"The Misfits" and Me - by Christian Esquevin

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiIwo8gIUjDDFDjX7SfDjk0XgeN20nQZVO_DJRcpnnoBZ0Wbp5lT9IcNepoyXiuwQkVARIHSyEGT5r9_g6sOTm-7fUt9ECXluaOQ8gVyYca3GU6H7lRaCZ49_Ron822aYrZwgOVbue50j/s1600/Misfits+Title+card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiIwo8gIUjDDFDjX7SfDjk0XgeN20nQZVO_DJRcpnnoBZ0Wbp5lT9IcNepoyXiuwQkVARIHSyEGT5r9_g6sOTm-7fUt9ECXluaOQ8gVyYca3GU6H7lRaCZ49_Ron822aYrZwgOVbue50j/s320/Misfits+Title+card.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span id="goog_2054845030"></span><span id="goog_2054845031"></span><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Where does the first step begin on a journey to fate? For me it was sometime in August of 1960, just a kid on a camping trip with his parents and their friends. Lake Tahoe was the destination, with side trips to Squaw Valley, Reno, Carson City, and Virginia City, Nevada. Little did I know, nor anyone else in our little party, that we would run into the production of <i>The Misfits</i>, starring Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, and Montgomery Clift, as directed by John Huston. It was clear from the entourage around Gable and Marilyn that this was a very big deal. And my father reinforced this message with his excited exclamation, “there’s Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable!” although he probably uttered this in French, my parents’ and their friends’ native language. </span></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My recollections of this event are from the mists of time, and likely distorted by accretions of images and later reflections on the significance of the occasion, and the powerful warping auras of the stars themselves. As a kid turning twelve I was already highly aware of the significance of stardom. We did after all live very close to Hollywood, and in those days before paparazzi, seeing stars was not uncommon. But seeing Marilyn and Clark Gable at work was like entering the stratosphere. My best recollection of the scene was that it was taking place in a casino in Reno, likely Harrah’s Club. Production personnel were orbiting around the magic couple.  An aura emanated from Marilyn. In spite of the effects on her of nerves or drugs, which I wouldn’t have known anything about, she was glowing from the lights and the sheen of her platinum blonde hair. I don’t believe a scene was being filmed at the moment, since she seemed to be smiling and basking in the rapt attention of the small audience that was there, of which we were a part. Clark Gable was smiling too, though in a sort of cool, smirky way, aging, but still the king of the jungle. I couldn’t see their figures very well, and I was old enough to know that Marilyn’s figure was very special. But with the big stars, then and now, “we had faces” was all-important, and with these two in particular, their very unique faces reverberated in the room.  I had a particular affinity to Clark Gable. I grew up with prominent ears, the cause of a childhood complex, and my father would always tell me that this physical feature was what made Clark Gable famous. I believed him, and as a chubby kid with a funny name, I believed in the possibility that there was hope for me yet. Seeing Clark Gable in person might just provide that twist of fate that would correct my negative self-image. “See what I mean,” my father said to reinforce his message. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That perception of Clark Gable, directly seen and experienced, provided me the kind of connection that seems magically possible to children; a more direct connection than just seeing him on the screen, as I had done, during a re-release of <i>Gone with the Wind</i>.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiItYQGtuLczgMlZ7q53mi1i-LIJMdZpt1U_nNeVUgL0sFM4ALiQyXc-AgXr8OKQnMW4zkJtNbHmwBjEt_76H4VgK5OKBGE5WLuIYLPxDHw5GoVxY-jPUHxr4pdV3igEMJ9qa3oGCFArTZy/s1600/Misfits++Gable+Monroe+Clift+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiItYQGtuLczgMlZ7q53mi1i-LIJMdZpt1U_nNeVUgL0sFM4ALiQyXc-AgXr8OKQnMW4zkJtNbHmwBjEt_76H4VgK5OKBGE5WLuIYLPxDHw5GoVxY-jPUHxr4pdV3igEMJ9qa3oGCFArTZy/s400/Misfits++Gable+Monroe+Clift+2.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Marilyn seemed even more magical. Here in real life and in plain sight she still seemed ethereal. Perhaps it was that very quality that made people, especially men, want to possess her, and somehow to hold onto a cloud. She was the embodiment of contradiction, an ethereal, almost angelic image that was hotly desired for her earthly body, and that most famous of movie stars, capable of moving mountains, yet unable to control her own life or emotions. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finally we moved away from all the action, onward to seeing other sights, me looking backward at the marvel just beheld. Alas, the whole scene was destined to be an ethereal vision. Clark Gable, “the King” died of a heart attack three months later in November 1960. <i>The Misfits </i>premiered in February 1961, to mixed reviews.  Then my father died on June 5, 1962 and Marilyn Monroe died two months after that on August 5, 1962, now fifty years ago.  How could these giants just disappear? My own fate had indeed led me to <i>The Misfits</i>, a rendezvous with the realization that I too might become one.  Marilyn’s star now shines ever more brightly, a testament to film and the power of image. We continue to try to hold onto a cloud.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The Misfits</i><b><i> </i></b>was not a hit in 1961. No one then knew, of course, that it would be the last film that both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe would ever star in, nor that Montgomery Clift would also die five years later. The audience wasn’t ready for this modern, existential film in 1961. Its reputation, because of all its baggage, doomed it to the “missed opportunity,” or “underrated film” category. Today it is being rediscovered. <i>The Misfits </i>is not a fun film to watch, its barren landscape parallels its wounded characters. But it is a true reflection of the human condition, and for film buffs, a unique view into the life of several movie legends. For me, it was a rendezvous with destiny – an opportunity to see those legendary stars before they faded, and the passion to now write about them and the world they lived in, a world I briefly transited.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrbS6lbklQqeH6FactUhHt8figZNXA07rIkyqTFNuWdaPJuaRdQjNSZVNqGCvizjUqrkuZwW3yBWo6mQfvYmGwYkC2AnlYNIDaLgAnuiIPrHc1GMPkbh1X27rR2EnyMJj6SwdLziJWg_a/s1600/Misfits+Marilyn+and+Gable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrbS6lbklQqeH6FactUhHt8figZNXA07rIkyqTFNuWdaPJuaRdQjNSZVNqGCvizjUqrkuZwW3yBWo6mQfvYmGwYkC2AnlYNIDaLgAnuiIPrHc1GMPkbh1X27rR2EnyMJj6SwdLziJWg_a/s320/Misfits+Marilyn+and+Gable.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Christian Esquevin</b> is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adrian-Silver-Screen-Custom-Label/dp/1580931936/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325219252&sr=8-1" style="color: #990000;">Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label</a>, published by the Monacelli Press in 2008. The book is about the life and career of MGM’s famed Golden Age costume designer Gilbert Adrian and his subsequent fashion business. Christian also produces his <a href="http://www.silverscreenmodiste.com/" style="color: #990000;">Silver Screen Modiste</a> blog covering classic film fashion. This is Christian's third guest contribution to this blog, and for each piece I am eternally grateful...</i></span><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">TLE</span></span></i></div>

