Farrell, d'Amboise, Tallchief

[rg]

these cards, produced in 1981 (see below) and 1996 (see top card in scan), recently came to my attention.

the earlier one simply called BALLET IN AMERICA is a little history card, produced by Panarizon Publishing Corp. The text on the back doesn't exert itself much, offering two general columns on BALLET IN AMERICA: An Art Comes into Its Own. The "Illustration" copy simply reads "Two American ballet stars in a classic pas de deux" - no effort made to identify Suzanne Farrell and Jacques d'Amboise in "Diamonds" from JEWELS. But the image is a striking one, nevertheless. The photo credit is: Authur Ricerby LIFE Magazine, Time, Inc.

The other card is produced by Grolier, so I suppose it was in some way a flash-card-styled companion to the publisher's encyclopedia. The 1996 dated card shows a duly identified Maria Tallchief, and all the photo credit says is Culver Pictures.

still, i guess it's something that these publishers mass-produced educational items plainly addressing ballet as a fact of cultural life.

[perky]

Thank you for posting these rg! That costume Maria Tallchief is wearing looks like a swan queen costume from the 40's or perhaps the 50's. Do you have any idea what production of Swan Lake it is from?

[rg]

good question, re: the 'swan' tutu.

i think we can rule out NYCB productions designed respectively by beaton and ter-arutunian.

perhaps it's from some of her guest appearances or even from some performance(s) she might have given of 'the dying swan' .

if more definite clues surface in the meanwhile i'll re-post.

[rg]

perhaps mystery solved: in the selection of illustrations in MARIA TALLCHIEF - AMERICAN'S PRIMA BALLERINA (tallachief with larry kaplan) there is a photo of the ballerina a large-skirt 'swan' tutu - v. much like that in the grolier card. here's what the caption says:

"In Hollywood, I'm Anna Pavlova to Esther Williams's Annette Kellerman in MGM's MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID."

i don't know the movie but i assume the card's photo documents a "dying swan" moment from that film.

i suppose one can find the costume designer's name for this movie, but i don't know what it is right now.

[Helene]

According to imdb, the costumes for Million Dollar Mermaid, in which Tallchief's role is listed as "Pavlova," were designed by:

Walter Plunkett

Helen Rose (musical numbers)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044903/fullcredits

Some of Plunkett's other credits include: Kiss Me Kate, Singing in the Rain, Prisoner of Zenda, the men's costumes for Father of the Bride and Annie Get Your Gun, the beaux art ball costumes for An American in Paris, Katherine Hepburn's costumes in Adam's Rib, the 1948 Three Musketeers, and Show Boat.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0687703/

Some of Rose's other credits include: Silk Stockings, High Society, The Merry Widow, The Great Caruso, the women's costumes for Annie Get Your Gun and Father of the Bride (in collaboration with Plunkett), and the 1946 Ziegfeld Follies.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0741423/

[bart]

This is a trip down memory lane. Haven't seen this film since my parents took me to see it at a drive-in shortly after it was released. I don't recall a ballet sequence, however.

I might as well include a direct Link to Tallchief's own page on imbd. There are three photos, one of which shows her in recent years, beautiful, glowing and very happy, at what appears to be some sort of public event.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0848126/

[rg]

thanks for all the links to background on MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID - anyone know if it's available commercially?