Ep #31 - Natasha Degen's 60s Pick: Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?
Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966)
Cinema60 welcomes Natasha Degen, chair of Art Market Studies at Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. Bart and Jenna invited her on to talk about Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966) a film as fashionable as it is ridiculous. Having already written about The Market, Natasha’s currently working on a book-length project that touches on the way artists started to become their own brand in the the mid to late-Sixties (à la Warhol), with the Youthquake ready-to-wear fashion boom of the time playing an important role in that movement.
Directed by fashion photographer-cum-filmmaker William Klein, Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? is a satirical take-down of the media and fashion industry of the time, following a day in the life of one Polly Maggoo, model, as she flits around from metallic fashion shows to reality TV sets, all the while stalked by a lusty director and a dreamy Prince. Aka, it’s the prefect choice to satisfy Natasha’s research, Jenna’s mod-fashion fetish, and Bart’s love of absurdist comedy.
The following film is discussed:
•Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966)
Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo?
Directed by William Klein
Starring Dorothy McGowan, Jean Rochefort, Sami Frey
These additional films are mentioned:
•Broadway by Light (1958)
Directed by William Klein
•Band of Outsiders (1964)
Bande à part
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Anna Karina, Claude Brasseur, Sami Frey
•Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Directed by David Lean
Starring Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Tom Courtenay
•Blow-Up (1966)
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Starring David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles
•Made in U.S.A (1966)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Anna Karina, László Szabó, Jean-Pierre Léaud
•Two for the Road (1967)
Directed by Stanley Donen
Starring Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney, Eleanor Bron
•Mr. Freedom (1968)
Directed by William Klein
Starring John Abbey, Delphine Seyrig, Donald Pleasence
•Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970)
Directed by Jerry Schatzberg
Starring Faye Dunaway, Barry Primus, Roy Scheider
