Be Italian: Nine the Musical turned Movie

Perhaps THE most stylish film of the upcoming Christmas season -- and the most star studded -- is the highly anticipated film Nine (Weinstein Company) scheduled to release on December 18th in LA and NY and everywhere else on Christmas Day.

Based on the Tony Award winning play of the same name, the film stars Daniel Day Lewis as Italian film director Guido Contini and the many many women in his life: his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his mother (Sophia Loren), his costume designer (Judi Dench), his muse (Nicole Kidman), the harlot from his youth (Fergie) and a fashion journalist (Kate Hudson).

The women of Nine

Brought by the creative team who gave us the musical Chicago, director Rob Marshall and production designer John Mhyre and set decorator Gordon Sim, the film has the look and feel of Fellini's 1963 film 8 1/2 (the original story) and La Dolce Vita (1963). The trailer is one of the best of the year (view here). Chicago won six Oscars (Best Picture, Best Costume and Best Art Direction among others) and no doubt Nine has the ability to follow in the musical's footsteps.

Lewis with Lily, his confidante and costume designer played by Judi Dench

Kate Hudson as an American fashion journalist a la Vogue

The Lady in Red: Penelope Cruz as the Mistress

Lewis with his movie wife, Luisa, played by Marion Cotillard (and gets to sing

the hit song My Husband Makes Movies)

Marcello Mastroanni as Guido in 8 1/2

The women in a fantasy dance sequence

Stay tuned for more...and as the film song goes, "Live today as if it may become your last!"

Photo Credits: Weinstein Company

P.S. On another note, I am sad to report the demise of the magazine Set Decor which showcased all the wonderful design work of set decorators in film and television. It will be missed but available online. This is becoming an all too familiar refrain in the print world. For more, see Set Decor online here. There is a great piece on the film Inglourius Basterds this month.

Sixties Style: An Education

Premiering this month, An Education (Sony Pictures Classics) is the latest film to chronicle the style of the sixties. Set in 1961, the film tells the tale of a teenager's coming of age in pre-Beatles London. Played by actress Carey Mulligan as Jenny, the viewer watches her go from a sixteen-year-old prepster to a stylish ingenue overnight -- as a result of her whirlwind romance with a thirty year old playboy (Peter Sarsgaard).

Carey Mulligan as Jenny

Fashion plays a supporting role in the film and the costumes were designed by Emmy award winning designer Odile Dicks-Mireux. Jenny goes from drab grey uniformed student to a sophisticated young woman with shades of Jackie O, Audrey Hepburn and Catherine Deneuve. Mireux drew her inspiration on pop icons of the time and found many of the cast's wardrobe from vintage dealers. Floral sleeveless chintz dresses, leopard coats and accessories and the classic little black dress complete her transformation while the menswear suits and trenchcoats were inspired by Sean Connery in Dr. No. The designs offer an interesting look at London before we know it historically - swinging Sixties, Carnaby Street, etc. with a nod to Mad Men.

Leopard styles completely fit in with today

Mulligan with Peter Sarsgaard

Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr. No

The film is in limited release -- for more see the official website.

Photo Credits: Sony Pictures Classics

Cinema Style now on the Huffington Post!

I am pleased to announce I am now a blogger on the Huffington Post. You can find me on both the style and entertainment sections. This week's post is Rosemary's Baby Revisited. Check out my other pieces on Wall Street, Cinema Style and Autumn in New York. Thanks for reading!

Happy Halloween!

Photo Credits: Paramount Pictures

Horror Movies and Style

My favorite holiday of the year is this Saturday so I thought it would be an opportune time to visit a few of my favorite horror movies. According to the box office, most filmgoers would list Halloween (1-5), Hostel (1-2) or perhaps Saw (1-6) for sheer terror, blood and gore. For iconic moments in style (and something you don't equate with horror movies), these films would get my vote:

The Shining (1980): The highly stylized sets for the Overlook Hotel were the largest built in England. Director Stanley Kubrick and production designer Roy Walker modeled the men's room after one in the Biltmore in Phoenix and the Colorado lounge identical to the Ahwanee in Yosemite Valley. The magnificent hedge maze in the final scene was actually branches woven on chicken wire stuck in plywood boxes.

Rosemary's Baby (1968): I attended a party at the Dakota some twenty years after the filming and still could not shake the ghosts of the film even though the exterior of the building was only used. Known as the Bramford in the film, the building is as eerie as the story itself.

John Cassavettes, Mia Farrow and Ruth Gordon

The Dakota on West 72nd Street

The film was also noteworthy in creating Mia Farrow's iconic pixie haircut, a classic coif of the sixties designed by Vidal Sassoon.

Sassoon and Farrow on set

Dracula (1931): Accept no imitiations (and many have tried), the original Dracula is the best. From the grainy crackling film, the atmospheric fog and Lugosi's hypnotic stare, this is true horror. And from the spider web filled castle of Transylvania to a London apartment (why do these women always leave the window open?), the sets are wonderful. Even Lugosi looks dapper in his cape -- and rumored to have been buried in it.

