This is the 800th post here at Poseidon's Underworld. Typically, we'd attempt something special for the occasion, but these days it's everything I can do to post AT ALL! So at least we're doing something that has become a bit of a feature here over the years; the reuse of movie costumes. In our recycling age, it's nice to know that things didn't always just rot on a rack somewhere and were in fact often repurposed (and also often went undetected.) The project in question is a 1972 TV-movie called
Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole. This was intended to lead to further installments for its legendary star, but fate stepped in and prevented that.
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| Miss Susan Hayward, an Oscar-winner and a highly popular star of the 1950s and '60s, starred in the Aaron Spelling-Leonard Goldberg production. Hayward had worked on what would be her final feature film (The Revengers, 1972) and had earlier in the year stepped into another telefilm (Heat of Anger) for an ailing Barbara Stanwyck. Thus, 1972 was quite the busy year for someone who'd been off-screen entirely since her delicious portrayal of Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls (1967.) |
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| This was a total showcase for Hayward, allowing her to stretch some acting muscles that had been in dry dock for five years. She played a research physician who goes back into practicing medicine after the untimely death of her husband. Although she was clearly the star of the project, she was surrounded on all sides by other skilled performers; chiefly Darren McGavin as her cranky employer. Also on hand were Maidie Norman, Beverly Garland, Dane Clark and others. |
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| Hayward's typical vividly red hair/wig was wisely softened to an understated golden hue for this which helped bring out her still lovely face without the distraction of a heavy and obviously dyed deeper color. |
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| Costumer for this project was none other than Nolan Miller, who would soar to fame a decade later when Spelling-Goldberg retained him for their splashy prime-time soap Dynasty. Miller had a knack for selecting clothing that flattered and complemented female stars of a certain age. He'd dressed most of the golden age gals of Hollywood who were still appearing in public and before the cameras, including the aforementioned Stanwyck. |
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| As an aside, my favorite supporting performance in this movie came from Jeannette Nolan. Nolan played any and every type of female persona imaginable over the course of her long, busy career and she could really turn on the ham when she chose to. But here she is simply stunning in an affecting, understated portrayal that nearly got me crying! |
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| If Ross Hunter isn't producing your projects, the next best thing for those who still wish to be presented appealingly is Aaron Spelling. Hayward never delved into the hag horror genre the way so many of her contemporaries did. (Valley of the Dolls wasn't Shakespeare, but she wasn't hitting anyone with a shovel or serving up dead rats at least! LOL) Looking at her here at 54, it's hard to believe this was her final role and that she'd be felled by brain cancer a scant less than three years later. But anyway... onto the reason for the post! |
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| At the end of the movie, Hayward wears a beige trench coat for a lengthy amount of time. Under it is a dress we barely get to see in its entirety. It's a sort of army green knit with three-quarter sleeves and a belted waist. A shimmering gold necklace has been paired with it to give it some kick. Where had I seen this before....?? |
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| Seen from the back here, just as it was in the inset of the photo above, the mystery is solved. No, it wasn't a prior costume of Miss Hayward's. |
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| The Donfeld creation was worn by Luciana Paluzzi in 1961's Return to Peyton Place. It is seen in a not-too-lengthy scene in which Paluzzi tries to defend herself against some devious accusations from her conniving (and utterly delicious) mother-in-law from hell, Mary Astor. |
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| The three inches shorter and far less buxom Hayward is fairly swimming in the thing, even though a certain amount of tailoring was necessary. (A short collar was fashioned from material drawn in to improve the fit.) But those shoulder pads and three-quarter sleeves (now sans the gloves that Paluzzi was wearing) are the giveaway. |
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| Bond Girl Paluzzi had boobs for days when she was placed in the dress. |
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| (I can NEVER be sated in my thirst for Mary Astor in this movie. She's STAGGERING throughout the entire thing!) |
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| She was given a gold accented necklace, too, but of a different sort than Hayward. |
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| Paluzzi in a promotional shot for the movie. |
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| Hayward passed away FAR too prematurely. Even though it was never meant to be so, Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole was a lovely send-off to her remarkable career with its loving camera and lighting and its gutsy, yet sentimental, tone. Why it cannot be out on DVD in a more cleaned up version is another one of those confounding mysteries. Perhaps it has something to do with the original song (sung by Dusty Springfield) that is featured prominently a couple of times. A rather fuzzy version can be seen here, though it's actually clearer than the one I viewed when I made these screencaps. |
Susan has a wig on here. No question about it.
ReplyDeleteJust last night watched Hayward in the 1949 "Deadline at Dawn", a pretty silly minor noir flick. The plot just goes around in circles, but Hayward is wonderfully charming and natural. Haven't seen all that many of her films, but I'd rate this one of her better performances. Her costar is a strapping young fellow named Bill Williams, who does a fine job filling out that sailor uniform. He later married Barbara Hale, our beloved Della Street from "Perry Mason".
