Julie Andrews in a musical? Box office gold, Jerry! Except when it’s not. Yes, we continue the fine tradition of flops with great fur fashion. The 1968 musical Star! landed three years after The Sound of Music with high studio expectations. Things did not go quite as well as hoped; as you may have noticed, musicals aren’t as popular as they used to be. That started *checks notes* in the late ‘60s. Oh boy…
Star! – The Film
The movie is a period piece! Even in old movies, you still find fabulous furs from different eras. In this case, it’s a biopic of British performer Gertrude Lawrence. Gertrude was fairly famous in the 1930s, a decade you may recognize as fairly well-represented on this website. That explains the more lively fur fashion than the norm in the ‘60s.
Star! – The Furs
It takes a little while to get going, but by the forty-five-minute mark, Gertrude (Julie Andrews) is famous enough to be a chorus girl in a fox costume. I will give the big thumbs down on the mask, but I suspect some readers will vigorously disagree.
Fortunately, for me, at least, the mask does not hang around long.
As we’re already deep into the film, Gertrude’s about to become, dare we say… a star! That includes being part of fashion shows that have this sable-trimmed coat.
Then buying that sable trimmed coat. I’m pretty sure it’s the same, though I looked at the patterns and am not 100% sure.
Unfortunately, the best fur in the film does not get the screen time it deserves. This fantastic coat is around for only a moment.
I’m calling it belly lynx, though I cannot completely rule out lynx-dyed fox due to its thickness.
Amusingly, it shows up again later in a gallery. Yes, this is art.
The second-best fur gets far better screen time. This white fox wrap looks great.
It’s one of the best arguments for watching films in their original aspect ratio. I very much remember seeing a “pan and scan” version of this movie that cuts away from Gertrude entirely during this sequence.
Some of the sequences in the film are faux “newsreels,” where a few include furs. One is this red fox collar and cuffs.
Gertrude’s affinity for sable trim is strong. She returns with a sable-trimmed ermine coat.
I’m curious if continuity forgot what sable-trimmed coat she was wearing earlier. But it’s probably safe to assume it’s just another one from the wealthy lady’s wardrobe.
Another newsreel shows us this fairly pedestrian mink coat.
Before this last bit of spots closes out the film.
Star! clocks in as a seemingly meager 5.5%, but it’s a long movie with just south of 10 minutes of fur. Some of the furs are great, including what I feel my ‘80s upbringing allows me to call a “mega lynx” coat and a full white fox wrap. Additional points for fans of variety since there’s a lot of different fur in the film. Additional points for being the Star film without Eric Robert’s sex chair.
- Fur Runtime: approx 9:47
- Film Runtime: 175 minutes
- On-Screen Fur Ratio: 5.5%
Find-a-Fur: Star!, 1968
(all times are approximate and are affected by the cut of the film)
- 43:40 – 45:26 – red fox collar, mask, tail
- 49:15 – sable trim
- 51:20 – hat + trim
- 52:20 – 53:45 – sable trim
- 1:17:20 – huge lynx
- 1:21:00 – photos of ”
- 1:30:30 – 1:33:15 – thick white fox wrap
- 1:49:00 – 1:50:00 – red fox trim
- 2:03:50 – 2:05:00 – sable trimmed ermine
- 2:16:45 – spots
Fur Fashion Gallery: Star!, 1968
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