Lena Horne: A Goddess, Greatness and A Golden Gown - Regeneration at the Academy Museum of Motion...by Contributor & Preservationist Greg Schreiner
The recently opened Academy Museum of Motion Picture at Fairfax and Wilshire is currently hosting an exhibit called “Black Cinema 1898-1971 -Regeneration”. This exhibit has been extended until July 16, 2023 before moving to Detroit Michigan. The exhibit explores the achievements and the challenges of black film artists from the cinema’s infancy to just after the civil rights movement. Featured among the many artists is Lena Horne. She was signed to a 7-year contract at MGM and was featured in such black cast musicals like “Cabin in the Sky” and “Stormy Weather”. She was given the star treatment but faced challenges in Hollywood’s treatment of hair and makeup practices. Max Factor had created a special makeup called light Egyptian which ended up being too dark on her but worked perfectly for white actresses playing biracial roles.
Lena lost out to many roles to white actresses wearing this makeup. And in mixed race movies, Lena’s roles were often just singing ones so that she could be cut from the film by the censors when movies were shown in the South. “Stormy Weather” was produced in 1943 and gave Lena one of her biggest roles to date and a chance to be glamourous and to shine.
The movie costumes were designed by Academy Award winning designer Helen Rose, and I was lucky enough to own a gown of Lena’s from this film. It is a gown covered entirely in gold sequins and beads and features a chiffon drape on the right shoulder attached with a brooch. The dress was in need of some repair due to the aging threads as the dress is 70 years old and some of the beads and sequins had come loose due to the threads becoming fragile.
The wonderful talented costume crew at the Academy took this dress under its wing and spent many months meticulously repairing and replacing the missing beads and sequins. The dress on view today looks so spectacular and is a highlight of the exhibit. And since “Stormy Weather” is a black and white film, it is especially wonderful to see the brilliant gold color sparkling in the light, much like the beautiful and talented Lena Horne did.
I own a huge collection of over 500 movie costumes worn by the great stars of the golden age Hollywood . I also utilize my costumes in a show, Hollywood Revisited (www.hollywoodrevisited.com).
Greg Schreiner is the pianist, narrator and producer of Hollywood Revisited. He has appeared on numerous television programs including AMC's Hollywood Fashion Machine, A&E's The Incurable Collector, Entertainment Tonight, Hard Copy and The Montel Williams Show. All have featured various movie costumes from his vast personal collection. Some of these costumes are on display at the new Hollywood Museum in Hollywood, California. Mr. Schreiner serves on the piano faculty at Cerritos College and Santa Monica College, has several recordings in release and was composer/performer for the educational television series Masters of the Silent Screen. Greg also is an active participant in the music community of Southern California as the accompanist for the Mansfield Chamber Singers of Beverly Hills. He is also the president of Marilyn Remembered, a club devoted to preserving the memory of Marilyn Monroe. Greg Schreiner is truly a renaissance man!
