Were I possessed of any sense of timing, this would have been a great week to post the Dr. Phibes update. Halloween, etc… Lacking any suitable alternatives from the horror genre (again, not a lot of furs there, and “SyFy” doesn’t show Dracula’s Daughter anymore); I’ll go with young Jodie Foster in fox fur stoles. Never a bad fall back position. The film in question is The Hotel New Hampshire. It’s notable to me because I’ve capped it multiple times, and I still have no clue what’s happening in this movie no matter how many times I fast forward through it.
The Hotel New Hampshire – The Film
Off to Wikipedia, where I learn the film is based on a book of the same name by John Irving. Then I read the plot summary of the film on Wikipedia and quickly realize why I’ve never really been able to put everything together since it seems there’s enough material in there for eight different films. There’s at least 2 different Hotels New Hampshire, a plot to blow up the Vienna State Opera, and very “non-traditional” family interaction. This isn’t the first R-rated film I’ve profiled, but it’s the first one that suggests I actually point that out.
The Hotel New Hampshire – The Furs
With the massive amount of “stuff” that happens, it’s fortunate the costumers were well aware that it was 1984 and, accordingly, provided a fine selection of nice, thick fox furs, and one coyote. The latter is featured most prominently in a few scenes, whereas Jodie Foster’s fox stoles are not quite as lovingly documented.
On the one hand, attempting to set up the backstory of each sequence with this film is tricky due to sheer mass of said backstory, so for this one, let’s go with… nice looking blush fox collar:
In the second Hotel New Hampshire, in Austria, John Berry (Rob Lowe) encounters one of the ladies of easy virtue that lodges there. Again, it’s 1984 and we follow the “all hookers wear fox” rule.
John Berry, amongst the myriad other plot threads for his character, is in love with his sister, Franny (Jodie Foster), so he resists the temptation, something the hooker doesn’t particularly appreciate.
After the whole terrorist plot to blow up something in Vienna part of the film ends, the family returns to the states, with “Susie the Bear” in tow. Susie is played by Nastassja Kinski, who did this film right after the remake of Unfaithfully Yours, another film that I should put up here someday.
Susie spent a lot of time in a bear costume, thus the “the Bear” part of her name, so the fact that she wears this coyote fur coat a lot is probably “significant.” I agree, because it’s Natassja Kinski in a big coyote fur coat, and that is significant. It would only be more significant if it were fox.
We now get to what the intro paragraph teased, Jodie Foster in a black fox fur stole. In the film, Franny Berry writes a book and becomes famous. Then she writes another one and becomes less-famous. This is the press conference where the latter fact is driven home.
Jodie storms off, her stole complimenting the primary red suit jacket nicely. A combination of a fox dyed that color and the stole would have worked better, I think.
Later, as more massive amounts of plot have happened, Susie and John get together for another chat, giving us another opportunity to see Natassja in fur.
Franny eventually marries a guy from high-school that, eons ago in this film, helped break up a little a non-consensual sex act. White fox as a bridal fashion accessory just isn’t as common as it should be, even back then.
This is John hugging Franny, which is awkward for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which are those shorts.
Eons later in the film, Franny has committed suicide and the surviving members of the family mourn, including Susie, who shows up one last time in her big coyote fur coat.
Suffice to say, there’s stuff in The Hotel New Hampshire that could make viewers of a more delicate constitution a bit uncomfortable. So, fairly warned be thee, says I. Still, it’s a good flick for the number of furs, and especially for 80’s sex symbol Natassja Kinski in the big coyote stroller. I would have put Kinski in a fox instead of a coyote, but if you really need to see her in a full length fox for a long time, that’s what the 1984 version of Unfaithfully Yours is for.
