This six-minute documentary short probably ran with the previews in theaters before "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" was released. In the past, Hollywood studios used such shorts in advance to promote upcoming films. They usually focused on the star or stars and plot. But, sometimes these shorts would have very interesting data and information.
Movie buffs and those who enjoy the history of cinema may find this short of particular interest. How many people today - or then, for that matter, knew the extent of the wardrobe and costume departments of a major studio, such as MGM? How many know much about this segment of the trade at all? Or how many people were employed in this area?
Well, this short provides some answers, and they are fascinating. MGM's wardrobe department alone was then housed in seven buildings. It had more than 500,000 yards of different materials for making dresses and costumes. A bolt of cloth would be 40 to 100 yards long. So, MGM's studio alone had more than 7,000 bolts of material on hand. And, 200 to 300 people worked in the wardrobe department. With all the other crafts and trades they had -- carpentry, electronics, engineering, and others, the studios truly were small cities of their own.
The narrator says, "Here have been created glamorous fashions for the most glamorous women in the world." Over the years, Hollywood has influenced style as much or more than the fashion centers of New York, Paris or Rome. The studio in 1964 still had some of the more elegant of the one million costumes it had made for movies up to that time. It shows the dress that Greta Garbor wore in "Mata Hari," the evening gown worn by Grace Kelly in "High Society," the black dress won by Elizabeth Taylor in "The Last Time I Saw Paris," and the elaborate costume that Lana Turner wore in "The Prodigal."
After the wardrobe data, this film shows designer Morton Haack drawing one of the 30 costumes that Debbie Reynolds would wear in "Molly Brown." It shows the process for selecting, making and then filming and wearing the dress. Again, for such a short subject, this one has some fascinating data about the cinema world of the past.
