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Post by Fading Fast on Feb 29, 2024 16:03:56 GMT
And another Selznick test, with Ingrid Bergman for Intermezzo in May of 1939. She was new to Hollywood but was already a mature film actress and it shows. Can this honestly be "No makeup. No lip rouge"? If that's true she's even more beautiful than I ever imagined. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 1, 2024 18:51:05 GMT
While rummaging around for a clip for another thread, I ran across this. I defy you not to crack up at the hilarious improv in character. God bless Robin Williams.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 1, 2024 23:59:14 GMT
Watching Robin Williams made me want to see if there were any test footage of Dustin Hoffman for Tootsie (1982). It's a very early test and you can see that he didn't have that chirpy self-confidence in the voice yet. In the Williams test you could actually see the moment when he got the voice, early in the test when he was asked if he could do it higher and all of a sudden there it was, Mrs. Doubtfire. I wonder if it may have taken Dustin longer because his actor's instinct was to explore the character more slowly, whereas Robin, as a comedian and improv genius, could snap right into it.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 6, 2024 14:12:54 GMT
This is another one of those studio-financed promo newsreels for theaters to show to drum up business. I'm not sure how much business was actually drummed up for I'd Rather Be Rich (1964), in which Sandra Dee co-starred with Robert Goulet and Andy Williams (and Maurice Chevalier); the audience was still there in 1964 for those sex comedies Universal liked to peddle, but not for much longer. As an aside, Wiki sez Andy Williams had just signed a contract with Universal to do one film a year for seven years, but I couldn't find evidence of any others; he was doing more than OK on recordings and TV, so maybe it was mutual that he didn't? Anyway, Sandra looks swell in the Jean Louis fashions. As always, Universal's in-house designer glammed it up to the max.
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Post by Fading Fast on Mar 6, 2024 16:22:53 GMT
This is another one of those studio-financed promo newsreels for theaters to show to drum up business. I'm not sure how much business was actually drummed up for I'd Rather Be Rich (1964), in which Sandra Dee co-starred with Robert Goulet and Andy Williams (and Maurice Chevalier); the audience was still there in 1964 for those sex comedies Universal liked to peddle, but not for much longer. As an aside, Wiki sez Andy Williams had just signed a contract with Universal to do one film a year for seven years, but I couldn't find evidence of any others; he was doing more than OK on recordings and TV, so maybe it was mutual that he didn't? Anyway, Sandra looks swell in the Jean Louis fashions. As always, Universal's in-house designer glammed it up to the max. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 7, 2024 13:26:41 GMT
Again, this isn't "classic", since I haven't run across a lot of golden age examples. This one is probably from a DVD release, though it's not on my copy. Kate was apparently 19 years old at the time and since the movie was released in 1997 after a long shoot and post-production, this would probably have been done in 1995. I'm not sure how far Jeremy Sisto got in the audition process, but overall I'm glad Leo got the role.
I couldn't find any wardrobe tests, but there's this great discussion of Rose's costumes in particular by fashion historian Raissa Bretana, which is interesting to someone like me but hopefully nerdy enough for Bunny. She reaches the conclusion that it would be the makeup and not the costuming which would betray the period in which the movie was made, the costumes being so accurate to the era.
There's also a discussion of the set itself from a YouTube poster who normally discusses ocean liners, not films, but has some good thoughts about how the set design achieved a balance between authenticity and practicality, with footage of the construction of the set in Mexico and how it was used during filming. Not entirely on topic but still interesting.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 10, 2024 13:42:01 GMT
Hopefully not derailing this thread, I'm going to use the excuse that we see a couple of seconds of hair being sprayed and makeup being applied to post this behind-the-scenes look at the filming of Hairspray (1988). It was apparently found mislabeled in the archives of a local Baltimore TV station and has been preserved. I know this isn't intended for "making of" stuff so I'll exercise restraint in the future, but the fan in me really responded to this, especially John Waters coaching Sonny Bono how to spank his daughter.
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Post by sagebrush on Mar 10, 2024 14:22:09 GMT
I couldn't find any wardrobe tests, but there's this great discussion of Rose's costumes in particular by fashion historian Raissa Bretana, which is interesting to someone like me but hopefully nerdy enough for Bunny. She reaches the conclusion that it would be the makeup and not the costuming which would betray the period in which the movie was made, the costumes being so accurate to the era. Wasn't that so often the case during the silent and classic film era that makeup looked closer to what l was currently popular?
Have you seen that little blurb on TCM of Ann Rutherford recollecting about how the makeup department plucked out her eyebrows for GONE WITH THE WIND, even after she explained to the director that women of that time (especially in the scenes which took place directly after the Civil War) wouldn't have done that. She also mentioned to him that it was described in the book that Scarlett had winged auburn eyebrows. Some films tended to do a better job with the makeup continuity than others. Sometimes, I think, it depended on the studio. MGM always wanted their films pristine and glamorous looking, so much so that even the poor and downtrodden characters in their films seemed to live in upscale homes with beautiful furniture!
I remember dragging my husband to a showing of INTOLERANCE at an art house theater (he was bored by silent films.) His only remark after this long film was "I never knew they wore 1920's-style hairstyles in the biblical ages!"  Smart Alec! |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 10, 2024 14:53:08 GMT
Wasn't that so often the case during the silent and classic film era that makeup looked closer to what l was currently popular?
Have you seen that little blurb on TCM of Ann Rutherford recollecting about how the makeup department plucked out her eyebrows for GONE WITH THE WIND, even after she explained to the director that women of that time (especially in the scenes which took place directly after the Civil War) wouldn't have done that. She also mentioned to him that it was described in the book that Scarlett had winged auburn eyebrows. Some films tended to do a better job with the makeup continuity than others. Sometimes, I think, it depended on the studio. MGM always wanted their films pristine and glamorous looking, so much so that even the poor and downtrodden characters in their films seemed to live in upscale homes with beautiful furniture!
