Semiquincentennial Movie Project #19: Breaking Away

 

 

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

 

Week #19: Indiana -

 

 

 

The state of Indiana was established on December 11, 1816. 

Details about Indiana:

State bird: cardinal

State flower: peony

State tree: tulip tree 

Additional historical trivia:

There is a good chance that the popcorn you are eating came from Indiana. Indiana (and Nebraska) are the producers of most of the world's popcorn supply.

Did you ever get a letter from Santa? It probably actually came from the post office in Santa Claus, IN...

Elvis Presley performed his last live concert in Indianapolis 3 months before his death.

October 6, 1866 was the date of the very first train robbery, in Indiana.

You older girls will remember Raggedy Ann. The doll was created by an Indiana woman. 

Speaking of females, Indiana is home of the first "women only" prison. 

The tiny school of Milan won the state basketball championship in 1954, and was the inspiration for the film Hoosiers.

Famous people born in Indiana: Orville Redenbacher (see the first trivia bit above), Jim Davis (creator of the Garfield comic strip), Michael Jackson (as well as the rest of the Jackson 5), Kurt Vonnegut, David Letterman, James Dean, Larry Bird, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and, believe it or not, Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Sanders (who wasn't a real colonel in the Army, by the way..) 

 

Breaking Away (1979): 

Remember those heady days of the late 70's and early 80's? When life was idyllic because you didn't have to be worried about being drafted, and especially when, even if you did sign up for military service, you were assured of not having to serve in an unpopular war? When, after graduation from high school, the biggest decisions a boy would have to make was whether to go to college or join the work force? When Dennis Quaid was, arguably, one of the sexiest new actors on the screen (and I can say that, firmly entrenched in my own heterosexuality. A young Dennis Quaid was pretty hot at 25...) When a little low budget film like Breaking Away could surprise the critics and the public alike?

At a budget of only $2 million the film crept into being one of the top films of 1979. Roger Ebert, in his review, praised it, saying that "[i]n a summer of big-budget movies that are insults to the intelligence" here was a movie that was "a wonderfully sunny, funny, goofy, intelligent movie that makes you feel about as good as any movie in a long time. It is, in fact, a treasure..." (BTW, I looked up to see what "big budget movies" that Ebert might be referring to as "insults to the intelligence" and came away with these: He considered The Hurricane to be the worst movie of the year, this despite the fact that he stayed for the entire movie, but walked out on Caligula. He also did not like The Amityville Horror and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure.)

Breaking Away, on the other hand, consistently cracks the top 20 sports movies of all time (a 2003 Sports Illustrated article ranked it # 8), and even gets fairly good rankings on movie lists that cover the entire gamut of movie genres. It's also # 8 on AFI's list of the "100 Most Inspiring Movies list.. With a cast of virtually unknowns (this was only the 7th movie for Jackie Earle Haley, the veteran of the main cast, the 5th movie for Quaid as well as the 5th for Dennis Christopher, and the first for Daniel Stern. To be the main focus of the cast with a bunch of "nobodies", the movie did fairly well, I would say.

The film was not without merits in more ways than one. It garnered five Academy Award nominations, and even managed to win one of them, Best Writing for Original Screenplay. It had the unfortunate situation of going head-to-head against the top movie of the year, Kramer vs. Kramer, and thus lost for Best Picture, Best Director (Peter Yates lost to Robert Benton) and Best Supporting Actress (Barbara Barrie lost to Meryl Streep). It also lost the Best Music award to All That Jazz (and deservedly so, in my opinion on that one).

Essentially it's a coming of age movie more than a sports movie. After all, even though the focus is on the sport of cycling, how many people would actually be interested enough to go see it just for the cycling? Certainly not if you wanted action. A football movie or a hockey movie or even a basketball movie would be much more likely to draw in the sports nut. On the other hand, a movie that centered on the conflict of teenagers trying to fit in to whatever society expected of them, while still retaining their exuberant youthful personality, is a much more likely draw.

The star of the movie is Dave Stoller (Dennis Christopher), a kid who is absolutely enamored with the Italian bicycling team, and even by the Italian culture itself. To the annoyance of his father, he affects an Italian accent and cranks out Italian opera on his stereo. He has a big desire to compete against the Italians in a bicycle race, holding them in high regard as basically the "best of the best".

