ADRIAN AFTER MGM

 

 

After Greta Garbo left MGM,  Adrian did too. It was 1941 and he could see that glamour was over at his old studio. It wasn’t long before Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer, once bitter rivals on the lot, were gone as well. He had dressed them all – created their very image. He had created the movie costumes and styles that had been copied around the world, even by Paris couturiers. But now he wanted to start his own fashion line. But the times were getting tough.

Adrian launched his line in January 1942, with the U.S. then officially in World War II. Not having been in the garment business, he hired business manger Woody Feurt.  Woody travelled to the leading department stores around the country, and offered them exclusive rights to carry Adrian Ltd. Adrian’s name was already legend and this was not a hard sell.  Women  would want the chance to dress like the stars they’d followed on the silver screen. At the time, it was these department stores that sold both custom and the high end ready-to-wear apparel, stores like Neiman-Marcus, Marshall Field, Dayton’s , Bonwit-Teller, Goldwater’s, Filene’s and Garfinfinckel’s, among many others. Adrian also opened his own fashion salon in Beverly Hills at 233 North Beverly Drive.

Adrian, however, did not design gowns in his line for women to think they could look like Garbo. But he put every bit of style, wit, and panache at his disposal. And deep in WW II, with fabrics under rationioning, he gave something to women that they could feel good about. Amidst all the blacks, grays and browns of wartime women’s garments, Adrian stated he wanted to “shock the American women into color consciousnesses.” His spring 1943 collection was full of magenta, purple, blue, green and yellow. One example is his “Crackling Flame” design shown below. In true Adrian asymmetrical fashion, only one sleeve is adorned with gold embroidery.

Adrian combined his love of prints and asymetry with a print design of his own in “Roan Stallion,” shown below, also from 1943. It was so bold that few women dared wear it. And it was not cheap, at the ready to wear price it was marked at $365 (in 1943!).

Adrian’s two-piece outfit from 1944 shown  below, had a print of pink flowers on black, its fabric made at Bianchini of Enka rayon. It has the 3/4 length “bracelet’ sleeve. It was worn by the kind of stylish woman that wanted to make a splash amidst all the wartime monotones.

 

Adrian, along with Irene,  was a master of suit design. He always had several in his collections and no two were alike. Wearing them gave women added confidence in the wartime workplace, and they were always stylish. From afar you first noticed Adrian’s striking and characteristic V-line silhouette. But up-close there were always amazing details; buttons were unique, and some were placed just for decoration; pockets too were placed asymetrically; tailoring was lean, to meet rationing limits, and lapels were eliminated. and he often used invisible hooks and eyes for closures. He emphasized the figure with curving jacket insets or V-lines and seams at the back to emphasize the shoulders. He sometimes used flaps on the sleeves or bodice to give a sense of movement to the suit.

Adrian’s V-Line suit shown below from 1944, had been drawing critical praise since 1942.

 

This checked wool suit by Adrian uses a pocket flap device as decoration, matched on the sleeve but with a real pocket lower on the jacket.

Below is the jacket for a suit made of a Pola Stout woven woolen.

Adrian so admired Pola’s textiles that he named one of his suit designs, Woven Joy. He named the suit above, Symphonic Traveler. Adrian said of her woolens, “Often the complexity of the material is a challenge and I try to simplify my approach as well as retain as interesting a use as I can possibly make of the fabric.” He would usually cut and miter the fabric into interesting angles.

Pola began designing for Botony Mills in 1940, where she designed the “Botony Perennials” collection each season. She would also design limited edition textiles for several fashion designers, those that she worked closely with through Botany Mills. Thus, the designers could have their own custom look and color palette designed by Pola. 

 

Pola would begin her design process by drawing lines on paper with color crayons. The vertical warp yarns would be in two or more colors and the horizontal weft yarns would often be woven in the same color sequence. But with all her color variations, Pola always had in mind the functionality, durability, and timeless appeal of her textile designs. She stated, “In developing Botany Perennials I visualize all kinds of American women interested in building a sound wardrobe, and I try to make that wardrobe something basic in style and wearability, something they can depend on.” And indeed the idea of the “Perennials” was that you could match skirts, jackets and coats in the same five-color harmonies, and from one season to the next.


