Women He's Undressed

I liked it. I REALLY liked it. The clips and artsy crafty re-enactments and all.

Some of the other reviewers down graded the film because of the theatrical bits but they made it less cut and DRY documentary. MORE clips would have been nice but the job as it was , was well done !

A must see for any lover of films of the Classic Era.

If Orry-Kelly was such a great designer (and he was), why did the director of this silly movie not show him some respect? Instead she uses his life as a washing line on which to hang a row of coy, childish conceits. We are told that Orry-Kelly was someone who would take a secret to the grave. Not a statement that needs explanation, is it? But it is illustrated by putting him in a coffin, with lipstick-red tape over his mouth, that is carried by several stone-faced models in evening dress. It's as if a child were given the task of making a picture out of a sentence.

Other nonsense includes a very unprepossessing young man playing the part of the designer, and spending a lot of his time rowing a boat--not, I think, the way Orry-Kelly left his native Australia. The director also seems more excited by the fact that Orry-Kelly was gay than by his superb designing skills, spending a lot of time with such unsavoury people as Scott Bowers, the author of a disgusting book about famous people he supposedly performed with (not in the films).

The whole thing is an exercise in self-indulgence, with feeble wackiness masquerading as creativity.

The theatrical re-enactments and monologues look cheap, too long and boring. Shame they left footage and pictures of the real Kelly for the very end of the documentary.

I went along to this film with a female friend as a favour, otherwise I would never have watched it. I was however, pleasantly surprised. There is joy in learning something new. This film gives you an insight into something that ordinarily you wouldn't think twice about - costume design in films. The narrative is presented in an interesting way - in the first person and from those who actually knew Orry-Kellly which gives it a lovely authenticity and contemporary feel rather than just being a piece of dry history. Being based on the life of a Hollywood employee in the days when the big studios ruled - Paramount, MGM and Warner's, there is some nice scandal too. The film helps you to relive, or maybe see for the first time the style and glamour of early Hollywood - even during times of international economic hardship. All in all, worth a watch.

I'm a huge fan of classic movies and I loved this documentary about fashion designer Orry-Kelly. He dressed all the greatest stars of the 1930s and 1940s - Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Ingrid Bergman, and Marilyn Monroe. He won three Academy Awards! His personal life was even more fascinating. He was openly gay and the great love of his life was Cary Grant!!! This documentary focuses a LOT of time on Cary. He was in the closet and he broke Orry's heart. This documentary is based on Orry's unpublished autobiography so I believe it's true. They don't sugarcoat Orry's battle with alcoholism which he won after going to rehab in the 1950s. I hope film fans watch this documentary and become a fan of Orry. He was an important part of Hollywood history.