Christian Esquevin Clark Gable John Huston Marilyn Monroe Montgomery Clift Silver Screen Modiste "The Misfits" and Me - by Christian Esquevin

Where does the first step begin on a journey to fate? For me it was sometime in August of 1960, just a kid on a camping trip with his parents and their friends. Lake Tahoe was the destination, with side trips to Squaw Valley, Reno, Carson City, and V…

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Mad Men Style

<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>by guest contributor Christian Esquevin</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigc7TFEvUKdxfEp4ssieooaBSy4L-cGVk2o2DCokEZvxsDvywGrzRjpupU5QbUGAE4Iuizxy3Zuz1ZMTgHJ6uthAyj10JqeuE0SCrgLOYpRlokChmyHtd5Qwy6_TZvLHBo-Jvk-cNipGBW/s1600/Christian+falling+man.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigc7TFEvUKdxfEp4ssieooaBSy4L-cGVk2o2DCokEZvxsDvywGrzRjpupU5QbUGAE4Iuizxy3Zuz1ZMTgHJ6uthAyj10JqeuE0SCrgLOYpRlokChmyHtd5Qwy6_TZvLHBo-Jvk-cNipGBW/s1600/Christian+falling+man.png" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The thing that makes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Men </i>such a perfect television series is its “all-of-a-piece” quality. It has all of its elements operating at a high level and fully integrated into a drama geared towards adults. This goes well beyond high production values, or even great writing – it is a seamless creation mixing fascinating characters, interesting plots, evocative sets and costumes, a down-to earth reality needing no gratuitous violence. It is a perfectly pegged recreation of the Zeitgeist - not just of the world of advertising - but of urban America at the turn of the 1960s. Despite its very real display of sexism in society and in the workplace, including the very negative consequences of that mindset, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Men </i>is mainly the story of one man and his perilous perch high atop the hierarchy of a corporate ad agency. The series title is a play on “ad men” and Madison Avenue, where the big ad agencies were located.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-re1Rco3m_9wtgdqfrFqQoRG6bQ6JEnCweFAy0e3QWuj-p5hyIT2x8HPVGF9yEwXvHBkBuIUhxLZfX1BflIu-g5AkSE0rA0-97b-w5L8rsYDiJaPtSNNr_z0WabrHN0KBPiDhJK_Qipa/s1600/Christian+group+shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-re1Rco3m_9wtgdqfrFqQoRG6bQ6JEnCweFAy0e3QWuj-p5hyIT2x8HPVGF9yEwXvHBkBuIUhxLZfX1BflIu-g5AkSE0rA0-97b-w5L8rsYDiJaPtSNNr_z0WabrHN0KBPiDhJK_Qipa/s1600/Christian+group+shot.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The opening title graphic and much of the show’s advertising uses the art and theme of a man falling from of a skyscraper. The new 5^th season advertising art of the falling man in New York was printed on reflective plastic so it would show the surrounding skyscrapers as backdrop – causing a bit of a controversy by recalling bad memories of scenes from the Twin Towers. Regardless, it is no accident that the show’s creator Matthew Weiner was influenced by the aesthetics of Alfred Hitchcock. The character Don Draper is very much living a dilemma like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vertigo’s </i>Scottie Ferguson, not because of a fear of heights like Jimmy Stewart, but rather of crumbling along with his stolen identity and the edifice he has constructed of his life. “Who is Don Draper” a reporter asked him in Season 4. Very few people know, and those characters have been mostly dying off, including the real Don Draper himself. In a rare display of self-analysis, Don took up a diary in a 4^th season episode titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Summer Man</i>: “When a man walks into a room, he brings his whole life with him. If you listen, he'll tell you how he got there. How he forgot where he was going, and that he woke up. If you listen, he'll tell you about the time he thought he was an angel or dreamt of being perfect. And then he'll smile with wisdom, content that he realized the world isn't perfect. We're flawed, because we want so much more. We're ruined, because we get these things, and wish for what we had.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkP0_qtOV3nDhQ9fSTzfprLoTR9TCFbELj2iRm-mluav8Dqll2RbsjA-2luTuj4Mfztvi4ZDt4Riwb1EsWgt2YMy1No2w6UxwIjqhRfjJqsFkwI21NijAAECCIVOgl3DLp8LsNuyyuO0T/s1600/Christian+group+at+bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkP0_qtOV3nDhQ9fSTzfprLoTR9TCFbELj2iRm-mluav8Dqll2RbsjA-2luTuj4Mfztvi4ZDt4Riwb1EsWgt2YMy1No2w6UxwIjqhRfjJqsFkwI21NijAAECCIVOgl3DLp8LsNuyyuO0T/s1600/Christian+group+at+bar.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Men</i> is full of metaphors that enhance the theme of the show and add layers of meaning, but we are still trapped like voyeurs watching unfold a real life drama. One of those subtle metaphors is that Don seems to be the only person that carries keys. He can use them boldly when entering his domain, clumsily when he’s drunk, or nervously shaking them in his apartment door lock when he thinks the FBI is tailing him. At his low point, he forgets them completely and relies on his secretary to deliver them to his apartment, where she finds him asleep in the hallway. The show is all-of-a-piece because, in a story about how advertising creates images for products, the show creates images for the characters in the plot, and the characters are involved in creating their own images of themselves. As Don Draper says, “You are the product.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZMrZXzHlYbgDcKuc50GbLJE94rS6ck2GgqsUAnbEBofpfBdbb1h8fXuOJtlBMFS3XLwb7sFxKCwjRve3Rrs1qb8BqwSkwvZgqX6oUzRpqtWCKtqCrZNBu2wK-jpiY07myEigABuUy5Vo/s1600/Christian+don+at+desk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZMrZXzHlYbgDcKuc50GbLJE94rS6ck2GgqsUAnbEBofpfBdbb1h8fXuOJtlBMFS3XLwb7sFxKCwjRve3Rrs1qb8BqwSkwvZgqX6oUzRpqtWCKtqCrZNBu2wK-jpiY07myEigABuUy5Vo/s1600/Christian+don+at+desk.