For many of us weekends are often film time, so let's rediscover today José Quintero's The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone (1961; with many thanks to Kutmusic for digging out of its archives a copy of the film to capture the screenshhots in this post), starring Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty. This is actually not a casual rediscovery: this year is Vivien Leigh's 100th birth anniversary, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London recently acquired the archives of the actress including handwritten diaries, personal correspondence and rare photographs and press clippings, while the BFI in London will dedicate to Leigh a retrospective in November.
Adapted from Tennessee Williams' first novel acclaimed by Gore Vidal as "Splendidly written, precise, short, complete and fine", the film focuses on Karen Stone (Leigh) a wealthy recently widowed actress in her fifties.
Thinking she has lost her stage magic, Karen retires to Rome where she leads a boring life with no purposes. A local contessa and procuress introduces her to young and cruel Italian gigolo Paolo (Warren Beatty). Though reluctant, Karen eventually embarks on a relationship with him, but loneliness and vulnerability will prevail and destroy this passionate affair plunging Karen back into her lonely world.
In the film Karen seems to be strongly linked to Rome: both the former actress and the Italian capital left behind their glorious past and best years; the city is also the main protagonist of those shots in which Karen is filmed aimlessly walking alone.
There are some interesting fashion connections in the film that are used in a clever and symbolic way. The costumes for this film were designed by Beatrice Dawson, but Vivien Leigh donned a Balmain wardrobe.
Her elegant suits and dresses actually reflect her mood: when we first meet Karen in her luxurious apartment overlooking the Spanish Steps she is wearing a black dress and boringly leafing through Grazia magazine.
Little by little, as she starts going out with Paolo she opts for lighter colours, including lilac and aqua green. After falling in love with Paolo, Karen also tries to look younger, going for brighter shades such as vivid red and cutting her hair short at Elizabeth Arden's salon.
Nude looks are favoured towards the end of the story, and even though a draped gown and a dress with a pleated full skirt matched with beautiful jewels still look gorgeous, they hint at the fact that Karen is becoming invisible to Paolo's eyes.
Since Paolo is a professional gigolo, his looks are also important in this film: he is often showed through his grooming and manicure sessions at his barber; when Karen decides she needs him to give her life a purpose and a meaning (and wanting him to need her back...), she takes him to a tailor's where he orders an elegant and expensive made-to-measure suit.
There is another interesting connection with fashion towards the end of the film that only historians may catch: Karen and Paolo meet an up-and-coming red-headed actress who hopes to start shooting a film soon. Everytime they meet her Karen is wearing Balmain's refined styles, but the young actress is always in a "palazzo pyjama" (evening silk trousers matched with a sleeveless top) in Irene Galitzine's style.
Parisian Haute Couture clashes therefore with the new creations by fashion designers in Italy in the '60s and with a more modern wardrobe (Karen the forgotten stars always wears a skirt or a dress; the young actress wears palazzo pyjama suits in bright or metallic shades with beaded motifs - see last image in this post).
If you want to try and spot more fashion references, but you can't find the film, you can still catch it at the BFI in London on 26th and 28th November 2013.
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