Ten Movies on an Island: 1950s Edition

If you thought the 30s and 40s were a time of change in Hollywood, the 1950s was off the charts. With the accessibility of Television, many people were not going out to the movies, but instead, staying home and watching family sitcoms and game shows. When the Supreme Court outlawed block booking (selling groups of five or more films combining A pictures with cheaper B pictures) in 1948, the system began to crumble. Television hastened that end.

In order to lure movie-goers back to the theaters, studios decided it was time to make movies bigger and better. This was the decade of the Epic, the Technicolor Musical, 3-D, CinemaScope, Cinerama, VistaVision. With it came the loosening of the Hays Code, allowing topics back into movies that hadn't been allowed on the screen for two decades. Up popped the Rebel and a host of teen idols.

This list not only has three of my original Five Movies on an Island List, but it is also where my "romantic/girlish pleasure" side comes out. I mean, realistically, how many "Top Ten" lists have Gidget (1959) on them? Not to mention that four of the films have John Wayne in them!

1950s:

1. Rio Grande (1950) - John Wayne & Maureen O'Hara

2. The Quiet Man (1952) - John Wayne & Maureen O'Hara

3. Roman Holiday (1953) - Audrey Hepburn & Gregory Peck, Eddie Albert

4. White Christmas (1954) - Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye & Vera-Ellen

5. Mister Roberts (1955) - Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, William Powell, James Cagney

6. We're No Angels (1955) - Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray

7. The Searchers (1956) - John Wayne

8. Tammy and the Bachelor (1957) - Debbie Reynolds & Leslie Neilson

9. Gidget (1959) - Sandra Dee & James Darren, Cliff Robertson

10. Rio Bravo (1959) - John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan

Honorable Mentions: Sunset Boulevard (1950), Strangers on a Train (1951), Son of Paleface (1952), The Robe (1953), Sabrina (1954), Until They Sail (1957), The Defiant Ones (1958), Pillow Talk (1959), Who Was That Lady? (1959).

Tomorrow, my Top Ten films of the 1960s!

Audrey Hepburn ~ Artist

Growing up as a child in World War II Holland, Audrey Hepburn had to do without a lot of things: food, new clothes, and many other things. One of the things that kept her going was dance. Another thing Audrey liked to do was sketch.

                

I recently discovered Audrey's sketches while reading Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit by her son, Sean Ferrer. Her sketches are delightful. She could have easily become a children's book illustrator! Below is a video I made of a few of her sketches. To see them bigger, and to learn more about her difficult childhood, click here and here.

 

Last summer I reviewed the recently published Audrey at Home: Memories of My Mother's Kitchen by her second son, Lucca Dotti. It features a painting of her garden on the back cover. You can view the post here. It also includes Audrey's recipe for chocolate cake!

This post is part of the May the 4th Be With Audrey Hepburn Blogathon hosted by Flickin' Out. Be sure to read all of the other posts dedicated to this iconic actress!

 

Behind the Dress: Audrey Hepburn's "Princess in Disguise" outfit in "Roman Holiday"

Roman Holiday (1953) is one of my favorite movies. It has everything going for it: a great script, fantastic actors, gorgeous on-location shooting, and some of the best costumes in Hollywood history. In fact, not only did Roman Holiday garner a Best Actress Oscar for newcomer Audrey Hepburn, but it also won a Best Writing Award for the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo and the (still relatively young) Best Costume Award for Edith Head.

Multiple Award-Winning costume designer Edith Head was the first Hollywood designer to dress Audrey Hepburn, who was about to become a legendary icon. In the book Edith Head's Hollywood by Paddy Calistro with excerpts by Edith Head, Hepburn is described as the antigoddess, the "antithesis of anything that fit the sexy 1950s stereotype (Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor). She was skinny in an era of voluptuousness, flat when everyone else was round. Her neck was too long, her face too innocent.  By 1950s standards she was all wrong, yet she was about to enchant the world" (101).

Here are Head's words about meeting Audrey:

I was completely enchanted by her. She was intelligent and had a strong sense about fashion, but what impressed me most was her body. I knew she would be the perfect mannequin for anything I would make... when clothes are designed for art's sake you need a shapeless body to display them (102).

