Roddy McDowall’s flamboyant and fabulous performance as Ariel in the George Schaefer-Hallmark Hall of Fame adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, originally broadcast by NBC on February 3rd, 1960. Roddy’s makeup in the role was designed by Bob O'Bradovich and took a team of artists hours to apply (note the photo of Roddy attempting to eat a sandwich during the long, arduous process in photo six). Quite advanced for the era, as both the black and white photos of his makeup application and gifs from the early-color broadcast both demonstrate, the makeup prevented McDowall from being able to sit with his back rested on a chair and required more hours to carefully remove when his performance was over due to the strong glue used to apply the prosthetics, glitter and spiky tendrils on his back. The character of Ariel is referred to by the male pronoun “his” twice in the entire play (written by Shakespeare in 1610-1611), but the character became somewhat ambiguous and gender-neutral in subsequent performances over the centuries. Originally played by a young male in early stagings, the role was adopted by females during and after the Restoration period. Ever since the male British actor Leslie French assumed the role in a 1930 production, both males and females have appeared as Ariel, with McDowall, Ben Whishaw, Julyana Soelistyo, and Colin Morgan being the most notable. The Hallmark Hall of Fame adaptation Roddy played the part in also starred Maurice Evans (seen with Roddy in these gifs, Evans is probably best remembered today for his role as Samantha Stephens’ warlock father on the classic sitcom Bewitched; Shakespearean trained, he later appeared with McDowall in Planet of the Apes in 1968). Also starring in the HallmarkHall of Fame version with Roddy were Lee Remick and Richard Burton (Burton later worked with McDowall on Cleopatra in 1963, going on to marry the film’s star Elizabeth Taylor, who also happened to be Roddy’s lifelong best friend).
shoba_narayan: • Paloma Young Costume Design • Check out the detail on Blaine’s boots. On the left boot, you’ll see me represented as Natasha, and on the right you’ll see all the other Natasha’s from the past 5 years- Pippa, Denee and Lauren! Will miss seeing Paloma’s unique designs everyday • #cometeasteregg
i’m having trouble seeing anything else, but in the first pic, it says in russian “natalya” “i will love you or die” ! second pic has “lauren” “denée” and “pippa” in russian! so cool
How did Dogma, a relatively low-budget film, manage to have the only good-looking angel wings? Like, even movies with tons of FX dollars tend to fuck them up and they look bad. These are very stylized, and you can tell they’re not real feathers, but they actually look… better than real feathers? They have a balance of curvature and sharp angles that just make for a great silhouette and they move wonderfully. I cannot figure this out!!
061122 / Costume designer Carol Cutshall Instagram Update
carolcutshall SAME!! @/baileybass 🥺
I am not ready for the finale!! Waiting for sundown to watch 🧛
Right pic pinched from @/IWTVupdates Twitter who pinched from Bailey’s stories. AND if you aren’t watching her Vlogs you are missing the real backstage pass
Left pic from our fitting for episode 5. This was such a favorite look. My concept for her “away at college” looks was that her kills were guided by FASHION! Like a magpie she was drawn to shiny things and she was always
More Succession Clothes Thoughts: People don’t necessarily classify Succession as an obvious costume design show beyond Shiv Roy wardrobe envy but there’s a lot of ‘protein’ to be had anyway. Tabitha and Willa’s clothes are particularly interesting because they’re two of the few ‘non corporate’ characters, so the times they look like they do and don’t belong in Roy World are very deliberate both on the part of the show and on the part of the characters (Connor is another.). Willa sometimes reads as an expensive mess - all the access to designer with none of the discrimination the others display. Couldn’t find a picture but there’s a scene where Shiv is trying to get her to stop Connor’s political video where she’s got so many design elements on her at once, particularly around the neck that she sticks out like a sore thumb. When season 3 comes I’ll be keeping an eye on how the shifting alliances and power flow is expressed in the costuming. Because of all the suits it’s often more subtle especially in the men but it’s there! Gregg’s evolution the easiest example.
Quick storytelling through costume thoughts…
This united front in their element: (Side note the Pierce faction all wear so much white/cream in this episode it’s riotously on the nose compared to the Roy Dark Side.)
Tabitha and the lampshades Roman took as a sign she might belong (as a person or as a piece of decor?):
A red tie for trying to commit murder:
Eunuch besties in harmony with Tabitha joining the Roy Family Turtleneck Club:
(A comment pointed out she’s dressed like a nun, which - LOL YES perfection)
Corporate crows:
Connor the gentleman farmer and Willa with her signature more is more neck layers fashion. (I like her clothes! But the show makes her look sartorially out of step on purpose, so in context she feels excessive.)
These conspirators and their mid tones vs deep tones chaos. This is a notable departure for Roman. They’re close but not quite all on the same sartorial page, so it was never going to work:
Lastly, hints of a team up: (also their mirrored hand movements kill me ugh)
Edited to add some more turtlenecks because they’re iconic Succession fashion and it’s a perfect example of using a current trend in an aspirational way but still making it mean something narratively. There’s a reason busted mime Tom doesn’t look quite right here while Shiv looks like she was born in a chic knit. I love the implications of either Tom trying to dress like her or of Shiv dressing him. I suspect it’s both.
