How to Marry a Millioniare (1953) - Grable, Bacall, Monroe in a Fashion Show RomCom

3 models charm their way into a high end apartment in New York City to rub elbows with and marry wealthy men in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).

The ladies' mercenary plans are hilariously frustrated time and again. Will they end up marrying for love or money or both and quit modeling? Or will they just call the whole thing off and keep earning their own cash?

In any case, they will be perfectly dressed.

 

This is a movie about models, so these ladies -Schatze (Lauren Bacall), Loco (Betty Grable) and Pola (Marilyn Monroe) - have access to the latest styles on the runway and off. The movie even incorporates a fashion show into the narrative to give one of the prospective husbands an excuse to see the three ladies at work. (And to give the audience an excuse to go "Ooooo!" and "Ahhh!")

Costume designer Travilla uses the clothes to showcase each woman's personality. 

Schatze is Practical and Savvy.

The leader of this marriage caper, Schatze, runs a tight ship. No guys that you meet among the cold cuts, she demands, only men at Stork or 21 Club. Schatze can be rather snooty, but she has it all figured out.

As such, she's the first one you find wearing a suit. Securing the ritzy apartment in a grey suit with slight peplum on the jacket, Schatze is regal and all business.

Unfortunately, Schatze always puts on an act.  In her attempts to be mature when dating an older man, her outfits turn out frumpy sometimes.

Case in point, this green chiffon, mink-lined gown. Schatze's slim figure can carry the excess fabric but, somehow, this dress begs for a full-figured matron to do it justice. It simply looks dowdy on Schatze.

 

Schatze's style is more becoming when she's not expecting to see anyone, not trying to impress.  Her choices for relaxing at home fit her much better than anything else.

A simple oxford blue shirt and slim black slacks with flats showcase her trim limbs and make her appear less strident and approachable.

(It's around this time in the film that Schatze starts to date a guy whose company she -Gasp!- actually enjoys.)


Pola is Adventuresome and Flirty.

 

Pola has the least amount of screen time of the three. Her character isn't fleshed out as much as the other two, so you don't really know her. Thus, this role becomes only about her form-hugging outfits, which is kind of sad. You really want to know what's on her mind.

You do get a sense of her specific goals when she dreams. She's the only one who dreams of flying outside of the country and having an adventure. There are hints that she achieves that excitement at the end, but we don't know.

This role is simply the most famous blonde bombshell of the day wearing clothes...and does she ever!

This one-strap satin, halter aubergine number is one of the more frequently-used gowns to make the rounds on a image or doll of Marylin Monroe these days. (The white dress from The Seven-Year Itch remains the most famous, of course.)

Figure-flattering dresses with a bit of flair at the skirt for ease of movement, keep this saucy woman fully-covered and ready for a quick jaunt to Atlantic City (or wherever else life takes her), all while appearing unbelievably gorgeous.

Demure and sensuous. How does she do it?

Even her terry cloth bathrobe is tailored specifically for Pola, emphasizing her enviably-trim waist. When a guest pops in for a second,  Pola's bathrobe keeps her well-dressed and perfectly appropriate for receiving visitors.

 

(That terry cloth gown looks better than anything I wear on a given day. Will tailors sew one of these? It's incredibly tough to find a ready-made bathrobe that doesn't look like something the cat dragged in.)



Loco is a Bubbly and Comforting presence.

 

You enjoy Loco the most because she welcomes everyone into her sphere.

She's very much grounded in reality (unlike Pola) but she's not cynical (unlike Schatze). Loco just goes with the flow and is never stressed. What a barrel of fun!

Her sunny disposition shows in her clothes. 

Loco arrives in a stunning cobalt blue gown with yards of underskirts that produce a wide a-line skirt. It's as if this extrovert's dress reaches out to touch everyone she meets.

 Later at dinner, Loco resembles a Barbie doll. Very cute. However, the dress washes her out.

Come on, movie! Loco can handle more color!

That's better. She's a knockout, but it's her smile that captures you.
 
 Loco is friendly. She charms her way to a ski lodge in Maine, ostensibly to meet someone... anyone.

During this sequence, we see Loco in sportswear. You cannot imagine either of the other two in ski clothes having a snowball fight. This is all Loco and no one else. Love this character.

Near the end, Loco wears a demure indigo, pencil-skirt dress. Here the wardrobe reflects Loco's increased maturity.

She's a little older, a little wiser. We hope she hasn't given up her child-like enthusiasm for living to the fullest.

