Ages ago, a reader suggested we review Saratoga Trunk (1945), and I remember looking a stills of Ingrid Bergman in these bustle gowns and thinking, yes, I would like to see that! But finding it on streaming proved elusive, and I thought I got a copy but it was incomplete, so I finally broke down and rented it online.
I don’t know that I’d recommend you do the same because the story is lackluster. Clio Dulaine (Bergman) returns to her birthplace of New Orleans in 1875, having been raised in Paris. Her mother was mistress to a wealthy aristocratic fellow, but he married a woman of his own class and standing in accordance with his Dulaine family’s wishes. There was an altercation between Clio’s parents, her father was killed, her mother was blamed, and that’s why Clio was exiled. Now she’s back for revenge, which she’ll somehow accomplish by pretending to be the Comtesse de Chanfrais and marrying some rich guy. Except she quickly gets distracted from that by falling in love at first sight with an uncouth Texas cowboy, Clint Maroon (Gary Cooper). Somehow, they both end up in Saratoga Springs, where Clio tries to snag a millionaire husband and Clint tries to take over a railroad line. It all comes to a head with both a battle and a costume ball, but that makes it sound more exciting than the movie is, IMO.
What I did enjoy was the costumes, designed by Leah Rhodes, who had been an apprentice of Orry-Kelly and took over for him at Warner Brothers when he enlisted in WWII. She’d go on to share an Academy Award for Best Costume Design for The Adventures of Don Juan (1949), so she was at the peak of her career around the time of Saratoga Trunk.
The costumes with the most plausibly historical style are the fitted daytime bustle dresses, like this dark pinstripe outfit that Clio arrives in. She’s well accessorized with a veiled hat, capelet, gloves, and jewlery.
Nice to get a full back view, with this lovely bustled effect.
To stroll about town, Clio has a pale (white?) dress trimmed with exuberant ball fringe (it’s even on her parasol!).
Flora Robson was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for this role — however, she’s in blackface as Clio’s Haitian maid. Ew. Two Black actors, Ethel Waters and Lena Horne, were passed over for this role, because Hollywood sucks.
This was Warner Brothers’ most popular movie of 1946, and while I suppose the romance and the train wreck were appealing drama, the costumes are the only thing that stood out to me. Especially the excellent use of stripes and plaid (though her hair is rather 1940s).
More pinstripes:
Plaid:
Love these wardrobe test shots. Wish every movie had released them!
The evening wear is a little more modernized than the daywear, but if I squint, this passes.
Lastly, there’s her 18th-century costume, and if you think of it as 1870s-does-1770s, it’s OK. Satin is not her friend, judging by those puckering seams, but that’s a problem no matter the era.
Nice to see the real gown’s color:
Decent wig, for a costume party, and the head necklace is debatably period for 18th century ;)
Have you seen Saratoga Trunk?
Find this frock flick at:
It’s based on an Edna Ferber novel, and the movie ignores the fact that Clio is an octoroon. Her mother was a place who accidentally killed her protector, Clio’s father, and was exiled to France to avoid a hideous scandal. So when Clio returns to New Orleans seeking revenge, it’s a huge shock to her relatives on the white side of the color line and they pay through the nose to make her go away.
Flawed though it is, and frankly the book, although steamier, isn’t hugely better, I love the movie for the costumes. I place bets with myself on whether Ingrid could sit down in the various outfits. So tight!
There’s a stage musical adaption of the novel as well.
That’s placee, not place. I hate autocorrect.
I’m going to avoid this movie due to the shitty casting choice.
I don’t know why Ingrid Bergman would have chosen this role, other than contractual obligation. Joan of Arc is the only historical role I associate with her in her prime. At any rate, the stills read 1940s undies, with lifted and separated bras underneath instead of a proper corset, and that spoils everything for me. Certainly, the stripes and plaids are used in an interesting way, but since the hair and makeup all conform to leading lady syndrome, the film doesn’t inspire me to watch. Funny how easy it is to take a side based on stills.
This sounds suspiciously like a film that fell victim to a Hollywood that fell victim to Hays Code morality – the plot summary cries out for antiheroes, but mid 1940s Hollywood wasn’t really the place and time for that sort of thing.
I wonder if the basic plot would have more luck in a later era of filmmaking? (The 1970s come to mind) or in a different country (I wonder what a post-war European production might have done with this set-up?).