been watching a lot of films lately in my effort to get up to date with my knitting.  This weekend gave me this very sweet Ginger Rogers offering, and who can resist Ginger.

This romantic comedy opens in what appears to be a schoolroom, but it quickly becomes clear that Professor Aristide, in a wonderfully Fagin-esque turn by Basil Rathbone, is teaching them little in the way of morality and everything about survival.

Enter Arlette and her enormous hair (Ginger Rogers), who has just escaped from Reform School without any identification papers and is looking for a new start.

It's enormous, really enormous!

The Professor quickly realises that such a pretty young girl can be an asset to someone living a life of crime and teaches her the tricks of the trade.

Unfortunately Arlette isn't as adept at the trade as expected and is quickly caught stealing a tie pin from a gentleman on the tram.  Said gentleman agrees not to prosecute on the proviso that Arlette help him out with something equally underhand (get your minds out of the gutter people!) and so she agrees to pose as a nobleman's niece at a society party.  Her job being to dance and flirt with young diplomat Pierre, in an attempt to prove that the young man is sleeping with another man's wife.

Arlette finds her evidence, a photo of the lady in his watch, but in a goodhearted gesture intended to save hurt all round she steals the photo, keeping his secret.

Pierre, not realising the beautiful girl on his arm is a thief, is so smitten he drives her home and the pair share a kiss - Arlette's first kiss.  They agree to meet the next day at the station.

Arlette confesses all and Pierre is furious but he agrees to help her and arranges her a sham marriage for her to a friend, to help her get her papers.  He leaves, but realises he might love her and returns to see if his feelings are true.  With him there, Arlette cannot marry another and calls off the wedding.

The question is, will Arlette and Pierre end up together or will they just keep double crossing each other...

It's been a while since I saw something so resolutely mid 40s.  This was '46 - the year before Dior released his New Look into the world - and you can see that '46 was considerably less structured. There aren't the severely nipped in waists we would expect from '47 onwards for example.

The first item of clothing that really caught my eye was this absolutely darling little blouse, up close it is really a chequered print.

 I love the pointy collar, which reminds me of these blouses from Qbiffa on eBay.  I have one of these in black and it's gorgeous.

You can see the print and the little beret it is teamed with here. The film is set on the continent, after all.  You have to have a beret, it's compulsory.

Later Arlette is given a very extravagant gown for the ball.  The skirt is formed of three tiers and the whole thing studded with rhinestones.

More enormous hair, and a massive flower.

 These two tiered dresses are held in the Met Museum and are both from 1946.  It was clearly the done thing to dress like a wedding cake in 1946.

Once Arlette is engaged and has access to some money she seems to love her some sun suits.  The first picture below is a most delightful full-length cover up with big severe military shoulders and two tone stripes across the chest.

As usual she pairs this look with massive hair.  The more you look at it the more spaniely it becomes, unfortunately.

Below you can see a bizarre mohair bra top and high waisted shorts combo.  In fact, I would argue this is an early bikini.  The bikini was officially launched in 1946 and this shows that the wardrobe department on Heartbeat really were making efforts to keep it looking contemporary.

There is also quite an array of striking headgear featured.  The feathery pompom hat below, part of Arlette's dark wedding suit for her sham marriage, is so wonderful and hilarious and so very 1946.  Paired with the freaking massive hair it makes her silhouette almost symmetrical.

In fact it recalled to me this picture from the ever brilliant Fashion Era site

The cheating wife of the ambassador also liked a feathery hat and also had massive hair, here - massive victory rolls.  I'm also more than a little in love with the collarless jacket and the sequinned blouse / jabot.

The lady clearly liked her sparkle, in this scene she seems to have a string of diamonds woven into her updo.

And finally - freaking massive flower style wedding headgear.  Yes, it is petals.  Yes, they are bigger than her forehead.

 This picture, also from fashion-era.com, shows some real folk getting married in '46 with the bride wearing something broadly similar.

A great film for fashion, though there isn't a lot of it.  Arlette, being poor, doesn't have a vast wardrobe to choose from.  Still, I feel the outfits here really show fashion on the cusp of change.  The sun suit about to become the bikini, the military lines about to be replaced by the dangerous curves and voluminous fabric of the New Look.

