After Maggie Smith’s death (sniff), I went about rewatching some of my favorite of her performances, and I was thrilled to find Gosford Park (2001) available on streaming. This is such a great movie, which we’ve referred to many times on the blog but not done a full review of — maybe because it sometimes been hard to find? Whatever, I got it and screencapped (sometimes crappily, blame Amazon), and this will have to do.
Director Robert Altman was known for his slice-of-life filmmaking featuring large ensemble casts, and this one features most everyone who was anyone in British film at the time. Actors include Michael Gambon as man of the house Sir William McCordle; Kristin Scott Thomas as his wife, Lady Sylvia McCordle; Maggie Smith as her aunt, Constance, Dowager Countess of Trentham; Geraldine Somerville as Sylvia’s sister, Louisa, Lady Stockbridge; Charles Dance as Louisa’s husband, Lord Stockbridge; Jeremy Northam as Ivor Novello, Sir William’s cousin and a film star; James Wilby as a guest, the Hon. Freddie Nesbitt; and even more!
The screenplay was written by Julian Fellowes (his first film and he won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar!), who said in The Guardian that the film is:
“a social examination of the class system, the games that it involved people in, and the amount of collusion that it required between the classes. One of the points I hope the film makes is that it isn’t enough to have that kind of Channel 4 assumption that everyone upstairs was ghastly and living the life of Riley while everyone downstairs had a foot on their neck. That’s a very babyish attitude. The class system wouldn’t have lasted hundreds of years if that were the truth.”
He also talked about how the director wanted a certain amount of accuracy, saying:
“Bob’s agenda was to explore the servant-master set-up when it was a way of life, and I think he felt that the satire would be more effective if the details were right. And, apart from the odd footman going up the main staircase in front of the family, it is pretty right.”
The costume designer was the magnificent Jenny Beavan, who was nominated for a Best Costume Design Oscar for this movie. She used quite a bit of vintage clothing, sourced from the major costume rental house Cosprop in London. She told Variety why she enjoys using vintage items:
“It is extraordinary that with all our modern techniques, we don’t have the finesse of how they used to make things. Evening gloves, the thickness of the suede, the fineness of the stitchery. You’d have thought we could do it easily now, but we just don’t seem to be able to do it.”
Beavan and her team did build a number of custom outfits, like the red gown Lady Sylvia wears on the first night — but even that was made of vintage velvet.
Such a popular dress style, it appeared in ads at the time:
The movie takes place over the course of a shooting party weekend, with each evening featuring swanky cocktails and a formal dinner, while daytime is tweedy and outdoorsy.
The three evenings give the best display of costuming, with the gents in white-tie and the ladies in bias-cut gowns.
Most of the men’s evening suits were vintage except for Sir William and Lord Stockbridge, just because the actors were too tall.
A running joke is how Mabel Nesbitt (Claudie Blakley) wears the same gown every night — “difficult color, green,” snarks the Countess of Trentham.
The costume designer told Town and Country about her research behind this costume:
“A lot of the costumes in Gosford Park are genuine vintage dresses. I remember learning that women brought a different dress for every single occasion, and the colors had to not be the same as anyone else’s. And then, of course, poor Claudie Blakley’s character brought only one frock. The green was a particularly dreary … let’s call it a common color. It wasn’t an expensive dress, and the lace on it was definitely not handmade. It was a nightmare because it kept disintegrating.”
I actually love this dress because of the intricate diamond seaming across the midsection, that’s such a beautiful detail.
On the first night, the other ladies show off their upper-class glam, such as Lady Stockbridge in deep gold velvet:
Lady Sylvia’s youngest sister Lady Lavinia Meredith (Natasha Wightman) in a pale gold or possibly cream, which I could only catch from the back:
Lady Sylvia’s daughter Isobel (Camilla Rutherford) also in a pale gown, hers with ruffles, and another back view:
Many of these gowns have dramatic low backs, as was quite fashionable in the ’30s.
I was mesmerized at the first night’s dinner by how perfectly period all the women’s eyebrows were! Granted, thin eyebrows were fashionable in the early 2000s (compare with this Buzzfeed article), but I do think they went the extra mile in this movie. And given how far from the mark some productions are, I’m pleased.
Likewise, the hair is spot-on for the period. Compare the movie’s brows and hair with that shown in ’30s magazines.
The first day spent out at the hunt requires tweeds, and all the ladies comply.
Their outfits are less matchy than what’s shown in fashion mags and the like — because they’re all old-money ladies, just mixing and matching from their wardrobes. But the essence is there.
Here’s a promo pic of the fellas in their tweed plus-fours and such. Love Sir William’s bright yellow socks!
On the second night, Lady Sylvia wears an authentic 1930s cream silk gown, but the black trim was added to cover up damage.
Lady Sylvia has a pre-dinner chat with her aunt while she’s dressing, which gives a view of both of their gowns.
The countess isn’t wearing the super-fashionable styles that the younger women are, but she’s not as outdated as Maggie Smith’s future character on Downton Abbey will wear. She’s at least in the same century!
Lady Lavinia’s in a gold cowl-neck gown on the second night.
Another popular style:
The final evening is a bit subdued, due to the events of the prior evening, and some of the ladies wear darker garb…
The weekend closes out with Lady Sylvia in her carefree casual riding gear.
She mixes menswear styles nonchalantly, rather like this German magazine illustrates:
And like the jodhpurs seen on young Hollywood actresses:
While the servants don’t get all those changes of clothes, their costumes were well researched and recreated. In the production notes, costume designer Jenny Beavan said of her discussions with the director:
“We talked in detail about every element of the costumes, down to what underwear the maids would be wearing. Robert Altman loves this detail: he wanted everything to be incredibly real without looking stagey or phony. To that end, I did a great deal of research and looked at original clothes from the 1930s that we then remade. Whilst there was a lot of inspiration for the upstairs characters, there was less available for the servants. They were not greatly photographed at that time, but we did have some wonderfully written records, by Nancy Astor’s maid, Rosina Harrison and by Lady Troubridge.”
In particular, Elsie (Emily Watson), the head housemaid, who is featured in a lot of scenes, has perfectly period hair.
The countess’ new maid Mary (Kelly Macdonald) may be young, but she’s appropriately plain in all-black on the job.
With a tiny glimpse of everyday life in her travel clothes (and Elsie’s too).
Probert (Derek Jacobi), Sir William’s valet, is stiff as a board, and Mrs. Wilson (Helen Mirren), head housekeeper, is starchy to the end.
Only does this promo pic of Mrs. Wilson with the more unbuttoned Robert Parks (Clive Owen), Lord Stockbridge’s valet, hint at a key plot point.
There’s so much to love about Gosford Park! What do you remember about it?
Find this frock flick at:
I don’t remember a ton of shiny frocks, but there are a few amazing ones! Mostly appropriate daywear, since this is meant to be a hunting weekend, as you probably explained in your post! Hunting-gear tends not to be as exciting!
I think I have watched this movie about a dozen times. Downton abbey definitely lacked its realism and cynism regarding the class system. And old lady Trentham was already at her best, witwise!
I watch it about once every five years, and always find something new to enjoy.
I really liked that the costumes weren’t really telling a story. They felt like what the character would have chosen to wear, they weren’t spectacular but appropriate, and did add to the story but not in the usual way.