I ran across another interesting snippet from my files… These are instructions for making a tie-dye robe. At first glance you think this was intended for tripping through Golden Gate Park in 1967 but its not — the instructions for this robe come from the October 1923 issue of Ladies Home Journal!
This film was released at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival and has just been released as a DVD but I don’t recall it ever being in the theatres. It has received luke warm ratings on the IMDB and I can understand why - but the costuming was not at fault. The outdoor crowd scenes and interior theatre audience shots looked very good, so kudos to the wardrobe department! As for the costume designs, there were few costume changes for Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays a struggling theatrical performer. Her daytime clothes are suitably subdued looking for a middle class working mother, they even appear slightly out of date in a good way, suggesting thriftiness. However, she also inexplicably owns a couple of glamorous gowns for dining and dancing at the hotel. The audience assumes she has purchased these with what little money she has as an investment to capture Harry Houdini’s interest, but there is no scene that explains this assumption. THere is also one dancing costume from her stage performance that looks bang on for a copy of a Theda Bara slave girl outfit from a 1920s silent movie.
I can’t criticize the costuming for any noticeable errors, although many people may be disappointed by Catherine Zeta-Jones daytime ensembles because they aren’t the cliche ‘flapper’ dresses they might expect to see. In fact the flowery blouses and dark wool skirts are perfect choices for a woman of her status living in Edinborough in the mid 1920s. The costume designer, Jane Greenwood, did an excellent job and I am a bit surprised because she is not known for historical films. Looking at her list of films, the only other costume drama she worked on was the American scenes for 84 Charing Cross. Otherwise her work is usually for contemporary set films, such as Arthur, Can’t Stop the Music, and Glengarry Glen Ross, although she does a lot of costuming for the theatre and it may be there that she cuts her teeth on historical costuming.
My only complaint about the styling of the film has to do with the hair and make-up of the principal characters. Catherine Zeta-Jones, has some odd pinned up, partly cropped and wavey hairstyle that sometimes looks okay when it is dressed for the evening but often looks messy and not true to period. Not every woman did crop her hair in the 1920s but by 1926 those who preferred to keep their longer locks usually did them up into tight rolls at the nape and over the ears. Her daughter in the film, played by Saoirse Rorian wears a shoulder length bob, when a much shorter cheek length bob would have been more appropriate for her age and tomboyish personality. Their hairstyles are not necessarily incorrect for the period, just unusual choices that appeal more to modern aesthetics than proper period style. The make-up is also applied on Catherine Zeta-Jones to appeal to modern aesthetics rather than an accurate 1920s style.
Overall rating for the costuming of Death Defying Acts is a 8/10. A point is lost for degree of difficulty as there is plenty of period information about the 1920s, suitable materials are still available and original garments can still be purchased or rented. The other point is lost for make-up and hair which fails to create the 1920s aesthetic. I know this is not the costumer’s fault, but it does affect the presentation of period accuracy.
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