Oh, and restrained 40s practical dos being usurped by the big fluffy hair that the 50s would adore.

For your delectation, two last pictures of the back of the big hair.

Old Movie Madness - Gold Diggers of 1933

Jeepers, it's been over a month since I last posted.  I've been keeping up with my Facebook page but haven't really felt inspired to write anything here, especially since I left my camera in Eastbourne last month.  Ah well, we have some catching up to do!

I've signed up for a knitting class especially on sewing together knitted projects - a particular pet hate of mine - and as a result I've been spending a lot of time trying to get my several unfinished items knitted up.  As a result I spent most of yesterday, yarn in hand, watching old movies.

I finally got around to watching "Gold Diggers of 1933" an early Ginger Rogers number -boy I love Ginger - and so thought I'd share my thoughts on the costuming with you.

It's an interesting one as it is so VERY early 30s.  all small hats, sleeve details and beautifully waved hair.  Take a look at this picture before scrolling down.  Especially the second along.  Note the sleeves and the collar detail.

retrowaste.com

The film is, unsurprisingly given the title, set in 1933.  It centres around four showgirls - Carole (Joan Blondell) the sexy, knowing torch singer, Trixie (Aline McMahon) the tall, wise cracking comedienne, Polly (Ruby Keller) the innocent and somewhat dull ingenue and Fay (Ginger Rogers) the flirty glamourpuss.

Opening with a Busby Berkely number its clear the girls are having a hard time.  It's the Great Depression and they simply can't find work and have been reduced to stealing food from their neighbours just to get by.

They hear news of a new show opening and go all out to impress the producer who casts them all - only to find he has no money to actually bring it to the stage.

Luckily the girls friend, a "penniless" musician has had his music commissioned for the show, and on hearing of the lack of funds seems to miraculously find the $15,000 dollars needed for the production.

This young man is in fact a millionaire and is in love with the wet fish, Polly, much to the vexation of his uptight older brother who threatens to leave him penniless and who tries every trick in the book to try and break up the pair.

Carol poses as Polly to play him at his own game, but ends up in a stew herself.

The costumes were designed by Orry Kelly, an Australian artist who had move to Hollywood in 1932 in search of acting fame of his own.  Kelly would go on to design for Arsenic and Old Lace, Harvey and Some Like it Hot.

The opening scene costumes for "We're in the Money" are pretty risque - little bikinis made of coins.  Here is Fay having hers taken by the bailiffs.

And a picture from the front.  How that girl managed to be funny, cute and sexy all at the same time I don't know.

In fact Ginger tended to have the best clothes throughout.  Her cosmetics counter uniform is simply to die for.  Back up top, second dress along!

working it like a boss

Look at the hat, the belt, the cuffs and the collar accent!

half'inched from the-telling.livejournal.com

It's quite a saucy costume and is referred to in the script as being very sheer.  I think it is a deliberate play on what someone "in the money" would wear - it could be elegant but it's overblown.  Too tight, too sheer, too detailed.  A bit "Stella Dallas."

She has to lend this little number to Carol and later appears in this delightful creation.  Circle details throughout - perhaps to mimic the earlier coin costumes.  Look at the target puffs on the sleeves and the circles on the belt.

It being the early 30s sleeves were a big deal - even a fairly dowdy secretary has these on her dress.  The pattern is somewhat 70s I think, I just love the fullness at the top and the tight forearm.  I'd also kill for those frumpy little specs.

Trixie has a couple of lovely outfits - this is really quite spectacular.  Look at the chevron print and the huge sheer collar.

She also has an evening dress that makes my heart hurt.  All liquid sequins and high necklines...i love that sort of cover all glamour.  Not to mention Carol's "illusion lace" style neckline here, with the almost nude net making the collar and bust detail of her gown look unconnected.  Amazing work Mr Kelly.  Amazing.

There were simply gorgeous details everywhere.

These buttons, on a dress which also had a sailor collar style tie at the back of the neck.  Look back up top at the second dress along.

Does this hat look just like fashion plates of the day?

fashion-era.com

And this outfit for the final big number.  Something which screams 50s bad girl rather than early 30s to me - with the low cut top, neck tie and tight fringed (fringed!) skirt.

