ABSTRACT
During the 1960’s, new production techniques continued to appear. Indeed, as Norma Desmond had cried in Sunset Boulevard a decade earlier, “The pictures have grown small.” Budgets assumed major importance and the costume departments were one of the first places that expenses were cut. Working frantically against a tight production schedule, Miss Sharaff based her designs on historical sources—ancient sculptures, wall paintings, and museum treasures. She costumed Taylor in a series of thirty-four perfectly cut and proportioned, often severe, fitted gowns. Beaton has written that true achievement in theater should “shower the spectator with illusions not to be found at home.” My Fair Lady was a bouquet of assorted rare illusions he offered to the movies. It is doubtful whether moviegoers will ever again be proffered such an exquisite gift.
