Unknown Speaker In New York and we're PB so welcome to the show. Ellen mirage. Nick, how are we doing today? I'm Unknown Speaker I'm doing really good. How you doing today right PB to speak? Oh, I'm good as gold. I've got Ken stuff online too. We all know you can. How are we doing? Unknown Speaker I'm doing well. Thanks for having me. PB Thanks for jumping on. Well, Ellen, also, thanks for jumping on last minute. We didn't prep Ellen with any questions. We just said, Please come on the show. Talk about your your filmography. And she said, Sure. I'm free tomorrow. And we've managed to snare her for 20 to 30 minutes or so. Well, Ellen, for up, let's just jump into it. We've got a I think we have to start with fatal attraction. I know you've done a few films before this. This wasn't your first movie. But I know I think Nino Cerruti came on board for this film. Not true. Oh, here we go. Unknown Speaker Oh, no, there is I will just state this now. So this is clear and understood. There are a number of films Fatal Attraction, other films I might know I think it was fatal attraction specifically in Wall Street. That Nino Trudy, God bless. And May he rest in peace. He was a very, very, very great designer, a great textile artist as well. He and Michael Douglas knew each other from previous works. And for some reason or other on Fatal Attraction. He decided, you know, there's a there's a thing called product placement. This is really what happened. I think there's a thing called product placement and they like to kind of give you whatever you want and so on and so forth. And then they use it as publicity later. This is a designer for a film. That being said, I think that we we had a number of things from Nino Trudy, nothing worked out. Nothing worked out at all. There is not a stitch of clothing on Michael Douglas that is Nina Trudy and basic instinct in Fatal Attraction and Wall Street. Nothing No, no, in his material in his book, which I was really upset when that was published many, many years ago, because he claimed that he designed Michael's costumes, which was totally untrue. Oh, wow. So I'm here today on your show, to tell you that that is has you know truly has nothing to do with Michael Douglas's wardrobe. On either one of those three films. PB Wow. Well, we're only five minutes in Ken and we've got a world exclusive. Unknown Speaker So I'm curious, when the when the suits and blazers? Were they custom tailored? Would they bespoke or Unknown Speaker fatal and fatal attraction? No, no, nothing was in Fatal Attraction. It it actually came. In a way if I remember correctly. What we began with had to change a week. And because I think that if I remember correctly, Michael had come back from another project. And he was he wasn't in the shape that he wanted to be in for Fatal Attraction. And so we started, but then we like in five days changed everything. And so everything was off the rack. But of course, everything is always tailored for the actor within an inch of his life, or anybody's life for that matter, or we change it. Whatever way we can. But at that on that film, nothing was bespoke at all. bespoke actually wasn't even I don't even think this book was even used language describing how you would design a film at that moment in time. Gotcha. PB Interesting. Well, you mentioned Wolf of Wall Street mentioned Wall Street there. So this film had a huge impact on men sartorially and I can just show you a picture of a friend of mine who's a British producer here in England, he got a shirt recently made in the style and so I mean, it still has the echoes again, this look or this or this time late, I Unknown Speaker guess. I think it's a very, very handsome look. For a man I mean, you know, it was specifically designed for Gordon Gekko to have this elegance of or romance, if you will, of a kind about Hollywood movie star but from the golden years, and the Duke of Windsor. So that kind of classic attitude is still I mean, I could see it in any which way today. Yesterday, tomorrow, there is a very handsome, put together feel about that particular look, that's it is relevant now. But then it changed the face of men's fashion. Unknown Speaker Do you remember when you got that sense that you'd made something so iconic? Was it? Unknown Speaker No, no, no, not till somebody said. And when somebody said it, it was the film I believe opened in December of what year? I don't remember 1987 87 or 88. Right. 88 Maybe. And I was on a film in January that following that following month, in January, and someone phoned from the LA Times. And the fashion editor from the LA Times phoned and said, Do you know that that there are young men in every profession of 30 years old and older, but a lot of 30 year olds walking around looking like Gordon Gekko or wanting to be Gordon Gekko, and he was the bad guy. So what's up. But she was totally 100. I mean, she was like, the hair, the clothes, the look, all of that was so seductive for young guys that I think that's what really pushed it into the zeitgeist, to be honest, it had, he was the villain. But he was a really, really seductive, sexy villain. And my only intention was to make sure that it was seductive in designing it before it was, and that he looked like a movie star. I had finished a film with Michael Douglas, previously Fatal Attraction, right before like, three months earlier than starting Wall Street. And so we knew that he needed to be in a totally different direction than a New York lawyer. And so at that time, Wall Street and fashion, it's would like not even didn't exist. It didn't exist. It was very, very, it was probably as it always was, from years past. And not anything specific, except braces or suspenders did come into play quite heavily in the ad days and, and it came in, I think, became pronounced with if you remember, Ivan, Boesky, and red suspenders. I think that's as far as I have a bold statement at that moment in our history. But, but Gordon Gekko who still I mean, Gordon Gekko became somewhat of a noun instead of add an icon. Yes. But it's yeah, it's still very, very. It's still on people's top 10. I mean, it's amazing. PB No, absolutely. And