Women He's Undressed

At the height of his career - Australian-born fashion designer, Orry-Kelly was one of the most successful creators in his field during Hollywood's golden years.

If you are interested in seeing what all of the fuss was about when Orry-Kelly dressed Tinseltown celebrities in "top-of-the-line" style - Then - You need look no further than this totally entertaining, fashion-conscious documentary.

I think that it's incredible to note that in his 30 years of costume design - Orry-Kelly was credited for his contributions to nearly 300 films.

I went along to this film with a female friend as a favour, otherwise I would never have watched it. I was however, pleasantly surprised. There is joy in learning something new. This film gives you an insight into something that ordinarily you wouldn't think twice about - costume design in films. The narrative is presented in an interesting way - in the first person and from those who actually knew Orry-Kellly which gives it a lovely authenticity and contemporary feel rather than just being a piece of dry history. Being based on the life of a Hollywood employee in the days when the big studios ruled - Paramount, MGM and Warner's, there is some nice scandal too. The film helps you to relive, or maybe see for the first time the style and glamour of early Hollywood - even during times of international economic hardship. All in all, worth a watch.

The theatrical re-enactments and monologues look cheap, too long and boring. Shame they left footage and pictures of the real Kelly for the very end of the documentary.

I will not attempt to precis the content of this film. Gillian Armstrong and her production team have created a swiftly moving film about Orry-Kelly that needed to be told before all living connections to his work die.

For anyone interested in what goes into making a film this is a must see documentary that follows a real story arc. He has his high and lows but most of all Orry-Kelly had respect from the Hollywood industry from studio heads down.

Some of the well documented activities of some of Hillywood's biggest stars may come as a surprise to some.

For any fan of old movies, especially those of Warner Brothers, the name of "Orry-Kelly" is as familiar to us as Bette Davis, Max Steiner, Michael Curtiz. Yet, in watching this documentary about one of the most legendary of the grand studio wardrobe designers, we never once see an image of this iconic wardrobe pioneers until the very end, where he bounds up to the stage on Academy Awards night to accept an Oscar for "Some Like It Hot." Throughout the movie, we're told how impish, out-spoken, talented he is, that he developed a serious drinking problem which eventually got him fired from Warner Brothers but we never actually see Orry-Kelly during his heyday. Surely there are hundreds of photos, if not film footage, of this fascinating and very out gay pioneer. What irritated me to no end were the endless shots of this designer in a row-boat, beating his oars against the waves. Over and over again. What did this mean? More film time is wasted with insertion shots of someone playing Orry-Kelly's mother who reads letters and pontificates about her son and which serves no purpose to advancing the story of the subject. It is certainly no news that he and Cary Grant were rommmates for several years and they probably had a romantic relationship. Grant, although outwardly affectionate to his boyfriend, Randolph Scott, during his early years in Hollywood became ultra-closeted when a studio head warned him about the gossip of the two being more than buddies and so Grant, according to this documentary, became rabidly closeted and refused to have anything to do with Orry-Kelly until the very end of their lives when they reconciled. I wanted to see more of the actual working conditions and the actual dresses created by Orry-Kelly. The actor who portrayed the designer was highly irritating and there were more wasted minutes on him reflecting on his life throughout. Much more could have been done to illuminate one of old Hollywood's true pioneers who stood with the great clothes designer of that era--like Adrian, Edith Head, Walter Plunkett.