Mrs. Santa Claus

Establishing the 1910 to 1912 era was a major decision for the costuming, because Director Terry Hughes had also suggested the 1919 to 1920s to establish the period musical. The '20s meant the Flapper period in costuming. Costume Designer Bob Mackie determined the "teens" was a better period "skirt look" than the '20s shorter hemline, which would effect Dame Angela Lansbury's appearance, hair and wardrobe. Bob Mackie's Christmas green and red costume color palette dramatically determined the set's color range. Production Designer Hub Braden was confronted with the Universal Studios New York backlot exteriors' color condition. The previous movie company using the New York street had painted all of the exteriors in fresh coats of "city slicker contemporary" whites, grays, bright paint colors. New York City research for 1910 established "a look for" the New York City streets' building façades awash with a coal dust dirty patina. Specific building façades/exteriors chosen were repainted with variations of warm values either in muted rose or mistletoe green shades, alternating with beige and the color of "reindeer tan" shades. Iron fire escapes added to the exterior buildings for cast members to be elevated above the street level for the production value in the musical street choreographed marches and dancing patterns. Establishing a conglomeration of Irish, Italian, and Jewish neighborhood celebrating the holiday spirit, strings of bare bulbs were strung across the streets. With period street lamps, to justify a source light for all of the night filming. 1910 dictated horse drawn wagons, carts, and carriages instead of vintage motorized vehicles. The December snow required more selected areas for set dressing effects, which included watered down streets from melting snow... allowing planes of water pools reflecting for camera angles. Rehearsing the group marchers for the women's suffrage liberation issues were scheduled for morning activities, with summer morning temperatures near mid ninety to one hundred degrees. Progressive filming of the street sequences required much patience for cast, crowd and dance extras, animals, crew, and production personnel. Scheduling the day and night street filming became a critical lighting factor because of temperature, the sun and shadow path angles reflected for the point-of-view shooting direction for the multiple - main camera, for second, and third camera positions.

Mrs. Santa Claus says, "Oh, team, we've done it - 1910 is a record year." The U.S. was comprised of just 46 states in 1910. But in the suffrage parade, people are carrying an unfurled American flag that has 48 stars. New Mexico joined the Union in January 1912 and Arizona joined in February of that year.

Featured in Biography: Angela Lansbury: A Balancing Act (1998)