pure south pacific check

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reader Karen, dropped this in the box today, and how glad I am  that she did.
remember this check?

the film & score- South Pacific.

& the dress, it is very reminiscent of the Christopher Kane creations.


the simple lines of the dress  echos the innocence of an era just before the Second World War touched down on Hawaii's sacred shores.
how can a  simple check say all that?

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topsy turvy

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excerpted from a questionnaire I worked through for Annie at Poetic & Chic.
thank you Annie-It was very therapeutic,
better than  Spring cleaning or a detox cleanse, & what is that all about anyway?

Q from Annie: What film could you watch over and over and still find something inspiring? & Why?

Answer:
There are actually many- and though it isn't necessarily my favorite movie of them all by any means, that question would  never be answered. The Mike Leigh movie Topsy Turvy is always viewing perfection.
Have you seen it?

 It has everything.
The film's central story is the frustration that grows between librettist W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, composer- as the famous team of Gilbert and Sullivan. A visit to an 1887 Japanese Village in Knightsbridge Humphreys' Hall  takes Gilbert to turn to the Orient for grand inspiration-and so begets The Mikado- perfect harmony. Layer upon layer it is Mike Leigh's play within a play, where all the characters were real-the composers, the players and the lovers and wives.

 from Topsy-Turvy
Gilbert: Every theatrical performance is a contrivance by its very nature.
Sullivan: Yes, but this piece consists entirely of an artificial and implausible situation.
Gilbert: If you wish to write a Grand Opera about a prostitute, dying of consumption in a garret, I suggest you contact Mr Ibsen in Oslo. I am sure he will be able to furnish you with something suitably dull. 

 

 GILBERT & SULLIVAN

Glorious performances by James Broadbent, Allan Corduner as the musical pair

 W.S. Gilbert

   1886 portrait of W. S. Gilbert by Frank Holl

hanging in the NPG by the Millais portrait of Sullivan

  the Gilbert home at 39 Harrington Gardens

 James Broadbent as W.S. Gilbert

dialog  from Topsy- Turvy

Gilbert: I have other things on my mind, you know that.
Kitty: Yes, I do know that, Willie, and I understand, but a little distraction will do you good.
Gilbert: Kitty, I don't want to be distracted.
Kitty: Yes, you do.
Gilbert: Oh, do I? You know my mind better than I do, do you?
Kitty: I know you better than you think I do, Willie.

   Kitty- Gilbert's wife-play by Lesley Manville

Arthur Sullivan

portrait of Arthur Sullivan by Millais, 1888

Alan Corduner as  Arthur Sullivan

 

 The rooms of Arthur Sullivan's apartment at  No.1 Queen's Mansions

  the bedroom- I have to say, one can easily see how Mrs.Ronald's could be seduced.

 the drawing room- lovely too.

the study

"The good taste which marked his work was even more noticeable in his home."

these photographs were originally published in A Souvenir of Sir Arthur Sullivan (1901) by W. J. Wells

 Three Little Maids

 Sybil Grey, Leonora Braham and Jessie Bond in first performances of The Mikado, 1885

 

& from the movie -

Favorite Moments

Fanny Ronalds and Sir Arthur Sullivan are well played by Eleanor David and Corduner. There is a languid smolder to their moments together on camera. The sets for their rendezvous lend that quality to the scene as do all the sets in the movie. 

The pair make a grand case for grand love. Sullivan composed St. Agnes Eve for Mrs Ronalds (Mrs.Pierre Lorillard Ronalds ), his mistress.

 Mrs. Ronalds:

"Lady Colin is endeavoring to persuade us to take up smoking. She's writing an article for the Saturday Review. She proposes that nicotine is a gift from the gods, and if men may benefit from its soothing qualities, why then may women not also? My poor daughter now believes that smoking is an extension of the... communion between a woman and her husband."

Shirley Henderson stars as Leonora Braham  & Yum-Yum in  the Mikado scenes. I've never seen this actress in a role that she did not embody.

Leonora Braham

English soprano, known for her roles in the comic operas of Gilbert &  Sullivan

 Leonora:
" Yes, I am indeed beautiful. Sometimes I sit and wonder, in my artless Japanese way, why it is that I am so much more attractive than anybody else in the whole world. Can this be vanity? No! Nature is lovely, and rejoices in her loveliness. I am a child of Nature, and take after my mother. " 

 TOPSY-TURVY is chock full of dialog  laced with humor and innuendo, opera, fashion, costume, culture-social mores & theatre.
What more could anyone want?

