Welcome back, Christian!

A week or so ago Silver Screen Modiste, the website of my dear blogger friend Christian Esquevin, was hi-jacked. When he discovered that he was no longer in possession of his site's domain name, Christian also discovered it would now cost him an arm and a leg to try to get it back. Instead, he has reconstituted it as Silver Screen Modes and, as of today, Christian is back online with more fascinating insights on classic film costume design.

Click here to visit Silver Screen Modes and enjoy Christian's assessment of the costume design nominees for the 2013 Academy Awards.

Zhang Ziyi in Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster, Oscar-nominated for Best Costume Design

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Now Playing in San Francisco: Noir City XII

San Francisco's annual Noir City film noir festival is in progress now at the city's iconic movie palace, the Castro Theatre.

This year the festival theme is international and features noir from Argentina, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Spain and - of course - Hollywood. Though the festival is at its mid-point, many great classics have yet to be screened:

  

For more on the Film Noir Foundation's Noir City XII, click here.

 

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A Touch of Lubitsch - Tuesday on TCM

Loves of Pharaoh (1929) stars Emil Jannings

Beginning at 6:15 am Eastern/3:15 am Pacific on Tuesday, January 28, Turner Classic Movies will treat its viewers to thirteen hours of 'the Lubitsch Touch'.

Kicking off TCM's birthday tribute/Lubitsch-fest will be the spectacular The Loves of Pharaoh (1922), a grand silent historical epic. Made in Germany and financed by Paramount's European film Alliance (EFA), the film would be the last in the series of such epics Lubitsch directed during his reign as something of a 'German DeMille.' He was soon on his way to America, where his star would continue to rise.

To Be or Not to Be (1942), Carole Lombard and Jack Benny

TCM's seven film tribute will close in the early evening/afternoon with one of the director's great masterpieces, To Be or Not to Be (1942), a stunning savage/hilarious satire starring the divinely paired Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. In between, viewers will have the chance to enjoy hours of Lubitsch's  wit, sophistication and precision in classics ranging from The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) a silent film made in the U.S., starring Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer, to The Merry Widow (1934, Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald), Ninotchka (1939, Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas), one of his very, very finest - The Shop Around the Corner (1940, James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan) and That Uncertain Feeling (1941, Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas).

Ernst Lubitsch (1892 - 1947) got his start as an actor and was a member of Max Reinhardt's famed Deutsches Theater company from 1911 - 1918. He began acting in films in 1913 and went on to appear in his own pictures. His final onscreen performance was a starring role in Sumurun (1920), which he directed in Germany, as 'Yeggar - the hunchback.'

Lubitsch emigrated to the U.S. in 1923, following the success of Loves of Pharaoh, making his American directorial debut with Rosita (1923), starring Mary Pickford. He made his way around Hollywood early on - working for Warners, United Artists and MGM, but it was at Paramount that, for a time, he made his home, eventually becoming director of production. Later in his career he would work for MGM and produce independently, but his final films were made under contract to 20th Century Fox. Unfortunately, his health was failing by that time...  

Nominated for three Best Director Oscars over the course of his career, Ernst Lubitsch was recognized by the Academy in 1947 with an honorary award for 25 years of "distinguished contributions to the art of the motion picture." Eight months later, in November 1947, at the age of 55, Lubitsch died of a heart attack, his sixth. His final film project had been That Lady in Ermine, a Betty Grable vehicle that was completed by Otto Preminger and released in 1948.

Billy Wilder, for whom Lubitsch had been mentor, famously kept a sign on the wall of his office in tribute to the master he forever admired, "What would Lubitsch have done?"

Greta Garbo and Ernst Lubitsch on the set of Ninotcka

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A New Year's Moment

As 2013 departs, 2014 arrives with flair - courtesy of elegant and stylish Mr. Fred Astaire...

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Happy Birthday, Marlene Dietrich!

