This is just incredible and to have survived so amazingly well. Here is an absolutely breathtaking petal pink satin period costume gown worn by Joan Bennett as Princess Maria Theresa in the film 'The Man in the Iron Mask' (United Artists, 1939).
The costume is
embellished with gold applied crowns, artificial pearls and gold lamé trim and
bows. This is an amazing example of what really went into fabric choices for costumes in black and white film and what was really lost to the general public going to see these films and not getting the full effect of these unbelievable colors.
The bodice is boned
with puffed sleeves, and the skirt is trained with a partial gold lamé
underskirt.
There is a United
Costumers label reads "No 25G Joan Bennett" in the skirt and an
"S. Goldwyn" stamp to the interior of the bodice.
William Bridgehouse
designed costumes for the film. The film was made at United Artists studios.
Here is a beautiful photo of the rear showing the amazing period train.
This famous costume
adventure tells the story of a twin brother of Louis XV kept hidden away in a
prison and forced to wear an iron mask to hide his identity. This was the
second of five screen versions.
The costume appears in
a number of stills with Joan Bennett. The gown was glamorous enough to be well
photographed and used in a number of production stills.
The costume was sold
at auction late last year and you can see video footage of the gown as it was
displayed at the auction house. You can see the intricate detail of the gold
crowns and how wonderfully the satin has survived.
Louis Hayward co-starred with Bennett in the dual roles of Louis and his brother.
the film. Below is
Joan Bennett in costume for her make up test for the film.
Please also look at
the second gown I have worn by Joan Bennett in this film also.
A great piece of
period film costume history from the year that is always remembered as being
the best year in Hollywood history!
