Orry George Kelly (31 December 1897 – 27 February 1964), was an Australian Hollywood costume designer who costumed over 300 films for Warner Bros. Studios over a thirty year period. Living in the conservative and controlling environment of the Hollywood studio system, Kelly’s prolific and celebrated career was punctuated by heartbreak, alcoholism and facade, as he struggled to navigate the rules and regulations enforced upon him by society.

Until 2014, Orry-Kelly (his professional name) was Austalia’s most prolific Academy Award Winner, receiving three awards for best costume design and leaving a lasting impression on women’s silhouettes across three decades. In 2015 Australian Director Gillian Armstrong released Women He’s Undressed following extensive research into Kelly’s life and career. A subsequent exhibition at the Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI) has helped uncover Kelly’s legacy and put a name to the iconic looks known by many. Undressing Hollywood forms another piece of the puzzle, adapting Kelly’s memoir to explore his life and work via a fusion of cabaret, theatre and burlesque at Sydney’s Vanguard Theatre.

Emcee – Introducing Hedda Hopper

Performer: Rosie Rivette

What better way to re-write the story of Orry-Kelly than to employ the services of Hollywood’s most slanderous writer, gossip columnist and maker-or-breaker of careers Ms Hedda Hopper. Known for her extravagant collection of hats and her impressive coterie of informants who delivered the inside scoop, Hopper sensationalised the personal lives of Hollywood actors to over 25 million readers who poured over “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood in the Los Angeles Times.

A fierce Republican and champion of the Hollywood Blacklist, Hopper is remembered as a viper-tongued conservative who made her millions via the downfall of others. However in researching Orry-Kelly’s life for Women He’s Undressed (2015), Australian Director Gillian Armstrong discovered a trove of personal correspondence between Hedda and Orry, signalling years of close friendship in the dog-eat-dog world of Hollywood.

Act 4 – The Hays Code

Film: Fashions of 1933 (1933)

Performer: Porcelain Alice (Miss Burlesque NSW, 2019 & co-Producer, Undressing Hollywood)

Known colloquially as The Hays Code after Will H. Hays, the President of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) from 1922 to 1945, the Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1934 to 1968. The Production Code spelled out what was acceptable and unacceptable content for motion pictures produced for a public audience in the United States.

The Code stipulated a set of "general principles" which prohibited a picture from "lowering the moral standards of those who see it", so as not to wrongly influence a specific audience of views including women, children, and those of “susceptible” minds. The Code called for depictions of the "correct standards of life", and forbade a picture to show any sort of ridicule towards a law or "creating sympathy for its violation". Whilst prescribing conservative and moralistic guidelines to areas including race, class, gender, traditional understandings of marriage, sexuality and politics, the Code left its legacy perhaps most strongly on fashion and costume, as nudity was strictly forbidden – resulting in the innovation of the iconic 1930’s figure-hugging bias dress and, most importantly, the backless feature which showed as much skin as the Code would allow.

Act 5 – A Problem with Drink…

Inspiration: In Caliente (1935) / Wonderbar (1934)

Performer: Diesel Darling (Miss Burlesque NSW, 2020)

Producing work at a rapid pace for Jack Warner of Warner Bros. Orry-Kelly was under an immense amount of pressure - and left to fend for himself once Cary Grant took on the conservative expectations stipulated by his contract. Having been discharged from the army due to problems with alcohol, it was no suprise that Kelly’s affinity for the bottle continued to haunt his high-pressure and somewhat lonely professional life. Orry-Kelly’s problem with alcohol eventually cost him his job at Warner and landed him in rehab – a bitter pill to swallow as ex-lover Cary Grant’s career continued to soar to new heights.