Transylvania set on the Universal lot

The Exorcist (973): If you have ever visited Georgetown and seen the famous steps on M Street, it's hard to shake the image from the film. The "McNeil" townhouse on 3600 Prospect Street where little Regan created havoc and stained the carpet with pea green soup is seen below.The interiors were actually shot in a studio and the bedroom scenes filmed in the basement of Fordham University.

Exterior for the McNeil House

The Birds (1963): Tippi Hedren never looked better despite the physical and mental wear and tear. (Hitchcock used actual seagulls trained to attack the actress, making the terror all the more real). Special effects and animated birds mixed with live ones were used against a backdrop of Albert Whitlock's (no relation!) matte paintings for many scenes and the technical feats were the real stars of the film.

Tippi Hedren and friend

Hitch on Set

Happy Halloween!

Header photo is Elsa Manchester in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Photo Credits: Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers and Paramount.

Color, Cinema Style

As with film design, color can instantly create a mood and evoke images ranging from happiness to drama. It is used to portray a character, serve as imagery (whenever you see orange/red in The Godfather, look for a murder to follow) or set the overall tone of the film.

Perhaps one of the main questions posed to any set decorator about a film set they have decorated is “what color paint did you use?” And inevitably I get the same question every time I write an article on film interiors. So here are a few of my favorite film sets and paint colors I would select:

Gosford Park /Age of Innocence/Pride and Prejudice: From cerise to crimson, red is a popular color in period interiors and a natural backdrop for almost every historical a.k.a. period a.k.a. costume drama on the screen. (Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice is seen above)

Panoramic shot of The Netherfield from Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Red played a dominant theme in Robert Altman's Gosford Park

A lipstick red was used as both a costume and accent color as well as design scheme for The Age of Innocence (1993). Seen here is Michelle Pfeiffer as Countess Olenska.

and a few coordinating paint colors...

Pratt and Lambert Vintage Claret and Deep Cerise

Valspar Premium Ultra Classic Red

Behr Licorice Stick SG-170

Ralph Lauren Paints Duke Red
Benjamin Moore Holly Berry, Ladybug and Currant Reds

Gone With the Wind (1939): Period appropriate historical colors abound for the interiors of both Tara and Twelve Oaks:

Pratt and Lambert's aptly named Scarlet O'Hara

Benjamin Moore's Historical Colors

Top Hat (1935): The film is a study in black and white contrast with shiny high gloss metallic surfaces and these paint colors would be right at home:

Ralph Lauren Metallica - Wadsworth Grey

Sherwin Williams Whitetail and Darkroom

Porter Paints Silver Feather

Photo Credits: RKO, USA Films, Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures and MGM

More next week!

The Cinema as Muse: Then and Now

The late Art Director Cedric Gibbons (1893-1960) and Founder and President of J. Robert Scott Sally Sirkin Lewis no doubt are kindred spirits and would have had much in common had the two met.

Both were (and are) extraordinarily accomplished. Both favor clean, uncluttered contemporary lines and hand-polished lacquer finishes in their work. And the two designers have had a major impact on their industries -- Gibbons is credited with a record 1500 films during a 30 plus year tenure at MGM while Lewis has been awarded 150 U.S. and British patents for her innovative textile and furniture designs.

Gibbons even designed the coveted Oscar statuette (he was nominated 39 times and winner of 11) while Lewis' upholstered designs with a dressmaker's attention to detail put home couture on the map. He is said to have driven to the studio in his Dusenburg every day clad in top hat and gloves while she was the driving force behind the concept of California Design.

From a body of work ranging from Grand Hotel (1932) to Kismet (1955), Gibbons' aesthetic is seen on every MGM set, prop, costume and even the logo during his reign as supervising art director. He preferred all white rooms steeped in luxury and draped in fantasy and moviegoers loved it.

Gibbons in his Art Deco home with actress/wife Delores Del Rio

The Night Is Young (1935 )

Gibbon's Art Deco designs for The Merry Widow (1934) won him an Oscar nomination

Oscar winning fantasy sets for An American in Paris (1951)

Gibbons would have loved J. Robert Scott's collection of furnishings with exotic veneers (such as shagreen, snake and goatskin parchment) and 22-carat gold finishes and would have had a field day browsing through the hand-woven silks, mohairs and velvets.

Many of these furnishings would fit right at home on an MGM set as well as modern interiors of today...

The Medallion Daybed

The Le Ronde Bed

The Escargot stool

Susie Slipper Chair

Pleats Mirror and Darby Chaise

For more on Gibbons, see Twenties Cinema Style on The Kiss, The Single Standard and The Wonder of Women. For more on J. Robert Scott and Sally Sirkin Lewis, visit their website.

Photo credits: J. Robert Scott, MGM