Film Fashion Friday: Fashion Show February: Stolen Holiday (1937)

My Warner Archive DVDs finally came!! I have three movies for you all today and this will wrap up Fashion Show February. Next week we will return to normal broadcasting! :)

Cast

Kay Francis.....Nicky Picot

Claude Rains.....Stefan Orloff

Ian Hunter.....Tony Wayne

Alison Skipworth.....Suzanne

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Gowns by Orry-Kelly

Synopsis

Nicole Picot is working as a model in a Paris dress salon when she is picked by Stefan Orloff to help him convince a wealthy investor that he is well connected. She is to wear an expensive dress and dine with them because she has "class." The scheme works and both Stefan and Nicole become very wealthy over the course of a few years. Stefan is a "financier" while Nicole opens her own dress salon. But while Nicole's business is above board, Stefan's isn't, and eventually his web of deceit and fraud begins to unravel. Not always honest with her either, Stefan enlists Nicole's help one last time to avoid prison. (Taken from IMDb)

Fashion Review

I was so excited to see this movie and even more excited that Warner Archive was offering this as part of their vault collection. It really is a fabulous film!! The fashion is impeccable and as with many films I feature on this series, I want every outfit. :) Kay Francis really has the figure to show off these wonderful 30s fashions and I have grown a new appreciation for her! I really recommend checking ut some of her 30s film; she is fabulous!

Orry-Kelly designed the gowns for this film and boy do we get to see a wide array of his talents here. I have posted on Orry-Kelly before, so I won't bore you all with the details of his life and career. Click HERE if you want to learn more. The fashion shows in this film really display Kelly's keen eye for women's fashion and demonstrate his skill of dressing the female form. I am pretty sure there is always a female present on screen in this film and Kelly takes full advantage of that, with numerous costume changes and elaborate outfits.

Fashion Show Evaluation

Not even one minute into the film and we are given a fashion show....my kind of movie! What makes this even better is that we are presented with not one, but two fashion shows and they come before we even reach 30 minutes into the film. I really enjoyed the sequences here, which display many of the same traits that all the other fashion shows in this series present. I found each of the shows to be a bit like the one in Mrs. Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008), where we have some one on a microphone describing the outfits. This is something that definitely sets these shows apart from the rest. What also sets it apart from some of the other shows in these types of films, is the fashion show really is just for the audience. We are drawn in and there are minimal cuts away from the show, which is great for us vintage fashion lovers -- we really get to see each outfit in detail! :)

Stolen Holiday is available on DVD through the Warner Archive Collection.

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! :)

Film Fashion Friday: Girl Missing (1933)

I've been on a huge 30s film kick lately, probably due to my big purchase from the Warner Archive. I can't even tell you how wonderful I think it is that these different studios are releasing many of their older, lesser known films on a made to order basis. I really feel this is one of the biggest things to happen for classic film lovers since the invention of home video. Anyways, the movie for this week, Girl Missing (1933), is a cute 30s flick with lots of costume changes featuring the early work of Orry-Kelly.

The Players

Glenda Farrell.....Kay Curtis

Ben Lyon.....Henry Gibson

Mary Brian.....June Dale

Peggy Shannon.....Daisy Bradford

Synopsis

Kay and June are two chorus girls down on their luck. On the trail to find some sort of an income, the two come across Henry Gibson who is about to marry their ex-chorus girl friend Daisy. When Daisy goes missing, the June and Kay know something is fishy and seek to help Henry; who, by the way, Kay has developed a crush on. Along the way, the girls run into trouble with the law and find that they may end up in jail for their attempts to help Henry. So how does it all end? Is Daisy found? Does she stay with Henry? Do Henry and Kay end up together?

Fashion Review

I have to admit, when I first put this film in the dvd player, I wasn't expecting much. The run time is short and the cast had a lot of B actors. The story sounded interesting so I gave it a chance, and boy am I glad I did. As soon as I saw Orry-Kelly's name on the credits I knew this was going to have a least one or two really good gowns in it. What followed was an incredible opening scene with the two girls dressed in their finest and this would set the trend for the remainder of the film.

There are several costume changes throughout the film, which for such a short running time was a huge surprise. The girls outfits range from evening wear to daytime casual, however all sport that lovely 30s style. Each outfit has been given a lot of attention to detail and the girls are accessorized well, with tons of hats, gloves, and jewelry to compliment each of their looks. I especially love the, what I am guessing is Bakelite, dress clips on Mary (left) above. You can purchase some similar ones HERE.

The gowns were designed by Orry-Kelly. Kelly was born in Australia at the turn of the 19th century. His first ambition was to be an actor and when this did not pan out, he began painting backdrop murals for night clubs. This lead to his coming to America to work for Fox and East Coast Studios to create title cards for silent films. On the side, Kelly starting designing costumes for Broadway and caught the eye of Ethel Barrymore and Katharine Hepburn. After a few failed attempts to run some night clubs, Kelly headed west and was introduced to the head of the wardrobe department at Warner Brothers by Cary Grant, an old friend. This began his career in Hollywood designing for the movies.

Kelly's career start at Warners is an interesting one. Since at the time Warners was not doing many period films, the costumes he designed for his female stars became major selling points of the films and were used in the marketing campaigns. For this reason, it is easy to see how much Kelly affected not only Hollywood costuming, but women's fashion in general. For this reason, I would highly recommend seeing this and many of his other films as well. All of the ones I have seen have always provided me with great vintage style inspiration, making me long for bias cuts and dresses with great drape.

Fashion Grade 10/10 (For Kelly's influence in the fashion world and for so many inspiring costume changes in only a little more than an hour running time).

Girl Missing (1933) is available on DVD through the Warner Archive and to rent through classicflix.