In fact, even if you can't be bothered to watch the whole thing I'd advise watching that closing number.  Blondell acts her socks off.  Ignore the advert at the beginning.  Gods I hate adverts everywhere.

Now I'm off to go and watch "Love Affair" and knit some more.  I'll definitely not be away a month this time.  Definitely...

Old Movie Madness: The Major and the Minor (1942)

This is one of those films that doesn't translate well to the modern mindset, it really is sweet and funny but I found my 21st century brain jarring with negative connotations at the storyline.  More on that later.

Ginger Rogers, one of my favourite actresses, plays Susan Applegate; a young lady trying her luck in the Big Apple and failing.  She finally snaps after a customer expects her to offer more than just a scalp massage and decides to head home Iowa.  Through all her time in New York she has made sure to save her exact train fare but unfortunately the fares have gone up during this time and she can't afford to get home.



Susan is a determined girl though, Ginger specialises in the plucky young woman role, and racks her brain to think of a way to get out of the city.  She decides the only way is to try and convince the ticket salesman that she is under age and so she hitches up her skirt, rips the trimmings off her hat and scrubs off her makeup.  she finally manages to get a ticket and gets onto the train but the inspectors are suspicious and she hides from them in a train compartment.

The compartment is occupied by Major Philip Kirby who takes pity on Susan (now going by the name of Su-Su), who convinces him that she is just 12 years old and in need of help.  He lets her stay in his compartment in the spare bed. 

Unfortunately her plans for getting home are scuppered when the train tracks flood but, happy to be stuck with the charming Major she decides to reveal her true identity to him.  Yet again though, poor Susan is a victim of circumstance, as the Major's fiancee Pamela walks into the cabin and sees her there and, assuming her feela has been cheating on her, storms out.

The Major is still convinced that Su-su is just a child and so, to prove to his future wife that nothing untoward happened he decides to take Su-su home with him to the army school where they live.  Susan has to stay with Pamela's younger sister and is soon rumbled, but her roommate agrees to help her in her deception in exchange for some help in scuppering the Pamela's plans to tie the Major down.

Following much hilarity as the boys at the school all fall for the glamorous 12 year old Susan is finally unmasked and Pamela forces her to leave before she can tell Philip that she loves him. 

Later Philip comes to visit young Su-su at her home on his way to active duty and she finally lets him know how she feels.

There are a lot of reasons why this should not work, the delectable Ms Rogers is far to old to pass for a 12 year old for one thing and, to modern eyes, the Major's willingness to share his bedroom with an unknown child is hard to understand.  Ginger manages to charm us through it all though, in her usual jolly way.

The rest of the cast are pretty good too.  Diana Lynn, playing Pamela's intelligent and very grown up younger sister is a a star turn, with a natural flair for comedy.  Rita Johnson as Pamela is just annoying enough for the audience to dislike without them wondering why the Major proposed to her in the first place and the cast of Cadets at the school are all charming in their own precocious way.

I really wasn't keen on Ray Milland's Major though, I just couldn't see why Susan would be so interested in him.  Fine, he is fairly good looking in a bland way, and very kind to waifs and strays but he has no sexual presence whatsoever.  Still, it is a '42 film and also I guess it would be distinctly odd if he was playing a sexual character given his intimacy with this strange child.

I have to say that the Major's attraction to this child did make me feel a little uncomfortable.  There were moments where you could see that he felt drawn to her despite thinking her just 12 years old, and to my not so innocent 2011 eyes this did not sit well.

Still, if you can suspend you disbelief at Ginger looking 12 and bury your modern suspicions, then it really is a charming little movie.  I think it is all available on YouTube but for now - here's the trailer:

Old Movie Madness: Bachelor Mother (1939)

OK - I have decided - 1938-1941 are the ultimate years for fashion in my eyes, and this film, made in 1939, may be the ultimate film for fashion too. 

Bachelor Mother stars an incredibly lovely Ginger Rogers as Polly Parrish, a salesgirl in the toy department of John B Merlin & Son, a large department store in New York City.  It is the end of the Christmas season and she finds that she is about to lose her job, so she pops out during her lunch break to sign up at an employment agency.  On her way back to the office she spots a woman leaving a baby on the doorstep of the foundling hospital.  Concerned for the child she approaches it and when the door of the hospital is opened the staff assume she is the mother, refusing to believe her when she says she is not.