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Man with the voice - Jon Hamm as Don Draper</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The show’s hallmark is its obsessive attention to visual detail. This provides the audience with a rich experience through the recreation of the early 1960s: the clothes people wore; the interior architecture of their offices and homes; and the sparkle of those material things that they crave. That re-creation of the era was taken so far by Matthew Weiner that he cast actors based on whether they had that late 1950s-early 1960s look. For example, Jom Hamm as Don Draper could not be a muscled actor, a rare trait in the early 1960s. Similarly, <span style="color: black;">Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris needed to have a full-figured, hour-glass silhouette (though helped by padding). But Jon Hamm as Don Draper was the perfect choice, not only does he have the looks that slays the ladies, but he has the voice – that smooth deep soothing voice that could sell snowballs in Alaska.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCokdLHej4czBBdA2w-lltFbvtZRERxILNcWtyNxwI-c8dDFzP-74f4n7QhLc2qxDOl29yOXscptU696aCiEcotr_gsBxBACNMi9zpr2WVjtIoyhD0Jy-5dz5SYoV-KgFBzbYHDQD2i3la/s1600/Christian+sec+pool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCokdLHej4czBBdA2w-lltFbvtZRERxILNcWtyNxwI-c8dDFzP-74f4n7QhLc2qxDOl29yOXscptU696aCiEcotr_gsBxBACNMi9zpr2WVjtIoyhD0Jy-5dz5SYoV-KgFBzbYHDQD2i3la/s1600/Christian+sec+pool.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The secretarial pool at Sterling Cooper</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The set design recreates the world of the early 1960s when America had the world by its tail. The interior office architecture was planned not just for efficiency, but to show the benefits of modernity and the use of the same kinds of products the ad agency helps sell. The buildings were in the “International Style’ of modern architecture. The offices had wood paneling and Danish influenced furniture. The chairs and couches were streamlined and low to the ground. Windows had Venetian blinds with curtains, executive desks had pen sets, and whisky was in the drawer. The secretarial pool was in an open layout, and a plethora of IBM Selectric typewriters denoted a modern business. Abstract art hung on the walls. The firm may have re-organized in lesser quarters later in the series, but the mid-century style remained the same. Roger Sterling’s new office was designed by a “decorator” in various monochromatic shades of gray, leading him to quip that with his gray suits and gray hair he just disappeared in his surroundings.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo7alppTnB9plUZhyphenhyphenHnxEbK4B9Bc_SZymm2EAXC1LaZo0trEsKP3vq5BVrEObdSAp0E46cISVEOS6K3k-M3TeQ_78A1nzOtbESJxFdrEmAyuJHl0TqAziveNxslfcxBmZ0qAtbdJBCzYxy/s1600/Christian+dons+office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo7alppTnB9plUZhyphenhyphenHnxEbK4B9Bc_SZymm2EAXC1LaZo0trEsKP3vq5BVrEObdSAp0E46cISVEOS6K3k-M3TeQ_78A1nzOtbESJxFdrEmAyuJHl0TqAziveNxslfcxBmZ0qAtbdJBCzYxy/s1600/Christian+dons+office.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don's first office at Sterling Cooper: manly but modern</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">As for the ladies of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Men, </i>they provide the sizzle that makes the show such fun to watch.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Although it’s also a guilty pleasure to see how much bad behavior they think they can get away with, or how long it is before one of them screws up. The show is anchored by January Jones as Betty Draper (later Betty Francis), shown below, Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris, and Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson. Betty is always the classy, if somewhat immature, woman – and a not very good mother. Her wardrobe is always stylish; she’s a Grace Kelly in the suburbs. She wears bouffant skirts in single piece dresses, all in cheerful colors and floral prints. She is always, “put together” wearing jewelry, matching purses and shoes (as was de rigueur in the day), gloves, and red lipstick. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4guL_KkHnaaAilLFndmmKe6HWLIzXHgCaQKpXrG3ITgAngd9_BWVJyuNh4cIkHlNhtqEFB75v3FxpXIRzfQnisNX7MPvoFxCJR6SA_purwYleG_3jVzuqZpnzSJmu9U83XdSpqtrFywYL/s1600/Christian+Betty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4guL_KkHnaaAilLFndmmKe6HWLIzXHgCaQKpXrG3ITgAngd9_BWVJyuNh4cIkHlNhtqEFB75v3FxpXIRzfQnisNX7MPvoFxCJR6SA_purwYleG_3jVzuqZpnzSJmu9U83XdSpqtrFywYL/s1600/Christian+Betty.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">January Jones as Betty Draper </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Joan Harris is the red-headed and curvaceous bombshell. She wears tightly-fitted dresses in bright jewel colors. Her costumes are made with fitted foundation undergarments, which was how they were made for the Hollywood movies at the time, though ladies of the day achieved the same effect with girdle/bra combinations.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTDZb3G4sp5aGSBzVvR0E5FlUh5qPHGHaulpgV01vC8Gem0G2K51jXnqD4gb2ju0LrIAmLFybBYLcVt7b7e6kNa18292OQIa6qDeDMzmQaojarmN044zhCqOYiXUwwxAbJTfdnqXLARBC/s1600/Christian+Joan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTDZb3G4sp5aGSBzVvR0E5FlUh5qPHGHaulpgV01vC8Gem0G2K51jXnqD4gb2ju0LrIAmLFybBYLcVt7b7e6kNa18292OQIa6qDeDMzmQaojarmN044zhCqOYiXUwwxAbJTfdnqXLARBC/s1600/Christian+Joan.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLBQwBNV6E8cs3uwVgusu44vfOiNXdXEstuKm23JHIf7oqy16g5Yzy7yAX96Qw3BLWeHNSMIMavpFvS-Tlkp3Q_FOwJ3go_RLQL1D9yaYMJvYGMuvww9Xw9vRnGMYJ7W8XaF1ika2cArTP/s1600/Christian+mad+men+cast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLBQwBNV6E8cs3uwVgusu44vfOiNXdXEstuKm23JHIf7oqy16g5Yzy7yAX96Qw3BLWeHNSMIMavpFvS-Tlkp3Q_FOwJ3go_RLQL1D9yaYMJvYGMuvww9Xw9vRnGMYJ7W8XaF1ika2cArTP/s1600/Christian+mad+men+cast.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <i>Mad Men </i>cast</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">During most of the series Peggy Olson’s wardrobe was still influenced by her former Catholic School uniforms.  She dresses very plainly and unattractively, and she is often dressed in plaids and stripes. As she advances in her career and matures, her clothes become more sophisticated and becoming. In the photo below she is wearing a dress seemingly inspired by vintage Metlox California ceramic dinnerware.