Jack Pierce - The Man Behind the Monsters by Essman Scott

Author:Essman, Scott [Essman, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2000-06-17T07:00:00+00:00

costumes by vera west

Starting at Universal at the same time as Jack Pierce, costume designer Vera West (top right) worked at the studio until 1947, designing “gowns” (according to many of her credits) and many of the famous monster costumes in the late 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. West headed the costume department from 1928 — again, the same year that Pierce started as makeup department head — and designed the notable costumes in Dracula, Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein during the Laemmle era. Of this first group of films, Bride truly gave her the opportunity to showcase her considerable talents, allegedly honed on New York’s Fifth Avenue before she came to Hollywood. In addition to the iconic costumes for the Monster and the Bride, West designed Una O’Connor’s lavish dress and shawl for her Minnie character (above), the laboratory attire for Colin Clive and Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Praetorius (above right) and the outfit worn by O.P. Heggie (right) as the blind loner who briefly befriends the monster. West went on to design costumes in The Wolf Man, The Phantom of the Opera and the numerous monster sequels of the late 1930s and early 1940s. She mysteriously drowned in a swimming pool at her home shortly after leaving Universal with Pierce and John P. Fulton in the spring of 1947. However, her legacy as one of the top fashion and specialty costume designers of the studio era remains intact and warrants further study by fans of the genre.

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