A New Travis Banton Book Offers a Deep Dive into the “Paramount Look”
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Howard Gutner, who also authored MGM Style and an exploration of Adrian's MGM years, has crafted an insightful take on the man who contributed to the style-icon status of Marlene Dietrich and Carole Lombard.
It should be a joy to every fan of classic film and fashion that, almost a century after some of the most iconic and stylish films of the 1930s were released, we continue to learn details about the lives and careers of the costume designers responsible for creating some of the most visually stunning moments in 20th-century cinema.
Howard Gutner can take a healthy amount of credit for the availability of that information. He authored 2019's MGM Style: Cedric Gibbons and the Art of the Golden Age of Hollywood, as well as 2001's Gowns by Adrian: The MGM Years 1928-1941, which is set to be reprinted for release in November 2026. In May Lyons Press released Gutner's latest: Banton of Paramount: Haute Couture in Hollywood's Golden Age, which not only explores the life and career of the famed designer, it also looks at his collaborations with some of Hollywood's most legendary actresses: Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, Claudette Colbert and Mae West chief among them. Banton dressed each of them for films that continue to enjoy beloved status, not only for their witty banter and romantic plotlines, but very much for their style, a type of sensuous glamour that earned Banton and his studio their own phrase: “the Paramount look.”
For Screen Chic, Gutner spoke about Banton's life and his creative process, including the relationships he enjoyed with some of the most celebrated women of Hollywood and the 20th century — with a fellow designer included in that mix.
Screen Chic: Among your previous work is MGM Style and a book that highlights Adrian's MGM years — what is it about Travis Banton that you wanted to highlight for both diehard classic-film fans and those who might not know his work well?
Howard Gutner: Banton was instrumental in helping to create the images of several stars, such as Marlene Dietrich and Carole Lombard. Banton alone was responsible for turning Lombard into a “glamour queen” and fashion icon. She trusted him implicitly and never even asked to see his sketches; she felt anything he designed for her would be perfect. Her agent, Myron Selznick (David O’s brother), famously quipped that if the writers of Carole’s films paid as much attention to Lombard’s attributes as Banton, she’d have the wittiest dialogue in Hollywood.
Although it was Dietrich who came up with the idea to use feathers for one of her costumes in Shanghai Express, it was Banton who had the inspiration to use black coq feathers, creating one of Dietrich’s signature looks.
Due to Paramount’s largesse, he was the only designer in Hollywood who was able to make a trip to Paris each year to get a preview of the new designer collections. He would then take any new ideas that were percolating in Paris and combine them with his own aesthetic. So, he was almost always ahead of the trends. As costume designer Walter Plunkett said, “the rest of us always watched Banton.”
SC: A good portion of the book is devoted to some of the incredible women he dressed: Marlene Dietrich, Claudette Colbert, Carole Lombard, Mae West. These women were of course incredibly different, so what was it about his talent that enabled him to create such unique looks for each?
HG: Mae West had her own persona that was fully developed before she came to Paramount to make her first starring feature. “This is the Mae West look,” she told Edith Head before their first costume fitting. (Banton was in Europe, so Head took over creating the designs for West’s first film.) When the production code took effect in 1934, Banton wittily burlesqued the “1890s, full-bust” silhouette that West preferred, piling on the clothes and giving her outrageous hats. He saw that she was basically a burlesque performer and dressed her that way.
As for Lombard, Dietrich and Colbert, he had an eye for recognizing what would look good on an actress, taking into consideration her figure, onscreen persona, and the kinds of films that were tailored for her at Paramount. Colbert once said, “I was the girl next door, Carole was the girl next door but crazy, and Marlene was the girl next door but sexy and sultry.” Banton designed accordingly.
SC: Was Dietrich the best of all his pairings with actresses?
HG: I know that while he adored Lombard, Banton felt that his “great claim to fame” was the fact that he designed Dietrich’s costumes. I would say that Dietrich and Banton were more or less co-designers, as they bounced ideas off one another, and both had a tireless work ethic. He found working with her to be incredibly creative, and I would say that she fired his imagination. As he said, “Marlene Dietrich can wear clothes that no one else can wear,” and this freed his powers of invention.
In the end, however, many of the designs he created for Dietrich had to meet with the approval of Josef von Sternberg. In the six films Von Sternberg made at Paramount with Dietrich, he had complete control over all aspects of his films. But since Von Sternberg was such a baroque visual stylist, there were few to no conflicts.
Once [the Von Sternberg-Dietrich] collaboration ended, Banton and Dietrich collaborated on some stunning contemporary designs for the films Desire and Angel. A nightgown designed for Desire was worn at a Los Angeles fashion show in 1969.
SC: Which films do you believe represent the best of Banton's work, and why?