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeRGS6RUXzwgS2lRZDd5grd6YGRDMs7RPduBiwC2Js48psF-XSc-XpykyOPBDQH69iOS09xTT5jgYzim2BYSpeKPf7dhgrF7j8UNloX3nxfVY2W17NjL2aEebfpMBM00RXMU2EYAvNNgO/s1600/Christian+Peggy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeRGS6RUXzwgS2lRZDd5grd6YGRDMs7RPduBiwC2Js48psF-XSc-XpykyOPBDQH69iOS09xTT5jgYzim2BYSpeKPf7dhgrF7j8UNloX3nxfVY2W17NjL2aEebfpMBM00RXMU2EYAvNNgO/s1600/Christian+Peggy.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -2.7pt;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Janie Bryant is the show’s excellent costume designer. She designs many of the items for the show’s large wardrobe, although vintage clothing and accessories are also used. Like other costume designers, she must design the costumes to define character. Subtle changes have marked the advancing years of the early 60s. As we make our way into the mod-influenced and youth movement fashions of the later 60s, significant changes will be shown in the women’s wardrobes. Skirts will go up, and clothes will increasingly define personality in a more forceful and even rebellious manner.    </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -2.7pt;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -2.7pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -2.7pt;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">As for the men, the business suit is the most prevailing costume, which is making a comeback thanks to the show. In the case of Don, it’s his armor, and he seems vulnerable during the times he dresses casually. Gray flannel suits were the preferred dress for business men of the era. For <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Men, </i>Janie Bryant had to find distinguishing features for the various mad men and others. Don always wears a white dress shirt with French cuffs, with slim ties then fashionable. The suits were slim with narrow profiles Don’s accessories are the tie clip and the white pocket square worn flush. He keeps his bills neat in a money clip. Roger tends to wear three-piece suits with vests, often in light gray to complement his hair. Pete wears darker suit colors. When tough times rock the firm and Don in particular, his suits also become darker. Lane Pryce is English. He is usually dressed in a suit with an unmatched vest. To be more accurate, his suit jackets should feature side vents rather than a center vent, as was preferred in England, but we won’t quibble.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -2.7pt;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYfNY_yXDVnilGzL0A3DBpNiSqA4m92erhyphenhyphendpv0GCTG_WIwd3Wl44RBDoxdoOV1drhPldu0fi91PZkz6YPDJqX00aWnwhoQTvlxD5znPJV2oePCOQYiOITLxGKfrLL0UYnBFlvCpHEu1W/s1600/Christian+Roger+and+Don.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYfNY_yXDVnilGzL0A3DBpNiSqA4m92erhyphenhyphendpv0GCTG_WIwd3Wl44RBDoxdoOV1drhPldu0fi91PZkz6YPDJqX00aWnwhoQTvlxD5znPJV2oePCOQYiOITLxGKfrLL0UYnBFlvCpHEu1W/s1600/Christian+Roger+and+Don.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Slattery as Roger Sterling and Jon Hamm as Don Draper</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The men’s fashions in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Men </i>have also influenced current trends. As mentioned, the suit is back. Skinny pants have been common for a number of years, but the skinny ties and tie clip are one influence of the show. It is hoped that that the current style of wearing dress pants 3 or 4 inches too long will disappear as a result, and maybe even the single jacket button fastened high above the waist.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHN5kBivBIfoohk66ojXzJjfC-kV1s37PJfp7V2rZquY-nQnYtA5XN-q_QL643LRpq4Ou9EBKN1xY5_Oqfz6wz126S8sljj08xNFA_SjYTnYYDIbgQObQZCjbBrXCz21PPA65z51YujHJI/s1600/Christian+Betty+and+Don.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHN5kBivBIfoohk66ojXzJjfC-kV1s37PJfp7V2rZquY-nQnYtA5XN-q_QL643LRpq4Ou9EBKN1xY5_Oqfz6wz126S8sljj08xNFA_SjYTnYYDIbgQObQZCjbBrXCz21PPA65z51YujHJI/s1600/Christian+Betty+and+Don.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">January Jones and Jon Hamm as Betty and Don </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Don and Betty are now divorced, and at the end of last season Don fell in love with his new secretary Megan and they became engaged. It remains to be seen in the new season what their fates will be. Jessica Pare plays Megan. She’s beautiful and ambitious, but also caring and nurturing. She’s perfect for Don – perhaps too perfect. She doesn’t know much about him, but who does? Whatever happens to the couple, we will be smack in the middle of the turbulent years of the 60s. Everyone is sure to get buffeted. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Another reason the show is all-of–piece is the embedded themes and currents that influenced the era of the early 60s. These include such iconic books as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sex and the Single Girl </i>by Helen Gurley Brown from 1962, <span style="color: black;">David Ogilvy’s 1963 tell-all, <i>Confessions of an Advertising Man</i>, and the earlier </span><i>The Hidden Persuaders</i>, written by Vance Packard and first published in 1957. The latter explained the new techniques of using psychological research and subliminal messages in advertising. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Men </i>is also amazing because it can deliver nostalgia while simultaneously setting the show during the most tumultuous period in modern American history, when the influence of the past was questioned and the present was crumbling. Now that’s what makes a great show. We’ll see if Don’s motto of “live in the present,” while escaping from his past and adjusting to his surroundings like a chameleon will serve him well.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~</div><div style="text-align: left;">Christian Esquevin's blog is <a href="http://www.silverscreenmodiste.com/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Silver Screen Modiste</span></a> and he's the author of <i>Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label</i>. </div></div></div>