How to Marry a Millionaire is a great movie for a few chuckles and elegant mid-20th century fashion which reflects each characters' personality.

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This is a remake of Ladies in Love (1936) with Loretta Young and Tyrone Power. Read more by clicking here.

Dueling Divas: Ella vs. Olga in Bells Are Ringing (1960)

Two women become fairly territorial over Jeffery Moss, the Broadway playwright (Dean Martin).

In this corner of Bells Are Ringing (1960) is Ella Peterson (Judy Holliday), switchboard operator at Susanswerphone- a personalized telephone answering service. Ella gives and takes messages for Jeff.






In this corner Olga (Valerie Allen), socialite without a last name and a penchant for horse races. Olga gives and takes kisses from Jeff.








Alright, ladies! Shake hands and come out swinging!


Kindness/ Empathy

Olga

Olga is in the New York jet set and is accustomed to having her way. She shouts at the woman answering Jeff's phone. She pops into a man's apartment uninvited. She stands firm even when the host gently insists she leave. Instead she says,"You're not getting rid of me that easy."

Not only is Olga rude, she's aware of it.


Ella 

Ella cares for her subscribers. They become her friends - from the opera star to the little boy who won't eat his spinach. When Jeff is in a rough spot at work, he seeks advice from a woman he's never seen, the lady at his answering service - Ella. (He knows her only as "Mom," signaling the nurturing connection he feels with her.)

Ella is always available to help someone.


Kindness/Empathy Points Go To......... Ella




Confidence

Olga



Though Olga's perspective on life is far more limited in scope than Ella's, she thoroughly understands her own exclusive world.  The socialite knows exactly who she is and where she fits in life, especially in Jeff's life.  They are each others' play thing and she's willing to play the game as long as she's having fun and all parties concerned look good.

She's selfish and shallow, but confident.

Unlike Ella, Olga is never really desperate for Jeff. However, it's a confusing blow to her ego that his attention can be diverted to some mysterious woman who's not from their circle, with a strange name and a strange red dress.  Her rules don't account for this situation.

Still, Olga will be fine with or without Jeff. She puts a period on their relationship with a little shrug and a simple resignation, "I don't get it." Oh well. Whatever. More fish in the sea, etc.

Ella

Ella hides.

When Ella is not pretending to be a fictional character and helping people either on the switchboard or in person, she "clams up like an oyster," says her cousin Sue. She's uncomfortable being herself; she even says, "I'm nothing!"

Ella makes up a fake name when she's with Jeff. She's either "Mom" on the phone or "Melisande" in person. Neither he nor his friends know her real name, nor that the two people are the same woman.

Ella is ashamed of her real self and of her dress when she finally goes out on a date with Jeff, even though he assures her "you're beautiful." Ella doesn't believe  he could like her and makes snide, unbecoming cracks about the equine-loving other woman. ("She even looks a little like a horse.")

If Ella knew Olga's world, she'd understand that Olga and Jeff were never close, and that Ella has a clear path to Jeff's heart. In fact, Jeff has told her as much, but Ella is too busy pitying herself to let that life-changing information sink in.

Confidence Points Go To......... Olga


Industriousness/Selflessness

Olga

While Jeff writes the first play without his writing partner (a frightening prospect), he explains to Olga that he must get to work. She scoffs, "You can work some other time." Then she insists that Jeff take her to the race track.

Jeff has gone sober after a bout of depression where he overindulged, but Olga will have none of that and hands him a drink. At no point does she ask him what he wants. Life is all about Olga's leisure time.

Ella

The switchboard operator gives more than messages - Ella gives her listening ear. She gives suggestions to people and chews the fat with the lonely. She gets up to place  wake up calls at odd hours of the day.When a subscriber cannot get a message by phone, she tracks down his address and delivers the important message in person.

In Jeff's case, she makes sure he gets the message and also helps him out of his despondency. Her industriousness and selflessness is an inspiration to Jeff. He writes his next successful play and compares Ella with someone who saves a person from drowning.


Industriousness/Selflessness Points Go To......... Ella

 
Though Ella wins by a wide margin, this duel is terribly unfair to the other woman; Olga is one step above a one-dimensional character.  Still, Olga's lack of depth is purposeful; it helps the audience realize that the person Ella battles the most is herself.

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This entry is for the Dueling Divas Blogathon hosted by Backlots. Read other entries here: http://backlots.net/2013/11/19/announcing-backlots-third-annual-dueling-divas-blogathon/

Christmas Movie Blogathon: We're No Angels (1955)

"We came here to rob them, and that's what we're going to do...as soon as we wash the dishes."

