Gone with the Wind tribute

In honor of the 85th anniversary of the premiere of “Gone with the Wind” Atlanta, Georgia, I will be doing a series of posts telling the story of the film using varioius dolls from my collection. The opening image shows heroine Scarlett O’Hara (played by Vivien Leigh) on the steps of her home, Tara. I used a Tonner doll and squeezed her into the Franklin Mint version of the white ruffled dress also viewed in the scene below where she chases after her father to find out if the rumor is true that her beloved, Ashley Wilkes, is going to marry his cousin, Melanie.



Gerald confirms it, so Scarlett prays that evening that once Ashley learns that SHE loves him, that he’ll break off his engagement and marry her instead. Gene Marshall models the white ruffle/evening prayer outfit:



See more “Gone with the Wind” fashion doll photos at my website.

Dangerous Curves

“Dangerous Curves” was a fashion for Gene Marshall released in 2007 by Integrity Toys as part of the  Rare Deal Convention (an FAO Schwarz exclusive). Inspired by a 1951 Ben Reig design in rayon crêpe, it fit in perfectly with the film noir theme of the convention. Here’s the Harper’s Bazaar vintage ad, with photo by Francesco Scavullo, modeled by Sunny Harnett:


Who better to model this outfit than JAMIEshow’s own Marlena?



With or without the chapeau, she looks incredible.



See more Gene Marshall Integrity fashion doll photos at my website.

Holly Golightly: How Do I Look? Pt. 1

The last three dolls that I ordered in the Holly Golightly line from Integrity Toys arrived last week from favorite seller Doll Peddlar; it was like Christmas! With a short amount of time for a photoshoot, I did the one that appeared the easiest.



No gloves, no difficult jewelry to maneuver (at least for this particular look). The two cigarette holders that come with this set are a blast! Sorry to burst your bubble, but the smoke in the photos is not included in the set!



As always, the fit and tailoring of the outfits is impeccable from Integrity. I've stated my one disappointment before, and that would be with the sculpt of the face. I am SO glad that Integrity has chosen to use Poppy Parker's face for the future Audrey "Sabrina" dolls. Poppy embodies the essence of Hepburn much better than the sculpt they chose for the "BAT" line.



More photos to come...

Follow my Gene Marshall, Madra Lord, Zita Charles, Violet Waters, Trent Osborn, Poppy Parker, and other classic movie star doll updates on Twitter. See more Audrey Hepburn/Holly Golightly doll photos on my Audrey doll web page.

Meet Bette Davis

This particular Tonner doll has grown on me. The resemblance to the real Bette Davis was even more apparent to me when I started photographing the doll. My initial wish on this particular line was that Tonner would concentrate on a more mature Bette Davis; the first Bette Davis dolls seemed to be more of a 1930’s era rather than the classic 1940’s/50’s star that was more popular. The recent additions of this doll ("The Woman is Certain") and the most recent “Sealing the Deal" (extremely reminiscent of "Now Voyager") seems to be a step in the right direction.



Here's Bette in front of a New York City brownstone looking for a light.



To see more Gene Marshall & Friends photos, visit my regular website.

Liz Taylor: Giant

Elizabeth Taylor is a Hollywood Legend. It is only fitting that the Franklin Mint added her to their line of celebrity vinyl portrait dolls. I am guessing she didn’t sell as well as Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, or Scarlett O’Hara, as her dress collection is not very extensive. This particular pink gown is from the 1956 movie, "Giant," which has the dubious distinction of being James Dean’s last movie.

The sculpt on Elizabeth’s face is fairly good; unfortunately, the body is too thin and doesn’t convey the voluptuous figure that Taylor is known for.

Here’s a publicity still from “Giant” which began filming while James Dean was wrapping up “Rebel Without A Cause.” This shows the outfit that the FM doll is wearing.



To see more Gene Marshall & Friends photos, visit my regular website.

Rita Hayworth: Put The Blame on Mame

I recently saw a clip of Rita Hayworth doing the infamous “Put the Blame on Mame” number from “Gilda” (1946). When it comes to sensuous sex appeal, this number has it in spades. Even fully clothed, Rita Hayworth makes Madonna seem like a total yawn.



Imagine how stoked I was to learn that a Rita Hayworth-Gilda doll had been produced 10 years ago; I was even more excited to actually be able to GET one...all in the course of a week (gotta' love the internet!). Since she can wear Gene’s clothes, I plan on using her for a number of photo shoots; here are my first attempts.





