Until recently Orry-Kelly was Australi’s most prolific Oscar winner, having picked up three Academy Awards for Costume Design. He was behind some of the most iconic outfits in cinema, from Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis’ dresses in Some Like It Hot, to Ingrid Bergman’s outfits in Hollywood. He was also pretty much the only person Bette Davis wanted to dress her, working with the legend on more than 30 movie.
However, he’s largely been forgotten, partly because it seems Hollywood wanted it that way, due to Orry being a rather uncompromising man who did little to hide the fact he was gay (although due to the homophobic times he lives in, he had to be careful not to be too open), and may have had a major star as a lover. Although there’s no proof, rumours suggest that lover may have been Cary Grant.
Here’s the synopsis: ‘During the Hollywood boom years the legendary Orry-Kelly was costume designer on an astonishing 282 motion pictures, designing for Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Rosalind Russell, and many more stars. Orry was as big a legend behind the scenes as the on-screen legends he adoringly dressed. Three times an Oscar winner, Orry was talented, daring, brash, bold and the toast of Hollywood, yet the thorn in the side of many a studio head. WOMEN HE’S UNDRESSED celebrates his story.
Includes interviews with: Actors Jane Fonda and Angela Lansbury, critic Leonard Maltin, costume designers Ann Roth , Catherine Martin, Colleen Atwood, Michael Wilkinson, Kim Barrett, plus family members and more.’
The film will be out on DVD and VoD in the US from Wolfe Video in August.
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