Kitty Hollywood - Scenes of Destruction - The Burning of Atlanta

So, this is a little unusual for me. The main brief when I started this thing was to bring reasonably unknown films into the spotlight. 'Gone With The Wind' would have to be just about the BIGGEST Golden Oldie. However, there are a gazillion stories about GWTW that aren't particularly well known.

Had a bit of a vommy, but recovering with determination.

Like the story about Vivien Leigh simply not being able to bring herself to make retching noises when she returns to Tara, so Olivia de Havilland had to sync them in later.
Q: Is it a sign of true gentility if you are unable to pretend to vomit? Something along the lines of a modern reworking of 'The Princess and the Pea'?

Or, that Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy, was the first black woman to ever be nominated for an Academy Award. And that her winning speech had been ghost-written by someone at the studio beforehand. What did they think - that she was incapable of writing her own speech? Jeez.

If you want to know how you'd look like if you were denied writing your own Oscar speech - look no further than this.

OR, that in the Atlanta Railway Yard death and misery sequence, there was not a camera crane in existence that would go high enough to film the expanse that Selznick was looking for. They got in touch with the company that had the largest construction cranes in California and hired one of them - but then had to contend with shakes and shudders, as a construction crane does not usually have to worry about whether or not it is being used to hold a camera. To get around this, they built a 50 metre long concrete ramp, which meant the construction crane's engine did not need to be used - thus no shaking and shuddering. The concrete ramp took two weeks to dry.

http://maudelynn.tumblr.com/post/56816903483/vivien-leigh-on-the-set-of-gone-with-the-wind

I think that thing that blows my mind so much was that there were very few simple ways to get around problems then. None of this 'the extras can be CG and you don't need to dress them' rubbish. No, you make the 5500 separate costume items because that is what you have to do. You needed a huge conflagration - burn a heap of stuff down.

I know that this film receives a heap of slag because it is a melodrama, and because it portrays SUCH racial stereotypes. I'm not condoning them.That such stereotypes largely mirrored the thinking of the time doesn't make them right. But think about the work that went into the making of this film. If this film had been made now there would be Director's Cut upon Director's Cut and 15 hours of behind the scenes documentaries and extra footage. It's a behemoth, and a bit of a forgotten one at that, strange as it may seem. 

So really - I suppose that it doesn't matter all that much that this is such a tremendously famous film. As long as I spread the love, I'm fulfilling my brief.
Way to have a satisfactory Friday!

Kitty Hollywood Short Dress - Sabrina's Ballgown in 'Sabrina' - 1954

I don't really know what more to say about this gown apart from WOW. The first time I saw this film my jaw literally dropped upon first seeing Ms Hepburn in this gown, and to be honest it just kept dropping for the rest of the film. What I wouldn't give....but enough about me. On to the gown!

Just so you can have another look. I recently watched this film again with A Young Person, and their jaw also dropped - so really it hasn't dated at all. I do wish that there was more opportunity to wear a ballgown in this current world.

Although (and this is just between you and me, please don't tell anyone) Audrey Hepburn is not always my favourite actress in the whole wide world - she most certainly knew how to wear something.

http://3hourspast.com/2012/04/29/my-favorite-movies-sabrina-1954/

http://alisonkerr.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/style-on-film-sabrina/

The little black cocktail became so enormously popular that a number of cocktail dresses were sold based exactly on this style across the next few years - and there was also a sewing pattern or two specifically designed for the home sew-er to recreate the look...

http://pintuckstyle.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/edith-head-sabrina-penelope-gowns.html

And if I ever have a waist again I might try to do that very thing.

But back to Edith Head.

As David Chierichettu mentions in his marvellous book 'Edith Head: the life and times of Hollywood's celebrated costume designer' - the thing that so many actors loved about Edith Head was that she could cover up their weirdnesses. If they had a high waist, a long neck, weird boobs, sticky-outey ears, a hunchback, you name it - she could conjur up a way to cover it up - to draw the audience's eye away from the peculiar. This is exactly what she had planned on doing with Audrey Hepburn, after all, she had done it in 'Roman Holiday'. Cover up the long neck, the skinny arms, the outey ears. This time around, Audrey was having none of it. It was all very gracious and understated - but Audrey wound up with clothes that accentuated beautifully all the features that Edith Head had planned to hide. She effectively, with the profound assistance of Hubert de Givenchy, made herself a style icon.

