In 1966, Valley of the Dolls, author Jacqueline Susann's first novel, became a huge success and spent 65 weeks at the top of the New York Times Best Seller List. The book revolves around a quartet of women, Anne Wells, Neely O'Hara, Jennifer North, and Helen Lawson, and their interactions over four decades in show business. An unsuccessful actress with a short resume of small bits and roles on both stage and television, Sussan's tawdry portrayal of the entertainment industry, filled with sex, drugs, and plenty of foul language, resonated with readers.
Twentieth Century Fox bested the other studios by purchasing the film rights. Director Mark Robson selected former Fox Studio designer Travilla for the wardrobe, Andre and Dorie Previn supplied the songs, and John Williams provided the film score. Various scriptwriters kept the four leads but condensed the timeline from forty to a scant three years in the final production script.
On January 23, 1967, the Los Angeles Times announced that Travilla had been tapped by producer David Wolper to design the wardrobe for his upcoming Valley of the Dolls production. Travilla met with Robson to discuss the director's concepts for the characters. However, having worked together on 1960's Beyond the Terrace with Travilla's glamorous wardrobes for Joanne Woodward, Barbara Eden, and Myrna Loy, Robson left the designer's final decision as just that.
Travilla summed it up in a pre-production interview as only a designer could. "The story that unfolds weaves the lives of four women together - albeit in different and yet much the same patterns. This in itself poses a problem in depth as the very natures of the people are projected for that which they wear. Each comes from a different background. Each has a different personality and shows a different reaction to joining the sophisticated scenes of New York and Hollywood."
"The story of 'The Dolls' deals with people in show business. But this is only a springboard to pill problems among the many available today. People who want to make it big, who will do anything to achieve noticeable success, often can't fight the tension on their own. Let's face it, many segments of society, both adult and even teenage, are hooked on pills to exhilarate them, make them sleep, wake them up, help them lose weight, help them 'get happy.'"
When Travilla finally got a script, he had a bigger problem; thirty-one costume changes were in the first thirty-eight pages. After finishing the script, the designer estimated at least ninety different gowns, ensembles, sportswear, and street clothes for the leads. According to Travilla, the actual total would be "one hundred and thirty-two outfits for the four leading ladies."As of now, Fox had cast no actresses for the parts, making his sketches very preliminary as he needed to know strictly for which body type he'd be designing.
No, Travilla isn't overly tanned, I just equalized the images so the sketches would show up better. As this is the same jacket in the other publicity photos, there has to be color versions somewhere.
In an interview later given onboard the film's promotional cruise, Travilla explained his process with Dolls. "I didn't have a script, so I read the book and then the script once I got one. I met with the director and producer and asked how they felt about each character. Then, I met with the girls and asked them what they liked and didn't like and how they were feeling. Then I sat down with my feelings and captured their feelings, too."
Travilla told reporters - "I have never worked with so many small girls as I have in Valley of the Dolls." Patty Duke, who plays Neely, is just under 5 feet. Barbara Parkins, who plays Anne, and Susan Hayward, who plays Helen, are both a shade over 5 feet 3 inches, and Sharon Tate, who plays Jennifer, is the tallest at 5 feet and three-fourths inches. Because of the difference in figure and character types, each costume called for a different fashion silhouette, yet they all appear taller on the screen because their clothes have been scaled to their size."
When asked about fashion prediction for the film, particularly skirt length, Travilla told style editor Dorothy Manners, "I'm compromising a bit. For Sharon, in particular, I'm using the longer cape effect showing a dress skirt of shorter length. Barbra is still in the shorter skirts, and so is Patty. The script is a big help in this manner. It covers a span of three years, so if a skirt seems extra short, we'll just have to remember that this was the length they were wearing them three years back."
Two publicity shots of Travilla with sketches not used in the film.
The final tally would be 113 outfits, with the breakdown of Parkins with 52, Duke at 42, Tate with 15, and Hayward with four, according to Travilla*. Add to this the wardrobe for the secondary female and male parts and background actors, most of which came from Fox's vast wardrobe department, Western Costume, and, in some instances, their closet from home. (*This includes costumes not seen in the final film, which, after several viewings, my count is Parkins - 42; Duke - 29; Tate - 14; Hayward - 4; Grant - 6. (although I could be off by one or two.)
Travilla, Susann and Duke at the 1968 Academy Awards.
In 1988, a reporter for Andy Warhol's Interview magazine gushed to the designer about the "feeling" shown for the 60s in the costumes. Travilla's humorous reply was, "Well, I had a feeling for the '60s because it was the '60s. If Marilyn had lived, I would have made her look that way, too. I just didn't think it was a very good movie, and a lot of unhappiness surrounded it. The producer and director are both dead. Sharon Tate got killed by Manson. Judy Garland started the film and was canned after three days – pitiful. Susan Hayward is gone; Patty Duke is now president of the Screen Actors Guild." [Duke would die in 2016. Lee Grant, Barbara Parkins, and Tony Scotti are all alive as of January 2025.]
No comments:
Post a Comment