L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e ~ D o s t o ï e v s k i

L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e ~ D o s t o ï e v s k i



Sunday, September 13, 2020

Putting the blame - portraits of Rita Hayworth, publicity for "Gilda", 1946




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Other than the photographs taken outside of the studio, I believe most of the portraits here are the work of Robert Coburn.



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3 comments:

  1. Danian DareSeptember 14, 2020 at 5:17 PM

    Sultry and glamourous Gilda....dressedby Jean Louis....great pics.

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  2. Marc Leslie KaganMay 10, 2021 at 8:46 PM

    Jean Louis is considered "an essential ingredient in the formula that created the image of Rita Hayworth." To create clothes for Gilda, Jean Louis was inspired by the painter John Singer Sargent's infamous Portrait of Madame X, the notorious socialite from New Orleans and Paris. According to Life magazine, the wardrobe designed by Jean Louis for Rita Hayworth was valued around $60,000, a large amount for the time. Louis remarked on how easy it was to design and gown Hayworth saying, “… she had a good body…She was very thin-limbed, her legs were nicely proportioned, her arms long and thin and she had beautiful hands.” In the film, Rita was cast as the title character Gilda, who's the quintessential femme-fatale who plays with the hearts of Glenn Ford and George Macready just for the fun of it.
    One of the films highlights was when Gilda does a “strip tease” at Johnny’s nightclub in a beautiful black satin sheath gown. When production began in creating the gown, it was all ready established that it had to be strapless in order for Rita to sing, move and “strip.” The next step was knowing how to make the gown stay snug around Rita’s hourglass figure and the inventive costume designer created a harness. The harness was made up of three stays – one under the bust, one in the center and one on the side. Then softened plastic was molded around the top of the gown and grosgrain was put under the bust. The gown has a straight neckline, leaving the shoulders bare. The dress is long and has a slit down to the floor and is paired with long black opera length gloves in order to convey the more erotic points of the striptease. When they were finished, the gown was not so much a gown but a technological marvel. There was no way the gown was moving from Rita’s body in the scandalous film sequence as her character teased and titillated her audience. The removal of the one glove from Gilda’s hand was never done so sexy and stylishly. Rita had just given birth to her daughter, Rebecca Welles, a few months before and the dress was designed to disguise her belly with the use of the large bow at the hip. By exposing her shoulders and arms Louis created the complete illusion of Rita's lissome figure.
    The satiny texture of the gown makes it look lustrous on film, and the gown hugs Gilda's body in a revealing way. As the audience watches Gilda perform "Put the Blame on Mame," the dress draws attention to her body and sexual charm. Gilda is haughty and imperious in her gown. She enters the casino with great self-confidence, sweeping a black cape from her back and immediately begins her song. Her dance moves consist of long strides, with bold horizontal arm movements, and swaying of the hips that put her dress in confident and assertive motion. The gown created a sensation when the film was released and audiences were in absolute awe because the gown seemed to defy gravity; no matter how much Rita moved in her dance, the dress did not. It’s a performance charged with eroticism, desperation and tragedy and it cemented Rita’s status as Hollywood’s reigning "Love Goddess" of the 1940's.
    The song "Put the Blame on Mame" illustrates the life of a femme fatale, coordinating seamlessly with Gilda's dress and body language. Written specifically for Gilda in 1946 by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher, the song narrates how Mame's deadly sexuality caused the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the New York's Great Blizzard of 1888, and the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.
    The ever shy Rita Hayworth felt that she could never live up to the Gilda image of female sexuality. “No one can be Gilda twenty four hours a day” she said, lamenting that every man she knew fell in love with Gilda, but woke up with her.

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    Replies
    1. StephiliusMay 11, 2021 at 9:42 AM

      Again, Marc, you leave me room for no other response save "yup!" ; ) Well done! I so appreciate your contribution to the post.

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