JULIE ANDREWS DARLING JULIE!

Here is an elegant evening gown worn by Julie Andrews in the 1969 Paramount film “Darling Lili”. Costumes for the film were designed by Donald Brooks.

The costume consists of a golden silk-faille and chiffon gown with thousands of decorative rhinestones, bugle beads and diamantes sewn into an elaborate series of panels, which adorn the gown. The gown is low cut and quite heavy.







Darling Lili tells the story of a World War I music hall performer who doubles as a German spy. The film involves Andrews using her charm to obtain secrets from an American pilot played by Rock Hudson. The story is a variation on Mata Hari but with a happy ending.



The costume was designed by Donald Brooks who also designed for her in “Star!” The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Brooks, deigned for both stage and screen as well as the fashion industry. His preference was to design for the stage. He won a Tony Award for his costumes in the Broadway musical ''No Strings'' and three Oscar nominations. He has designed for many other Broadway shows including “Flora The Red Menace” for Liza Minnelli.



He was a prolific designer. For the 1968 movie ''Star!'' for example, he was required to design some 3,500 costumes.



Below are more detailed photos of the design to the costume. The pattern is very elaborate and would have taken someone quite a while to complete. Whilst Brooks designed the costumes, they were executed by the still running Western Costume Company in Hollywood.









Darling Lili was produced and directed by Blake Edwards, future husband to Julie Andrews. The film was plagued with problems including interference from the studios. It received poor distribution by Paramount however despite setting box-office records at Radio City Music Hall, the film was a flop.



This was the very first movie of the seven that Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards did together.

The costume can be seen in the following clip. The costume comes in at 4:35:



Julie is noted as having said of this production "I'm trying to be very still in this one, Lili isn't a lady who is bouncy. She's somebody who's cool and in perfect control, and then gets all gibberish". It was unlike her other roles to date.



Julie Andrews received a nomination for Best Actress, Musical or Comedy, while "Darling Lili" won for Best Original Song. The film was also nominated for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy.



Julie Andrews herself has said that it was never Blake Edward’s intention to make it as much of a musical as it became, but if you are going to have Julie Andrews in a movie, why not make her sing as much as possible I say!



A great gown from an entertaining film starring the wonderful Julie Andrews.

LANA TURNER MGM GLAMOUR GIRL

From the 1955 MGM period drama, “Diane” comes this magnificent champagne velvet pearl-encrusted period court gown worn by Lana Turner and designed by Walter Plunkett.

The costume is comprised of a fitted bodice with square neckline and very long bell sleeves. The matching skirt is made of long heavy velvet and has a train.



The front skirt panel and inside of sleeves as you can see in the photos features intricate gold quilting and embroidery, and both parts are heavily trimmed with pearls, gold bullion, and gold ottoman beads.







Here are some further photos which show the detail of the gown.












The costume also came with the original matching raw silk pumps worn by Lana Turner in the film.





Lana Turner portrays Diane in this opulent costume drama. The film was a major project for MGM in terms of it's usual "no expense spared" approach to its films.



The costumes like this were lavish and Walter Plunkett, who was best remembered for his designs in "Gone With The Wind" produced some breathtaking gowns. Added to this was a musical score by Miklos Rozsa. The film also stars a very young Roger Moore. They film was set in 16th century France.









These are studio portraits taken to advertise the film by MGM and shows Lana Turner with the original costumes she wore in the film. You can see the costume on the right, five in.


Please search for Lana Turner to see the other costumes worn by Lana Turner in this film.

GLORIA SWANSON READY FOR HER CLOSE UP”

“I am big…it’s the pictures that got small”… Norma Desmond



Sunset Boulevard is undoubtedly a film noir classic and is considered to be one of the most noteworthy films in American cinema history.



Nominated for eleven Academy Awards and winning three, the film was selected for perseveration by the National Film Registry. It has at times ranked in the top 10 films ever made and remains on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 best American films.

“Sunset Boulevard” was released in 1950 by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by the great Billy Wilder.



The film tells the story of Joe Gillis, an unsuccessful screenwriter, played by William Holden who stumbles across the Hollywood mansion home of yesteryear in which Norma Desmond lives. A faded silent movie star, Gloria Swanson plays Norma. The film also stars the legendary director Erich Von Stroheim who plays Max, Desmond’s butler.

Swanson was indeed one of the great stars of the silent era. Swanson worked at Paramount Pictures and with Cecil B DeMille. For a time she was the highest paid star in Hollywood. In that respect she was born to play the role. Some say that the role was based on another silent film star, Norma Talmadge. The similarities however happily end there. The scene in which she appears with DeMille (who plays himself) and meeting Desmond after a long absence is a heart-warming one in terms of their history and careers. DeMille refers to Desmond as “Young Fella” in the scene, a name he lovingly created for Swanson.

Several of Desmond's lines, such as, "All right Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up," and "I am big, it's the pictures that got small!" are widely remembered and quoted from the film.

The film has also been talked about for its film noir cinematography which is of course dark.

From this film classic is a pink chiffon nightgown was worn by Gloria Swanson.









The gown carries a Paramount costume label bearing Swanson's name sewn inside the front.



The gown features chiffon pin pleats with a bow at the centre of the chest and two ribbon shoulder straps on either side.



Edith Head designed the costumes. In collaboration, Billy Wilder, Edith Head and Swanson agreed that Desmond the character would have kept up to date with trends and styles in fashion, so Edith Head designed costumes closely resembling the Dior look of the mid-1940s.





Edith Head in later years discussed working on the film as being "the most challenging of my career,". The approach she gave to the task was explained as "Because Norma Desmond was an actress who had become lost in her own imagination, I tried to make her look like she was always impersonating someone." Edith Head would also rely on Swanson's expertise as in her words, Swanson was the past that was being recreated and Swanson lived that time.



Edith Head also designed the costumes for William Holden and the minor characters; but for authenticity, Wilder instructed Von Stroheim and Nancy Olson to wear their own clothing.



The costume can be seen in two sequences in the film. The first is Joe Gillis’ first day at the Desmond mansion when he finds his belongings have been moved from his apartment and into her mansion. Norman tells him “he will like it here” and the wonderful line…”Do you want this job or don’t you?”…yes he wanted the job but at what price. The costume comes in at 12.38:



The second scene it is worn in we get to see the more manic, delusional and shall we say psychotic Norma when she believes that her script of Salome is to be made by Paramount and Cecil B DeMille. In the scene she is saying good night to Joe and at the same time accusing him of going out. Joe tells her he hasn’t done anything to which she replies…’of course you haven’t, I wouldn’t let you”. The costume comes in at 1:08:



And here is the original trailer for the film:



The theme of the film is best summed up in the closing monologue of Norma..

“I can’t go on with this scene, I’m too happy. Mr. DeMille do you mind if I say a few words? Thank you. I just want to tell you all how happy I am to be back in the studio making a picture again. You don’t know how much I’ve missed all of you. And I promise you I’ll never desert you again because after ‘Salome’ we’ll make another picture and another picture. You see, this is my life. It always will be. There’s nothing else. Just us, the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark!… All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”



Gloria Swanson stood 4' 11½". Her stature and presence on the screen however soared.





Swanson appeared in a few more films after this role however in reality they did not compare. She is also remembered for her cameo appearance in the 1975 film “Airport”.



Gloria Swanson died on April 4, 1983 in New York City at the age of 84.