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Fashion News - Hats By Agnes

An archive mystery, fashion advice and some rare colour footage of early Hollywood stars all in one.

Cinemagazine 1929 3 mins

Overview

Hats off to this intriguing glimpse of colourful fashions worn by a range of Hollywood stars. The film arrived at the BFI National Archive incomplete and in pieces. Clearly filmed in Hollywood with a range of A-list actresses including Myrna Loy and Lupe Velez, the narrator’s voice has a British accent. The distinctive colour palette reveals it was filmed in Technicolor No. III, which combined red and green only and was a step short of the 'glorious Technicolor' of later years.

The film appears to be an episode of the American "Fashion News" series, which began as a silent addition to the cinema programme in 1927. Alongside the more familiar stars the film offers a rare colour glimpse of actresses such as the German-born Lena Malena whose careers foundered with the transition to sound cinema. The film also came to the archive with the title "Hats by Agnes". Is the fantastic headgear on show the work of the French milliner Madame Agnès?

Featuring

Myrna Loy , Lupe Velez , Jacqueline Logan , Sally Blane and Lena Malena

Genres

Cinemagazine

Country

USA

Language

No Dialogue with English subtitles

Subjects

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