Thursday, June 23, 2011

ROBERT TAYLOR THE MAN WITH THE PERFECT PROFILE





This navy jacket with military braiding and buttons was worn by Robert Taylor in the 1936 MGM film “The Gorgeous Hussy”. Directed by Clarence Brown, the film also starred Joan Crawford.


The film tells the story of President of the United States Andrew Jackson and an innkeeper's daughter.



This was considered quite a lavish production and particularly in terms of the number of leading men given to Joan Crawford for the film, including Franchot Tone, Melvyn Douglas and James Stewart.





The Gorgeous Hussy earned two 1936 Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography and Supporting Actress Beulah Bondi as the First Lady. It is also remembered for being the only sound era appearance of Joan Crawford in a costume period film.



The following photo provides more detail of the military braiding and buttons.





Lionel Barrymore appears as Andrew Jackson and would reprise his role in 1952's Lone Star, with Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. Sadly that would be his final screen performance.

Taylor was famous for having appeared in many MGM and other studio classics including Camille opposite Greta Garbo and Waterloo Bridge opposite Vivien Leigh. One of my favourites is his appearance as General Marcus Vinicius in Quo Vadis, opposite Deborah Kerr.



Robert Taylor can be seen wearing the jacket in various scenes throughout the film. Below is a scene the costume appears in opposite Joan Crawford:



At one time Taylor was married to actress Barbara Stanwyck. Taylor died of illness in 1969 at the age of 57.

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