To see my Gene Marshall photos, visit my regular website.

Lucy: LA at Last by The Franklin Mint

Before I saw the Mattel version, the Franklin Mint vinyl Lucy was more than adequate in my opinion. I thought the sculpt did a fairly good job of capturing Lucy (although not as good as their porcelain sculpt) and I loved the fact that most of her memorable TV outfits were available in fashion-doll size. Once I saw the Mattel version (and popped the episode in my DVD player to refresh my memory), I was able to see just how much they had missed the mark by.

The facial sculpt is more of a "beautiful Lucy" than a comic Lucy, and I think this is a huge mistake. On top of that, there are many subtle details that Mattel was able to capture that the Mint chose to ignore. This is even more astounding when considering that Mattel's doll is a much smaller scale. FM has no sparkles on Lucy's tie or waist, they omitted the rhinestone glasses, there is no coffee cop as a prop, and no putty nose is available to make the situation laughable. Instead, they released a barebones classic 1950’s outfit that is true to the period, although somewhat misses the mark of its inspiration.



To see more I Love Lucy doll photos, visit my regular website.

Lucy: LA at Last by Mattel

"I Love Lucy" is still one of my favorite TV shows, and "L.A. at Last" ranks as one of my all-time-favorite episodes.



After a particularly grueling cross-country car trip for the Ricardos and the Mertzes, the gang finally arrives in Hollywood where Ricky is to film a movie. Anxious to see all of the movie stars, Lucy goes to their "watering hole": The Brown Derby. There she encounters her ultimate dreamboat, William Holden. Tired of being stared at by too many fans, a playful Holden turns the tables and focuses his gaze on Lucy. Unable to handle the situation, Lucy promptly leaves the restaurant, but not without repercussions: she runs into a waiter who accidentally dumps a pie onto Holden’s face.



Wanting to please his wife, Ricky decides to bring his new Hollywood film-star friend home to meet her: William Holden. Lucy is terrified to leave her bedroom to meet him, so she dons an outlandish disguise: fake rhinestone glasses, a turban, and a large putty nose, which continues to change shape as Lucy itches her nose.



When Holden lights her cigarette, her nose catches on fire and Lucy's ruse is over. All ends well as Holden graciously changes the story from their previous encounter so that Ricky won't be angry with her.



This episode must be seen; words just can't describe the comedy. The facial expressions (of which Lucille Ball had a mastery), the lines, the story...it is absolute perfection.

Speaking of perfection, Mattel's version of this particular show is also perfection. Not only is the costume the most accurate one ever done, it captures the comedic beauty of Lucille Ball. My one regret is that the nose is not removeable. Other than that, they have captured just about every other detail, including the sparkles on her waistband and necktie.





Kudos to Mattel on a job well done, which is even more astounding at this small scale. And yes, the coffee cup is included!

To see more I Love Lucy doll photos, visit my regular website.

Tonner Scarlett: My Mother's Portières

In my opinion, Vivien Leigh is one of the most timeless beauties I have ever seen. For this reason, I am somewhat critical of the sculpts that I have seen of her. Tonner does a good job of capturing her beauty (I still prefer the Franklin Mint version though), but there is an "edge" to her features that they seem to have missed, and as many have noted before, the hair is definitely the wrong shade. This is quibbling though when it comes to this particular doll, as the fabric, drape, and accessories are very well done. The feathers on the hat are ridiculously large, but if one wanted to fix/trim them, it could probably be done with ease.



This particular outfit is pretty much the standard whenever a doll company attempts to do Scarlett, and I would say this is for three reasons. First, it is obviously a beautiful dress; not very complicated, it is rather simple yet elegant. The two shades of green, the soft velvety fabric...costume designer Walter Plunkett knew his stuff! Reason #2 is because of how it was 'created' according to the book and movie. Way before Maria Von Trapp yanked her curtains down for playclothes in the movie "The Sound of Music," Scarlett O'Hara was pulling down her mother's portières for a much more dire reason: survival. Reason #3: this signifies a turnaround in Scarlett's maturity. She has fulfilled her father's early prophecy that eventually her "love of the land" will overtake her. Misguided as it is to sell herself in marriage to a man she doesn't care for (Frank Kennedy) to save Tara, it is a far cry from her first marriage (attempting to make Ashley jealous).



To see more Scarlett O'Hara doll photos, visit my regular website.