Jean Louis, who became Marilyn’s preferred costumer in her final years, is honoured with a 3-page profile in the September issue of UK nostalgia mag Yours Retro (#66, with Elizabeth Taylor on the cover.) The article includes a photo of the gown he designed for Marlene Dietrich which inspired Marilyn’s ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ dress.
The French-born designer stepped in when Marilyn rejected Dorothy Jeakins’ costume ideas for The Misfits, and also dressed her for the unfinished Something’s Got to Give. However, their association dates back – albeit indirectly – to Marilyn’s brief stint at Columbia, where Jean Louis made his name with Rita Hayworth’s black strapless gown for the ‘Put the Blame on Mame’ number from Gilda (1946.) This may have influenced Travilla to create Marilyn’s ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ costume for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953.)
In the latest episode of her YouTube video series, Hayworth’s biographer, Caren Roberts-Frenzel, took a closer look at Ladies of the Chorus (1948) – a low-budget musical which gave Marilyn her first lead role. For her only Columbia picture, Marilyn wore an ensemble designed for Rita herself in You Were Never Lovelier (1942) by Jean Louis’ predecessor at the studio, Irene; and several Jean Louis costumes, previously seen on actresses including Evelyn Keyes and Ellen Drew in The Jolson Story (1946); a dancer from another Hayworth musical, Down to Earth (1947); and Ginger Rogers in It Had to Be You (1947.)
And of course, Marilyn went on to work with Rogers in Monkey Business (1952), while Evelyn Keyes – who attended the 1951 party at Charles Feldman’s home, when Marilyn first danced with Arthur Miller – played Helen Sherman in The Seven Year Itch (1955.)
Elsewhere in this month’s Yours Retro, there’s an intriguing – though unverified – snippet of gossip about Les Sorcières de Salem, the first big-screen adaptation of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, which steered Yves Montand and Simone Signoret into Miller’s orbit (and later Marilyn’s.)
The regular ‘Now Showing’ feature recommends you tune in to the excellent UK TV channel Talking Pictures tomorrow morning for more Marilyn magic … and finally, the October issue of Yours Retro will include a feature on All About Eve, ‘the bitchiest movie ever made’.
The Marilyn Report 