Christian Esquevin Mad Men Mad Men Style

by guest contributor Christian EsquevinThe thing that makes Mad Men such a perfect television series is its “all-of-a-piece” quality. It has all of its elements operating at a high level and fully integrated into a drama geared towards adults. This g…

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Sunday Night is "Mad Men" Night...a blog event

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6QOpLhrnbbBS8OOoW9XbaldTWJ67UvWdUiI8gSuS9Cso7mFO7VOD7Y10Dq8NnufXJ0aDFPKfQP-Evzk0fH1CpPM4Dpp7bIf9xLAl9aVBJhokP4mtX19AUypOeixejAdfZK4G5eAT5z-2w/s1600/don+in+the+office.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6QOpLhrnbbBS8OOoW9XbaldTWJ67UvWdUiI8gSuS9Cso7mFO7VOD7Y10Dq8NnufXJ0aDFPKfQP-Evzk0fH1CpPM4Dpp7bIf9xLAl9aVBJhokP4mtX19AUypOeixejAdfZK4G5eAT5z-2w/s400/don+in+the+office.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">AMC’s <i>Mad Men</i> begins its much-anticipated fifth season on Sunday night, March 25, after a long and, for some of us, parched nearly two year hiatus. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3h9g29utAo2y4uK7JUCkuQQSis-Cd4qH8Gzsyqfl_LP0KD_nfr_Ygd40U9AhY1epI6Vrj6U7OZ1mdIa8UdoKDUGLyjZ1X4NFpRPffwvjJ_0y0lfmTMh8CeSPOVsR2NE02NU-f3c9m8_p/s1600/Mad+Men+Roger+Sterling+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3h9g29utAo2y4uK7JUCkuQQSis-Cd4qH8Gzsyqfl_LP0KD_nfr_Ygd40U9AhY1epI6Vrj6U7OZ1mdIa8UdoKDUGLyjZ1X4NFpRPffwvjJ_0y0lfmTMh8CeSPOVsR2NE02NU-f3c9m8_p/s320/Mad+Men+Roger+Sterling+2.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">This means that Sunday night will once more be <i>Mad Men</i> night in my world. At last. But I’m not alone in my joy, and a few blogger friends have volunteered to contribute guest posts to <i>The Lady Eve’s Reel Life</i> in celebration of the series' return. So...three Sundays and one Saturday in March, a different take on <i>Mad Men </i>will appear:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Sunday, March 4</u> – FlickChick with <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-now-and-then-and-back-again.html" style="color: #cc0000;"><i>Mad Men</i>: Now and Then and Back Again</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Sunday, March 11</u> – Whistlingypsy on <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2012/03/feminine-mystique-of-mad-men.html" style="color: #cc0000;">The Feminine Mystique of <i>Mad Men</i></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Sunday, March 18</u> – Christian Esquevin on <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-style.html" style="color: #cc0000;"><i>Mad Men</i> Style</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Saturday, March 24</u> – Motorcycle Boy with <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-through-glass-darkly.html" style="color: #cc0000;"><i>Mad Men</i>: Through a Glass Darkly</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">...plus... </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Sunday, April 1</u> - The Lady Eve with <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2012/04/meditation-on-mad-men.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">A Meditation on </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">Mad Men</i></a> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />Coming soon: Jill of <i>Sittin' on a Backyard Fence</i>...<br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/" style="color: #cc0000;">Click here</a> to return to the <i>Reel Life </i>main page. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVPnQR1R5BbH-Ev-phDpvDjSrCs2CkKjhEJ9gF7jyQmN3TDBf_FHxCviKgTxjbKmtIIFRa2fCjES7jsh4Psfa4oSs-kB4s540CbiGXaaY02Iztigxpxig6WFErsxoNR4wN76TyqWiJci-/s1600/january+mad+men.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVPnQR1R5BbH-Ev-phDpvDjSrCs2CkKjhEJ9gF7jyQmN3TDBf_FHxCviKgTxjbKmtIIFRa2fCjES7jsh4Psfa4oSs-kB4s540CbiGXaaY02Iztigxpxig6WFErsxoNR4wN76TyqWiJci-/s400/january+mad+men.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>

AMC Christian Esquevin FlickChick Mad Men Motorcycle Boy The Lady Eve (author) Whistlingypsy Sunday Night is "Mad Men" Night...a blog event

AMC’s Mad Men begins its much-anticipated fifth season on Sunday night, March 25, after a long and, for some of us, parched nearly two year hiatus. This means that Sunday night will once more be Mad Men night in my world. At last. But I’m not alone i…

