Accompanying the exhibit Curtain Call: Celebrating a Century of Women Designing for Live Performance, the New York Public Library's Library for the Performing Arts will present a series of films from March 3-April 28 highlighting the role of female costume and production designers in Hollywood films from the 1910s to the 2000s. (See schedule below.)
Curated by Joseph Yranski, the series includes:
- The short Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with stage performer Hobart Bosworth and future 1920s star Bebe Daniels
- The fluffy Colleen Moore vehicle Irene, which features a fashion show
- The rare silent Camille, starring superstar Norma Talmadge and her soon-to-be off-screen lover Gilbert Roland
- She, which features early color sequences and Helen Gahagan, best known for being smeared ("pink down to her underwear") by Richard Nixon when the liberal Democrat ran against the unscrupulous Republican for a California Congress seat in 1950
- Elia Kazan's masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire, with Vivien Leigh delivering one of the greatest film performances ever
Photos: Joseph Yranski Collection
Schedule from the NYPL website:
03/03/09 TUE 2:30 PM
Wonderful Wizard of Oz, b&w, 10 minutes (Directed by Otis Tanner, 1910). With Bebe Daniels and Hobart Bosworth. Costumes by Caroline F. Sidle.
The Whirl of Life, b&w, 75 minutes (Directed by Oliver D. Bailey, 1915). Starring Vernon and Irene Castle. Costumes by Lady Duff Gordon.
Ben Model will accompany the films
03/10/09 TUE 2:30 PM
Irene (top, lower photo), b&w, 90 minutes (Directed by Alfred E. Green, 1926). With Colleen Moore and Lloyd Hughes. Costumes by Cora MacCreachy.
Camille (above), b&w, 54 minutes (Directed by Fred Niblo, 1927). With Norma Talmadge and Gilbert Roland. Costumes by Alice O’Neill.
Carolyn Swartz will accompany the films
03/17/09 TUE 2:30 PM
She, b&w, 101 minutes (Directed by Lansing C. Holden and Irving Pichel, 1935). With Helen Gahagan and Randolph Scott. Costumes by Aline Bernstein.
03/24/09 TUE 2:30 PM
Billy Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe (top, upper photo), color, 104 minutes (Directed by George Seaton, 1945). With Betty Grable and Dick Haymes. Costumes by Bonnie Cashin.
03/31/09 TUE 2:30 PM
A Streetcar Named Desire, b&w, 122 minutes (Directed by Elia Kazan, 1951). With Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando. Costumes by Lucinda Ballard.
04/07/09 TUE 2:30 PM
The Killing, b&w, 85 minutes (Directed by Stanley Kubrick, 1956). With Sterling Hayden and Coleen Gray. Art direction by Ruth Sobatka.
04/14/09 TUE 2:30 PM
Murder by Death, color, 94 minutes (Directed by Robert Moore, 1976). With Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, David Niven, Nancy Walker, Peter Falk, Eileen Brennan, James Coco, Elsa Lanchester, and Truman Capote. Costumes by Ann Roth.
04/21/09 TUE 2:30 PM
The Great Gatsby, color, 144 minutes (Directed by Jack Clayton, 1974). With Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. Costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge.
04/28/09 TUE 2:30 PM
The Night that Larry Kramer Kissed Me, color, 81 minutes (Directed by Tim Kirkman, 2000). With David Drake. Scenery by Anna Louizos.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York.
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Great article! Performing arts is just very interesting for anyone of different ages and lifestyles! And celebrating a century of women is a really wonderful idea!
Oh well, performing arts is just very interesting for me.`~`