TCM Schedule for Friday, February 9, 2018 -- 31 Days of Oscar: Best Costume Design Winners

[Staph]

Today's Oscar category is Best Costumes -- one of my favorites. I love seeing the work of Edith Head, Orry-Kelly, Anthony Powell, and Jenny Beaven. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- SEVEN SAMURAI (1956)
Japanese villagers hire a team of traveling samurai to defend them against a bandit attack.
Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Kuninori Kodo
BW-207 mins,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Takashi Matsuyama, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Kôhei Ezaki

Akira Kurosawa's original idea for the film was to make it about a day in the life of a samurai, beginning with him rising from bed, eat breakfast, go to his master's castle and ending with him making some mistake that required him to go home and kill himself to save face. Despite a good deal of research, he did not feel he had enough solid factual information to make the movie. He then pitched the idea of a film that would cover a series of five samurai battles, based on the lives of famous Japanese swordsmen. Hashimoto went off to write that script, but Kurosawa ultimately scrapped that idea as well, worrying that a film that was just "a series of climaxes" wouldn't work. Then, producer Sôjirô Motoki found, through historical research, that samurai in the "Warring States" period of Japanese history would often volunteer to stand guard at peasant villages overnight in exchange for food and lodging. Kurosawa then came across an anecdote about a village hiring samurai to protect them and decided to use that idea. Kurosawa wrote a complete dossier for each character with a speaking role. In it were details about what they wore, their favourite foods, their past history, their speaking habits, their reaction to battle and every other detail he could think of about them. No other Japanese director had ever done this before.


9:45 AM -- NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA (1971)
Story of Russia's last czar, Nicolas II, and his ill-fated family.
Dir: Franklin J. Schaffner
Cast: Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, Roderic Noble
C-188 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- John Box, Ernest Archer, Jack Maxsted, Gil Parrondo and Vernon Dixon, and Best Costume Design -- Yvonne Blake and Antonio Castillo

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Janet Suzman, Best Cinematography -- Freddie Young, Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- Richard Rodney Bennett, and Best Picture

There are many historical inaccuracies in this film, but neither the filmmakers nor Robert K. Massie, upon whose book this title is based, can be held responsible for the inaccuracies in regard to characters and events. When Robert K. Massie initially researched materials for his book, the Soviet government was still in power in Russia, and would only authorize viewing of those "facts" that had been assumed by people and "approved" by the ruling government to be examined by researchers of the Romanov family. It was not until the Soviet government fell in 1991, that documents that had been secretly put away, and which were hidden from the public could be fully examined and researched.


1:00 PM -- THE FACTS OF LIFE (1960)
Suburban marrieds are tempted to dabble in adultery.
Dir: Melvin Frank
Cast: Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Ruth Hussey
BW-104 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head and Edward Stevenson

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Charles Lang, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- J. McMillan Johnson, Kenneth A. Reid and Ross Dowd, and Best Music, Original Song -- Johnny Mercer for the song "The Facts of Life"

A UPI news item dated July 3, 1960 reports that while preparing to film a scene on a boat, Lucille Ball fell, struck her head and was knocked unconscious. She was taken to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital for a possible concussion and severe face and leg bruises. Her ex-husband Desi Arnaz rushed to the hospital from his ranch at Corona to be with her. Fortunately, preliminary x-rays of the head, neck and spine showed that the beloved star was not seriously hurt. The injury to Lucille Ball was not the only problem to afflict the picture. Don DeFore injured his back, requiring hospitalization, and director Melvin Frank broke his ankle playing golf and had to hobble around on crutches. The film's publicist came down with a two-week case of the mumps, Bob Hope smashed his finger, and even the delivery man from Lucy's pharmacy fell into the same tank that the star had. To top things off, a few days after Lucy referred to her Desilu soundstage as a "firetrap," it partially burned down.


2:49 PM -- OVERTURE TO THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR (1953)
The MGM Symphony Orchestra performs the Overture to the Merry Wives of Windsor in this musical short.
C-9 mins,

Won an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel -- Johnny Green


3:00 PM -- TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT (1972)
A stodgy young man gets caught up in his free-living aunt's shady schemes.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Maggie Smith, Alec McCowen, Lou Gossett
C-109 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design -- Anthony Powell (Anthony Powell couldn't attend the awards ceremony, as he was working on Papillon (1973) in London, England. George Cukor, the film's director, accepted the award on his behalf.)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Maggie Smith, Best Cinematography -- Douglas Slocombe, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- John Box, Gil Parrondo and Robert W. Laing

Katharine Hepburn was initially approached by her friend, Director George Cukor, to star in the movie. She read the book by Graham Greene, but since it was a series of short stories, she didn't think it could be adapted into a film. However, she agreed to star in it after reading the book a few times. Jay Presson Allen wrote the screenplay, but when Hepburn was unhappy with the result, Allen suggested that she re-write it herself. Hepburn worked on the script for three months, but when she submitted it, MGM studio head James T. Aubrey felt that her script was missing the charm of the book. Also, Aubrey felt that Hepburn was too old to play Aunt Augusta in flashback scenes. Aubrey called Hepburn to tell her that the project had been postponed, but the next day, Hepburn's agent called to report that she had been released by MGM for "failing to report to work." Hepburn considered suing MGM for payment for her script work, but decided against it. According to Jay Presson Allen, one speech from Hepburn's script was included in the film, but Hepburn was not given screen credit, because she wasn't a member of the Screen Writer's Guild.