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The Costumes of VERTIGO

<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>by guest contributor Christian Esquevin</i></div><br /><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDG8jqtfHXB5Lm7p0iALTRwxL05OvGK25z-HKQkTi4V9K8QmZwpyLfffJjkhJxcZCruU4u15_IFFChH9-eWeSMx21nfxSS0-RnjzNYhsCrlJy33L3eBNkcf_AM9SWU0eZRo1oHIL4Ac1o/s1600/Christian+Vertigo+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDG8jqtfHXB5Lm7p0iALTRwxL05OvGK25z-HKQkTi4V9K8QmZwpyLfffJjkhJxcZCruU4u15_IFFChH9-eWeSMx21nfxSS0-RnjzNYhsCrlJy33L3eBNkcf_AM9SWU0eZRo1oHIL4Ac1o/s400/Christian+Vertigo+7.jpg" width="392" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“<i><span style="font-size: small;">I</span> don’t wear suits, and I don’t wear gray. Another thing, I don’t wear black pumps</i>,” said Kim Novak to Edith Head, the costume designer for <i>Vertigo</i>. “I don’t care what she wears as long as it’s a gray suit," Hitchcock retorted when Edith reported this conversation to him. Thus began the creative tension over the costuming of <i>Vertigo. </i>But in a clash of opinion over the visual aspects of a Hitchcock film, Hitch always prevailed. Indeed, he had the colors already in mind along with the costume types he wanted even before pre-production for <i>Vertigo</i> began. Kim Novak wore the gray suit with the black pumps - her iconic look in <i>Vertigo. </i>“I had never had a director who was particular about the costumes, the way they were designed, the specific colors,” said Novak about Hitchcock later.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMTzXKNcrnteOlU7OVUqvzJQAJPifcD2uK5Db8Ehf1tn5lurb7WPNGXxlODaIVx0fc9VkZuSWlO1R2Sb6QWSTnZTX9S1zNjGHVWBoR4Xrt76PuzRGo97h8Sun5QotVRLCGJqT8rgkZ_AZ/s1600/Christian+Vertigo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMTzXKNcrnteOlU7OVUqvzJQAJPifcD2uK5Db8Ehf1tn5lurb7WPNGXxlODaIVx0fc9VkZuSWlO1R2Sb6QWSTnZTX9S1zNjGHVWBoR4Xrt76PuzRGo97h8Sun5QotVRLCGJqT8rgkZ_AZ/s400/Christian+Vertigo+1.jpg" width="326" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The story theme within <i>Vertigo </i>is based on obsession, and the costume looks for the Madeleine/Judy character are a key symbol of that dysfunction. The “clash” that Kim Novak had with Hitch and Edith Head over her costumes was nothing new in Hollywood, but Alfred Hitchcock’s very specific clothing demands in type and color speaks volumes about <i>Vertigo </i>being for him a very personal film. The combination of the costumes and look of Kim’s Madeleine, the psychological tension caused by the character Scottie’s clash of opposite impulses towards Madeleine/Judy, and the ultimate futility of his possession of her, were all deeply embedded in Hitchcock’s psyche. As far as the costumes being good fashion, it didn’t matter that Kim’s pumps were black. They would have looked better in gray or brown, or as she wanted, in tan to match her nude-toned hose. Wearing flesh-toned pumps was an old trick she’d learned from Marlene Dietrich, a device to make your legs look longer. The gray suit was in a neutral and sedate color. Hitch believed it revealed how the Madeleine character felt about herself. Edith Head often designed gray suits for her film costumes, and wore them regularly believing that it gave her a non-competitive look when working with the stars. But Marlene Dietrich had worn a gray suit for Hitch in <i>Stage Fright,</i> as had Doris Day in <i>The Man Who Knew Too Much, </i>and as Tippi Hedren would wear in <i>The Birds. </i>So the gray suit and black pumps touched something within Hitchcock, and along with the blonde hair of his leading actresses, denoted for Hitchcock the “woman of mystery,” the cool and subtle beauty with a blazing inside.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbssWbfcato9KYXmGseUFUB2SIKdcSS3PImblbL0aEPn3xjPaVx3EBwyUz8F5l2fKlzLbeTdEsFnK_nDLtIpkzaEvzroq0afJVsvkGTuZPwVIo3Gi7uqxygLWTI5zoUqhr5pyA3ABTk62/s1600/Christian+Vertigo+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbssWbfcato9KYXmGseUFUB2SIKdcSS3PImblbL0aEPn3xjPaVx3EBwyUz8F5l2fKlzLbeTdEsFnK_nDLtIpkzaEvzroq0afJVsvkGTuZPwVIo3Gi7uqxygLWTI5zoUqhr5pyA3ABTk62/s320/Christian+Vertigo+3.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">The color of the costumes and the sets had a symbolic meaning for Hitch as well. The gray represented modesty. When Jimmy Stewart as Scottie first sees Kim playing Madeleine, she wears a black gown but is covered in a green opera coat at Ernie’s Restaurant. The wallpaper of the restaurant forms a red background that vibrates with the green in these color opposites. For some reason green represented death for Hitchcock. Madeleine’s car is also green. It’s in the following scene where Scottie begins tailing Madeleine that she first wears the gray suit.  Scottie’s former love interest Midge is dressed in warm colors and soft fabrics – symbols of her nurturing proclivities towards Scottie. After Scottie saves Madeleine from drowning, she is dressed, albeit in his robe, in a vibrant red. Here the color evokes life and full-bloodedness. Then in a later scene when Scottie and Madeleine drive to the shore, she is dressed in black and white – a black dress with black gloves and a white coat. The black and white in this costume denotes not the un-ambiguous nature of her character, but rather the duality of her persona. As an added fillip, her black chiffon scarf blows freely with the ocean wind, perhaps a symbol of mystery, or one of doom.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAkUl33X6yDEzP7BI3Srcu0KAVFI2pUGBvAwXklKmjD09RHKhi1Fhk2zHYRHQk-7kcKqu40MiYTkjr948UdczEKdNlqrQ5Ljuj8s4p2c-N0SSs57raa_ZxOThaHeYTeD4hZ1EgZ7GgSWyd/s1600/Christian+Vertigo+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAkUl33X6yDEzP7BI3Srcu0KAVFI2pUGBvAwXklKmjD09RHKhi1Fhk2zHYRHQk-7kcKqu40MiYTkjr948UdczEKdNlqrQ5Ljuj8s4p2c-N0SSs57raa_ZxOThaHeYTeD4hZ1EgZ7GgSWyd/s400/Christian+Vertigo+4.jpg" width="306" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"></div><span style="font-size: small;">As the character Judy, Kim Novak is costumed by Edith Head to appear dowdy. She wears green – a green sweater made bulky by being worn over a blouse. The blouse is green with white polka-dots and with a peter-pan collar turned over the sweater. The look is accentuated by an unflattering hair style. The total look is purposefully unappealing. This look has several purposes: to define the character of Judy in contrast to Madeleine’s; to appear that she is “hiding” her identity; and to provide a stark difference with Madeleine in order to dramatize her make-over. When they go on a date and later go shopping for her clothes, she is dressed better but still very simply. The make-over itself is a key dramatic moment in the film, Judy’s reluctance, Scottie’s obsession in turning her visually into Madeleine, complete with gray suit and blonde hair, provide dramatic tension and then release at the conclusion of the scene. This scene is accomplished through various film techniques that dramatize her unveiling as the re-incarnated Madeleine – making her entrance bathed in a pale and ethereal green light and leading to a climactic kiss. Her gray suit, here as before, tightly accentuates her curves. In its contradictory fashion, it is sedate but seductive.