Cinema Wedding Gowns: Man-Proof (1938)

Have I got a doozy of a wedding gown for you!!!

At first glance, this Dolly Tree design worn by Rosalind Russell in Man-Proof (1938), appears to be a typical 1930s satin wedding dress. The silhouette is long and slim and the veil is cathedral length. Then we get this view:

Then it zooms in even closer!

I really have no words to describe this veil, except that it looks like something Disney's Maleficent would wear should she ever marry. Even the fabric is odd, all shimmery like an oil spill.

 

This is actually one case where the bridesmaids, one of them being Myrna Loy, really do look better than the bride. However, maybe Roz has the right idea - wear something so strange that it ensures everyone's eyes are on you, no matter how pretty the bridesmaids.

 

 

 

This movie didn't have the most original plot-line, but the costumes and sets were well worth the watch.

 

Like No Other: HIS GIRL FRIDAY

To kick off this blog, I thought I'd start with one of my all-time favorite classic comedies.

There have been many attempts to bring Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's 1928 Broadway play, The Front Page, to the big screen, but the only one anyone talks about is Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday (1940). And for good reason: it's one of the fastest, funniest, most perfect comedies ever produced. And while it certainly doesn't qualify as "neglected" or "underrated," it's worth noting for anyone born after, say, 1970 who might otherwise overlook a black-and-white movie. If that's you--or if you've simply never gotten around to seeing this paradigm of comic timing--then put it near the top of your Netflix queue, posthaste.



No, it's not a gross-out comedy. There's no cartoon violence or computer-generated talking wombats. But it's got Cary Grant at his sneaky, conniving, rascally best, with Rosalind Russell, as career-gal (and ex-wife) Hildy Johnson, matching him line for line. There's also hapless Ralph Bellamy (one day to appear in Trading Places) in what became forever known as "the Ralph Bellamy role"--i.e., the poor third wheel found in pretty much every romantic comedy ever.

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