I read online, and maybe you can blow this myth out of the water as well about the people that made their shirts. I heard that Alexander cabanas was one of the shirt makers on the film. I don't know if you remember that. I don't know. But perhaps you might remember who made or tailored the suits for Michael Unknown Speaker Allen. Now, here's another one. Okay. That says, you know, it's really kind of crazy. And, and throughout my career, I've tried to stop this every. I mean, I am very generous person. And talent is always part of what I look for in putting things together and so on and so forth. And I'm not protective in that way, necessarily. But when someone crosses the line, as Nino Trudi did and Alan Flusser did. Okay. Alan Flusser. We went to Alan Flusser because there wasn't any one in New York. Knowing what I wanted. There wasn't anybody in New York that could produce the the the goods fast enough for me to put on film, and a friend suggested had use Had you gone to see Alan Flusser? And I said, No that but I knew who he was. It was a good idea. We went up to see him and said, Can you do this in two weeks? Where it was some ridiculously short time? I'll pay you. It doesn't matter. You know, just tell me the price. Yeah, we'll give you screen credit like a thank you and the end roll. But can you do it? And he said, it, you know, after thinking about okay, sure. And so he agreed to make the suit. He agreed to give me everything that I needed. And I thought that his tailor shop was just all very, it was very like a little Atal yeh. And I thought, Oh, this is very, very good. I could bring Michael here, this would be very quiet, very contained. And it was all just great. And the delivered what he said he would deliver, and we put things together. And everything was quite successful until of course, he claimed he designed the film. And he many, many, many years later. So I at that time, he claimed that he designed the film and I was upset again. And I mean, I was a young designer who was, you know, trying to make my way in the world and didn't realize how greedy people were no pun intended. And I remember Liz Smith, a publicist that I knew took this to Liz Smith, who was a columnist at the New York Post, I think at that time, and something to the effect of don't don't invite Ellen Mirage, Nick and Alan foster to the same cocktail party, she'll kill them. She was the one who designed Wall Street, not our lesser, it's something of that nature. So that was satisfying with that end later, when doing the Nick sets many years later, right. It's like 2013. I was in a factory in Brooklyn who Greenfield who were making suits for me for Clive Owen. And their dad, Mr. Greenfield, said, You know, we've worked together before and he was he was very, very, he was very much older man and so on, was the dad. And he said, I said, Really, and and Greenfield and Brookland is it's a whole factory. You know, it's like, totally, it's a complete a complete thing. I don't know how many there are in this world anymore. Greenfield actually has for so many years, the I think that the 20s or the 30s. That building went up as a factory. And to this day, it's the same in Brooklyn. And I said, What do you mean? He said, I made you your suits for Wall Street. Oh, wow. No, what are you talking about? He said, Alan flustered told you he made the suits. Right. And he told you made the suits upstairs. He didn't. He made them in Greenfield. That's how I that's how I understood. He could do it. This is many years later, but he could do it in two weeks. And tailored. Unknown Speaker That's why I'm Lauren Greenfield is a legend. in his own right to him. He was a Holocaust survivor has been doing this. Yes. For many years. Wow. Unknown Speaker 1987 or 88. I think it was 80. Maybe it was 88. At that time, he was cutting Michael Douglas's suits. PB Haha, that's so nice. That's such a great story. Thank you for Well, now we know. I mean, we had a big response on on the socials when I mentioned that we'll be speaking to you later today. I mean, countless people asked me about Wall Street. So we Unknown Speaker it's a really, really good film. And it's really a good film. That's quite I think it's a film in a moment, that cat that I don't know, captured the time that we lived in. That was so true. And it didn't matter if you were in in trading or if you worked on if you understood money if you understood anything, if the drama, and the story. And greed is good at that time was so much what we were all about. PB Well, from Wall Street, I'm gonna have to flick over some of my favorite films. In cliffhanger, obviously Basic Instinct amongst many because I realized that we were quite on on a time But can I just show you a clip? Yeah, sure. From a film that I I think is one of the best intros to a character in the costume as such a big part of the playlist let's see. Scorpion counseling really Unknown Speaker still fabulous, isn't it? I have to say is really, really great John Woo. Man. He was, I was so honored to be able to work with John Woo. He was such an amazing filmmaker. And I had always loved his the films that he did in Hong Kong before he came to America. And the bad guy was always so fabulous. He was always to me. It was always a good guy. He had that way about him. And in his storytelling, he made you fall in love with the bad guy. And I think we did and but in face off, you didn't know who was the bad guy, but they were both bad guys, but good debt. Good guys. Also, PB such a great film. Unknown Speaker Can you love this film? