There’s a fabulous collection of Penhaligon’s perfumes displayed in Claire Gregory’s boudoir.
Category Archives: perfumes in movies
Yield to the Night (1956)
Mary Price Hilton (Diana Dors) works as a sales assistant at a perfume shop. There she meets Jim Lancaster (Michael Craig), the man she’ll desperately fall in love with. When they first meet, he’s looking for a fragrance, but asks Mary what she is wearing.
There are several bottles on the glass counter, among which Shalimar by Guerlain.
The spectacular giant chauve souris bottle gets a beautiful shot in the same scene.
On the bottom shelf of the counter there’s a set of Lucien Lelong mini bottles (see the ball-shaped stoppers) and what looks like Gardénia by the same brand. The bottle – designed by René Lalique and called Sea Star – was actually used for other perfumes by Lelong (Lilac, for example), but the white box trimmed in a contrasting colour could confirm it was Gardenia.
Another shot shows a flacon bouchon coeur and a flacon montre by Guerlain. Reading the labels is impossible, so I can’t tell what they contained. The same can be said for the trademark tall bottle by Lucien Lelong, which was used for different fragrances.
Poltergeist (1982)
Diane Freeling (JoBeth Williams) is about to take a bath. On a shelf in her bathroom, bottles of Ralph Lauren Lauren and of Estee Lauder Youth-Dew are visible. The floral woody scent by Ralph Lauren was launched in 1978; the oriental spicy fragrance was created by Josephine Catapano and launched in 1953.
The pink bottle on the second shelf is Tickle roll-on deodorant.
Thanks to my friend Jennifer for the Ralph Lauren id and to Sandra for the Tickle id.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
When Dorothy and Lorelei get to Paris, they immediately go out shopping. One of the shops they hit is Guerlain. The screencap above shows the most famous fragrances of the French brand.
There are three flacons montres of Shalimar eau de cologne and two of Mitsouko eau de cologne.
There are five bouchon coeur bottles and two parquet boxes.
There are also two chauve souris bottles of Shalimar.
Last but not least, two flacons rayonnants of Vol de Nuit and three zebra-printed boxes.
La nuit américaine (1973)
There’s a bottle of Rochas Madame Rochas on the washbasin in Julie Baker’s bathroom.
The Danish Girl (2015)
There are several bottles of Guerlain colognes at the department store where Lili (Eddie Redmayne) works. The movie is set in the 1920s, so the choice of flacons montre with a glass stopper is not historically accurate: these were first launched in 1937. The teal disk on the bottle on the right is reminiscent of Mitsouko.
An American in Paris (1951)
Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) visits a perfume shop in Paris, where he first meets Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron), who works there as shop assistant.
In the screencap above, three bottles of Lucien Lelong Sirocco and a giant bottle of Elsa Schiaparelli Shocking can be seen. Sirocco was launched in 1934, while Shocking – a creation by Jean Carles – was launched in 1937.
Lots of bottles here! On the glass table on the left there’s Lucien Lelong Tailspin cologne; on the right counter, there’s a Guerlain flacon montre and there’s another one on the second shelf in the background. The first flacon montre is confusing because it contains a green liquid and has a golden disk on the front, so I guess it was a promotional factice. The second one has an orange disk, so it’s definitely Shalimar eau de cologne.
On the counter there are several Lelong fragrances: Orgueil, Balalaika cologne, Sirocco again and Balalaika eau de toilette. Orgueil was created by Jean Carles and launched in 1946; Balalaika was launched in 1939.
Tailspin cologne and Balalaika eau de toilette make another appearance, along with two beautiful fluted bottles of Indiscret, launched in 1936. The tiny bottle just under Gene Kelly’s chin is Opening Night, a box of which can be seen under the glass shelf. This fragrance was launched in 1935.
Three bottles and boxes of Lucien Lelong Jabot can be seen on the bottom shelf of the counter, along with two bottles of Balalaika cologne and a bottle of Parfum N. This one could also be Parfum B, since they had the same bottle. Jabot was launched in 1939 and Parfum N in 1928.
The Lelong fest is not over yet: the red/white/blue box on the left, under Gene Kelly’s elbow, is Tailspin eau de parfum. The pyramid bottle next to the actor’s hip is Opening Night (Lelong loved using different bottles for the same fragrance).
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
There’s a bottle of Corday Possession on Joey Drayton’s dressing table.
According to Fragrantica, this is a floral aldehyde fragrance launched in 1937. The beautiful bottle is accented by a satin ribbon, while the oval box is decorated with a unicorn sitting in a fence. This is obviously a reproduction of The Unicorn in Captivity, one of the seven hangings from the Middle Ages known as The Unicorn Tapestries.
Thanks to Bgirlrhapsody for this (impossible for me) id.
Totò, Peppino e la… malafemmina (1956)
There’s a Guerlain flacon montre on the dressing table of the showgirl Marisa Florian (Dorian Gray). There’s no way to know what cologne the bottle contained: the disk label can’t be read and the black and white of the film doesn’t help. In any case, the choice is historically accurate: the bottle with the glass stopper was produced from 1936 to 1972.
Thanks to my friend Rocco for the id.
World Wide Aura 