from New York Public Library

Whoever’s in charge the New York Public Library online stuff deserves a big kiss from me.

First I flipped over the menu archives now I’ve found an amazing collection of fashion sketches from the Andre Studios.

While much of the business information about Andres is gone, their drawings remain.

They were extensively employed by big fashion houses who used these detailed sketches as reference material (much like European shopping trips or trend services of today that help everyone knock off each other .)

If you love fashion you could get lost in here for weeks.

Thank you NYPL for making these which were once only available to researchers online for all of us to view and fawn over.

See more: Web Sites 1930s 1940s Reference Style

Be the first to leave a comment →
Posted on March 30, 2012

by Raymond Chandler (1944)

While I know the Raymond Chandler character Philip Marlowe well from movies (and I don’t care what people say – Elliot Gould was genius), The Lady in the Lake is actually my first time reading one of the novels. Set, as expected, in the streets of LA, this one also takes us to the tranquil vacation lakes surrounding the seedy town. Of course, they turn out to be just as deadly when our private eye is sent looking, simply enough, for a rich man’s missing wife.

Nothing is ever so simple though, in a snappy noir, so murder, villains, scandal, witty dialogue, and plot twists ensue. While I guessed the major plot twist far too soon (blame a healthy education in murder mysteries), like most noirs, the plot isn’t always the star of the show, it’s the long, often punch-in-the-jaw getting there that’s fun.

Some say this is one of Chandler’s weaker efforts, which only makes me excited to read more since I quite enjoyed it. Not as enjoyable, unfortunately, is the 1947 film adaptation which features a gimmicky first person perspective (all characters address the audience with exaggerated expressions) which wears off after a couple minutes. Strangely, they made it into a “Christmas” themed movie too – my guess is hoping for box office returns during the holidays. Yes, stick to the far more nuanced and clever book – even cranky Chandler took his name off the film (and he wrote it!).

See more: Books 1940s Mysteries Noir

Be the first to leave a comment →
Posted on January 12, 2011

directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1943)

In many ways Shadow of a Doubt is Hitchcock’s most mundane film. Compared to his more signature works, there’s not too much style in this a straight forward, less paranoid and pre-heavy psychology thriller but it’s still one of his best. Even the director himself called it his favorite American film. I love Joseph Cotten, and here he has as much charm as ever which makes the darkness of his character, Charlie even more sinister. A widow killer on the run, he is also a much loved Uncle to an all American small town family, with whom he decides to lay low with. The strong willed and lovely daughter, also named Charlie, admires him the most and feels a special bond with her dapper Uncle, but this also means she can see through his lies and slowly uncover his dirty, violent secret as much as she wished she could deny it.

One of the several writers that worked on the story before Hitchcock and his wife wrote the script was Thornton Wilder, author of Our Town who no doubt was a perfect match for the seemingly comforting small town setting. This idyllic and recognizable place is shaken by the introduction of evil. But as Uncle Charlie himself says “Do you know the world is a foul sty? Do you know, if you rip off the fronts of houses, you’d find swine?” – not all that America held dear at the time was as pristine as it looked. In fact, the character of Uncle Charlie was based on serial killer named Earle Nelson, a real life monster that was actually far more horrendous than his fictional counterpart.

Click here for the rest of Shadow of a Doubt

See more: Movies 1940s Mysteries Thrillers

Be the first to leave a comment →
Posted on September 12, 2010

directed by Jean Cocteau (1946)

Jean Cocteau‘s masterful La Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast) is a highly influential and romantically fantastic visual feast. Coppola drew inspiration for his schlocky but fun Dracula and I personally was highly inspired when I made my very first film project in college (which, sadly, I no longer have a copy of).

Taking the classic fairy tale and adding the intrigue of a villainous suitor (a story update which was taken on in the Disney animation), the film is still a fairly faithful adaptation that has remained a beloved gem (Stevie Nicks is a huge fan) for decades. The costumes, which drip with jewels and drape dreamily are exquisite and the sets are surreal and dreamlike.

Fans of film making should put this to the top of their lists if they’ve never seen it. See a gallery below/after the jump.

Click here for the rest of La belle et la bête

See more: Movies 1940s Fantasy

Be the first to leave a comment →
Posted on April 18, 2010

by William Irish (1948)

An implausible thriller containing train collisions, stolen identities, pasts reemerging, and doomed romances, I Married a Dead Man is the stuff of classic Hollywood noir. No surprise, considering author Cornell Woolrich (using the pen name William Irish) is the author of the books that Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, Mississippi Mermaid, and Cloak and Dagger (to name just a few) were based on.

Woolrich is also the author of one of my best book of the year picks, Rendezvous in Black and while I Married a Dead Man lacks the darkness, strangeness, and suspense of that gem, it’s still a satisfying noir that’s a quick read for summer time.

The book was made into a 1950’s Barbara Stanwyck film, No Man of Her Own and (with less success) loosely adapted into the 1992 comedy called Mrs. Winterbourne starring Ricki Lake and Brandon Frasier.

See more: Books 1940s Noir Thrillers

Be the first to leave a comment →
Posted on April 11, 2010