LESLIE CARON THANK HEAVEN FOR LESLIE!

French born actress Leslie Caron is a much loved film actor and dancer who has appeared in some of the most memorable MGM musicals.

Discovered by another MGM performer, Gene Kelly, Caron started life as a dancer. He cast her in the MGM classic An American in Paris (1951). MGM liked what they saw and continued her in a number of musical classics. Lili in 1953 and of course the best being Gigi in 1958.



This wonderful costume was worn by Leslie Caron in the 1958 MGM musical classic “Gigi”. Released in 1958, the film was directed by Vincente Minnelli. Considered as really the last of the great MGM musicals, the film remains a much-loved musical classic.





The costume consists of a white blouse with blue bow detail and a sapphire-blue wool skirt with blue satin piping to the hem. The costume is worn by lead actress Leslie Caron as young Gigi in the musical comedy.











Costumes were designed by the legendary Cecil Beaton who designed for other film classics including My Fair Lady.



The costumes whilst designed by Beaton, were executed by another legendary designer Irène Karinska.





Karinska was a costumer with the New York City Ballet. For film she won the 1948 Oscar for costume for Joan of Arc.

The costume is worn in a number of scenes in the film including the conformation scene with co-star Louis Jourdan. The film also starred Maurice Chevalier and character actors Hermione Gingold and Isabel Jeans. A young Eva Gabor can also been seen in this film classic.



Below is the trailer to the film as release by MGM.



This link takes you to one of the scenes in which the costume appears.



The costume is also worn by Caron in a number of promotional photos released for the film.





With songs by Lerner and Lowe, the film is set in turn-of-the-20th century Paris and tells the story of high society, marriage, mistresses, lovers and a girl named Gigi.

Gaston a wealthy bachelor, bored with life, takes interest in Gigi in a different way as she slowly become groomed as a courtesan and learns etiquette and charm from her Aunt Alicia. These scenes in themselves are charming and very funny.

Eventually after a few failed attempts he ends up falling in love with a matured Gigi.



Caron has appeared in other much loved film classics including “Daddy Long Legs”, “The Glass Slipper” and “Father Goose”.

Caron has danced with the greats including Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Rudolf Nureyev.

Caron continues to act and appears on stage film and television.

Gigi is such a loved classic that it has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The film is ranked as number 35 in the AFI top 100 films. It’s in the top 10 in mine.

MITZI GAYNOR THE I DON'T CARE GIRL

Mitzi Gaynor is a much loved musical film, theatre and television performer. She has beautifully acted and danced in a number of film musical classics including my favourites of "There's No Business Like Show Business" in 1954 with Ethel Merman and Marilyn Monroe.

Another one of her film classics is "Les Girls" in which she appeared in 1957 at MGM studios. Directed by George Cukor and starring Gene Kelly and Kay Kendall, it remains up there as one of the great MGM musicals.

This costume appears in Les Girls as worn by Mitzi Gaynor. It is a peach coloured dance leotard with intricate beading and design to the majority of the costume. The costumes for the film was designed by Orry-Kelly.

This is a close up of the design to the bodice.

The costume can be seen not only on screen but in any number of promotional photos as you can see below.

Here is another close up of the design work on the costume.

The costume also appears on the orignal poster art for the film.

To give you an idea of size, her measurements in 1956 around the time of filming "Les Girls" was 36C-21 1/2-36 1/2. The following photos give you clear understanding of the "waists" these performers had!

The costume design is worn by all three leads inluding Kay Kendall and Tania Elg as part of a dance number in the film with Gene Kelly. It's a wonderful dance cosutme and so reminicent of the magic of the MGM musical film and the glamour of 1950's Hollywood.

Gaynor will of course be rememebered best for role as Ensign Nellie Forbush in the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific" and for her performance she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best actress.

Following her career as a film performer, she went on to perform on stage in a number of concert appearances as well as a series of much loved televsion specials so much so that they gained her a total of 16 Emmy nominations.

This great lady even today continues to tour with her one one-woman show titled "Razzle Dazzle: My Life Behind the Sequins".

ESTHER WILLIAMS DANGEROUS WHEN WET

Esther Williams is best remembered for her swimming films at MGM. Williams however was also a competitive swimmer winning national records.

Williams is best remembered for her series of water musicals of the 1940s and
1950s. Some of her most memorable films at MGM include “Million Dollar Mermaid” and “Dangerous When Wet”.



Here is a wonderful Esther Williams outfit worn by her in the” Duchess of Idaho” MGM 1950. The one-piece jumper is made of beige-colored raw silk with a netted waist. Williams wears this item whilst playing tennis with co-star Van Johnson. The wonderful Helen Rose designed the costumes for the film.







Also worn by Esther Williams is a bright yellow period jumper from “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” MGM 1949. This sleeveless chartreuse dress with floral-pattern trim is worn by Williams in this very entertaining 1949 musical romance and can be seen in one of the musical numbers in the film with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.





The costume also appears heavily in production stills for the release of the film. Helen Rose also designed the costumes for this feature.