KATHARINE HEPBURN “Christopher Columbus…..what riches!”

This period blue check wool day dress was worn by Katharine Hepburn in the original and loved 1933 RKO film version of “Little Women”.

Costume were designed by Walter Plunkett.



Everyone who appreciates and loves classic Hollywood has a favourite Katharine Hepburn film. Little known is that Hepburn herself considered this to be one of her personal favorites and is reported to have one said that she defied anyone to be as good as shoe was in the character of Jo. Hepburn considered her personality to be like hers and that part suited what she described as her exaggerated sense of things.



The costume is worn by Hepburn in the scene where she visits on her neighbour Laurie played by Douglass Montgomery. Hepburn utters the much remembered phrase from the film when she sees the mansion which Laurie resides in with his Grandfather and shouts out “Christopher Columbus…..what riches!” She also fences with Laurie in this scene.





The film Little Women tells the Louisa May Alcott novel of sisters Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy March growing in Concord, Massachusetts, during the Civil War.



Hepburn plays the tomboyish Jo, who dreams of becoming a famous author.

The film broke theatre attendance records during its first week and Hepburn won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival,



Directed by George Cukor and made at RKO studios, the film also starred Joan Bennett, Paul Lukas and Francis Dee.

There have been a number of film versions made of this classic novel including the MGM version in 1948 with June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Lawford.

This 1933 version remains a personal favourite.

JUDY HOLLIDAY NOT BORN YESTERDAY!

Here is a beautiful 1940’s dress worn by Judy Holliday in the 1949 MGM film classic “Adam’s Rib”.





The film was written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin and directed by George Cukor. It starred Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. This was Judy Holliday in her first major film role. The film is considered one of the great classic romantic comedies of the 1940’s.



The film was used by Columbia as her audition for re-creating her role on film of her Broadway success in Born Yesterday. Holliday went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for Born Yesterday.





Holliday is also best remembered for her role in Bells Are Ringing which she also performed on Broadway and then reprised her role on film. Holliday also starred in the film ‘The Solid Gold Cadillac”.





Below is the trailer to the film where you can see Judy Holliday in costume:



Holliday passed away from illness in June 1956 far too young at age 43.

CARY GRANT CLASSIC STYLE

Born Archibald Alexander Leach, Cary Grant has always been known for his distinctive voice and good looks. He will always be remembered as the debonair leading man with not only charm but great style.

Cary Grant has appeared in many film classics including To Catch A Thief in 1955 with Grace Kelly and An Affair to Remember in 1957 with Deborah Kerr, a personal favourite of mine. Other classics include The Awful Truth in 1937 and Bringing Up Baby in 1938.

He is fondly remembered playing opposite Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story at MGM in 1940 and in Hitchcock's Suspicion in 1941.

He worked well in comedies with his great comedic timing and facial expressions none more so than in Arsenic and Old Lace in 1944 when discovering his two lovelable Aunts to be cold blooded killers.

This two piece blue velvet period costume was designed by Irene Saltern and worn by Cary Grant in the 1940 Columbia Pictures feature film "The Howards of Virginia". The film tells the story of the American revolutionary war as seen through the eyes of Cary Grant. Grant portrays Matt Howard with Martha Scott starring as his wife Jane Peyton Howard.

The colour of a costume even in the black and white film was considered important. It not only sought to provide authenticity to the actors in performing their roles, it was also important that a costume photograph well.

The dark blue velvet of this piece can clearly be seen in its black and white setting altough we don't know what colour it is, we know it is velvet and that it is not black. It is interesting to watch films that have been through a coloursitaion process and to see what colour cosutmes were considred as correct. Most times they are wrong. The magnificent blue of this costume would have been lost to the paying audiences of 1940. Perhaps ten years later the film would have been made in colour. It is nice now to be able to see what the cosutme looked like in all its beauty!

Cary Grant remained as one of the top box-office attractions for 30 years. When you watch his films, you can see why. Even Mr Grant put it best himself when he said "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant-even I want to be Cary Grant".

KATHARINE HEPBURN CLASSIC ELEGANCE

This is a costume pieces from the very early part of Hepburn's career.







This is a Katharine Hepburn screen worn period gown from "A Woman Rebel's" (RKO 1936). This is truly a remarkable piece of vintage Hollywood history. A purple and pink two piece polka dot period gown worn by the legendary Hepburn in one of her earliest RKO films.
Hepburn portrayed Pamela Thistlewaite, a woman who rebels against the social traditions of Victorian England in the late 1800's. Hepburn's performance as the defiant young woman has been considered the personification of her feminist characterizations of the 1930s. Costumes were designed by the legendary Walter Plunkett who formed a long lasting relationship with Hepburn and designed for many of her RKO films including the classic Little Women. The blouse fastens to the front with hook eye closures. The full length skirt is decorated at the hem with multiple fabric layers to create an intricate pattered design and is highlighted by multiple rows of hand covered buttons which are evident on the entire lower portion of the costume.

The items carries a sewn in label with the handwritten notation "HEPBURN C- 1557"

Costumes of Hepburn's early career are highly sought after.