Director: Gillian Armstrong
Running Time: 95 mins
Certificate: NR (US)
Release Date: July 19th 2016 (LA), August 9th 2016 (US DVD/VoD)
Gillian Armstrong is best known for directing the likes of Charlotte Gray, Oscar & Lucinda and Little Women, but here she returns to the documentary arena for a film about Orry-Kelly. It’s not a name you’ll necessarily recognise, although you will probably know some of his work – Ingrid Bergman’s costumes in Casablanca, Marilyn Monroe’s frocks in Some Like It Hot, the western clothes in Oklahoma! and all manner of dresses for Bette Davis.
He won three Oscars (making him Australia’s most prolific Academy Award winner until fellow costume designer Catherine Martin picked up her third and fourth gongs for The Great Gatsby (2013)), and to many in the filmmaking community he’s a bit of a legend. He was also an alcoholic and he was gay, something he didn’t hide but didn’t publicly flaunt either. Rumours suggest he may have had an intimate relationship with Cary Grant when they roomed together shortly after they both arrived in the US, although that’s never been confirmed. [Read more…]