 

Along with high school buddies Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern) and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley), Dave spends most of his time discussing what the four are going to do now that they have graduated high school. It appears that the only real future they have is getting into the job market, since college is basically a pipe dream. The university students call them "cutters", a disparaging term for the townspeople, many of whom work in the local rock quarry. (Note: The actual term that the real university used was "stoners", but the production team opted to change it for the film, for obvious reasons...)

 

The rivalry between the two factions becomes intense when some of the students from the university invade the boys' favorite swimming hole.

 

Mike in particular has some animosity for the university interlopers because, as a former football star in high school he resents the fact that some out-of-towners are garnering the accolades in the realm of football while he is only able to live on his past glories at school. 

 

Mike: "You know what really gets me though? I mean, here I am, I gotta live in this stinking town and I gotta read in the newspapers about some hot shot kid - new star of the college team. Every year its gonna be a new one. And every year its never gonna be me. I'm just gonna be Mike. Twenty year old Mike. Thirty year old Mike. Old mean old man Mike. " 

Mike, Cyril and Moocher all have dreams, but dreams that are beyond what they think are realistically possible. Dave, on the other hand, is the essence of optimism. He knows, I mean really knows, that given the opportunity he could be a star cyclist. So when the Italian team comes to town for an exhibition race, he plans to be in the race to compete against his heroes. But his "heroes" turn out to be a bit less than altruistic. They use some very unorthodox tactics to get Dave to wreck his bike during the race.

 

This has the effect of making Dave apathetic about his dreams. Even though his friends want him to compete in the local race, mainly because if he wins it would take those uppity university students they hate down a peg or two, Dave is not very gung-ho about the idea. Inspiration comes from an unlikely source. Dave's father tells his son about how, as a younger man, and one of the quarry workers, he helped cut the stones that helped build the university, even though he never felt welcome on the campus.

 

Ultimately Dave and his friends join the race, with the team name being "Cutters" (thus snubbing their noses at the disparaging term the university students use against them). Dave is, of course, the driving force for the team, since none of his friends are as avid about his chosen interest in cycling. But the entry in the race requires that a team be comprised of four, not just one. The race is kind of like a relay. One biker rides until he feels a need to rest and another takes over. 

 

Dave, of course,  takes the lead, but ends up getting injured amd has to let his friends take over. But the lead he garnered dwindles as the friends are not nearly as adept at this cycling thing as Dave. As usual in these kinds of movies, the last laps of the race make it necessary that Dave takes back his position as the rider. And it's pretty much a foregone conclusion what is going to happen at the final lap, I think.

In the middle of all this action Dave starts a relationship with one of the university girls, Katherine (Robyn Douglass in her first movie role). But Dave gets off on the wrong foot by pretending to be a university student, and not just that, but also being an Italian. You know that's bound to come back at some point and smack him in the butt. 

 

Did you know that this movie inspired a very brief TV series? In 1980 ABC tried to introduce a series, also called Breaking Away, with Shaun Cassidy in the lead role as Dave. It only aired 7 episodes before it was cancelled, however. I don't have any idea how it would have panned out in the long run, but the initial show was in essence a prequel to the film. The events were supposedly occurring the year prior to the events in the film.

 

Not to dismiss Barbara Barrie's Academy Award nomination, I think the standout performance of the film is Paul Dooley as Dave's father. He is hilarious in all his scenes, but early on in the film is one that stands out. Dad follows Dave upstairs when he comes home and comes back downstairs with a shocked look on his face. And you just know what his line is going to be before he even days it:

 

"He's shaving... he's shaving his legs..."

 Breaking Away is a film that will stick with you for its inspirational message. If you watch enough of these kinds of movies the ending may be telegraphed before  the movie ever gets underway, but like several movies I have reviewed over the years, it has enough of it's own charm that the "I've seen this all before" aspect of it gets overwhelmed by the way the actors play out their parts. I highly recommend if you've never seen it to give it a go, and if you have seen it, give it another viewing,

That's it for this week. Drive safely, folks.

Quiggy

 

 

 

Young Frankenstein

 

This is my entry in the CMBA Make 'Em Laugh Blogathon.

 

 

Note: As I am writing this, just around the corner, we are going to be celebrating the 100th birthday of Mel Brooks. He will be joining David Attenborough, Gene Shalit and Bambi Linn (from Oklahoma!) for 2026, as well as Dick Van Dyke and Lee Grant, from 2025, to hit that centenary mark (and June Lockhart, who hit 100 before she passed away late last year).. I think, therefore, it is fitting that this review comes out at this point. Happy birthday, Mel!

