Fashion film ‘Funny Face' walked so ‘The Devil Wears Prada' could run
Audrey Hepburn in a publicity still for the 1957 musical "Funny Face." The fashion film features gowns by longtime Hepburn collaborator Hubert de Givenchy, a master of French haute couture. (Donaldson Collection/Getty Images)
Decades before fashion editor Miranda Priestly made her assistants tremble in the "The Devil Wears Prada," Maggie Prescott taught audiences to "think pink" in "Funny Face."
In the best known scene in the 1957 movie musical, Quality magazine's editor-in-chief (Kay Thompson) announces an edict to her staff: "Banish the black, burn the blue and bury the beige!" With a flourish of fabric unrolling, she seamlessly segues into the musical number "Think Pink!" announcing with authority the latest trend.
It's a moment of such infectious glee about style that you might find yourself looking for a touch of rose to add to your wardrobe.
The movie will be screened as part of September's fashion in film series at the Mechanics' Institute, curated by Bay Area film scholar and Marion Davies biographer Lara Gabrielle. The screenings kicked off Sept. 5, with the 1940 Katharine Hepburn comedy "The Philadelphia Story," followed on Friday, Sept. 12, by the 1939 film version of Clare Boothe Luce's play "The Women," both with costumes by the legendary mononymic MGM designer Adrian. On Sept. 19, I'm excited to introduce "Funny Face" and be in conversation after the film with Gabrielle.
"Fashion in film felt like a strong opening theme for the series," said Gabrielle, who takes over curation of the series from Matthew Kennedy. "In San Francisco, there's a connection to fashion on a cultural and intellectual level this fits with. People love the history of fashion here and seeing the trends that were popular in films of different eras."
"Funny Face" tells the story of Jo (Audrey Hepburn), a West Village bookseller with an interest in philosophy. When a Quality fashion shoot led by photographer Dick (Fred Astaire, playing a part based on the legendary lensman Richard Avedon) hijacks her store, he sees something in her "funny face" (that's really how we classify one of the most beautiful people to have ever lived?) that leads him to believe she's the right woman to model an exclusive new collection for the magazine.
Kay Thompson, from left, Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn in "Funny Face." (United Archives/FilmPublicityArchive)
While Jo shuns the frivolity of the fashion world, the chance to go to Paris where she can meet her favorite philosopher leads her to accept. What follows is a parade of beautiful clothes, fabulous numbers to the music of George and Ira Gershwin and Roger Edens, and enough exquisite Parisian location shoots to make even the most jaded fashion-phile swoon.
Directed by Stanley Donen ("Singin' in Rain," "Charade"), the film's optimism and sense of absurdity about the world of haute couture is in marked contrast to the more realistic view of the pressures of working at a fashion magazine provided by "The Devil Wears Prada," a fictionalized take of author Lauren Weisberger's experience working at Vogue as an assistant to former editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
As with any great fashion film, the clothes are their own character in "Funny Face." Although legendary film costume designer Edith Head oversaw the movie's wardrobe, it's French designer Hubert de Givenchy's spectacular ensembles for Hepburn that people remember. Among the most stunning looks are a red, strapless column gown she wears in front of the statue "Winged Victory of Samothrace" at the Louvre Museum; a yellow floral tea dress that evokes impressionist Van Gogh paintings; and a sleeveless wedding dress with a voluminous skirt many brides have added to their Pinterest boards.
But even when she's casual, Hepburn's wardrobe in the film is iconic. San Francisco brand the Gap even used a scene of Hepburn dancing in the film in a black turtleneck and slim trousers for its 2007 skinny black pant commercial.
Hepburn is at her most charming in the movie, yet another flick where the naturally gorgeous star is given a makeover (see also "Sabrina" and "My Fair Lady"), but she never lets the high fashions by her longtime designer Givenchy wear her, modeling the looks without being overwhelmed by them. Astaire is his usual effortlessly elegant self, dancing and romancing with ease.
But Thompson steals the film in a part inspired by legendary Harper's Bazaar and Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. As Maggie, she proclaims, she struts the streets of Paris, she goes to a party in a Beatnik disguise and wipes the floor with Astaire in their big number, "Clap Yo' Hands." Basically, she's my role model.
Audrey Hepburn, standing in between Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson, wears a gown by Hubert de Givenchy in "Funny Face." (United Archives/FilmPublicityArchive)
Thompson starred in only a few films in her career, but her creative life was enormous. A vocal coach and musical arranger for film studio MGM, she was a close friend and mentor to performer Judy Garland and was godmother to Garland and director Vincente Minnelli's daughter, EGOT winner Liza Minnelli. Thompson also wrote the "Eloise" children's books, basing the character of a precocious child who lives at New York's Plaza Hotel on her goddaughter.
"One of the big differences between ‘Funny Face' and ‘The Devil Wears Prada' is that Thompson doesn't have that same animosity toward Hepburn that's a big part of the relationship in the other movie," said Gabrielle. "There's a lot of negativity in ‘The Devil Wears Prada,' whereas ‘Funny Face' is overwhelmingly positive."
I'll see you at the screening at the Mechanics' Institute, and remember when choosing your look to "think pink."
More Information
Movies at the Mechanics' fashion in film series: "The Women": 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12. "Funny Face": 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19. $7.18-$12.51. Mechanics' Institute, 57 Post St., S.F. www.milibrary.org