HG: There are so many, but I would definitely choose Trouble in Paradise. His designs for Kay Francis in that film have, in my opinion, a simple, classic elegance that remains fashionable even today. The designs for The Scarlet Empress reflect one method of his approach to films set in a specific historical period. He wanted designs that were expressive of the period, without deliberately copying them verbatim from photographs or paintings.
He also recognized that The Scarlet Empress was a sort of phantasmagoria of 18th century Russia conceived not with precise historical accuracy but from the baroque sensibility — or imagination — of its director, Von Sternberg, and this influenced his designs.
The Devil is a Woman is a dizzy whirlwind of creativity. As Cecilia Ager wrote in her review, “With fringe, lace, sequins, carnations, chenille, nets, embroideries, and shawls, Miss Dietrich is hung, wrapped, draped, swathed, and festooned.”
And this may sound like a strange choice, but the period costumes in Mourning Becomes Electra, set in post-Civil War New England, have a stark, accurate simplicity that is unexpected given Banton’s work at Paramount. Many critics at the time recognized and acclaimed Banton’s work on the film. He wielded a broad palette.
SC: If you were asked to recommend one film to be introduced to Banton's designs, which film would it be and why?
HG: Given the diverse examples noted above, I find it very difficult to narrow it down to one film. How about two? For its classic elegance and simplicity, Trouble in Paradise. For sheer creativity and extravagance, The Devil is a Woman. Not surprising, I guess, given my response to the previous question.
SC: Fans of fashion in classic film tend to worship Edith Head, and she certainly played a role in both the life and career of Banton, who started out as her mentor, while she succeeded him at Paramount as head costume designer after the studio let him go in 1938.
HG: In Banton of Paramount, I describe how, when Banton’s alcoholism began to interfere with his work, Head would often drive to his house in the morning, ply him with coffee, and then drive him to the studio. She gave him a great deal of credit for mentoring her. Executives at Paramount had indulged his lateness and sudden disappearances when he went on a “binge.” He asked for more money when discussions for his contract renewal came up in 1938, and I suppose the studio simply felt he was no longer worth the trouble. There was certainly no bitterness between them. They collaborated on a Los Angeles fashion event showcasing California designers in the early 1940s.
SC: The House of Schiaparelli has been enjoying a high-wattage moment since Daniel Roseberry joined as artistic director, and the label is now a staple of major red carpets — but for those who never knew the backstory of Banton and Elsa Schiaparelli, how do you believe these two icons of design influenced or challenged each other in the 1930s?
HG: I would say Schiaparelli influenced Adrian more so than Banton, particularly if you look at some of Adrian’s designs for the fashion show in The Women. Schiaparelli and Banton challenged each other when she criticized some of his designs for Dietrich in Shanghai Express, and Hollywood design in particular, writing, “Exaggeration, elaboration — anything but simplicity — seem to be the aim of motion picture dress designers when they clothe their stars.” She singled out the coq feather dress and wrote, “Those are the effects we see in the movies and not the effects that create real smartness.” Banton countered by saying, “No woman of taste would dress as I dressed her [Dietrich] for train traveling. What they forget is that Miss Dietrich in that picture portrayed a demi-mondaine whose clothes would be flashy and gaudy.” Banton did suggest, however, that certain accessories that Dietrich wore could be added to a woman’s “smart” wardrobe. And apparently, Schiaparelli had not yet seen Trouble in Paradise.
What amuses me, however, is that a few years later Schiaparelli jumped at the chance to design a wardrobe for Mae West in Every Day’s a Holiday. Talk about exaggeration and elaboration.
SC: What was the most surprising thing you learned about Banton over the course of your research?
HG: The most surprising thing I learned had nothing to do with his film work, but with the wardrobe he created for Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame on Broadway. They created quite a sensation! Since the play was mostly set in the 1930s just after the stock market crash, he was able to tap into his talent for creating chic designs from that period. One of the colors he used in a design for Russell became known as “Mame red.” Reviewers and critics at the time singled out his designs, and Banton was signed to do the film version, also with Russell. Tragically, Banton died before he could begin work on the film. [Editor's Note: Following Banton's death in 1958, Orry-Kelly stepped in to design the costumes for the film version released that year.]
SC: Whether you love classic film, fashion or costume design, why is it important to continue to celebrate Banton's legacy?
HG: In film historian Scott Eyman’s biography of Ernst Lubitsch, he wrote that “part of the style that cascades off the screen in the Paramount films of Ernst Lubitsch is due to the talents of art director Hans Dreier and costume designer Travis Banton.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not recognize achievement in costume design until 1949. I think acknowledging and appreciating the work of Banton and other designers that thrived within the studio system before 1949 is a key element in coming to an understanding of a director’s vision, just as it is today. If someone is going to study and write about those pre-war films, they should look at the contributions of the costume designer as well as the work of the cinematographer and set designer. Too often, that’s not the case.