I remember dragging my husband to a showing of INTOLERANCE at an art house theater (he was bored by silent films.) His only remark after this long film was "I never knew they wore 1920's-style hairstyles in the biblical ages!" Smart Alec! Lana Turner had her eyebrows shaved off by the studio (I think for Marco Polo?) and they never grew back. For the whole rest of her career (ie: most all of it) she had them drawn on. I'll bet there were plenty of others who had the same thing happen. I'm with your husband. Nothing ruins it more than contemporary looks in historical films. DeMille was guilty of that a lot too. I think it was in The Sign of the Cross where there was a scene with a gaggle of peroxided ladies of the court yakking away like the starlets they obviously were. Really, Cecil? With so many people out of work that's the best you could come up with? |
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Post by Fading Fast on Mar 10, 2024 15:43:58 GMT
Wasn't that so often the case during the silent and classic film era that makeup looked closer to what l was currently popular?
Have you seen that little blurb on TCM of Ann Rutherford recollecting about how the makeup department plucked out her eyebrows for GONE WITH THE WIND, even after she explained to the director that women of that time (especially in the scenes which took place directly after the Civil War) wouldn't have done that. She also mentioned to him that it was described in the book that Scarlett had winged auburn eyebrows. Some films tended to do a better job with the makeup continuity than others. Sometimes, I think, it depended on the studio. MGM always wanted their films pristine and glamorous looking, so much so that even the poor and downtrodden characters in their films seemed to live in upscale homes with beautiful furniture!
I remember dragging my husband to a showing of INTOLERANCE at an art house theater (he was bored by silent films.) His only remark after this long film was "I never knew they wore 1920's-style hairstyles in the biblical ages!" Smart Alec! Lana Turner had her eyebrows shaved off by the studio (I think for Marco Polo?) and they never grew back. For the whole rest of her career (ie: most all of it) she had them drawn on. I'll bet there were plenty of others who had the same thing happen.... |
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Post by BunnyWhit on Mar 10, 2024 17:11:00 GMT
Again, this isn't "classic", since I haven't run across a lot of golden age examples. This one is probably from a DVD release, though it's not on my copy. Kate was apparently 19 years old at the time and since the movie was released in 1997 after a long shoot and post-production, this would probably have been done in 1995. I'm not sure how far Jeremy Sisto got in the audition process, but overall I'm glad Leo got the role. I couldn't find any wardrobe tests, but there's this great discussion of Rose's costumes in particular by fashion historian Raissa Bretana, which is interesting to someone like me but hopefully nerdy enough for Bunny. She reaches the conclusion that it would be the makeup and not the costuming which would betray the period in which the movie was made, the costumes being so accurate to the era. There's also a discussion of the set itself from a YouTube poster who normally discusses ocean liners, not films, but has some good thoughts about how the set design achieved a balance between authenticity and practicality, with footage of the construction of the set in Mexico and how it was used during filming. Not entirely on topic but still interesting. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 11, 2024 12:14:12 GMT
Thanks for posting, I Love Melvin. I won't derail this thread, but I can tell you that I've been thinking about saying a word or two (Ha!) about underclothes, especially corsets, over on "Is That What You're Wearing?". I'll see if I can reign in my thoughts sufficiently to do that soon. I'm not opposed to a little derailing; Lord knows I've done enough of it myself. But I'll look forward to you "getting to the bottom of things" in your "Is That What You're Wearing" thread. And don't make such jokes. (A word or two Ha!) Speak at length and at your leisure and we will listen. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 19, 2024 21:45:41 GMT
Again, not "classic", but historically interesting because Jack Benny, bless him, was cast in The Sunshine Boys (1974) but died before filming. Makeup and wardrobe tests were generally without sound, so a poster has added some background music, which I assume is from the movie soundtrack but which I actually found a little distracting. Tests like this can seem deadly boring because they were never intended to be viewed by anyone other than the professionals tasked with finalizing make-up and wardrobe, but it can also be fascinating for movie nerds to see how that finalization came about, step by laborious step. I've liked George Burns most of my life since my family watched The Burns and Allen Show, but I have to say I would dearly love to see what Jack Benny might have done with the role. Love that guy.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 19, 2024 23:26:49 GMT
This is a clip from the full-length documentary Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood (2001). The project came to Twentieth Century-Fox in the hands of producer Walter Wanger, who eventually convinced the studio to go big-big-bigger and the rest is history. In the early stages Joan Collins all but had the role sewn up and she would have been a good choice for the low-budget movie originally green-lighted. Joan had done well in Howard Hawks' Land of the Pharaohs (1955) as a schemer in an ancient Egyptian setting, so in a sense she's already done a test for Cleopatra. I'm glad things turned out the way they did and I'm not at all anti-Liz in the role, as some seem to be. The documentary originally aired on AMC and is in two parts on YouTube; it's one of the better making-of docs I've seen.
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Post by Fading Fast on Mar 20, 2024 9:03:42 GMT
This is a clip from the full-length documentary Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood (2001). The project came to Twentieth Century-Fox in the hands of producer Walter Wanger, who eventually convinced the studio to go big-big-bigger and the rest is history. In the early stages Joan Collins all but had the role sewn up and she would have been a good choice for the low-budget movie originally green-lighted. Joan had done well in Howard Hawks' Land of the Pharaohs (1955) as a schemer in an ancient Egyptian setting, so in a sense she's already done a test for Cleopatra. I'm glad things turned out the way they did and I'm not at all anti-Liz in the role, as some seem to be. The documentary originally aired on AMC and is in two parts on YouTube; it's one of the better making-of docs I've seen. |
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Smart Alec!