5:00 PM -- TESS (1980)
A simple country girl is torn between the honest farmer who loves her and a corrupt nobleman.
Dir: Roman Polanski
Cast: John Collin, Tony Church, Nastassja Kinski
C-171 mins, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Geoffrey Unsworth (Posthumously) and Ghislain Cloquet, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Pierre Guffroy and Jack Stephens, and Best Costume Design -- Anthony Powell

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Roman Polanski, Best Music, Original Score -- Philippe Sarde, and Best Picture

For this picture, costume designer Anthony Powell won his third and final consecutive Academy Award in this category after previously winning the Oscar for Death on the Nile (1978) and Travels with My Aunt (1972). Since Tess (1979), Powell was nominated for Costume Design again three more times, with the reverse happening, and losing all three times.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: BEST COSTUME DESIGN WINNERS



8:00 PM -- WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)
A crazed, aging star torments her sister in a decaying Hollywood mansion.
Dir: Robert Aldrich
Cast: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono
BW-134 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Norma Koch

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Victor Buono, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Ernest Haller, and Best Sound -- Joseph D. Kelly (Seven Arts-Warner Bros. Glen Glenn Sound Department)

While Bette Davis took delight in looking dreadful for the film, the opposite was true of Joan Crawford. Even though Blanche had once been a beautiful young actress, she was now in her 50s, confined to a wheelchair, emaciated and wasting away. It was difficult for Crawford to appear unattractive, since she had always been considered one of Hollywood's most glamorous stars. "It was a constant battle to get her not to look gorgeous," said Davis. "She wanted her hair well dressed, her gowns beautiful and her fingernails with red nail polish. For the part of an invalid who had been cooped up in a room for twenty years, she wanted to look attractive. She was wrong."


10:30 PM -- A ROOM WITH A VIEW (1986)
An Englishwoman visiting Florence is torn between her straitlaced fiance and a young Bohemian.
Dir: James Ivory
Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Maggie Smith
C-117 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was not present at the awards ceremony. James Ivory accepted the award on her behalf.), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Gianni Quaranta, Brian Ackland-Snow, Brian Savegar and Elio Altamura, and Best Costume Design -- Jenny Beavan and John Bright

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Denholm Elliott, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Maggie Smith, Best Director -- James Ivory, Best Cinematography -- Tony Pierce-Roberts, and Best Picture

First cinema film for both Helena Bonham Carter and Rupert Graves.


12:45 AM -- DARLING (1965)
A young beauty sacrifices love and happiness to become an international celebrity.
Dir: John Schlesinger
Cast: Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde, Laurence Harvey
BW-126 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Julie Christie, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Frederic Raphael, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Julie Harris

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- John Schlesinger, and Best Picture

The heroine of this film, Diana Scott, though English, eventually marries an Italian prince and is then referred to in tabloid headlines and in the film's narration as "Princess Diana." When this film was first released in the USA in August 1965, Diana Frances Spencer, the future real-life Princess Diana, who would become far more famous and celebrated than the character in the film, had just turned four years old.


3:00 AM -- THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1993)
A 19th-century lawyer risks his place in society when he falls in love with his fiancee's married cousin.
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder
C-139 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design -- Gabriella Pescucci

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Winona Ryder, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published -- Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Dante Ferretti and Robert J. Franco, and Best Music, Original Score -- Elmer Bernstein

The painting of two Native Americans about to kill a young woman is a depiction of the death of Jane McRea. The event took place in 1777 in upstate New York, shortly before the battle of Saratoga, and was a key event in rallying Patriot militia. Jane McRea was the woman on whom James Fenimore Cooper based the character of Cora in "Last of the Mohicans". This book was made into the film The Last of the Mohicans (1992), which also starred Daniel Day-Lewis.


5:19 AM -- A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES (1937)
In this comedic short, a man and wife suffer through a night together at the movies.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Robert Benchley, Ricardo Lord Cezon, Jack Baxley
BW-10 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel

Just after Robert Benchley buys his tickets from the cashier (played by Gwen Lee), he walks past a poster advertising the film My Dear Miss Aldrich (1937), which featured Lee.


5:30 AM -- LES GIRLS (1957)
Three showgirls recall different versions of their time together touring Europe.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall
C-114 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design -- Orry-Kelly

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- William A. Horning, Gene Allen, Edwin B. Willis and Richard Pefferle, and Best Sound, Recording -- Wesley C. Miller (M-G-M SSD)

On the DVD, Taina Elg says the original cast was supposed to include Cyd Charisse as the American girl, Leslie Caron as the French girl and Kay Kendall as the English girl. Cyd Charisse decided to do Silk Stockings (1957) instead, so Mitzi Gaynor took her part. At one point, Kay Kendall didn't want to do the film and Taina Elg was tested for her part. Ms. Kendall took the part after all, but then Leslie Caron withdrew. Tania Elg was tested for THAT part and received her first major film role.

[CBHagman]

1. A Room with a View is such a magical film.

I had forgotten about the costume design award, but of course every detail of the movie is exquisite.

[Staph]

2. I hate to admit

that, though I recently read the book, I've never seen the movie. The pictures I have seen from it are exquisite!

I sometimes look for photos from a movie after reading a book, to see how the characters in my mind's eye match the filmmakers' vision. I'm halfway through the Game of Thrones books, and some of those characters are exactly as imagined. And some are definitely not!