Film Fashion Friday: Of Human Bondage (1934)

First off, the winner of the Street of Women DVD is Lauren!! Thanks to everyone for entering. Lauren, email me within a week and I will get your DVD in the mail.

This week's film is an interesting one because I am sure many would not include this in their list of fashionable classic films. After reading my thoughts, I hope you will be able to see that it has some interesting elements present.

Cast

Bette Davis.....Mildred Rogers

Leslie Howard.....Phillip Carey

Frances Dee.....Sally

Kay Johnson.....Nora

Reginald Denny.....Griffith

Directed by John Cromwell

Gowns by Walter Plunkett

Synopsis

Bette Davis is a waitress who uses her good looks to lure in gentlemen to fund her fun. The unsuspecting Leslie Howard, a painter turned medical student, becomes enamored with Davis and starts pursuing her. By the way, Howard just so happens to have a clubbed foot, which complicates things even more. Howard ends up throwing Davis to the curb in an effort to start a new and healthy relationship with Nora. However, when Davis comes back, Howard drops everything to be with her. This trend happens yet again when Howard meets Sally. How does he handle it this time? Does he throw true love away to be with Davis?

Fashion Review

I found the fashion selection in this film to be immensely interesting. I would consider this to be among one of Plunkett's earlier films, where he is still trying to get his feet wet. However, I think he did a wonderful job with this film, especially with Davis, whom I am sure had a thing or two to say about what she was and wasn't going to wear. There are three kinda of women presented in this film: the homely wifey type: Sally, the debutant social scene type: Nora, and the tramp: Mildred. Plunkett does an excellent job dressing each type in a way that conveys what type of woman they are just by looking at their clothing. If you are going to watch this purely for fashion inspiration, I would pay attention to Nora and Davis at the beginning of the film. Davis starts out fairly normal and then slowly, with each scene, morphs into a cheap looking woman.

One thing I think Davis does very well is positioning her body in a why such that it "displays" the clothing and well as herself. Of Human Bondage was base off a 1915 book in which the character of Mildred really is a prostitute. Since of the strict PCA code, the film could only slightly allude to this. {{{SPOILER}}} Mildred is also suppose to dye of syphilis rather than TB, however Davis still wanted her death to look real verse being given the "Hollywood treatment." To do this, she came up with her own make-up and some accounts say she applied her own make-up for these last few scenes. While the information is a little unclear, it is interesting to consider the fact that Davis was such a serious actress that she wanted to get dirty and look like hell in order to give a more realistic presentation.

One thing I noticed about this film, in relation to fashion, is the only time Davis is "glamorous" is during the dream sequence Phillip has. Here Davis is wearing a dress that could easily be compared to the famous Letty Lynton dress that her rival Joan Crawford wore only two years earlier. I find it fascinating that during this dream, Phillip is fantasizing about his idealize version of Mildred and this "idealize" version just happens to be wearing a dress much like the Letty Lynton dress, which was hugely popular and set trends for the era. In order to be ideal, Mildred must be glamorous and to do so, she must be trendy. I think this dream has a lot going on with it and I could go on and on. :) I would love to hear your thoughts about the dream after you watch the film.

Of Human Bondage is in the public domain, so it can easily be found online streaming and there are tons of copies of it for sale (cheap I might add). If you have Netflix, it can be viewed online there.

Film Fashion Friday: Fashion Show February: Fashions of 1934 (1934)

Here is the second film for this week that is not currently on DVD. My copy is kinda poor, so the screen caps are not the best, but you get the idea. Again, as with the other movie from this week, this one appears on TCM and I do have a copy that I am willing to share! :)

Cast

William Powell.....Sherwood Nash

Bette Davis.....Lynn Mason

Frank McHugh.....Snap

Hugh Herbert.....Joe Ward

Verree Teasdale.....Grand Duchess Alix

Gowns by Orry-Kelly

Directed by William Dieterle

Synopsis

Sherwood Nash is a swindler who bootlegs Paris fashions for sale at cut-rate prices. His assistant Lynn poses as An American interested in a dress and Snap conceals a camera in his cane. When they try to steal the latest Baroque designs hidden cameras capture them. Threat and counterthreat lead to the suggestion of putting on a legitimate show. (Taken from IMDb)

Fashion Review

While I have only shared screen caps from the two different fashion show sequences, this film is packed full of fabulous mid-30s fashion. Not only are the models in the different fashion shows dressed to die for, so is Bette Davis. I am also loving the cute hairstyle she sports throughout the film, a slightly longer style than one normally sees with the 30s. Davis also wears a few hats throughout the film that I wish I could steal. I know Joan Crawford is normally the one out of the two that gets credited as the clotheshorse and I am not one to argue, however, this film proves that there are times when Bette sure can hold her own! I seriously love all the edgy 30s fashion that this film produces. If you get a chance to see it, I definitely would, especially if you are really into this decade. Plus, it is a great example of William Powell's 30s films that aren't in the Thin Man series. :)

Fashions of 1934 showcases the earlier work of Orry-Kelly. Did this man know how to design a gown or what? I love his work and the first time I watched this film, I knew I was going to be in for some serious eye candy when I saw his name on the credits. The cut of all these dresses in this film, whether they are formal or casual, for the models or for the characters within the film, are simply spectacular and showcase the classic 30s form that we normally think of when we think of this era. Plus, his dresses really flatter each actress too. I have written more about Orry-Kelly HERE. Please do take a look if you are interested in knowing more!

Fashion Show Review

Boy do you get a heck of a bang for your buck with this film! You get not one, but two fashion show sequences, plus Bette Davis, who sports some excellent style. What I love about this movie is we first get the traditional fashion show sequence that all of the other films included in this series have done as well. They are either at a boutique or home or someplace where one would normally see a fashion show. Then in the second half of the movie, we get a special treat and are presented a second show that is really unique to anything I have seen in the other fashion show movies. The scene goes like this: we are first presented with a painting, part of that painting is lifted like a screen, to reveal another painting that is semi sheer and we begin to see the model, finally this screen is lifted and we see the whole model and she poses in her little box. The models are on some kind of a carousal that revolves, making it so they are stationery. I am reminded here of the scene in Singin' in the Rain, however, as one film historian points out, this scene is more of a vehicle of the musical sequence rather than a full on fashion show. The fashion show in Fashions of 1934 is really unique and displays the wonderful gowns by Orry-Kelly in a lovely fashion! :)