Marlene Dietrich, photograph by Edward Steichen

Marie Magdalene Dietrich was born 112 years ago today in Schöneberg, Germany. She died well into her 90th year, in Paris, in 1992, and was by then known the world over as Marlene Dietrich, archetypal superstar of the silver screen as well as the cabaret and concert stage.

As a child, Dietrich contracted her first name, added her nickname (pronounced Layna) and became "Marlene"

I've long been fascinated by the Dietrich persona and have extravagantly enjoyed and admired the seven films she made with Josef von Sternberg, the first for UFA in Germany, the rest for Paramount in the U.S.: The Blue Angel (1930), Morocco (1930), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express (1932), Blonde Venus (1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934) and The Devil is a Woman (1935). She has been the subject of several blog entries here.

The Devil is a Woman (1935)

My earliest Dietrich posts for Reel Life were published in a series on the von Sternberg/Dietrich partnership - Light, Shadow and Synergy, Part I, Part II and Part III - a reflection on the films they made together and the nature of their collaboration. I am regularly tempted to revise the whole thing but fear that if I do the series might grow to four, five or even six parts. Recently, though, I came upon this piece by Anne Helen Peterson, a wise, witty and wicked assessment of the fabulous star, and decided to leave well enough alone.

Dietrich in Travis Banton, from her personal wardrobe

"I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men."

- Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich by David Downton

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As the year ends and we remember many who are now gone, one man celebrates 100 years...

Marc Platt (shown here, in the purple shirt, in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) turned 100 on December 2

He was born Marcel LePlat in Pasadena, California on December 2, 1913, but was raised in Seattle, Washington. His training as a dancer began at age 11 at the local dance studio of Mary Ann Wells. In his early 20s, he auditioned and was selected for the chorus of the newly formed Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo by the company's famed choreographer, Léonide Massine (The Red Shoes). His last name was changed to "Platoff" because so many of the group's dancers (as well as the company's roots) were Russian. Working his way up to become a soloist who premiered several roles as well as choreographing his own works, he remained with the the company for six years. His (uncredited) film debut came with the Jean Negulesco-directed short, The Gay Parisian (1941), a showcase for the Ballet Russe.

He left the troupe in 1942 and, as Marc Platt, alternated between the New York stage and the Hollywood soundstage for many years. On Broadway, he was part of the original 1943 cast of the Rogers & Hammerstein classic, Oklahoma!, creating the role of "Dream Curly."

Marc Platt and Katharine Sergava in the original Broadway production of Oklahoma!

Tonight and Every Night (1945), starring Rita Hayworth

In 1945, he co-starred with Rita Hayworth and Janet Blair in the Technicolor musical, Tonight and Every Night, but the film role for which he is best known came nine years later with Stanley Donen's Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). Platt portrayed the fourth of the brawny "seven brothers," Daniel Pontipee. 

Here's Marc, in the purple shirt again, and "his brothers" in the legendary "barn raising" dance number (Note: the occasional hiss heard at the clip's beginning doesn't last)...

A year later, in 1955, he would appear in a speaking and dancing role in Fred Zinnemann's film adaptation of Oklahoma! starring Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae.

Marc Platt would enjoy a multifaceted career. He acted on series TV from the 1950s into the early 1990s, served as dance director for Radio City Music Hall and went on to open his own dance studio in Florida, with his wife, dancer Jane Goodall.

At 91, Platt appeared as himself in the enchanting 2005 documentary, Ballets Russes, a film that traces the beginnings of the original Ballets Russes under Serge Diaghelev through its transformation, following Diaghelev's death in 1929, into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo under Léonide Massine. Many of the company's dancers - in their 70s, 80s and 90s in 2005 - including Platt, are interviewed, and performance footage illustrates the company's history.

As of this writing, Mr. Platt will have at least one more credit coming his way. He is set to appear in a documentary now in post-production, Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age, a sequel to Broadway: The Golden Age (2003).

Marc Platt at the party celebrating his 100th birthday in Mill Valley, California, on December 8 (photo by Sarah Rice)

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'TIS THE SEASON - OF GIVING...AND IT'S HAPPENING HERE!