That quote is the essence of the 1955 Christmas movie We're No Angels. It's the late 19th century and three fugitives -Joseph (Humphrey Bogart), Jules (Peter Ustinov) and Albert (Aldo Ray)-from Devils Island Prison need resources to forge passports, change clothes and leave the island. The Ducotel General Store is their mark.

But first, a little party.

Mr. and Mrs. Ducotel (Leo G. Carroll and Joan Bennett) are so kind, the criminals continually find excuses not to kill and rob them. ("After all, it might spoil their Christmas," says Albert.) Instead, they plan a Christmas dinner for the family by stealing a turkey and flowers from the governor's garden. It's a time of giving, but in a twisted way.

The turkey just followed them against their will.

They also help the daughter Isabelle (Gloria Talbott) overcome her timidity. Why? Joseph explains, "She reminds Julie of his youth, me of the home and family I never had, and Albert... Albert is a swine." The dialogue will keep you smiling throughout.

Albert actually helps a woman this time.

Based on a play by Albert Husson (Is the author making comments about himself with one of these characters? Hmmm...), and directed by Michael Curtiz, We're No Angels boasts Technicolor, brightly-lit surroundings and familiar actors to keep the film from becoming overly-morbid. 

The humor is also in little changes of costume. The fugitives arrive in baggy cottons with little underneath, and by the Christmas sequence, they have dressed for dinner. They are still in the same ill-fitting clothes, but Joseph the embezzler has paired his prison wear with a festive dark green shirt (or is it the color of money?). Jules, the posh safe cracker, chooses to wear a starched collar and tie, shirtless. Albert, the womanizer and murderer, goes with a pink shirt and sportive white scarf tied in a simple knot at the neck.

Which is hilarious.

You've got three anti-heros, but there is also a straight villain. Basil Rathbone as Cousin Andre - the store's owner- stops by to go over the store's failing accounts. The inmates do not like this interloper and seek to help the Ducotels in the best way they know.

And Cousin Andre seems to sense the danger. He mentions his pistol and welds his cane about like a sword.

Though the film is about fugitives begrudgingly allowing people to live, in real life, Bogart was generous. This was a tough time, career-wise, for his friend and co-star, Joan Bennett. Her husband had shot her agent a few years earlier and served time. This scandal lost her many film jobs; she became a social outcast.

But she was never a pariah to her true pals.

When Paramount Pictures began casting for this film, the legendary star of Casablanca thought of Ms. Bennett. "Bogie,who also lived on the same street that I did,"  the actress would later say, "insisted that I be in We're No Angels or he wouldn't do it. That is a good friend." A good friend, indeed.
 
Though it is a family-friendly holiday film, because of the dark humor it doesn't fall into the common trap of others of its genre - it never becomes too sappy and cloying. We're No Angels is a refreshing change of pace for the season and a lot of laughs.

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This entry is for the Christmas Movie Blogathon hosted by Family Friendly Reviews. Read the other entries by clicking here.

Framing a Movie: The Clock (1945)

One frame, one moment in a movie can speaks volumes.

Today, Java's Journey studies a frame from The Clock (1945), a WWII drama about a soldier on leave and the woman he meets, starring Judy Garland and Robert Walker, directed by Vincente Minnelli.

Spoiler warning: This article reveals important plot points.

A Bit of the Story 
A milkman, Al Henry (James Gleason), invites a soldier and his date for breakfast.

The soldier is named Joe (Walker). He's on leave and contemplates marriage to his date Alice (Garland), whom he has known for less than 24 hours.

The Frame
This frame pulls together many of Joe's hopes and dreams into one moment.

Throughout the film up to this point, Joe has expressed the desire for his own home, a wife and simply to survive the war to get back to these goals. At the Henry house, he sees his dreams fulfilled in another couple.

The group is paired off by gender. Alice helps Mrs. Henry (Lucile Gleason) to prepare breakfast. The two men are in the background, but the focus is on Joe; he's in the middle of the frame.

Joe doesn't say anything here, but by pairing off the genders, the movie encourages us to concentrate on Joe's desire to be an older married man like Mr. Henry, with Alice as his version of Mrs. Henry, and to live in his own home in peace.

Should he marry a woman he's only just met? Does he have the "right" to ask any woman to marry him and share his responsibilities? Should he seize the moment since anything can happen in the future?

These themes are central to the story and are encapsulated in an instant.