 

It's no secret that two of my top five all time favorite comedies are ones that were directed by Mel Brooks. Mel Brooks had a sensitivity for what makes people laugh. Of course, he often had a cast of great actors to help him pull it off, not to mention several great writers (besides himself) that helped him create a few of them. Blazing Saddles, which ranks as my favorite comedy, had the help of Richard Pryor and Andrew Bergman, and today's movie was credited with the help of the star, Gene Wilder.

Mel Brooks, surprisingly, only has 11 movies to his credit, as a director, but with the exception of Life Stinks, I think all of them are comedic gems. In addition to the ones I've already mentioned, he directed the first The Producers, Spaceballs, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, plus a few others that are fondly remembered.   

Mel Brooks got his start pairing with Sid Caesar, with whom he created some classic gems of early TV on Caesar's Your Show of Shows. Later he worked with Carl Reiner, father of Rob Reiner, in creating a series of comedy albums featuring The 2,000 Year Old Man, a couple of which managed to be nominated for Grammy for Best Comedy Albums. He also helped get the classic Get Smart, featuring a bumbling spy in the vein of James Bond on the air.  

In Young Frankenstein, Brooks and Wilder hit comedy gold, a well-received follow up to his/their previous work in Blazing Saddles. The film was the brainchild of Wilder who brought the idea to Brooks while on the set of Blazing Saddles. Initially Brooks was not overly enthusiastic. He was quoted as responding to Wilder's idea of another Frankenstein film with "Not another! We've had the son of, the cousin of, the brother-in-law. We don't need another Frankenstein." But when Wilder suggested the idea of a guy who was dismissive of his family as kooks, Brooks admitted the idea had some funny potential.

When it came time to cast the film one of Wilder's stipulations for doing the film was that Brooks had to excuse himself from his usual cameo (or significant) role. Wilder expressed some concern that Brooks tended to break down the forth wall when he was in the scene.  Of course, if you've seen the film you know that fourth wall was actually breached a couple of times anyway, by Marty Feldman. Feldman, by the way, made his first American movie appearance in this film, and is one of the many highlights of the film.

In addition, coming back for another role in a brooks film was Madeline Kahn, who had such an influence in the previous film.  Teri Garr, who had up to this point been mostly cast in uncredited roles in film and TV, also has some great scenes. She had originally auditioned for the role that eventually went to Kahn, but Brooks kept her, and his decision made the role of Inga a memorable one. And of course we can't forget Peter Boyle, who as the monster, gets one of the most iconic scenes of the movie, that of performing a soft shoe and duet with Wilder singing "Puttin' on the Ritz". Boyle had recently come off of what I consider a virtuoso performance as the lead character in an obscure movie called Joe (a movie I though I had reviewed for The Midnite Drive-In, but apparently that was for the previous incarnation of my movie reviewing blog... Gotta rectify that soon.)

They decided to film the movie in black and white, as opposed to color. The decision met with some resistance from the brass, who suggested a compromise, film the opening in black and white but the bulk of it in color, but Brooks remained firm in his decision. He wanted to stay true to the visual style, the way the old Universal Studios horror movies they were paying homage to were filmed. In that respect of staying true to the older films they even managed to get the permission of Kenneth Strickland, the creator of the original lab equipment which Strickland owned. And I'm not sure if he was paid money, but one of the stipulations that Strickland had for granting the use of the equipment was that he received a credit in the movie for it. I like that. He just wanted his name recognized more than anything else. (I feel an affinity for that sentiment. I, too, have had pieces I have written published in magazines, (under my real name), not wanting the money so much as having my name in print...)

The Oscars for 1974 were pretty much dominated by The Godfather, Part II, but Young Frankenstein did manage to get a wee bit of recognition. No, it didn't win an award, but it got nominated for two, Best Adapted Screenplay which it lost to The Godfather, Part II (which, technically shouldn't have counted, since the story was not a part of the original Puzo novel...) and Best Sound to Earthquake (and that one I don't begrudge one bit...) 

If comedy is a pariah at Oscar time, one could say that it was highly unlikely for Young Frankenstein to win anyway.  Only a smattering of movies that could be remotely considered "comedies" have won Best Picture, and at least a few of those were probably given for the musical part of the picture (Gigi, An American in Paris, My Fair Lady, Chicago) and many of the others were more romantic comedies than outright comedies. Not that I would have replaced any of the would-be contenders that year with Young Frankenstein for Best Picture (possibly The Towering Inferno, but that's just because those all-star cast movies always seem to get the nod, whether they were overly melodramatic or not... And one of these days I am going to delve into a piece on the "disaster flick" fascination of the late 70's....)

