Filmland Follies

               Singin' in the Rain is one of those gorgeous films where you can pause at any moment and it might as well be a painting. Besides being an iconic movie, it's a stunning combination of Technicolor and fashion - which is why I decided to round up the costumes in one big stunning survey. Here it is: the Singin' in the Rain Costume Analysis !                  Scene One: The Movie Premiere               At the beginning of Singin' in the Rain , Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) are at the premiere of their latest film, The Royal Rascal. The year is 1927, and silent films are just making the switch over to talkies. Don and Lina are dressed in coordinating white outfits - because they're such an amazing screen team who totally adore each other! (Sarcasm intended.) Even though Don can't stand Lina, their matchy-matchy out...

              Audrey Hepburn. In Paris. Wearing a wardrobe designed by Givenchy, and jewelry by Cartier. The opening credits are enough to sell How to Steal a Million , and it's a film that lives up to its credits! The movie is part comedy, part romance, and part suspenseful, million-dollar art heist.               The film centers around Nicole Bonnet, daughter of a wealthy art collector. Nicole's father has just sold one of his pieces in a major auction, but instead of being proud, she's upset - because her father is actually an art forger. He replicates the style of famous painters to make "undiscovered" masterpieces which he sells for hundreds of thousands. Nicole scolds her father and reminds him that what he's doing is illegal, but he won't listen. (And Nicole won't report him, probably because he's her dad, but maybe also because they live in a mansion and her whole wardrobe is Givenchy, an...

             Since it began in 1928, RKO Radio Pictures was a B-movie factory. As fast as they could find a hundred chorus girls and a script, they'd be in production - often for a mere three weeks before the film raced into theatres. Most of these attempts were flops, a few turned newcomers into stars, but every so often they'd land on a smash hit. Flying Down to Rio , a pre-Code B-movie musical, ended up launching an era.               Like most B-movies, it followed the common advertising formula - "Stupendous musical! 200 beauties!" It promised audiences an exotic South American summer, complete with sunny beaches, catchy songs, and chorus girls performing airplane stunts. They got what they bargained for - and then some. Special effects, including ghost-like clones of the characters representing their inner thoughts. Dolores del Rio, a Mexican actress considered the first and biggest Latin America...