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Quick when the suits on this film. Did you have the made by Dominic Gerardi? Is that right? Yes. Yes. I assume he's retired at this point. He was big. Unknown Speaker When he moved to Argentina. Oh, family in Argentina. And at a certain point, I think it was soon after face off. I could be wrong about that in terms of years, but I think it was soon after. Wasn't too much longer that he moved to Argentina to be with his family. And his son still. His son still cut at after he left but Dominic was one in a million. Unknown Speaker Yeah, I never heard that story. I was always wondering what happened to Hey. PB Well, fast forwarding, we've got 2002 and one of my favorite films. I don't think people really talk about this film enough. But unfaithful with Richard Gere and Diane Lane. And and maybe you could just talk about, well, Donnelly is great in this full stop. I mean, she wears this beautiful trench coat throughout the film, and it kind of flows in and out through the wind and then she gets to reveal some leg that's very seductive. Olivia Martin is later on. But I mean, Richard gives at can you talk about perhaps maybe any fittings or anything like that with with Richard and what he was like, coming coming into this film? Unknown Speaker Well, you know, Adrienne line is a filmmaker. That is I love working with Adrian, he was a spectacular director to collaborate with. We happen to actually have the same aesthetic sensibility from the the beginning. And so the translation was always easy to understand and what you see in the film, or how the film feels in terms of its aesthetic, particularly unfaithful more than I would say basic instinct. I'd that Basic Instinct part may Fatal Attraction. We didn't talk about Jacob's Ladder, but that's one of my favorites. Of Adrian's that being said. The one thing about the one thing about unfaithful is, everything that you see is everything that really kind of signifies what an Adrian line film looks like, I can't really there is there is a very realistic ascetic, that is fine. It is it's it is not average, because of how it's put together and how its shot. And what he feels is what he wants to get out of the character what he wants to get out of the scene. There is always a level of, you can always feel the body beneath the clothes, whether whatever it is that actually is layered on top of the skin. But you can always feel it you could always you could always feel the clothes, you could always feel the body you could always feel a little bit of the skin, and it was never about being sexual. It was only about being I guess revealing the the most that would entail heists you too, as the audience to continue on and telling the story. Nothing was ever forced in a way that would feel unreal. If that was the case. It would never be accepted. So whether it be an older coat like we saw on Olivia, Olivia, Olivia Olivier olive pardon me. You know it, is it something that is something that is a real item. It is a real item. She, I think that when we designed the film, there was something about the blue of the, there was something about Blue, and I don't really remember, that was an indicator that there was a yearning. That's how I remember it. I don't remember why. I honestly don't, at this time, and he wears a beautiful Surly and blue color scarf. She gives her a blue cashmere sweater. kind of bluish shirt, a longer shirt in at the beginning of the film, right. There was an I don't remember right now why we did this. But there was it was to indicate a yearning and a emptiness and a yearning. PB Thank you. Well, that's, that's pretty interesting. I mean, the unfaithful, like you mentioned, it's not like the sexiest film in the world, it doesn't have that kind of provoking sex appeal. But just like the close up of them holding hands after she really reads the Braille book, and the hands both collapse, and they just hold, like, wow, you can actually feel the heat in those sort of moments, those sort of electric moments. Unknown Speaker I agree, because Adrian is a director. That is, I would always call him a humanistic director. There's always some humor, real human qualities that you kind of feel from him. There's not anything that if he thinks something feels fake, he'll never included in the film, he admits in his understanding of what the human element and human desire is about. PB Great, well, we got to, we have to hit behind the candle. Again, I would love to Unknown Speaker believe in one thing, but let's just plan it in a way. Okay. So that it gives you enough time, and so on, because figure out what you want to talk about. I'll talk about whatever you want, or I won't talk about it. Let's move on to something else. But very little, that's fine, because it's just silly to to just yeah, don't you think PB I know? Well, we're trying to cram your entire filmography into half an hour. And Unknown Speaker if it is in the top 10 or whatever, let's continue on at it. Can we do that at another time? Yeah, we'd PB love to early. Yeah. Great. Yeah. No, that'd be awesome. I Unknown Speaker mean, I can probably I have to do tomorrow. I have to do a a zoom. Meeting at 6am My time. Okay. But that that could be for two hours. That's eight my time but that's still not it's still too early for you, Peter. PB So ATM your time would probably be a win for for your for my time. Unknown Speaker I might be done. I might. I mean, if we want to do it tomorrow at 10 like we did today. Yeah. And we planned. More like an hour or so. Ya know, no, I'm, PB I'm fine with Unknown Speaker that. That's better to do. I mean, I think that I have to do this quickly now because I don't know where I'm going. i There's a cup. I'm a little busy. Okay. Is that okay? For you? I don't like be PB No, that's fine. I mean, we can we can we can. Unknown Speaker Okay, so let's do tomorrow. And we'll plan an hour. PB Yeah. Next time. Unknown Speaker Perfect. Is that right? Or if you want it to go a little over, just like just so that you get everything that you might want to get? Sure. PB Yeah. Would it be okay to use any of what we spoke about today on the show? All of what we have. Well, I Gonna do at least an hour or 10 on cliffhanger, so Unknown Speaker I can't remember that far back. As I said, I just saw it the other day. I don't remember certain things. I PB can only just saw it this morning so you're in good company to wake up okay. Well listen. Yeah, that'd be great if you've got time tomorrow. Yep, same time, same channel. I'll send a new link through to your email. And we'll do this again tomorrow. Thank you, Alan. Thanks for Thanks again. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye bye. Transcribed by https://otter.ai