Still, I could have nominated a couple of other candidates for Oscars from this film.  For one thing, this movie would have been entirely different without the talent of Boyle. Admittedly he had no real lines until the ending (except the mumbling attempt at the aforementioned duet), but I really can't think of anyone else at the time who could have pulled it off with such panache. And not that it would have actually won against the raft of powerhouses that WERE nominated, but I think the film deserved a nod for cinematography. That decision to stay true to the older films and use strictly black and white shows not only dedication to the older films, but also some talent in being able to pull it off.

So before I move on: remember I said this is one of my top 5 comedies? Well, here for your enlightenment are the list of the top five that I consider the best: 

 

1. Blazing Saddles (1974): 

2. This is Spinal Tap (1984): 

3. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944):

4. Young Frankenstein (1974): 

5. Johnny Dangerously (1984): 

 

 

 

Young Frankenstein (1974):

The scene opens with the coffin of Baron von Frankenstein being opened and a box contained in the coffin being removed. Catch the reluctance of the corpse to let that box go because, unfortunately, it is the only real comedic scene in the opening moments of the movie. It really doesn't start to get hilarious, at least for me, until the 15 minute mark.  

 

The opening involves Dr, Frederick Frankenstein (that's pronounced "Fronk-en-steen"...) is delivering a lecture at a university. Frederick (Gene Wilder) demonstrates the difference between voluntary and reflex action of the brain, and asserts that, despite what one student points out about Frederick's heritage, that once a brain is severed from the body it cannot be revived. He claims that his infamous ancestor was a "kook" and that his research must therefore be flawed.

 

Frederick is approached by an executor for his family estate making him the inheritor of the family castle in Transylvania. He goes to visit the estate, where he is met by Igor, played by Marty Feldman, (his name is pronounced "Eye-gor") and is introduced to his laboratory assistant, the extremely attractive Inga (Teri Garr). Don't miss the early funny part of the film where Igor tells Frederick to "walk this way", and shows him what he means.

 

We finally get a glimpse of the Frankenstein Castle.

 

"It's only a model..."

 At the castle Frederick meets the mysterious housekeeper, Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman). Just mentioning Blucher's name causes the horses to whinny in fear. (I think that Leachman is struggling in these scenes to not burst out laughing, which is a good thing because it would be entirely out of character for her to actually laugh...)

 

When Frederick inspects the castle he inquires about his grandfather's private library, of which Frau Blucher claims to not have any knowledge. But later, upon awakening from a nightmare he hears music coming from behind the walls. He finds a secret passage behind a book case. Which involves a revolving bookcase and a candle that has to be placed just so...

 

The result is that Frederick finds his grandfather's secret laboratory. He finds the diaries (including a tome titled "How I Did It"), and becomes obsessed with the idea that he could recreate his grandfather's legacy. He obtains the body of a newly hanged criminal and sends Igor to a local morgue to retrieve the brain of a genius, Hans Delbruck. 

 

Unfortunately butterfingered Igor drops the brain and destroys it. But, ever resourceful, he just grabs another brain. He doesn't tell Frederick about his mishap right away, however. 

Frederick performs his experiment, using lightning as a power source. A great parallel to the original speech delivered by Colin Clive as the original doctor, over the top, almost parallel to Clive's essaying of the same madness. 

 

But it initially appears he has failed. 

 

But he is being pessimistic a bit prematurely. Meanwhile in town the citizens are becoming wary. Five times before (five???) a Frankenstein has occupied the castle and brought into the world an unwanted experiment. So Inspector Kemp (Kenneth Mars) volunteers to go to the castle to have a chat with Frederick and make sure that he is on the up and up.

 

At the same time, the monster comes to life, but is acting so strangely that Frederick becomes suspicious of the brain that he actually put into his creation. Igor admits he had an accident with Delbruck's brain and just grabbed a nearby brain as a substitute: "Abby somebody... Abby... Normal!" Frederick sees the problem right away: "Are you telling me that I put an abnormal brain in a seven and a half foot long GORILLA???" (It's beginning to look like Frederick might have been better off if he had failed.) 