Here is a video of Edith Head talking about the process Hollywood designers go through when beginning to costume a film, including a personality test and wardrobe tests for Roman Holiday.

My favorite outfit from the film is the simple blouse and skirt Audrey wears to explore the city of Rome. But there's more behind the dress then you might think. Let's see how Edith went about designing it:

To create the contrast (from Her Royal Highness Princess Anne to Anya), I put her in funny little flat shoes, a gathered cotton skirt, and a plain blouse with the sleeves rolled up... Suddenly she is the kind of girl you wouldn't look at twice. It sounds easy to do, but it wasn't. Trying to make someone like Audrey, who has so much hauteur, look anything but chic is very difficult.

As you saw in the video above, she had to create an outfit that could be transformed on screen. Audrey goes from a buttoned-up proper girl to a carefree girl having a holiday.

Fun Fact: Simoa of Define Dancing told me that this dress was used as inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's dress in the Disney film.

Let's take a closer look at the costume itself.

       

Before and After

Another "before" shot with low pumps.

A good look at the sandals.

 

      

 The skirt is usually shown as light blue or tan when colorized.

I think it was tan, though I prefer light blue.

 

      

Scarf and blouse detail. The scarf is usually pictured as red and white.

 

This outfit is so iconic it was immortalized as a Barbie doll a few years ago. The Barbie has a new face mold and skinny body. I bought one - the face isn't quite as pretty as pictured here.

 

Actress Lily Collins channeled Hepburn in a photo shoot for Talter Magazine.

 

Hope you enjoyed this latest edition of Behind the Dress!

 

Audrey at Home ~ A Book Review

This is my first book review for the Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge

over at Out of the Past: A Classic Film Blog.

The book I am reviewing is the recently published Audrey at Home: Memories of My Mother's Kitchen with Recipes, Photographs, and Personal Stories by Luca Dotti with Luigi Spinola.

This 265 page book has a simple format. It is written by Audrey Hepburn's second son (with Andrea Dotti) Luca Dotti. It is divided into 6 sections. Each section is divided into short chapters based on a certain family recipe. Dotti shares memories of his mother's life and the foods that she loved. He was only 23 when she died so most of his memories are from Audrey's later years when she spent most of her time as a mother and humanitarion instead of movie star. The first two sections focus on her childhood and early career.

           

There are a lot of family photographs in the book which are fun to look at. I always enjoy seeing natural photos of the stars where they are simply enjoying life as opposed to the glamorous publicity photos, not that I don't like those too.

Skipping the recipes, I was able to read this book in one evening. I highly recommend it to any Audrey Hepburn fan. It's a light, enjoyable read that gives you a little bit of everything: food, family, traveling, fashion, and above all - Love. This book was written with love and it is evident on every page. It is a lovely tribute to a lovely person.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Let's face it. A nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people. It does for me.

~ Audrey Hepburn

 

Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream (from the book)

This flourless cake is thin and moist, but it should form a slight crust. Audrey prepared it for special occasions, like birthdays and homecomings. It is one of those dishes that is better the next day.

 

11 oz. unsweetened dark chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup whole milk (just enough to soften the chocolate)

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus extra for  greasing

8 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

Flour for pan

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400F. Butter and flour a 10- or 12- inch round baking pan.

Melt the chocolate with the milk in a bain-marie (a pot inside another pot filled with hot water so as not exposed to direct heat). Add the butter and stir to blend thoroughly. Turn off the heat and add the 8 egg yolks; mix. In a separate bowl gradually add the sugar to the egg whites and whip to form soft peaks. Gently fold into the chocolate-egg yolk mixture. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn off the oven, open the door, and leave the cake inside for a few minutes (this will prevent the crust from cracking). Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely before serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Happy Birthday Audrey Hepburn!

 

Hello? Oh, thank you so much for remembering my birthday, Gregory! What are my plans for the day? Well, I was reading a book when you called.

 

 

Yes, fairy tales actually!

 

 

Then I was going to change to a chic playsuit and

bake a cake for tonight's party.

 

 

I do hope you can make it!

 

All images found via Pinterest