</span></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span id="goog_2073969721"></span><span id="goog_2073969722"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVa8ic5NnDHlLZlqcX84quGPesAjJcgW1EXueQu781YxVeF-A-Vj9HmQoduHUxKj5OkqKXbVloEK90LO7IoiUplPCiwxBsDsx4jnvZAZn3XORS03ALTxRshnwbHN26yqxB6P1vTwErnVPK/s1600/Christian+Vertigo+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVa8ic5NnDHlLZlqcX84quGPesAjJcgW1EXueQu781YxVeF-A-Vj9HmQoduHUxKj5OkqKXbVloEK90LO7IoiUplPCiwxBsDsx4jnvZAZn3XORS03ALTxRshnwbHN26yqxB6P1vTwErnVPK/s320/Christian+Vertigo+5.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The nature of the costumes, and the make-over, reverberated not only with the character’s roles, but with the actor’s and the director’s deep psychology. Hitch exercised his darker side in molding an actress into his own obsession, while directing Jimmy Stewart to do the same. Kim Novak as Judy wondered why Scottie couldn’t love her as she was, just as Kim Novak really felt about Hollywood in general. But the gray suit worn with the black pumps allowed Kim Novak to not only be in character, but by taking her out of her comfort zone in dress enabled her to more effectively be an actress that plays a part of a character that is pretending to be someone else.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAICkjFdaOmA_GzWkfyo1oYCfKdnuXLV5QKIa5oQWoQrdpgrZ0r9K5SIEMtKn_3Ys6qUWhn2snnsJPoxy8JPpfEgCpPZBGveWmSxhImFI4_63hTe4Hj7e1bFwdSPEUfrBwr1sQ9KvaeJHH/s1600/Christian+Vertigo+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAICkjFdaOmA_GzWkfyo1oYCfKdnuXLV5QKIa5oQWoQrdpgrZ0r9K5SIEMtKn_3Ys6qUWhn2snnsJPoxy8JPpfEgCpPZBGveWmSxhImFI4_63hTe4Hj7e1bFwdSPEUfrBwr1sQ9KvaeJHH/s400/Christian+Vertigo+6.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: small;">Hitchcock must have recognized his own dilemma in creating <i>Vertigo. </i>At the climactic end, Scottie demonstrated his tragic disappointment with Judy, “He made you over just like I made you over,” he says accusingly to Judy. Only he (Elster) had made her over first, and thus Scottie was only re-creating another man’s fantasy. And perhaps worse, he accused her of being “an apt pupil,” which she hadn’t been for him. That demonstrated to Scottie, and served the film’s underlying theme, that the pursuit of an empty ideal is futile. For Hitchcock, it was a deeply ingrained motif, one that would keep repeating itself as he tried to mold one Hitchcock blonde after another into his fantasy, only to have her leave him. With the character Scottie, this creation fantasy was played out not as a means of domination, but rather one where once his fantasy woman was created, he could surrender and succumb to her. But we know that that too would have been another fantasy - another twirling and spiraling movement creating a feeling of vertigo.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjridZmwCUn7PwD8Fqi4aqIoVrwDqqi5vHbrFG5BHH2nxpekyeQ2DMla3vhliArJ8oYk4iCt5wrDPywlEWZvJUn1vqSn2VGoBSJwTVOWzFGzVr-vefZyk3SL_vcAkxYRguV-7M8sHPDBxm7/s1600/Christian+Vertigo+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjridZmwCUn7PwD8Fqi4aqIoVrwDqqi5vHbrFG5BHH2nxpekyeQ2DMla3vhliArJ8oYk4iCt5wrDPywlEWZvJUn1vqSn2VGoBSJwTVOWzFGzVr-vefZyk3SL_vcAkxYRguV-7M8sHPDBxm7/s400/Christian+Vertigo+8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Vertigo </i>received several Oscar nominations, including Best Art Direction. Edith Head was not nominated for Best Costume Design, which was won by Cecil Beaton’s florid <i>Gigi. </i>And she had just been snubbed for her outstanding costumes for Grace Kelly in Hitchcock’s <i>To Catch a Thief. </i>It seems that a fabulous gray suit as character-delineating costume was too subtle to pick up awards. No matter, she had already won five of her eight Oscars by then. Worse, Hitch wasn’t nominated either for this iconic classic.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLsyM8dY0N7CjW_gQYIkRpxaoV1M0HWHTF9PVJ02BghgVHXGtgL5_Ao4bfcEImUN7vrFyeRfj08z0dxzRX22ZkIhbY6l0JKzsZdyt6AFp8W4IJnxByIRkrVzU2iWE-e7cO8qTZhl_G13yu/s1600/Christian+Vertigo+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLsyM8dY0N7CjW_gQYIkRpxaoV1M0HWHTF9PVJ02BghgVHXGtgL5_Ao4bfcEImUN7vrFyeRfj08z0dxzRX22ZkIhbY6l0JKzsZdyt6AFp8W4IJnxByIRkrVzU2iWE-e7cO8qTZhl_G13yu/s320/Christian+Vertigo+9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Christian Esquevin</b> is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adrian-Silver-Screen-Custom-Label/dp/1580931936/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325219252&sr=8-1" style="color: #990000;">Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label</a>, published by the Monacelli Press in 2008. The book is about the life and career of MGM’s famed Golden Age costume designer Gilbert Adrian and his subsequent fashion business. Christian also produces the <a href="http://www.silverscreenmodiste.com/" style="color: #990000;">Silver Screen Modiste</a> blog covering classic film fashion.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Christian was born in Marseille, France, and moved with his French parents to Los Angeles when he was four. Los Angeles had a small but close-knit French community at the time that provided the social context for his youth in 1950s and 1960s L.A. One of his great-aunts was the vendeuse for lingerie at the art-deco palace Bullock’s Wilshire. Another one of Christian’s great-aunts had been the Head Cutter-Fitter for the old RKO Studio Wardrobe Department in the 1930s, where she worked under Walter Plunkett and supervised the fabrication of the costumes for Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Anne Miller, and the other RKO stars. Her knowledge and skill in making period costumes was an influence on Plunkett’s specialty in that area. While she had retired by the time Christian arrived in L.A., she used to dress him and his mother and other French-heritage participants in traditional French folk costumes for the Disneyland holiday parades and other ceremonial occasions. She bequeathed him her collection of costume sketches and photographs that started his interest in classic film costume design.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Christian has a Master’s degree in Library Science from USC and is the Director of the Coronado, California, Public Library. Christian’s book on Adrian was the result of several years of research and collecting. The lack of an “Adrian archive” and the disposal of much of the early film studios’ material heritage has fueled his efforts to preserve at least one aspect of film history. He is currently working on a combined biography of the costume and fashion designers Walter Plunkett, Irene (Lentz Gibbons) and Helen Rose. He is a collector of original costume design sketches and has organized several exhibits featuring film costume design based on his collection. Christian launched Silver Screen Modiste in 2009 in order to cover the history, heritage, and fashion influence of classic Hollywood costume design. He has written about Edith Head in several posts and considers her work with Alfred Hitchcock to be among her finest.</span></i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggyBRU2H20aDYIfprOL3KuRJvO9REKNitdGOYfhRFmDyojkhmNipNPIU8-FkpRWsoZ6cjyfJgeu45LQMGZLslrAovcyQZwFlS_PHEl-Jt2IlLBNei0NChF15lcvVoq8NbfZIr56rVOXbA/s1600/silver+screen+modiste.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggyBRU2H20aDYIfprOL3KuRJvO9REKNitdGOYfhRFmDyojkhmNipNPIU8-FkpRWsoZ6cjyfJgeu45LQMGZLslrAovcyQZwFlS_PHEl-Jt2IlLBNei0NChF15lcvVoq8NbfZIr56rVOXbA/s320/silver+screen+modiste.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div></div>