Pola subsequently started her own company in 1946 with a mill in Philadelphia. She would design her own textiles for these looms, where she would have multicolored wool yarns woven into “blankets” that would be sold to the various designers and exclusively to certain   department stores. The textile workers were very devoted to her and her artistic vision. Adrian and Irene both regularly used Pola Stout woolens in their suits, jackets and capes.

 

Adrian also loved printed fabrics, some of the prints he painted himself. Florals were always popular, but with Adrian, he had to make his own mark on these too. The beautiful dress advertized below is striking, even more so when one notices the peek-a-boo leaf poking out of the sleeve,

 

This bodice of an Adrian dress is also characteristic, a beautiful if bold and asymetrical design.

 

Adrian had been fascinated with Africa and its wildlife since childhood. The tunic below from 1946 shows a leopard skin on a zebra ground .

 

From his spring 1947 line he used a North African inspiration for his “One thinks of Algerian Streets” shown below.

In 1947 Adrian commissioned surrealist artist Salvador Dali to paint scenes for two fabrics to be used on Adrian outfits. The print below is on a ground of turquoise with rocks in rose and green, the rocks have faces on them.

Adrian’s second “Dali” gown below has a short cape. Adrian added to the face motif by including a separate black face outlined and appliqued at the wearer’s left shoulder (not shown).

The striking silhouette shown below is an Adrian design from 1949. The black velvet suit had a cape embroidered at the shoulder that could also be shaped into different looks.

Adrian’s wit was always appearing in his designs, letting the air out of the pomposity of much of the couture monde. He named every one of his fashion creations, and one can almost see him smiling as he came up with names for his designs: Dinner with a Dash of Gold; Drama in the Tropics; Doctor I See Spots; Fish and Chips: To be Talked About; Complications Set In; Cat Nip.  And nobody but Adrian could be inspired by nuclear bombs to create fashion looks. One of two is shown below, using “blasts” of tulle and taffeta  to form a pannier. The other was called “Atom Smashed” it was a full dress and cape decorated with large gold and black polka dots.

Adrian loved stripes. From one of his earliest striped costumes for Greta Garbo in The Single Standard in 1929, he had used stripes in his creations. The outfit below shows a masterful use of stripes in an exotic creation he called “Smallest Pleasures.” Its colors were brick and gold and it featured a sleeved “harem” stole. It was from his fall 1951 collection.

 

Adrian never ran out of ideas. He drew inspiration from nature and from all around him and from his foreign travels. His health could not keep up, however. He suffered a heart attack on May 1, 1952 while working on his fall 1952 collection. The collection was mostly finished and production continued, but Adrian LTD. would close its business. Adrian had always designed everything alone, and never even used a sketch artist, so he would not take on another designer. Nor would he sell his name to become a coprparate trademark. It is for this reason that Adrian, a name that almost every Western woman recognized, is so little known today.

But for those with a discerning eye, and those who love classic film, “gowns by Adrian” still resonates.

 

The Adrian collection’s last program for fall 1952, cover designed by Tony Duquette.

Significan collections of Adrian LTD. garments are held at the Museum at FIT in New York and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

An Adrian exhibition was recently held at the Museum at FIT. More information, see their website: http://exhibitions.fitnyc.edu/adrian-hollywood-and-beyond/#grid-page

IMPRESSIONS OF THE 2017 TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL

 

The eighth annual Turner Classic Movies Film Festival and the eighth one I’ve attended was held April 6-9 2017 in Hollywood. Each year has been different, but with the consistency of great classic films shown in the same venues, and with as much of the talent as TCM can gather together, each year is very much the same. True, we have missed the great Robert Osborne as MC the last couple of years. And this year TCM officially paid homage to him after his death just the month prior on March 6. Without irony, and perhaps as Robert would have wanted it, the theme this year was Make em Laugh: Comedy in the Movies.

