Why the movie Lady Beware is a classic and controversial movie about mannequins and visual merchandising.

As a mannequin seller, I'm fascinated with movies and television series in which mannequins play a prominent role.

That episode of The Twilight Zone in which the shop mannequins come to life after hours after the business has closed is my all-time favorite.

The much-loved "Mannequin" was never a favorite of mine since it was just too ludicrous. In the end, the scene when "Emmy" and the other mannequins are going to be shredded has a new significance to me since I work as a mannequin recycler.

I, too, like Andrew McCarthy's character, have rescued mannequins from being thrown away at landfills.

In the 1980s and 1990s, I had a conversation with a friend/client who served as the head of visual merchandising for a number of well-known retail chains. I'll refer to him as Sam since he's a highly private guy. As soon as I asked Same what his favorite movie with mannequins was, he responded with the words LADY BEWARE.

For one thing, Sam was born and raised in the city where the film was shot, and as a result, he has an unfair advantage in his assessment of the movie.

I recently saw the film because of my friend's excitement for it, and I have mixed views about it. Before I go into my thoughts, here is a quick description of the film.

Visual merchandiser Diane Lane (played by Lane) has the chance to construct a display in a large retailer's window as her job interview. The word play "Midnight Snacks" with kitchen equipment and practically nude mannequins in the window creates a double entendre in the window.

Her sexually charged window display draws the notice of a guy who ends up pursuing and tormenting her, causing a stir in the neighborhood.

Here are some of the things I like about the film.

1 The movie was shot at a period when the use of lifelike mannequins in shop was at its height. It's refreshing to see so many lifelike mannequins, which are becoming more uncommon in retail establishments these days.

2 Rootstein created the majority of the mannequins used in the film. There was an extensive series of blog postings on this company last year with the assistance of images from Sam's own collection, which includes over a hundred Rootstein mannequins.

3 CANDY PRICE PRATTS (CPP) was the display director for Bloomingdales in the 1970s and devised the window decorations in the movie. Indeed, the protagonist was modeled after CPP since female visual merchandisers were uncommon at the time.

CPP's window displays might have been better preserved if social media had been there when she was developing them. These window displays provide a little look of her abilities. Aside from that, CCP has recently worked on images for Michael Kors. In 1976, HRH Queen Elizabeth II sought a meeting with CCP after seeing the Bloomingdale's displays and seeing the main store in New York.

4 Styled costumes under the direction of Patricia Field. Candy Pratts Price endorsed Patricia for the post as costume designer. And this was before Patricia became known for her role as the stylist for Sex and the City's fictional characters. She made her name in this film.

Things I don't like

1 The movie's first two obviously racist remarks come at around a quarter of the way through. The first is a remark made by a homosexual character regarding Diane Lane's Black assistant. It's apparent that the Black lady is a second-class citizen in our country. That little amount of screen time was shaved from the final version of the film.

Stalker contacts Diane and hints that she is in danger, not from him but from two Black males he claims are following her. This is the second racial insult (which never happened). The Black males were either going to rape her or rob her, according to the suggestion.

3 If you're not a member of the mannequin business insiders, you won't see my third problem. Billie Blair, a brown-skinned black model, is the inspiration for one of the mannequins in the film. Rootstein crafted the mannequin, and the stance in which she is shown is greatly sought after by mannequin enthusiasts.

Whitewashing is a common practice in films, as it is in real life. In other words, they lighten her skin tone to make it seem as if she is a white lady. On this blog, you can find out more about it.

4 When the film was released, it was a rarity for a woman to direct a film, much as it is now. According to AMERICAN FILM INDUSTRRY archives, she eventually walked away from the project because she didn't like the Scotti Brothers' theatrical release version. "Psychological Rape" was transformed into a "exploitation film" by its makers.

Despite Scotti Brothers' earlier guarantee that Arthur would be allowed a final cut, the business apparently re-edited the film to include nude sequences of Diane Lane's character.. But the studio produced a slew of negatives that Arthur had never planned to use to illustrate Katya's sexiness.

There were also reductions in the roles of two characters (among which was the Black lady previously mentioned). The elimination of these moments, according to Arthur, resulted in "jerky transitions and unmotivated acts," which were critical to Arthur's portrayal of Diane's point of view.

That's presumably why the movie, which was intended to be about female empowerment and standing up to bullying, didn't seem like it.

These are some of the mannequins shown in the film.

Sam has provided us with a few more movie trivia nuggets. Filming for Lady Beware started on or around July 21st, 1986 in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. An essential but unseen role had been cast earlier, but the choice was between two equally competent people.

Horne's Department Store on Penn Avenue, a seven-story, 630,000-square-foot shop built in 1849, was the first runner-up for the honor.

Another contender was the 1871-founded Kaufmann's Fifth Avenue Department Store, with a total floor space of 1.2 million square feet.

Despite the fact that both establishments featured corner windows, the general location of Horne's, in a more open portion of downtown near the "point," and the overall arrangement of their corner window made this space more open.

Window dresser at Horne's Department Store in 1947 was Andy Warhol, whose work was featured in the film The Factory. In Lady Bewarevisual storage, behind windows, etc., Warhol would have walked through many of the same spots that he did when working for Horne's.

Warhol created Bonwit Teller's windows in 1949 after migrating from Pittsburgh to New York City. The Andy Warhol Museum, which is located in Pittsburgh, is also worth noting. The search for photographs of Horne's windows during Warhol's tenure there continued for many years around 2015, but no images were found.

UPDATE:

There are many fans of Lady Beware. After reading this blog article, a film fan from France sent me with the following information:

When it came to Viveca Lindford, she was the only character to have all of her sequences deleted. A bus driver who becomes friends with Diane Lane's character is portrayed by Willa. I believe she was only seen in a photo of Katya and I that I no longer have, which was on an old lobby card/memorabilia.

An additional lady, both of whom are wearing a cap.

Especially for an unknown foreigner like myself, I'm French, finding information about the film is quite difficult.

I have Cohen's first manuscript, dated April 1986, which has undergone several revisions since then.

Price raped Katya violently in early versions, but Karen Arthur resisted. But I believe part of her original aim was still evident in the finished product.