A Month of Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock Christian Esquevin Edith Head James Stewart Kim Novak Vertigo The Costumes of VERTIGO

by guest contributor Christian Esquevin“I don’t wear suits, and I don’t wear gray. Another thing, I don’t wear black pumps,” said Kim Novak to Edith Head, the costume designer for Vertigo. “I don’t care what she wears as long as it’s a gray suit," Hi…

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A Month of VERTIGO: the Bloggers...

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUl_9vJNmX4bZnXCB3BIftS-0a0CuPuyAb4NtcJ6_S0ppAKFtCdwF0UTT22_GPDM1YF0r_0uGiabxHyCn51OW56eroCv4lyISuAa3Vf_cwD_L4IzzSIaaJ3HUhS9p2rJapQuQPI2S2zMk/s1600/Vertigo+gfx+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUl_9vJNmX4bZnXCB3BIftS-0a0CuPuyAb4NtcJ6_S0ppAKFtCdwF0UTT22_GPDM1YF0r_0uGiabxHyCn51OW56eroCv4lyISuAa3Vf_cwD_L4IzzSIaaJ3HUhS9p2rJapQuQPI2S2zMk/s400/Vertigo+gfx+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Arriving with 2012 will be this blog’s first major event, <i>A Month of VERTIG</i>O. The month will feature <strike>10</strike> 11 bloggers and one ‘vlogger' reflecting on facets of Alfred Hitchcock’s <i>Vertigo</i> (1958).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJQmHXKTHcFXsLev6pAT6S4xOws0gZfDYzG1QGZyRWAPjompJmQiqA8PynCQn-i5IBg2mPGG0TlYZhnJPnAqfVIhlt1dXWpoTZHRQ1hTEWNy78YYMKAQd4MGDB4TnuSl3X5WQAUmFNz8/s1600/hitchcock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJQmHXKTHcFXsLev6pAT6S4xOws0gZfDYzG1QGZyRWAPjompJmQiqA8PynCQn-i5IBg2mPGG0TlYZhnJPnAqfVIhlt1dXWpoTZHRQ1hTEWNy78YYMKAQd4MGDB4TnuSl3X5WQAUmFNz8/s1600/hitchcock.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Unpopular with critics and audiences when it was released, <i>Vertigo</i> has endured. Today it is generally considered the great auteur's masterpiece of masterpieces and is one of the most highly regarded films in movie history. <i>Vertigo </i>is an ambitious work of grand scale and reputation - a staggering review subject for the lone blogger. And so, we <strike>eleven</strike> twelve have joined together to contemplate this masterwork from many angles.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> Here's what to expect at <i>The Lady Eve's Reel Life </i>during January 2012:</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">January 1, R.D. Finch of <i>The Movie Projector </i>offers <i>Deadly Obsession: Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">January 4, Whistlingypsy of <i>Distant Voices and Flickering Shadows</i> muses on <i>Bernard Herrmann ~ Composer of Haunting Music and Treacherous Dreams</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">January 7, Christian Esquevin of <i>Silver Screen Modiste</i> and author of <u>Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label</u> takes a look at the costumes and the characters who wore them with <i>The Costumes of Vertigo</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH6IVwhBFDmgFO7XCgASK0ozl12nJaaIn83_fxsCqxcj7c5eY95ROVQNbu5V5BiTvcFbBQV8kp79W41J5XnXDtJ8SzzHTfF8MW6G7K1gB1rG_tZbxNLpfoQoXkbR7q2cWqLk-pDsZsxgY/s1600/kim_novak_spiral-french_twist_vertigo_1958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH6IVwhBFDmgFO7XCgASK0ozl12nJaaIn83_fxsCqxcj7c5eY95ROVQNbu5V5BiTvcFbBQV8kp79W41J5XnXDtJ8SzzHTfF8MW6G7K1gB1rG_tZbxNLpfoQoXkbR7q2cWqLk-pDsZsxgY/s200/kim_novak_spiral-french_twist_vertigo_1958.jpg" width="146" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">January 10, Brandie Ashe of <i>True Classics</i> considers <i>Kim Novak in Vertigo: A Hypnotic Presence</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">January 13, Michael Nazarewycz of <i>Filmoria.com</i>, <i>ManILoveFilms.com </i>and <i>ScribeHard on Film</i> contemplates the setting of <i>Vertigo</i>, that "jewel of American cities," with <i>More Than Just the Streets of San Francisco</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">January 16, Steven DeRosa, author of <u>Writing With Hitchcock,</u> looks at <i>Vertigo</i> from the perspective of  screenwriter Samuel A. Taylor with <i>An Inconsequential Yarn</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">January 19, John Greco of <i>Twenty Four Frames</i> offers his recent interview with preeminent Hitchcock biographer Patrick McGilligan (<u>Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light</u>) on the subject of <i>Vertigo </i>and the filmmaker who conceived it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">January 22, Allen Hefner of <i>Bit Part Actors</i> honors those with roles small and momentary in <i>Vertigo’s </i>supporting cast with <i>Vertigo, the Bit Players</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ24KT53Z5aQw_JwDD__RI4YfIBJCPCjC131D3g95C0n5M3vIJcXe5belGhjlis4Sq9JxrAVUldD-1DZFJnoq8Owqu5cdtbq1_EIMJB8Kz19CKOR24QJEX2f_kEkg1b2LdEbWsvwf2O5E/s1600/vertigo+steps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ24KT53Z5aQw_JwDD__RI4YfIBJCPCjC131D3g95C0n5M3vIJcXe5belGhjlis4Sq9JxrAVUldD-1DZFJnoq8Owqu5cdtbq1_EIMJB8Kz19CKOR24QJEX2f_kEkg1b2LdEbWsvwf2O5E/s320/vertigo+steps.jpg" width="248" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">January 25, Classic Film Boy of <i>Classic Film Boy’s Movie Paradise</i> assesses James Stewart's iconic and complex performance as ‘Scottie Ferguson’ in <i>Vertigo</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">January 28, Brandon Kyle Goco of TCM’s Classic Film Union, <i>Brandon Kyle the Cinephile</i> and guest host of TCM’s October podcast series will ‘vlog’ (video blog) about his passion for <i>Vertigo</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">January 31 - Dan Auiler, author of the most essential book on <i>Vertigo </i>out there, <u>VERTIGO: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic</u>. A late addition to the guest contributor group, Dan offers <i>Marking Vertigo</i>, which he describes as "understanding <i>Vertigo </i>as Madeleine with Chris Marker as guide. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">February 3 - I'll ponder <i>Vertigo</i> in relation to the the French noir novel it was adapted from, <u>D'Entre Les Morts</u> by</span><span style="font-size: small;"> Boileau-Thomas Narcejac.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Each post will include a bit of background on its author plus links to the contributor’s blog or site. Please join us for what promises to be a month of wide-ranging commentary on the Hitchcock film that critic David Thomson called "a masterpiece and an endless mystery," and about which he wrote, "It's a test case: If you are moved by this film, you are a creature of cinema..."</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/epclrhxLJJ4" width="420"></iframe></div></div>

A Month of Vertigo Allen Hefner Brandie Ashe Brandon Goco Christian Esquevin Classic Film boy John Greco Michael Nazarewycz R.D. Finch Steven DeRosa The Lady Eve (author) Whistlingypsy A Month of VERTIGO: the Bloggers...

Arriving with 2012 will be this blog’s first major event, A Month of VERTIGO. The month will feature 10 11 bloggers and one ‘vlogger' reflecting on facets of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958).Unpopular with critics and audiences when it was released,…

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