With only the Classic Pass this year, I missed the Feature Premiere of In the Heat of the Night with Sidney Poitier, Lee Grant, Quincy, Jones and director Norman Jewison in attendance. After spending some time at the Academy’s Mary Pickford Center with Anne Coco I dropped in to the Roosevelt Hotel and the “Club TCM” where  Bruce Goldstein was hosting “So You Think You Know Movies” quiz and team competition. This annual event is fun. On hand to pay homage to Robert Osborne was Diane Baker. his dear friend and Hollywood star. Clips were shown of her co-starring with Joan Crawford in Strait- Jacket. 

Diane Baker with Bruce Goldstein
Diane Baker with Robert Osborne

 

My choice for the Thursday night movie was the romantic-comedy Love Crazy (1941) with Myrna Loy and William Powell, their tenth and zaniest film made together. With co-stars Gail Patrick and Jack Carson it’s a fast-clipped and wacky movie where love and marriage is tested but eventually wins out. As a student of film costume, although this film’s costumes were uncredited, I would bet they were designed by Adrian. The film screened at the wonderful Egyptian Theater.  Beautiful interior and lots of seating so you can always get in. I ran into fellow blogger Kellee Pratt of Outspoken and Freckled and her husband Gary waiting in line. We talked more about dogs than movies, however.

The next morning started with the TCMFF’s theme  of Make ’em Laugh on the big screen with the biggest assemblage of comedians ever cast for a single production: Stanley Kramer’s It’s a Mad Mad, Mad Mad World . It was screened at the fabulous Cinerama Dome, built in 1963.  This crazy comedy of a film was beyond analysis, so instead the discussion was about the technical aspects of filming the climactic last scene of a supposed public square with lots of  traffic  and a tall building and a ladder fire truck rescuing people. All of this was actually shot on a studio back lot. Craig Barron and Ben Burtt were on hand to talk about the making of the film. Ben Burtt is a legendary movie sound designer, having created the voice of R2-D2 and Darth Vader, among many others.  They talked about another legend: Linwood Dunn, the special effects designer of the Mad Mad World  that made the above possible. He started at RKO way back with King Kong.

I met fellow blogger Patty Schneider of The Lady Eve’s Reel Life for lunch before we headed to a French film noir: Panique. This little known film gem is based on a Georges Simenon novel and stars the great French actor Michel Simon in the title role (the French title is Les Fiancailles de M. Hire). This is a very dark noir with an unblinking depiction of the cruelty of  mob mentality.

After the darkness of Panique, a comedy with W.C.Fields was welcome. He was featured in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break. This was a film from near the end of his career. The plot is a satire on Hollywood movies, with its best part being a car chase through Hollywood, Downtown L.A., and the current area where the Pasadena freeway merges into the I 5 north. This was in 1941 and looked much different. The movie was preceded by a hilarious short, The Barber Shop, from much earlier in his film career. I always enjoyed his satiric barbs, one-liners, and double-takes. Nothing like the tough training of Vaudeville to sharpen your skills.

After this was I was on to a pre-code classic starring Jean Harlow: Red-Headed Woman (1932), back at the Egyptian Theater. Cari Beauchamp introduced this as one of her favorite movies, even though it’s one of the least feminist movies you’ll ever see. Similar to Barbara Stanwyck’s Baby Face, Jean Harlow starts at the bottom of society and sleeps her way up. Not without a few rough patches. but she always comes out ahead. Directed by Jack Morris, and co-starring Chester Morris. Harlow’s slinky costumes were designed by Adrian.

 

Photo by Christian Esquevin

One of of the films I didn’t want to miss, a favorite of mine, is The Last Picture Show.  Director Peter Bogdanovitch was on hand to talk and answer Illeana Douglas’ questions about the 1971 film. It starred Timothy Bottoms, Cybil Shepherd, Ellen Burstyn, and Jeff Bridges among others and was a multi-Oscar nominee including Best Picture and Director. It won Best Supporting Actor Awards for Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman. Bogdanovitch related how he had wanted to make the the film using deep-focus cinematography, like Citizen Kane. Orson Wells told him not to film it in color. And besides, he added. “All the best performances are in black and white.”  So Bogdanovitch asked the producer and was told he could. Bogdanovitch was also a fan of the John Ford westerns, and wanted Ben Johnson to play the role of Sam the Lion. But Johnson turned him down. “Too many words,” he said about his part in the script. So Bogdanovitch turned to Ford for help. Ford said Johnson always said that about a script. But after Ford called him, Johnson accepted and called to tell Bogdanovitch he would accept – in what would become the most iconic role of his career. The director’s cut was screened.

