St. Patrick's Day with Maureen

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I am repeating the celebration of Irish actress Maureen O’Hara as I did nine(!) years ago with some photos I recently acquired from “The Parent Trap” (1961). This wardrobe test shows the original concept of how Maureen was to look when she arrived at her ex-husband’s ranch to be reunited with her daughters. A turban? Who had the brain fart of covering up her gorgeous Irish red locks with a freaking turban?!?



Fortunately for the final movie, cooler heads prevailed and the turban was ditched. Placement of the brooch also switched from right to left side of Ms. O’Hara.



Note how she fluffs her hair in this shot: “Take that, turban!”



With Una Merkel, who played Verbena the housekeeper (“It’s none of my nevermind. I don't say a word”).



Director David Swift and Walt surround O’Hara; obviously, this was before the actress threatened to sue Disney over the billing of the film.



Papers regarding the suit came up for auction after O’Hara died in 2015, selling for $375.



From the auction description:

Comprising 28 pp of paperwork related to The Parent Trap, mainly correspondence, typed, and typed carbons, including a 2 pp typed letter signed ("Jack") from agent Jack Bolton, dated June 17, 1960, on MCA stationery, breaking down the terms of O'Hara's contract, annotated, and 6 call sheets for the film under the title We Belong Together, with an April 19, 1961, Variety clipping featuring a full-page ad for The Parent Trap and 2 other Variety clippings related to the film. For Walt Disney's The Parent Trap, Maureen O'Hara claimed that she was contractually guaranteed top billing, but during the film's release, costar Hayley Mills got top billing playing up her gimmick casting as twins.



Incensed, O'Hara took the matter to her agents. These letters and contracts document her complaints against the studio. However, it appears that O'Hara may have been in error: agent Jack Bolton's June 17, 1960, letter to O'Hara about her contract clearly states that Mills' name "will follow immediately after 'Walt Disney Presents' and be above the title. Your name on the screen and in paid advertising will be in first position below the title." In 2 Thermofax copies of a March 16, 1961, letter, Walt Disney Productions assures O'Hara that the smaller billing was an accident due to haste. O'Hara took her grievance to the Screen Actors Guild and threatened to sue Disney. Realizing that, even if she won, Disney could wreck her career, O'Hara relented. O'Hara writes in her autobiography that, despite The Parent Trap's immense popularity, she never worked for Disney again.



On the other hand, Joanna Barnes DID appear in a Disney movie again, playing the mother of her character from the original for the 1998 Lindsay Lohan remake. Don’t mess with Walt!

See more “Parent Trap” photos at my main website.

Marilyn: Something's Got to Give

One of my Marilyn Monroe obsessions concerns her final and unfinished film, “Something’s Got to Give.” These wardrobe test shots show a slimmed-down star at her peak, alternating between serious, smiling, and sultry.



The outfit shown below was for Ellen Arden’s (Marilyn) reunion with her children after being separated from them for a number of years.



Just in case you wanted to see the United Air Lines Hawaii bag in color:


Presuming his wife dead, Nick Arden (Dean Martin) moves on with his life and remarries. Oops. He finds it difficult to tell his current wife Bianca (Cyd Charisse) that Ellen is still alive, so Marilyn pretends to be a new nanny for the children. Are you following so far? This is the outfit Marilyn wore for that scene:



Just in case you wanted to see the wardrobe slate up close:



Here is Dean Martin and Phil Silvers, who plays an insurance agent in a brief cameo.



From the vintage publicity blurb:

(LA2-May 8) HOLLYWOOD, May 9—COMICS AT PLAY—Funnymen Dean Martin (left) and Phil Silvers pretend to watch the other actors at work as they clowned at the door of Martin’s dressing room between scenes of “Something’s Got to Give,” at Hollywood at 20th Century-Fox studio. Silvers, returning briefly to the studio where he spent eight of his youthful years, is playing a cameo role in the film.



All of the footage Marilyn shot survived and was edited together into a truncated version in 1990. Marilyn sparkles but the film seems overly contrived. Director George Cukor did not seem to have control of the production, often losing his temper with the kids that were portraying Marilyn’s offspring.



The set for the Arden home was an exact recreation of Cukor’s own home, which seems like an odd choice as to the type of home that the Arden family would have inhabited. Monroe was plagued with illness, which forced filming delays. This did not endear her to Cukor or the Fox higher-ups, who were losing their shirts from an out of control budget for Elizabeth Taylor’s “Cleopatra,” filming overseas at the same time. Bitchy Cukor forced the cast and crew to delay Marilyn’s onset birthday celebration until he could get “a full day’s work out of her.”



I adore this photo of Marilyn giving Wally Cox the whammy in between takes of the movie:



Marilyn took her profession quite seriously, as you can see from the detailed notes written on the script:



Monroe was fired on June 8, 1962. Martin refused to continue filming with Lee Remick, who the studio attempted to recast the Monroe role with. For him, it was Marilyn or nobody. Smart man. While Remick was a good actress, she definitely lacked the star wattage that Marilyn exuded.



HOLLYWOOD, June 11—MISS REMICK REPORTS TO THE STUDIO—Actress Lee Remick, who was named to replace Marilyn Monroe in the movie “Something’s Got to Give,” has a big smile for director George Cukor in Hollywood today as he goes over the script with her. Studio officials said Miss Remick was given a copy of the script and is expected to begin filming soon. Meanwhile officials at 20th Century-Fox faced another crisis: If Monroe’s out and Remick’s in, Dean Martin says he’s out too.

Fox backed down on their decision and hired Monroe back, agreeing to her demand that Cukor be replaced by Jean Negulesco. I’ll bet nobody from the film celebrated Cukor’s July 7 birthday! Moral of the story: don’t f$%^ with Marilyn Monroe! Filming was slated to begin again in October, with the substandard script getting an overhaul in the meantime. Marilyn’s unexpected death on August 4, 1962, obviously ended that.

See more Marilyn “Something's Got To Give” photos at my main website.

Transformation Friday!

In the 1961 Disney classic, “The Parent Trap,” Maureen O’Hara begins the movie as a dowdy (well, as dowdy as Maureen O’Hara can be, which is still better than the best for the rest of the competition!) Boston divorcée who must reunite her twin daughters at the California home of her ex-husband (Brian Keith). He first spots her after she has taken a shower and is wearing his robe:



Having been encouraged by her wily father (Charles Ruggles) to get some new clothes and a less matronly hairdo, she stops in New York City on the way to California for a makeover. After seeing her ex in a robe, she goes upstairs to get cleaned up and makes a grand entrance down the staircase wearing this outfit:



Even in a basic wardrobe test shot, Maureen wows ’em! Note the tape mark on the floor so that the actress knows where to pose?



And please note the perfectly turned heel!



In the final movie, Maureen looks even more ravishing in color, as you can see from this screenshot:



It’s no wonder she got her ex back!



See more “Parent Trap” photos at my main website.