Act 6 – A Night at the Oscars

Film: Les Girls (1957)

Performer: Jazida (Miss Burlesque ACT, 2016 & Burlesque Hall of Fame, Las Vegas)

Following his fall from grace - and a brief stint in rehab - Orry-Kelly made a remarkable comeback. The genius of Orry-Kelly was given due recognition with three Academy Awards for An American in Paris (1951), Les Girls (1957) and Some Like It Hot (1959) - all within a short eight year period. Each of these three films illustrate Kelly’s understanding of colour and movement, enhancing the physicality of actors during the period in which musical comedies were at their most popular.

Whilst this recognition might seem late in his career, the Academy Award for Costume Design only commenced in 1948, demonstrating that designers were merely part of the production team. A profuse and creative designer competing with his contemporaries, such as Edith Head - who was nominated for the Award 35 times, Kelly was until 2014 Australia’s most prolific Oscar winner. Earlier films now considered classics of costume have been recognised throughout Undressing Hollywood, including Jezebel (1938) and Casablanca (1948).

Act 7 – Casablanca

Film: Casablanca (1948)

Performer: Porcelain Alice (Miss Burlesque NSW, 2019 & co-Producer, Undressing Hollywood)

The natural beauty Ingrid Bergman is perhaps best-remembered for her role as Ilsa Laszlo in Warner Bros’ Casablanca (1948). Recognised as one of the most iconic films of its time, in part largely due to its innovations in cinematography, lighting and framing, Casablanca is considered by many as a go-to Film Noir masterpiece. Consistently ranking near the top in the greatest films in history, Casablanca was a direct product of pro-democratic American sentiment given its release linked closely with the publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks earlier.

The sleek and sports-inspired costuming of Bergman was hugely influential on the wardrobes of American women, as New York fashion houses produced the hugely popular romper with a matching striped breton for department stores across the country.

Act 8 – Midnight with Marilyn

Film: Some Like It Hot (1957)

Performer: Mama Medusa (Founder, Buxxom Soireé)

Perhaps Orry-Kelly’s most famous work, the costumes of Some Like It Hot remain to this day the image most commonly associated with Marilyn Monroe for many. Unusually filmed in black and white to set the tone of the 1920s, the costumes of Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn became an unusual combination of flapper and torch silhouettes - pairing fringe and beaded nude illusion details of the 20s with fitted figure-hugging designs of the 1950s. Whilst it is said that Orry-Kelly literally sewed Monroe into her garments to ensure the tightest fit, their relationship was anything but close - with Kelly’s dry Australian wit offending the rather prickly Marilyn on many occasions. Produced without approval from the Hays Code due to its depiction of homosexuality and cross-dressing, the scandalous success of Some Like It Hot reflected greater social tolerance for previously taboo topics in film.

Act 9 – Irma la Douce

Film: Irma la Douce (1963)

Performer: Diesel Darling (Miss Burlesque NSW, 2020)

A film originally cast to star Marilyn Monroe before her tragic death at only 36, Shirley MacLaine became the loveable Irma for Warner Bros’ reinterpretation of a French stage musical. Walking the streets of Paris with her furry companion Coquette, MacLaine portrayed Irma as a tenacious and confident prostitute prowling in black and green down the “Rue Casanova”, the most expensive studio-built set at the time of production.

The heavily stylised street-walker outfits of the 60s have been credited as inspiration for the work of John Waters and Violet Chachki, amongst others, and pay tribute to Kelly’s time spent in Kings Cross brothels before his departure to America at the age of 25.

Act 10 – A Gilded Legacy

Performer: Jordan Adams (Infamous & Australia’s Got Talent)

Hedda Hopper returns to the typewriter to send a letter to the Editor, correcting the obituary of Orry-Kelly to celebrate the life Australia’s long-forgotten costume genius. Perhaps Kelly’s genius in never overshadowing a performer with costume, instead enhancing or complementing their natural features for the narrative, contributed to his fade from public memory.

Jordan Adams brings to the stage a final celebration of queer expression, elevating Orry-Kelly to the heavens so that his legacy might be understood and become a source of inspiration for creatives to come.