ReplyDeleteHair or wig, that's a flattering color on Susie, with no Neely around to snatch it!
ReplyDeleteHayward is one of the few stars of her era not to become a caricature of her former image, she aged pretty gracefully on screen. Sad to see her go so soon!
Cheers and hang in there, Poseidon!
Rick
This is your superpower for sure. I don't know how you do it, but this time I paused before the reveal and tried to picture that color on someone else. The closest I got was Tippi Hedran in The Birds, and was thinking that might have been a dress under a jacket instead of a suit. Wrong color green, and wrong movie. Brilliant as always. Kind of a "pond scum" color and you know I love when you write about that.
ReplyDeleteI really didn't think Susan did anything after "Dolls" so I only picture her with vivid red hair/white hair. She actually looks lovely in this shade of hair. So odd to think of her as kind of old, I am older than she is here. The mind plays tricks and tells us we look younger!
The sequel to Peyton Place never did anything for me when I saw it but might demand a rewatch. I am heavily into the tv series now as my covid escape. It's so addictive, those characters are fascinating and it has the additional "Doll" appeal of Barbara Parkins as a young Queen of misery. This was a very informative mental update for Susan Hayward and I am grateful for it.
Poseidon, you should call yourself Sherfrock Holmes.
ReplyDeleteHi Poseidon,
ReplyDeleteGood detective work! I wouldn't say that is the most becoming dress Susie ever wore but I LOVE Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole!!!
I've been a devout Susan Hayward fan since childhood, I think it started when The President's Lady was the Movie of the Week on one of the UHF channels. They showed it three times a day every day for the week and my young self saw it innumerable times and just fell under her spell (I now own the framed movie poster!) and it became a mission in those pre-any sort of recording days to track down as many of her films as I could, along with many others. Thanks to The Million Dollar Movie and another UHF show hosted by Bernie Herman I did pretty well. I watched Maggie Cole (and Heat of Anger) when it premiered and enjoyed every minute. It was a big ratings grabber and there was definite talk about it going to series but then she fell ill and that was that.
While it does have some concessions to her star status, I vividly remember a scene where her hair and outfit matched the colors of the room in the most flattering way possible, it's not a suffering in mink sort of deal. Having her be a doctor adjusting to an inner city clinic and going toe to toe with the gruff Darren McGavin provides an outlet for both her natural toughness and warmth to shine through and she meets those challenges well. It would have been an interesting series with the two of them heading it up.
I agree about Jeannette Nolan. She could be terribly hammy but I remember her doing absolutely heartbreaking work in this because of the simplicity with which she played it.
I used to own the movie on VHS but when my player went so went the tapes. Wish it were available on disc but until that unlikely day I'll have to see if I can track it down on YouTube.
Dan, I only recently figured out who Bill Williams was myself. For reasons known only to me, I kept confusing him with Bill Hayes (who played Doug Williams on "Days of Our Lives," hence part of the name-morphing!) I had only seen him sort of old and craggy in a horror movie, but he was better looking as a young man and, of course, helped give William Katt to the world...!
ReplyDeleteRick, she truly did retain her dignity on screen when compared to many of her peers. Not an easy thing to do when it was all the rage to get down and dirty. :-)
Gingerguy, I fall into the same trap of thinking I am younger than stars in the movies I'm watching when often I'm far older! It's wild!! "Return to Peyton Place" is very flawed. For one thing, too much of it takes place outside the city limits!! Carol Lynley is in NYC for much of it...! And because of scheduling delays, it is set in autumn/winter with a lot of drearily colored clothing on the people. But Eleanor Parker (who has almost nothing to do) is always worth watching and if one like Tuesday Weld, she has a few decent moments. I can't say more about Mary Astor...
Shawny! LOL I do have my magnifying glass out at all times! Ha ha ha!
Joel, I have a link to the movie on YouTube in the last paragraph of the post! It's not 100% crisp, but it's a better rendition of the film than the one I saw for this post. She has that one dinner scene in which she's got on a highly flattering black, ruffled off-the-shoulder collar dress and pretty earrings that hearkens back to her "Back Street" days a bit. Like I say, if you can't get Ross Hunter, one could do far worse than Aaron Spelling! Darren McGavin was supposedly a real jerk to deal with sometimes, but he is perfect as a curmudgeonly foil for her in this (and in many other projects of his.) I have never seen "The President's Lady" but will look out for it!! Strange how so many movies that were aired over and over and over again in the '70s and even the '80s are now very scarce!! Thank you!