The hospital follow up with her employer, speaking to the young David Merlin (David Niven looking delicious), and saddened by the tale of a young mother unable to support her child he gives her back her job and a raise.  Despite her continued protestation no one believes that she is not the mother and so when the baby is returned to her she decides to bring up the child.

David spends an increasing amount of time with Polly and the baby and once New Year's Eve comes around he invites her out for the evening, they have a wonderful time and a rather passionate kiss but David is still reluctant to take on a ready made family.

Eventually David's father J.B Merlin himself (played by the ever wonderful Charles Coburn) finds out about the child and assumes his son is the father.  J.B is thrilled, as he has long been waiting for his playboy son to settle down.  David realises he really does love Polly and the baby and asks her to marry him, letting everyone believe that the child is his son.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, Ginger, as usual, was a joy throughout and the building romance between herself and David Niven felt very believable.  This is a light comedy movie about a very serious subject and, interestingly for the time, little mention is made of the shame of single motherhood. There are some very funny set pieces including Polly pretending to be Swedish which did make me giggle.

It also looks beautiful, I want all of Polly's wardrobe, not surprisingly as the costumes were by Irene.  Here hair was also set in the most perfect pageboy...sigh.  Here are some of the best pictures I could find.

I strongly advise watching the film though, to see the costumes to full effect.

 

I love the cross detail here

 and I can always go for a little asymmetry

 A lovely jabot

 This dress is incredible, the waistband detail and the tiny buttons - swoon.

Here is the original movie trailer.  I would have added in a visually excellent fan trailer I found on YouTube but it shows all the best bits of the film and has annoying music so I resisted.  Go watch this movie, please.

Old Movie Madness: Monkey Business (1952)

Another knitting movie - starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers as a married couple of long time standing.  Cary plays Dr Barnaby Fulton, a scientist working to great a youth drug.  He thinks he has cracked it with his latest potion but really Esther, one of the monkeys they are testing the formula on, has slipped her own concoction in the drinking water.

After taking the potion, he has a drink of water to take away the taste and Esther's potion takes control, he starts acting like a 20 year old, having a youthful short hair cut and buying a loud jacket and a sports car and whisking his bosses secretary, played by the very lovely Marilyn Monroe, off on a day of adventure.

When he wakes up the effects of the potion have worn off and intending to try again he prepares a second dose.  His loving wife Edwina, concerned that he might repeat his behaviour and get into more trouble quickly take the dose herself, and also horrified by its bitter taste, quickly takes a draught from the water fountain.  Edwina is then affected in much the same way, playing practical jokes on those all around her, whisking her husband off dancing and then getting dramatically over emotional when he disgrees with her.

Again the potion wears off after a sleep and the two head to the lab to decide what to do.  Tired from their long night and the aftermath of their wild behaviour they drink a lot of coffee to face the day - using the water from the founctain.  This time they regress to the age of 10 and leave the office, having an argument on the way.  Edwina falls asleep and the Dr befriends a group of young boys who help him take revenge on his wife's former boyfriend who she called when angry with him the night before.

When Edwina wakes up to find a baby beside her (a neighbours child who has crawled in) she believes it is her husband and runs to the lab to beg his boss to find the antidote.  the boss and the other scientists all need a strong drink, but mix it with the water and all regress to childhood. 

Eventually everyone realises that the Doctor isn't a baby and the water has the formula and everyone lives happily ever after.

The film is daft, let me get that out of the way.  Really, incredibly, silly - but hey, what was I expecting huh?  It really doesn't make any sense and the monkeys do creep me out just a little - especially the very long close up of a monkeys face flipping its lips up and down.  That is probably just me though.

There are a lot of wonderful things about it.  Cary Grant just being, well, deliciously Cary.  Ginger Rogers fantastic acting both as an exceptionally devoted wife and a stroppy 10 year old girl is fabulous to behold, and Marilyn...oh she just looks divine in this film.  Especially in the pompom fringed dress.  Lust.

The costumes were by Travilla, Marilyn's favourite designer, the influence most evident in Marilyn's pleated dress (below) and make up was by Ben Nye.  It is no wonder everyone looks fabulous.

It is a bit of fluff, but fluff with a good heart and with some very wonderful moments.  Definitely worth watching.