What did Edith get? An Oscar. For clothes she did not design.
Don't get me wrong - I love Edith Head and her utter drive and persistence in a masculine world. I think she is a Top Chick and deserves thoroughly to have a Pixar character based on her.

http://blogs.disney.com/oh-my-disney/2013/08/25/words-are-useless-unless-they-come-from-edna-mode/

But accepting an Oscar for work you do not do and just quietly hoping that the Actual designer won't say anything because it would not be gentlemanly, well, the only thing I can think to say is this....

http://imgur.com/cYCFI

And that is all.

The Cat and the Canary - 1939 - Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard

You know that thing when this happens:
You: What's it about?
Them: Well, it's set in a spooky old house when a bunch of relatives get together to read the will, and one of them will DIE...
You: Oh, yeah.
Well - THIS is that film. The story that helped kick off that whole thing.

'The Cat and the Canary' started out life as a play - written in 1921 by John Willard. Along with a couple of other plays ('The Gorilla', 'The Bat') - this play really helped cement the notion of the 'Spooky Old House' into the psyche of playgoers - and make it the thing that it is today. I think 'The Cat and the Canary' has particular longevity because of its excellent blend of humour and terror - which is still potent today - having recently watched it with a Younger Person I can personally verify this.


There are a slew of famous folk in this film, completely aside from the wonderful Mr Hope and Ms Goddard. Douglass Montgomery plays Charles - the guy who you think is going to get the girl. He was a handsome man (but perhaps given to too much makeup? I dunno - maybe he just had really good skin....) He's probably best known for playing Laurie opposite Katharine Hepburn in 'Little Women'.

Little Women - Montgomery and Hepburn 

http://www.berkeleysquarelosangeles.com/2011/05/9-chester-arthur-montgomery-house.html

He was very much established as a romantic star, so it's interesting to see that work against him here. With Bob Hope in the film, playing the bumbling hero, it would have been a real 'Oh, who's she going to pick' - for a while.

George Zucco plays the lawyer figure in the film - Mr Crosby. He was a very well respected actor - having spent many years playing suave villains in countless films.

http://www.cinekolossal.com/star2/z/zucco/

Nydia Westman plays the delightfully loopy Cousin Cicily.

http://www.aveleyman.com/FilmCredit.aspx?FilmID=3088

She, like Zucco, had a solid career in Hollywood - with many small parts in many films. Interestingly enough, she was also in 'Little Women' with Douglass Montgomery.

Gale Sondergaard, playing Miss Lu, was much more than a bit actor. As I mentioned - she was the first woman ever to win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Anthony Adverse. EVER.

http://www.listal.com/list/academy-award-best-supporting-actress

One of the many other fascinating things about Sondergaard was that she was THIS close to playing The Wicked Witch of the West in 'The Wizard of Oz'. It was virtually a done deal. However, as a
strong female actor, she was determined not to surrender her glamour - for back then - being perceived as unattractive would doom you to small character roles for the rest of your career.

http://girlsdofilm.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/the-wizard-of-oz-margaret-hamilton-as-the-wicked-witch-of-the-west/

The producers of the Wizard of Oz began to grow concerned that they were messing too much with the idealised notion of the Wicked Witch (it was an American classic and would have been like making Dumbledore into a bit of beefcake). Sondergaard refused to go ugly - and that was that, really. Margaret Hamilton took over. End of story. Sondergaard really has a very interesting life story, involving communism and blacklisting - but that is for another day.

And Elizabeth Patterson - who later became famous for playing Lucy's neighbour Matilda Trumbull in 'I Love Lucy', plays Aunt Susan. Twice, as I mention in the review. She lived her entire 35 year career in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

http://www.mysterymoviesonline.com/2011/02/mystery-4-bulldog-drummonds-secret.html

The redoubtable Elizabeth Patterson

 Finally - Bob Hope. Bob Hope was worth a motza. He was one of the few Hollywood actors who was continuously employed his entire life - no breaks - nothing. So, whether it be film, television or the USO - Bob Hope managed to salt away quite a bit of money. His house went on the market a year or two ago - aiming at a sale price of $50 million. When I read that I thought WHAAA and then I saw photos of his house.

Both images:

http://www.zillow.com/blog/price-drop-for-bob-hopes-home-143857/

Do I need to say more? I think not.