 

While Inspector Kemp is, as needs be, suspicious of the new resident at Frankenstein castle, Frederick is coming to the realization that his creation is dangerous. But a revelation from Frau Blucher reveals that she knows a little secret about the heredity of the Frankenstein family and their creations: they adore music. Some of the scenes that follow are sweet, such as the attempt of the monster to try to catch some butterflies that apparently only it can see, as Frau Blucher plays a melodic tune on a violin. But the monster runs off after being startled by an electrical short in a nearby outlet.

The monster escapes and, in an homage directly referencing a similar encounter in the original The Bride of Frankenstein, it encounters a blind hermit, played exquisitely by Gene Hackman (who was uncredited in the first release). The monster, having been attracted by the sweet strains of music that the hermit is playing pays a visit. (And if you watch nothing else from this film, you just HAVE to watch this scene play out...)

 

Side note Hackman originally came into the movie as a result of his friendship with Wilder. Hackman asked Wilder if there was a part in the movie for him, because he wanted to get into some comedic roles. Both Wilder and Brooks immediately came to the conclusion that the only role that Hackman could be perfect for was the blind man. And they weren't wrong. You only had to see his later role as Lex Luthor in the Christopher Reeve Superman films that Hackman could do comedy just as well as he could dramatic roles.

Frederick finally recaptures the creature and has plans to turn him into a functional calm and friendly member of society. Eventually he premieres his creation to a group of scientists and public, performing "Puttin' on the Ritz". 

 

(Initially Brooks was adamant that this scene would not work and was against having it filmed, but Wilder was insistent. And work it does. It is probably one of the most memorable scenes in the film. And the film audiences did laugh.)

But things go haywire when one of the stage lights explodes and brings out the fear the creature has for fire. The audience reacts by throwing vegetables at him and the creature runs amuck. It is destined to be made a lesson for how man shouldn't meddle in the realm of that which is reserved for God. But take heart, once again the monster escapes and Frederick has plans to help the monster complete it's adjustment to polite society.

 One of the more interesting homages occurs when Frederick's fiancee shows up and has an unexpected romantic interlude with the monster. Not only does it make her no longer an uppity virginal debutante but it also gives her a new updo that is straight out of The Bride of Frankenstein...

 

 

 

In terms of box office and critical reception, the film holds a 95% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That means pretty much every critic at the time had good things to say about it. Roger Ebert gave the film four stars, and even his competitor Gene Siskel managed to concede it a three star rating. IMDb gives it an 8 out of 10 on it's rating.

Not everyone was glowing in it's praise, however. One reviewer quoted in the wikipedia article, although praising of the movie itself, had some disparaging words about Feldman's portrayal. Leslie Halliwell is quoted as saying that the script was "far from consistently funny, but there are splendid moments".

The public however, seemed to think it was a gem. In terms of box office sales it ranked third for the year, only behind The Towering Inferno and Blazing Saddles in terms of draw. With a budget of only about $2.5 million it pulled in well over $30 million in US sales, and ultimately about $85 million worldwide. 

Definitely Young Frankenstein is well worth watching, even multiple times. I return to this movie often, especially when I want to remember one of the cast members. Unfortunately most of them have passed on to the studio in the sky, most recently Teri Garr, whom we lost in 2024, and Gene Hackman who passed away last year.. But as stated in the opening, we still have the director, Mel Brooks. (Note: I would imagine the little girl is still alive but I can't find any information one way or the other on her status. She would be in her 60's by now if she is.)

Well folks, the time has come to go back to the castle. Drive safely.

Quiggy

 

 

   

Edith Head Tribute

 

 

 

Preface: Much of the information I used in this piece came courtesy of a phenomenal book: Edith Head: The Fifty-Year Career of Hollywood's Greatest Costume Designer by Jay Jorgensen.

 

Edith and the "men" in her life

In the mid-90's I was going to a church, and the Sunday School class I was involved with at that church had a get together often, where we would eat and fellowship and play games.  I remember on one occasion we split up into two groups to play Trivial Pursuit.  One of the categories which my team came up with on one of our turns during that game was Entertainment.  The opposing team pulled the card and immediately concurred that our team would "never guess" the answer.  Even my team was for the most part in a spirit of resignation (before the question was even read, by the way...) 

But being the avid optimist when it came to the subject of movies and TV, I was, like, "oh, we'll get it..."  The question, as I remember, was "Who has won the most Academy Awards for Costume Design?"  Without even a pause to confer with my teammates, I blurted out "Edith Head!"  The whole room was astounded that I got it right and thought I was some sort of genius... 

