The 1963 film
Cleopatra is the stuff of Hollywood legend. The production ultimately began in England at Pinewood Studios, where Oliver Messel was brought on to design the costumes for the epic film. This behind-the-scenes image shows one of Messel’s many creations for Elizabeth Taylor in the title role, likely taken sometime in late 1960. According to
Elizabeth Taylor Archives @etarchives, Elizabeth was to have worn this costume in a scene where she dines with Caesar, originally played by Peter Finch.
However, this gown would never make it into the final film – the headdress would, but that’s a post for a different day. Due to numerous complications, including Taylor’s health, production at Pinewood was shut down, and eventually the film was moved to Cinecittà Studios in Rome. A new costume designer, Irene Sharaff, was brought on board and tasked with creating fresh costumes for Fox’s second try at making the film.
At some point, one of Oliver Messel’s original costumes from the production’s Pinewood days found its way onto Hayley Mills. It’s not entirely clear how, why, or even where this occurred. It was almost certainly a promotional photo, but when it was taken is unknown – perhaps sometime between 1960 and 1961, as the presence of the screen used headdress would suggest it would have been taken before some select pieces would have made their way to the production in Rome.
Could Mills have worn this gown at Pinewood when she was working on 1961’s Whistle Down the Wind, or 1962’s In Search of the Castaways, both of which would have been filmed before Cleopatra moved to Rome in September of 1961? Or were the Messel costumes sent back to 20th Century Fox in the United States after the film had wrapped, and Mills wore the pieces there?
Costumes from Cleopatra are known to be scattered throughout all three locations – Fox studios in the United States, Pinewood in England, and Cinecittà Studios in Rome, so it’s not impossible for this dress to have been worn in either the United States or England by Mills. However, Mills never had much association with 20th Century Fox, being prominently featured with Disney Studios, thus her time at Pinewood for the two films listed above makes sense.
Ben Mankiewicz recently did a podcast about the film
here, where he mentions its unclear just how some of the props and costumes from
Cleopatra made it back to the United States, though he confirms it’s clear enough that they did. Many of them were purchased by Debbie Reynolds at the 20th Century Fox auction of 1971, and later auctioned off between 2011 and 2014.
If you know more about this costume and how it came to be used, please do let us know!
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