Hollywood's Lost Backlot by Steven Bingen & MARC WANAMAKER & BISON ARCHIVES

Author:Steven Bingen & MARC WANAMAKER & BISON ARCHIVES
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493033621
Publisher: Lyons Press

21. Makeup and Dressing Rooms

Dressing rooms on a studio property could either be functional little cubicles like those found here, lined up like shoe boxes along the back wall of the studio, or be the lavish bungalows built for Gloria Swanson and her peers elsewhere on the lot. In some cases, a star was afforded both—the bungalow for relaxing or sulking or loving, and the dressing rooms and nearby makeup rooms for the actual application of what would be photographed with that performer on the stages. Often a portable room was placed right on the soundstage for convenience.

Occasionally the needs of the star were dictated not by the actual needs of that star, but rather by that star’s ego. A 1945 memo on the subject found the usually less-than-diplomatic Selznick in a conciliatory mood. It seems that Ingrid Bergman had recently demanded that her RKO (Gower) dressing room follow her to the Selznick lot. Selznick acceded to this demand, but then worried on the record about other stars demanding the same accommodations. He noted that it was “very nice” of another star, Jennifer Jones, to not request any changes in her dressing room, then mentioned that “as Miss. Jones’ stature as a star grows, and as she sees Miss. Bergman’s dressing room (the one borrowed from RKO), and those of other stars, it is obvious that she is going to wish for one although it is almost certain she will say nothing.” Selznick’s fawning tone regarding Jennifer Jones was almost certainly a result of his personal involvement with the actress, rather than his keen instincts as a producer.

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