Hail August - The Month of Augustus, Cleopatra & Elizabeth Taylor By Greg Schreiner
Hail August - The Month of Augustus, Cleopatra & Elizabeth Taylor
By Greg Schreiner
The month of August is named after Augustus Caesar. He adopted his great nephew Julius as his son. He also had another son, Caesarian, with Cleopatra. Which brings us to our film star of the month, Elizabeth Taylor in her definitive role as Cleopatra, 1963.
This movie went so over budget, that 20th Century Fox almost went bankrupt and was forced to sell their backlots which became Century City. The costumes for his movie were designed by Irene Sharaff and were incredibly glamorous befitting an Egyptian queen. This particular costume is in 3 pieces. A long blue dress in the finest silk imaginable, with a leather vest layered in gold leaf and a cape embroidered with sequins. I doubt that the ancient Egyptians actually used sequins, but they look so good on the big screen. The scene for this costume was the encampment outside of Rome while Cleopatra awaits her entrance to meet Caesar.
I own a huge collection of over 500 movie costumes worn by the great stars of the golden age Hollywood and have been asked to feature something special befitting the month of August. I also utilize my costumes in a show, Hollywood Revisited (www.hollywoodrevisited.com).
Photos of costumes above courtesy of Greg Schreiner. 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!