A Star Is Born

The 1954 adaptation of the 1937 film A Star Is Born is exactly the kind of film that my wife and I were looking for in an attempt to find photographic or celluloid evidence of period furniture pieces residing in their natural habitats. After all, when one uses the phrase MidCentury, you can't get any closer to the middle of the century than 1954.

One particular scene that just is overflowing with the type of style and design sensibility that will one day grace our midcentury-modern-house-in-the-making, is Judy Garland's little (or maybe not so little 'cause it's a loooong scene) song and dance number in her living room.

She's got four, count 'em four white Barcelona Chairs. One at the front door, one next to a wall opposite the entryway, and two more facing each other in the sitting area next to the windows.

What strikes me is the starkness and the simplicity. Nothing garish, nothing ornate, nothing cumbersome and nothing big. In the second still frame above where she's in the corner leaning on the chair, there's nothing in that part of the room except for the drapes! Fabulous.

That studio sofa (if that's what you call it) would be a perfect addition to our library. I'm contemplating building something in that vein using a twin mattress as a starting point and going from there. Follow craigwoodworks.blogspot.com to check on its progress. Assuming I do get started on it of course.

And, uh, about the Chinese thing she did with the lamp shade over her head... It was 1954 after all.