However, truth be told, I had no idea at the time it would be the right answer.  I was never much for paying attention to what I would refer to as "lower tier awards" during the yearly Oscars ceremonies, so I had never even noticed who won many of those awards.  It was simply the fact that the only name I knew in the realm of costume design was Edith Head.

The artist in action

The reason why I knew her name was due to the fact that I had been (and still AM) an avid reader of the credits during movies I watch, and remembered that Edith was noted in the credits to Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. The film was her last, and it was dedicated to her memory.  

The fact that Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid was a parody/homage to thereat film noir movies of the 50's, and Ms. Head had been the costume designer for quite a few of the better original film noir movies led me to note more of her credits during the opening sequences.  Some of  her credits include such great classics of the film noir genre as Double Indemnity, The Blue Dahlia, Notorious and Sunset Boulevard.  

 

Double Indemnity

Not only does Edith hold the record for Oscar wins in the category; a total of 8, but those 8 Oscars are also a record for most wins by a female in any category. (Katherine Hepburn's 4 wins as an actress is a distant second). She also holds the record for most nominations for an Oscar in the costume design category; a total of 35, which is also a record for nominations for any female in any category. (Again, Meryl Streep, with 21 nominations as an actress is a distant second in that regard). 

She even holds the record for most consecutive years in getting nominations for Oscars. Between 1948, which was the first year the award was given for the category, and 1966, Edith was either nominated for, or in some cases, actually won Oscars in Best Costume Design -Color and/or Best Costume Design - Black and White, an astounding run of 19 years. (AI incorrectly lists Walt Disney as the record holder with a paltry 8 year run, but in his defense he was the sole name as the nominee, and Ms. Head shared credits in some of those years in which she was named as a candidate for her contributions).  

She was also nominated five more times in the 70's, winning her 8th and final Oscar for The Sting. At 432 credits over her career, she is also holds the record for having the most credits in film in the costume design category.

 

The designs for The Sting

In 1950 Edith managed to win the Oscar in both categories. For Best Costume Design- Color she was given a statuette for Samson and Delilah, and for Best Costume Design - Black and White, she got it for her work on All About Eve. 

Samson and Delilah

All About Eve

She appeared on screen a handful of times too, almost always as herself.  She was a guest contestant on the TV version of Groucho Marx's game show You Bet Your Life. She had a cameo in the film The Oscar, a movie for which she was also the costume designer. That film, by the way, was also one for which she received one of her Oscar nominations (for costume design, not for acting...) One of my favorite TV shows is Columbo and, in one episode of that series, "Requiem for A Falling Star", she meets the titular Columbo. And no, she isn't the murderer (or the victim), she just has a brief cameo, as Columbo comes to the studio of his suspect (whom we already know is the murderer. if you are familiar with the format of that show.)

Edith in "Columbo"

Edith Head began her career in the late 20's a studio sketch artist. She admits that, when she was first hired, her only experience was doing landscapes. She took some drawings from fellow students in her university class to the interview, which she said was with their permission, by the way. She owned up to the ruse pretty much right away after her hire, but they decided to keep her anyway. One of her first jobs was doing some uncredited work on the Academy Award winning movie Wings. Her first credited work was on the dresses worn by Mae West in She Done Him Wrong.

 

She Done Him Wrong

She started getting recognition for her work, and indeed, she was nominated for the first ever Academy Award Oscar for Costume Design, created in 1948, for The Emperor Waltz. She lost that award to her only competitor that year, Dorothy Jeakins, who won it for her work on Joan of Arc, but Ms. Head came back in spades the next year, winning the award for The Heiress in 1949, and as stated above, in 1950 for both categories.

 

The Emperor Waltz

 

Although she had a great eye for contemporary style, I think Ms. Head's best stuff was when she was involved in period dramas. Whether it was ancient Egypt (The Ten Commandments), early American colonial times (The Buccaneer), the American Old West (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) or the Jazz Age mid-west (The Sting), Edith's eye for period pieces usually shined through. But in the case of three of the previously noted four movies, the Oscar that she was nominated for ended up in other hands. (The sole statuette in that quartet being for The Sting, by the way, which was well deserved...) 

I would like to point out that quite often the competition that Edith faced in her quest for Oscar recognition was often pretty stiff.  Take for instance the year of 1956-57, another year in which she was in the running for both categories.  I will concede the Oscar for Best Costume Design - Black and White to the winner, The Solid Gold Cadillac, since of the five nominated films in the category (The Proud and Profane {the one for which she was nominated}, along with the winner, The Solid Gold Cadillac, The Power and the Prize, Teenage Rebel and Seven Samurai), the only one I have seen was Seven Samurai. But look at the roster for Best Costume Design - Color that year: 

Ms. Head was nominated for her work on the set of The Ten Commandments.