When he is deployed tomorrow, he may never return, truncating any plans of growing old. Because the movie ends with the soldier leaving town, the story leaves the audience with many of the same questions Joe has- will he achieve all of his goals? We will never know.

Still, Joe has had a taste of the life he wants, if only for a moment.

Alexander the Great (1956) - Richard Burton Stars

Everything you need for a sword-and-sandal epic of the mid-20th century -

• Big budget.
• Location shooting with lots of dirt and fighting.
• At least one star from the UK 
• Warriors or slaves in short tunics.
• Historical accounts fictionalized.
• A stirring musical score.

Alexander the Great (1956) has it all.

 

Macedonian king, Alexander (Richard Burton), must unite and lead the Greeks against the Persian Empire. Meanwhile, he has problems at home with his mother Olympias (Danielle Darrieux), who...

You know what? It doesn't matter.

In movies like this, it doesn't matter who does what to whom or how historically accurate it is. It is a fantasy, basically, with famous names. They are not going for accuracy, but for pulse-racing, adrenaline-pumping action. The down times are there for exposition, for people to read lines with Shakespearean gravity and to tell you what's at stake before another fight or battle begins.

Burton has a mix of sophistication and earthiness that always works for roles of high-born, ancient characters. When playing modern men, he seems confined, ready to burst out of his suit. He's free in a tunic.

  

 
The intensity, the volatile nature of Burton makes him a dangerous man. You quake in your sandals when he snarls at someone. He's not bluffing.

Watch this film for the tension, the fights, the spectacle. Read a book for the history.




Update:

• LIFE Magazine features Burton and Alexander the Great in the November 14, 1955 issue here: "Boy Who Took the World."
• Alexander the Great is available on DVD at Amazon.
  

Louisiana Purchase (1941) - Bob Hope in a Political Comedy

U.S. Senator Oliver Loganberry (Victor Moore) investigates criminal activity in the Louisiana Purchasing Company. Company president and state legislator Jim Taylor ( Bob Hope) distracts the senator from his mission with a lovely woman, Marina (Vera Zorina).

They plan to place him into a compromising position to blackmail Loganberry. The bulk of Louisiana Purchase (1941) is waylaying the senator who doesn't seem to understand that his investigation is being deliberately impeded.

 

Moore is known for playing these dopey types of characters. Here he reprises his role from the Broadway play of the same name.

Since the story involves probing an actual state and taking satirical potshots at real life Louisiana governor Huey Long, the film spends about 5 minutes at the beginning assuring everyone (including those litigious among us) that this is a fictional story.

The legal disclaimer is in a song sung by a bevy of beauties in colorful head dresses from behind hurricane shutters. This and other songs were written by Irving Berlin for the play.

There are lots of funny characters like a nervous embezzler who says "They say the liquor at Leavenworth ain't fit for man nor beast" and "We don't want a fair trial; they'll hang us."

The extravagant sets, the obvious expense, are just breath-taking in this comedy. From the languid drapes framing the 12-foot tall (or higher) doorways to the columns in a courtyard.

There is even a Mardi Gras parade scene filled with extras and huge floats.

 

The only drawback is that it's all noticeably on a sound stage. Still, the fun and festivities shine through.
Filmed in Technicolor, the rich hues and tones of the sets and costumes are a feast for the eyes.

With all this at their disposal, the filmmakers felt compelled to have a fashion show, which interrupts the plot for a few minutes. However, Hope interrupts the fashion show with quips.

 

The models are dressed in pastels, which seems a waste of Technicolor.  One would have preferred more saturated colors. However, they give "come hither" looks into the camera, which suggests they are present in this film for reasons other than the clothing.

The stars of the show, however, don the exciting clothes.

Marina arrives in a blue coat and matching beret which, with red lip rouge, draws your attention to her eyes.

Raymond Walburn as Col. Davis wears an outfit that mimics his eye color -  light grey.

Bob Hope is rather spiffy in his pin-striped suits, gold cuff links and fashionable shoulder pads.

 

Madame Yvonne Bordelaise (Irene Bordoni), the proprietor of a restaurant, looks fetching in a coral and chartreuse knot-waisted dress. She has a bit of fringe in front and chunky jewelry which complement her outsized personality.

You'll get a laugh or two from Bob Hope's reliable one-liners. These were sorely needed since the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred just a few weeks before the release of this film.

Louisiana Purchase is a fun film about political corruption, but is also a quest to wow you with Paramount Pictures' big budgets.