Iconic Jewelry in Film - Part 2
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Sometimes the sparkle of a necklace in a favorite film is the shine of real diamonds, and for other pieces of jewelry, skilled Hollywood designers sourced Austrian crystals and simulated stones to achieve fantastic results on screen.
In part 2 of this series, which crosses from the late 30s into the early 1950s, there are both real and faux stones, and a few mysteries as well.
Part 2 Films
6. Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind (1939)
7. Dorothy Comingore in Citizen Kane (1941)
8. Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946)
9. Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes (1950)
10. Jane Russell in The Las Vegas Story (1952)
The Honeymoon Necklace in Gone with the Wind (1939)
Leigh plays sheltered and manipulative southern belle, Scarlette O'Hara in this epic tale told in the looming shadow of an impending US Civil War.
Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood
Writers: Margaret Mitchell, Sidney Howard, Oliver H.P. Garrett
Costume Designer: Walter Plunkett
Leigh was born Vivian Mary Hartley on November 5, 1913, to Ernest Hartley, a British broker, and his wife, Gertrude in Darjeeling, British India. At a young age, she was sent to boarding school in London, but her parents would later remove her, and her education came as they traveled Europe. When the family returned to London in 1931, Leigh expressed an interest in acting and was enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Not long after, Leigh met and married Leigh Holman, dropped out of school, and had a baby. She was only 20 years old. Around 1935, on the urging of friends, Leigh began to audition for roles and changed her name to Vivien Leigh. It was at this time she met Laurence Olivier. By 1937, they'd started a love affair that would last over 20 years. Each gave up custody of their children in divorce negotiations and they married in 1940.
Vivien's life was marred by her struggle with bipolar disorder, and her health eroded after she contracted tuberculosis. Her mental health played a huge role in the downfall of her marriage. Though she and Olivier divorced in 1960, they remained close until the end of her life, as did her first husband. When Leigh died at 53 in 1967 from complications related to her tuberculosis, Olivier immediately joined Leigh's third husband John Merivale at their flat and assisted until her body was taken away.
The iconic jewels in this film were designed by Eugene Joseff, who created jewelry for many films before his death in 1948. Austrian crystals surround 5 large simulated oval amethysts of various sizes, each encircled with Austrian crystals. Three more teardrop shaped amethysts dangle freely. Ginger Rogers and Linda Darnell both wore the necklace onscreen as well. The piece last sold for $31,325 at Bonhams, December 2019.
You can stream this film on MAX with a subscription.
Iconic Line: "As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again.”
The Diamond Jewelry in Citizen Kane (1941)
Comingore plays the glamorous second wife to cruel newspaper titan Charles Foster Kane.
Director: Orson Welles
Writers: Herman J. Mankiewicz, Orson Welles, John Houseman
Costume Designer: Edward Stevenson
Mary Louise Comingore was born August 24, 1913, to William, an electrotyper, and Bernadette Comingore in Los Angeles, California. After attending UC Berkeley, Comingore was billed from 1934 to 1940 as Kay Winters on stage and Linda Winters in film. With Citizen Kane though, she became Dorothy Comingore.
Tragically for Comingore, the suspected inspiration for the film's titular character, newspaper titan William Randolph Hearst, was tipped off by a columnist about the possible source of Wells' inspiration and used his resources and influence to insinuate those involved in the film had connections to communism. This attack led to her being blacklisted in Hollywood, targeted by HUAC and the FBI, the breakdown of her marriage, the loss of custody of her children, and her descent into alcoholism. At some point, Comingore broke her back, though it isn't clear how. Her life ended in 1971 in Connecticut in the seaside community Stonington, likely from complications from her long time use of alcohol.
Due to the controversy surrounding Citizen Kane, and the suppressive treatment of the film by the studio RKO following its release, it was difficult to find any information on the stunning jewelry worn by Comingore in the film. However, picture this, at one point near the end of the feature, her character sits next to a cavernous fireplace that blazes with flickering light. Marble statues stand nearby, and the sound echoes in the emptiness of the room. A diamond butterfly sparkles in her hair and the sequins on her dress catch in the firelight. Comingore works on a puzzle while time ticks by, and her jewels change showing off a collection of extravagant bracelets and rings encrusted with enormous diamonds.
You can stream this film on MAX with a subscription.
Iconic Line: "Love! You don't love anybody! Me or anybody else! You want to be loved - that's all you want! I'm Charles Foster Kane. Whatever you want - just name it and it's yours! Only love me! Don't expect me to love you!"
Rita Hayworth’s Snake Head Jewelry in Down to Earth (1947)
Hayworth stars as a disgruntled Greek muse who comes to earth to audition for a musical about the muses that she feels makes them look bad in order to convince them to change the plot.