 

Among her competitors that year were Maria de Matteis for War and Peace. 

 

Moss Mabry and Marjorie Best for Giant.

Irene Sharaff for The King and I.

And the ultimate winner of the award, Miles White for Around the World in 80 Days.

It's easy to see, just from those stills, that the Academy had their work cut out for them. On more than one occasion I have stated that I wish the voting tally was public knowledge. I am surely not the only one to wish to know how the rest of the movies fared in a particular tally at times. In this case, personally, I would have had an extremely hard time choosing between ATWI80D, The King and I and The Ten Commandments...

In 1975 not only did Ms. Head get a nomination of The Man Who Would Be King at that year's Oscars, she also got a nomination for the film in the same category with the British Acadamy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) . She lost both, however; the Oscar to Barry Lyndon and the BAFTA to The Day of the Locust. I can't say I begrudge the Academy for picking Barry Lyndon as that movie was a feast for the eyes, visually. But The Day of the Locust? Call me  an unsophisticated lout, but most films that depict the 1930's in retrospect don't really impress me, fashion wise. (I should note that as much as I love The Sting, it's the story and the acting and the music that draw me, not the costumes, although as stated above, I thought they were good).  One of these days I'm going to have to post a review of The Day Of The Locust...

The first on screen credit that Ms. Head received was for her work on the Mae West film She Done Him Wrong. Ms. West's instructions to Ms. Head in designing her clothes was "make the clothes loose enough to prove that I'm a lady, but tight enough to show 'em I'm a woman". And Ms. Head must've done a good enough job on the outfits. Just shortly after the film's release a Paris fashion designer, Elsa Schiaparelli, introduced new designs on the fashion industry based on those outfits.

She Done Him Wrong

 

Over her early years in the wardrobe department, Edith would develop a rapport with many current and soon-to-be female stars, some who would use their influence to demand that Edith would be the preferred designer of their outfits. Barbara Stanwyck in particular, after an encounter where she was mistaken for just an overly aggressive fan by security guards while accompanying her Stella Dallas co-star at a premiere, while wearing her usual clothes, decided that Ms. Head had a better eye for what women should wear, and began to request her regular wardrobe be designed by her. On the same note, there were a few actresses who weren't all that impressed with her, but maybe just a little of that animosity was due to a preference for her mentor. Claudette Colbert has been quoted as saying that she considered Ms. Head as nothing more than an "art student."

In 1938, when her mentor Travis Banton was fired from Paramount because of his unreliability due to his drinking, she was in line to be made the studio head of the design department. Even though the studio considered bringing in a big name, they eventually made her the studio head because she was cheaper than the alternative. 

The onset of World War II had some impact on the costume production for films made during the war years. The U.S. War Board issued what was called "Limitation Order l-85" which was designed to limit the use of fabric, materials and labor for non-essential apparel, both in public and in costumes for film. This caused the costume design departments of the studios to find ways to be creative without being too excessive on the demands of the material. But one only needs to see some of Dorothy Lamour's outfits in the Bob Hope / Bing Crosby Road pictures, or Barbara Stanwyck's dresses in Double Indemnity to know that Ms. Head knew how to make do.

 

The Road to Morocco

Double Indemnity

 

 

The post-war years saw Ms. Head becoming more prominent in the industry. She continued to be a requested designer. sometimes even having actresses who were on loan to other studios requesting that she also be loaned out to design for them. One in particular was Ingrid Bergman, who often would put in demands that such bonuses be added when she went to another studio to make a picture.

Beginning in 1947, because her designs. as well as some other designers' fashions were garnering such attention, Photoplay Magazine began offering patterns for sale. The top seller for that first year happened to be a Head design worn by Lizabeth Scott in Desert Fury.  It was also in 1947 that the first Oscar was ever presented for Costume Design. Despite being instrumental in getting the award initiated, she did not win, and it is reported she was very disappointed. She only had one competitor that year, Dorothy Jeakins, who won it for Joan of Arc. Fortunately the Academy did show it's admiration during the next year's ceremony, however. 