BOOKS AND DVDS IN YOUR STOCKING THIS YEAR?

One of the things I love most about the holidays is giving gifts. This year I happen to have presents for a few classic film buffs and I'll be giving them this week.

Literally the biggest gift to be given - at 1,000+ pages - is Victoria Wilson's long-awaited, long in-process  biography, A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907 - 1940. Detailed, thorough and fascinating, Wilson traces Stanwyck's family history back to long before the future star came into the world as Ruby Stevens. The hefty tome also covers Stanwyck's show business beginnings, at a very tender age, as a dancer, her rapid rise to Broadway and Hollywood stardom, two marriages and 88 films. As well-written as it is meticulously researched, Steel-True is impossible to put down once picked up. Fifteen years in the writing, this reader only hopes Wilson's volume covering the rest of Stanwyck's life and career, from 1941 to 1990, won't take quite so long to make its way to print.

Here, Victoria Wilson talks about Stanwyck's appeal for her and the writing of Steel-True:

The by-invitation-only funeral of Orson Welles, who died in October 1985, took place in a downtown Los Angeles slum. His eldest daughter, Chris, who flew in from New York to attend, thought the rundown building seemed more like a "hot-sheets motel" than a funeral parlor. She was told by her stepmother, Welles's last wife from whom he had been long separated, that there was "no money" for anything more.

The one-time wunderkind's career as a filmmaker had collapsed years earlier, though he never stopped working - writing and struggling to get financing for his projects.  In his final years, one friend who stood by him and tried to both help find support for his work and bolster his confidence was independent filmmaker Henry Jaglom. The two lunched often at Hollywood's fabled Ma Maison (the bistro that made Wolfgang Puck's name) and one day Welles suggested Jaglom record their mealtime conversations. From 1983 until 1985, Jaglom did just that. Film historian Peter Biskind (Easy Riders, Raging Bulls) learned of the tapes Jaglom had made with Welles and eventually edited the content - published earlier this year as My Lunches With Orson.

The Jaglom/Welles-"unplugged" chats are intriguing and quite often dishy. And then there's the "dancing bear show," the larger-than-life persona Welles donned as occasion required. Jaglom must've felt, at times, like he was front row/center for the greatest show on earth...

Two of the most celebrated leading ladies/movie stars of the 1950s were Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly. Very different types - one dark, voluptuous and mercurial, the other a cool and stunning blonde - they are nonetheless considered two of the most beautiful and talented actresses of their era.

My final gift is a celebration, in two parts, of these mid-century icons. First, TCM's Greatest Classic Legends: Elizabeth Taylor DVD collection. The set features Vincente Minnelli's sparkling romantic comedy, Father of the Bride (1950), with Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett; the Richard Brooks production of the Tennessee Williams classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), co-starring Paul Newman; Butterfield 8 (1960), the drama that brought Taylor her first Oscar, directed by Daniel Mann and co-starring Laurence Harvey; and Vincente Minnelli's 1965 melodrama set in Big Sur, The Sandpiper, co-starring Richard Burton and Eva Marie Saint.  Paired with the Taylor DVD collection is Gina McKinnon's recently published What Would Grace Do?, a style guide/mini-biography of Grace Kelly (aka/Princess Grace). Lots of pointers here - useful in a world some would find lacking in classic taste and timeless style.

~

A random drawing will be held Saturday, December 21, at 5:00pm PST. I will select three winners from the names entered and the first chosen will have first pick, the second name drawn will choose next and the third winner will receive the remaining gift. All winners will be notified immediately.

UPDATE: The random drawing was held, winners were selected and congratulations to Bob in Illinois (Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True), Christina in Ontario, Canada (My Lunches with Orson) and Lindsey in Michigan (TCM's Classic Legends: Elizabeth Taylor DVD collection and What Would Grace Do?). Thanks to all who entered and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

(Congratulations to Marsha in New York, winner of the recent random drawing for TCM's Greatest Classic Films: Astaire & Rogers, Vol. 1, DVD collection - she tells me the set has already arrived)

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