Another trot to the Egyptian to see a little known film noir, The Underworld Story (1950)Starring Dan Duryea and Gale Storm (the star of TV’s My Little Margie). This film came out a year before Ace in the Hole and scooped that film’s theme of a big-city journalist moving to the hicks and using scheming ways to drive up business to make a name for himself. This was a very good film and worth seeing. Eddie Muller of the Film Noir Foundation introduced the film, and  a newly struck 35mm print  courtesy of the Film Noir Foundation Collection at UCLA Film & Television Archive was shown.

 

Another film I didn’t want to miss was The King of Hearts (Le Roi de Coeur) 1966. Directed by Philippe de Broca and starring Alan Bates and Genevieve Bujold along with a strong supporting cast. I hadn’t seen the movie since the late 60’s and I remembered it as a gem of social satire. During World War I the Germans occupy a small French town and leave munitions timed to blow it up as they leave. The locals get wind of this and leave town. Only those left in an insane asylum are left. When a lone Scots Black Watch “bomb disposal expert” is sent in he manages to escape the Germans by entering the asylum. After they leave, the inmates get out and find costumes to wear and assume roles they always wanted in life – from the mayor and firefighters, to whores and hairdressers. I was again enchanted by the wit and alternate world view of this film – where, in the end,  the inmates, and at least one of the soldiers,  prefer to live in the asylum than in the real world beyond the gates – where men continue to kill each other in warfare. Genevieve Bujold was interviewed before the film was screened.

 

The next film screening was a special event even by TCM standards. Sharing the experience with fellow blogger Patty Schneider of The Lady Eve’s Reel Life, was the screening at the Egyptian Theater of The Black Narcissus. The fuss was about the projection of this Powell & Pressberger classic on nitrate film stock – a great early Technicolor copy owned by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. In order to show it, the projection room at the Egyptian had to be retrofitted, courtesy of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, TCM, the American Cinematheque, Academy Film Archive and George Eastman Museum. This work included having the room meet fire codes and installing a panic button in case of fire that would stop the projectors and drop metal louvers to encase them. The film itself was magnificent. It’s a gripping story of a group of nuns sent to the other-worldly Himalayas to open a convent. They are challenged on all-fronts, including by the sensual lure of the Englishman who is the estate manager. Conflicts and jealousies also arise among the nuns themselves. The cinematography by Jack Cardiff is outstanding and the special effects by matte painters and other process work fill in the backgrounds for this outstanding film..

 

Kathleen Byron as Sister Ruth

On Sunday I started off with Lured, a little known film noir/murder mystery/romantic melodrama /directed by Douglas Sirk starring Lucille Ball,  George Sanders, Charles Coburn, and  Boris Karloff, among others. Its a very well made and entertaining movie, with Lucille Ball playing a beautiful and alluring dance-hall girl turned Scotland Yard officer serving as bait for a serial killer. Boris Karloff’s daughter Sara Karloff was present at the screening to talk about what a perfect English gentleman her father was.

I finished out the festival, before a long drive home, with one of the best screwball comedies, The Palm Beach Story by Preston Sturges. Although I had seen it multiple times, its showing on the big screen at the Chinese Theater was too hard to resist. I was not disappointed. With outstanding ensemble acting by Claudette Colbert, Joel McRae,  Mary Astor, Rudy Vallee, and character actors like William Demarest, Robert Dudley and Robert Warwick. not to mention the hilarious Sig Arno, the film is a jewel. The costumes for Claudette Colbert by Irene are worth the price of admission, and are some of the best contemporary fashions on film. And ending the TCMFF on this high note was definitely the way to go, especially missing out on the Closing Night Party. So until next year, so long and remember:

“Just us, and the cameras, and all those wonderful people out there in the dark.”              Norma Desmond