"On the whole, the terpsichore was executed very magnifiquely, notwithstanding the topsy-turvydom befuddling Mr.Ko-Ko's entrance."

 linked
 all the bold text-are links to the story sources & images-click on them to explore
 more here

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165 Eaton Place Style

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The Before

The After

all images from the BBC, BBC one, Masterpiece Theatre or the links at the end of this story

the Place-Eaton Place

the Decoration

& decorating by the book, it's almost as if Lady Agnes turned the pages.

for her 165 Eaton Place Style

Dorthy Draper at l. , The Greenbrier Resort decorated by Dorothy Draper, r.

There is undoubtedly something- about it. 

165 makes me think DRAPER.
Oddly there is very little evidence of the British designers of the period like Syrie Maugham at 165. I think it is safe to say, the Lady (Agnes) of the house did the decorating herself.

 urban electric's dorothy

there's even something like this-there.

Watch the full episode. See more Masterpiece.

another shot of Draper

image: South Florida Sentinel

Mike Stocker

Here we have the cast of the new episodes of Upstairs Downstairs.
I couldn't wait. Should we have to wait? Dreadful that the series doesn't start in the states til mid April. The story begins with the opening up of the old Bellamy Mansion at 165 Eaton Place and the three episodes encompass the death of the King- the coming of King Edward VIII-Wallis Simpson-Abdication- World War II-and all the intrigues of- ups and downs of -those living under the roof of 165.

Happily, Rose- yes, that is the original Rose Burk, played by series creator Jean Marsh, is back at 165 holding it together along with another sort of Original- Lady Holland played by Dame Eileen Atkins.  Eileen Atkins along with Marsh were the creators of the original Upstairs Downstairs. The original produced 68 episodes from 1971-1975 and  it's back and it's good, very good- better than Downton Abbey. Perhaps it is Rose that makes it connect-she was and again is- the heart and soul of the story.

The Cast at 165 Eaton Place

A List from Masterpiece Theatre here

Residing at 165 Upstairs & Down

The Ladies who run the show- Lady Maude l, Rose r

Maud, Lady Holland is the spark that sets fire to Eaton Place. She will be likely-the unforgettable character of the series. Maud returns to England just in time to upset the arrangements her daughter in law- Lady Agnes played by Keeley Hawes  is making  to dazzle her guests and new husband Sir Hallam handsomely played by Ed Stoppard. There is more than meets the eye there I'll tell you!  Lady Holland selects the best rooms with plans to dictate her memoirs of the Raj to her -of course-most elegant Indian secretary Mr Amanjit.  Uptight Lady Agnes is attempting to get the hang of things, while Lady Holland is stealing every scene with quirky -but stylish clothes, having adopted a Lady of the world wardrobe, Indian saris styled as evening clothes.  Be still my heart.

Lady Maud's Wardrobe

(would love to have it)

 South Indian Brocade Sarees  Pre Independence India, c. 1930.

handwoven Indian silk by sophisticated artisans in British services 

(from my collection of textiles)

The Glamour

watch Wallis make an appearance

When she was just Mrs. Simpson

 quote from the blog Beyond the Pale's Miss Nightingale 

"It’s a very particular British kind of glamour – all aristocratic complexions, matte lipstick, clicky heels and that clipped Mitford-esque brittleness which defines the period for me."

 

  the Mitford Sisters look on 

The Eaton Place Sisters

 Lady Agnes and Lady Persie

 

 even the hypnotic  'glamour' of the Fascist Oswald Mosley-who Lady Persie becomes infatuated with-

Oswald Mosley

Lady Persie

ART DECO

 Decoration

All up to the minute furniture of the Art Deco period fills the drawing room-and that is full of fret work moldings on the walls. While the paintings remain of another era and sofas are bursting with down, damask patterns of velvet and full tilt brush fringes (the scenes above)

above & below

all Art Deco pieces from 1st dibs &

Maison Gerard

The new episodes- alas there are only THREE- but I hope many more are to come. It is already a feast for the eyes.

Solomon

devotee of sweet tea,  thick-cut marmalade & the occasional maraschino cherry

all to our particular taste

LINKS

this is an all encompassing blog about every wonderful Period Film- you need to keep up here
everything about the new Upstairs Downstairs at Enchanted Serenity Period Films here
updown.org here 
Maison Gerard here
prettily put together at Beyond the Pale here  & here
full casts- the first and the second here
BBC
BBC talks to production designer Eve Stewart here
 Draper here
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