The 1950's proved to be one of the most memorable in terms of Ms. Head's output. Along with The Ten Commandments, she was also the designer of note in such films as All About Eve, where she made Bette Davis look stunning, A Place in the Sun, where both Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters showed off their charms, Roman Holiday and Sabrina, both of which had Audrey Hepburn lighting up the screen and To Catch a Thief, from which Grace Kelly benefited from her designs, all of which films were either nominated for or actually received Oscars for Ms. Head.

 

All About Eve

 

 

 

A Place in the Sun - Taylor

 

A Place in the sun- Winters

 

Roman Holiday

 

 

 

Sabrina

To Catch A Thief

 

 

One of the more interesting contributions of Edith involved her work with the production of The War of the Worlds. Not only did she design the look of Anne Robinson, but she also contributed to what the Martians would be wearing.   

 

The War of the Worlds-Anne Robinson

 

The War of the Worlds -Martian

 

One of the more interesting tidbits I came across while researching this entry involved the dress that Edith made for Bette Davis in All About Eve. Ms. Davis tried on the dress she was to use and it slipped down over her shoulders. Edith, thinking there was a problem with the fitting was all set to inform the producers that production would have to be delayed while she fixed the problem was told by Bette that it might be a good thing for her character if her shoulders were exposed in the scene.  

Even when Ms. Head's focal contributions were for men she had a good eye, especially when it came to period pieces. She got a nomination for her work on John Wayne in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. (Side note: I think it's a shame that that was the only Oscar nomination for that movie, but that's for another entry in this blog some day...)  She would follow up over the next few years by doing Wayne's outfits in Hatari!, The Sons of Katie Elder, Hellfighters  El Dorado, too.

 

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

El Dorado

She was also instrumental in making Elvis stand out in 9 of his films, including the iconic red and white cowboy suit that he wore when he sang "Teddy Bear" in Loving You.  

 

Elvis in Loving You

Ms. Head was a favorite of director Alfred Hitchcock. In 1946 she did her first film with him, Notorious, and although it would be another 8 years before she worked with him again, she came on board, beginning with Rear Window and was his go-to costume designer for much of the rest of his career. Of the last 14 movies he made during that time, Edith was the costume designer of note for 11 of them, with the exceptions being North by Northwest, Frenzy and Psycho.

 

Edith and Alfred

1963 was a banner year for Edith in the running for Oscars. Not only was she nominated for as an Oscar in the Best Costume Design - Color for A New Kind of Love (which lost to Cleopatra), she was nominated twice for Best Costume Design - Black and White, for Love With a Proper Stranger and Wives and Lovers, both of which lost to 8 ½.  

The 70's saw Ms. Head slowing down a bit. In previous decades she had averaged more than 70 movies a year, but through the 70's, her last decade in the industry, she only worked on 12. One of those was her work on The Sting, for which she received the 8th of her Oscars, but she was also designing for old friends, like Mae West, who used her services for what ended up being Mae's last two films, Myra Breckenridge and Sextette. (And there are two movies that have to be seen to be believed...) Also benefiting from her services during that decade were a couple of other old friends, Elizabeth Taylor (Ash Wednesday) and Katherine Hepburn (Rooster Cogburn). 

Besides The Sting, she also got recognized with a handful of Oscar nominations (none of which she won, but were well done nonetheless..) Those films were Sweet Charity, The Man Who Would Be King and both Airport and Airport '77. The competition for those was pretty stiff each time, however. As previously mentioned The Man Who Would Be King lost to Barry Lyndon and I don't begrudge that one. Nor do I have anything bad to say about Airport '77 losing to Star Wars.  (What can I say? I LOVE Star Wars...) The other two lost to Anne of a Thousand Days and Cromwell.

Her last film was Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid,  and, as noted above, was the inspiration for writing up this blog entry. She was responsible for making Steve Martin look authentic while he "interacted" with some of the iconic men and women who made those earlier films. Credit, of course, is owed to the director, Carl Reiner, and Martin himself, but without a good costume designer to make it seem real, this one would have been seriously lacking.

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

 Edith passed away only a few short weeks after completing her work on this one. (I don't think she was lived long enough to see the final cut.) Her loss was felt throughout the industry.

Note: Ms. Head was not without her detractors. I read an article that was very disparaging about her talent and her contributions, but I avoided anything negative when writing this tribute. If you side with the detractors that's fine, but I choose to remember her in a more sympathetic light.

It was very insightful for me to delve into one of the more iconic people in the industry that was not in front  of the camera (actors and actresses) or behind it (directors). Hope you enjoyed this reminiscence. 

Drive safely folks.

Quiggy