THE MANNEQUIN STORY

ON A BIG NEW YORK DEPARTMENT STORE

INT. DEPARTMENT STORE WINDOW: ON THE MANNEQUINS INSIDE:

MILDRED: "Am I imagining it or is it getting even hotter in here?"

REGINALD: "Haw! Good old Mildred, always exaggerating."

NIGEL: "No, I feel it, too. My fingers are getting sticky."

GERTRUDE: "That's because you're made of wax. You should be plaster, like me.  We don't melt so easy.

Of course, we flake when it gets hot ...like...er, um...now."

NIGEL (VO): "It's almost Summer. Mornings get hot now. I don't think the store knows what's happening here."

GLADIOLA: "I'd give anything to ditch this fur coat."

IRIS: "The hands in the glove display are made of 100% wax. I figure we're okay as long as they hold out."

ON THE DISPLAY: THE GLOVED HANDS POINT RIGIDLY AT AN IMAGINARY POINT O.S.

THEN, WITHOUT WARNING, THE FINGERS GO LIMP.

ALL (VO): (A collective gasp)

DAISY: "Well, that's it then. We're screwed."

DAISY(VO): "Paul, you seem to be taking this calmly."

PAUL: "Why not?  there's no use in crying about what you can't change. Besides, I've always wondered what happens to creatures like us when the end comes."

PAUL (VO): "I guess I'm going to find out."

MILDRED (DEJECTED): "Yeah...find out."

DAISY: "Find out...."

BEHIND THE MANNEQUINS A DOOR SLIDES OPEN:

ART DIRECTOR: "What the heck!!??? What's going on here? Who's responsible for this!?????

ART DIRECTOR (VO) (TO HIS CREW): "Get those mannequins in a car fast!!! Turn the engine on! Crank the air conditioner all the way up!!!"

ON THE MANNEQUINS INSIDE THE VAN:

MILDRED: "Hey, we're in a van. Does anyone know how to drive it?"

REGINALD: "No, but if humans can do it, how hard could it be?"

THE AL HIRSCHFELD WINDOW

Wow! Mike just sent me some pictures of a terrific window display in the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in Manhattan. That's Hirschfeld above, seated in the barber chair he did most of his later caricatures in. Someone...I've gotta find out who...did a bang-up job of transforming Hirschfeld's self-caricature into sculpture. Can somebody out there find more work for this artist? I want to see more exhibits like this!

For comparison, here's (above) the original pen and ink caricature that the window image is based on.

Here's (above) how the window looks at night...

...and here's (above) the same window in the daytime. I see Audry Hepburn, Woody Allen, Bernadette Peters, Marilyn Monroe, Whoopi Goldberg and Carol Channing, among others. My guess is that some of these were done by a different artist than the one who did Hirschfeld but I could be wrong. 

Yikes! A rear 3/4 shot reveals a few of the perspective cheats.

Above, more perspective cheats revealed.

Above, a close-up. The head looks like it might be flattened a bit like a bas relief, but I'm not sure.  If it is that was good choice since that approach makes it easier to subordinate the details to the need to emphasize line. I wish I could find an interview with the sculptor. 

Some of the framed pictures (above) behind Hirschfeld have 3 Dimansional elements.

The theatre's housed in the same building as the old Beck Theatre. When it was built it was the biggest vaudeville theatre in New York. Now it's home to lavish Broadway plays. 

I love the way the sign looks at night (above), though I'm not sure this photo does it justice. 

That's all I have to say about this. Thanks, Mike! 

   

The Flickr link: http://www.flickriver.com/photos93779577@n00/sets/72157637743809794/