Director: Alexander Hall
Writers: Edwin Blum, Don Hartman, Harry Segall
Costume Designer: Jean Louis
Rita Hayworth was born Margarita Carmen Cansino on October 17, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York, to two dancers, Eduardo Cansino (Spanish Roma/Gitano descent) and Volga Hayworth (Irish and English descent). Hayworth's father hoped that she would become a dancer and put her in classes from a very young age. He moved the family to Los Angeles and opened a dance studio when she was nine years old, and by 12 he was taking her across the border to Mexico to perform.
As the young star's career developed, she would be pushed to change her name once to Rita Cansino when she was 16, and then again to Rita Hayworth when she signed a seven year contract with Columbia Pictures. She'd spent years being cast in "exotic foreigner," and the studio pushed Hayworth to embrace her mother's Irish side, dye her hair red, and get electrolysis to change her hairline.
Hayworth was married five times, including to a man more than twice her age at 18, Orson Wells, and a prince. She suffered from early onset Alzheimer's disease, however it went undetected for 20 years. To manage her symptoms, Hayworth often turned to alcohol and was cared for by her younger daughter as her health declined. She died at the age of 68 from complications with Alzheimer's having become the first public face of the disease.
The jewelry in this film was also designed by Eugene Joseff. The pieces feature eye-catching 18K gold plated serpent heads accented with simulated diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, and coiled snake bodies. All of the pieces, headpiece ($19,200), necklace ($16,000), and bracelet ($22,400), last sold at auction in 2017. The film is a color explosion of flowing grecian gowns with a dramatic ballet sequence that includes female dancers with lit torches, men in grecian mini skorts, and women in head-pieces that emulate greek columns.
Stream this film for free on Youtube.
Iconic Line: "You see, I want to go down to earth and get into a theatrical production."
Moira Shearer’s Pearl & Emerald Tiara and Necklace Sets in The Red Shoes (1948)
Shearer plays a doomed ballet dancer driven to dance at the cost of everything.
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Writers: Hans Christian Andersen, Emeric Pressburger, Keith Winter
Costumer Designer: Hein Heckroth
Shearer was born Moira Shearer King on January 17, 1926, in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland to civil engineer Harold King and his wife Margaret. She lived in Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (modern Zambia) for five years where she began studying Russian style ballet. Her family moved back to London and Shearer studied under Russian ballet master Nicholas Legat. When World War II broke out, she continued her ballet training in Scotland.
On her return to London after the war, Shearer performed in her breakthrough role as Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty in 1946. It was around this time that Robert Helpmann, the choreographer and a star in the still in development The Red Shoes, recommended Shearer as a possible option for the film's leading role. She was hesitant and declined at first, but eventually signed onto the project.
Unlike so many of the stars featured, Shearer left tragedy to her onscreen characters. She went on to marry, had four children, became a Lady through her husband's Knightship, and died peacefully at 80 years old in 2006.
The Red Shoes ballet in the film is a dark, impressionist's dream with Shearer floating through melting backdrops, her red ballet shoes and red lips and hair contrasting against her powder pale skin and matching satin dress.
When dancing, Shearer wears very little jewelry, but her character Vicky dresses to attend ballets and parties in the film as well. She dons two stunning dresses with complementing tiara and necklace sets. The first has sparkling crystals and pearls and the second is an emerald set that catches sunlight as she climbs the steps of a grand house in the hills overlooking the ocean in Monte Carlo.
I haven't been able to track down the designer of these pieces yet, but I'm hopeful that in the course of my research, I'll stumble across the answers.
Watch this film on Youtube.
Iconic Line: "Take off the red shoes."
Jane Russell’s Diamond Cartier Necklace in The Las Vegas Story (1952)
Jane Russell plays the beautiful wife to indebted gambler Lloyd who runs into her ex at just the right moment. The noire film is set in a seedy but sparkling Las Vegas.
Director: Robert Stevenson
Writers: Jay Dratler, Earl Felton, Harry Essex
Costume Designer: Howard Greer
Born Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell in Bemidji, Minnesota on June 21, 1921, to Roy and Geraldine Russell. Her father moved the family to California when Russell was young, and she graduated from Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles.
Russell modeled and studied acting under Max Reinhardt and Maria Ouspenskaya before signing a seven year contract with Howard Hughes in 1940. When she made The Las Vegas Story in 1952, Jane had firmly established herself as a movie star and teamed up with Howard Hughes again under RKO pictures. She'd go on to make Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Marilyn Monroe the following year.
Married three times, and though she couldn't bear children, Russell adopted three. Jane lived a long life, passing at 89 in 2006.
The necklace shown in The Las Vegas Story is said to be a rental from Cartier, the value is unknown.
Stream this film for free on Archive.
Iconic Line: "Lloyd, why don't you roll your dice and let me roll my own?"
Did you read Part 1? Stay tuned for Part 3.