Welcome to my first weekly installment of My Favorite Films. On Fridays I'll be posting about my favorite films and their costumes. So here's our first adventure...Welcome the apartment of LB Jefferies. A photographer who, for the sake of a shot, is currently in a wheelchair. What's a man to do though in the summer with just a wheelchair and a window to view the world? Watch the world. His world is a microcosm, life boiled down to just labels and observations. Ms. Lonelyhearts, Miss Torso, Newlyweds and the list of characters go on.
This film is one of my earliest memories of Alfred Hitchcock in my life. I mean I was a kid raised on Disney and musicals but my dad, the movie fanatic that he is, watched Hitchcock, lots of film noir, Casablanca and lots of TCM channel. With this film however I fell in love immediately with the story and Laura, Ms. Grace Kelly.I had no idea at that point in my life who Edith Head was or how big of an impact she would play in my life later on. This photo is that icon of the leading lady of 1950's film for me. I can never express that moment in words when she enters the apartment and turns on the lights one at a time while saying her name. The character has finesse and beauty. The dress was perfection. I could go on and on about Grace and her dresses but let's examine everyone else in this film.
Jimmy Stewart is mostly in pajamas. Ms. Torso is in not a whole lot dancing around the apartment. The rest of the characters are all dressed in what normal people wore for the time. It was smart and in the case of Grace Kelly it was gorgeous but most of all it was real. Recently at a costume exhibit in Richmond, Virginia a thought I saw on the wall stuck with me. It said something along the lines that costuming modern film is difficult because you have to create a garment that is both fitting or the character but also fades away completely at the same time. These characters of the 1950's dress their parts. They have gorgeous pieces of clothes we look back on and envy and I'm sure were envied back then. The film is just one of those that the story is perfect from Hitchcock's direction to the set to the clothing. I think it's just that the film seems so effortless that you just forget your watching a movie and you really invest in the characters that makes it one of my favorites. If you get a chance check it out and enjoy. I hope you feel the same.