'Banton of Paramount' looks at the man who dressed Mae West, Marlene Dietrich

Travis Banton, Paramount Pictures' head designer back in the 1920s and '30s, put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into his work. He didn't appreciate it, however, when one of the studio's biggest stars responded to his work in a similar fashion.

After star Claudette Colbert rejected his initial costume sketches for the 1934 epic "Cleopatra," Banton worked all night before delivering her a new set in the morning. He also told her that if she didn't like them, she could slit her wrists for all he cared. Instead, she cut her finger and returned the sketches with bloody smudges.

That's one of the fascinating stories in Howard Gutner's "Banton of Paramount" (Globe Pequot, $40), a photo-heavy book coming out May 19 that's as stunning as any dress Banton designed for Marlene Dietrich or Mae West. 

Gutner, who will be doing a talk and book signing at Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington on May 29 after a screening of "Desire" starring Dietrich (he'll also be at Film Forum in Manhattan on May 26-27), recently spoke to Newsday by phone about the book.

The studios had many great designers back in the 1930s, like Adrian at MGM. What made Banton stand out?

Part of Banton’s mystique was that Paramount paid for him to take a three-week trip to Paris in order to attend some of the Paris showings. Paramount way back in the ‘20s had established a bureau in Paris to reach out and form professional relationships with some of the couturiers working there at the time. ... Banton was able to get a head start on what was coming out of Paris and his designs often had a classic elegance. He preferred solid colors for many costumes. His work in many cases was a little less flashy and very understated. And that’s one reason why they have endured and look so chic today.

"Desire" is being screened at Cinema Arts Centre. Why that film?

They wanted a Dietrich film. For a modern audience, I think "Desire" is the best choice because it still has a contemporary flair to it. It’s a comedy and Gary Cooper is still well-known today. ... It’s very noteworthy in Dietrich’s career because this was the first time that Banton designed for her without [mentor director Josef] von Sternberg’s influence. So he and Dietrich had much more input on the costumes and it was the first real chic modern film that she had ever done. She played a very sophisticated jewel thief and they had very sophisticated and modern designs. And Dietrich being Dietrich, she didn’t want to copy anything being done in Vogue or any of the other fashion magazines.

What was his working relationship with Carole Lombard like?

He just thought she was kind of a gas. She was very boisterous and their costume fittings were full of laughter. She just loved his designs. She had the perfect figure for him, too — tall and slender. She just accepted everything he designed for her. She didn’t even have to see the sketches, she just knew that every single thing he designed for her would be fine, and that delighted him that she put such trust in him.

You write that he was afraid of Mae West when she came to Paramount. 

There’s that anecdote about his uncle Joab Banton. He was a District Attorney in New York and he was responsible for closing Mae West’s play "Sex" [in 1927]. Because he had the same last name as his uncle, he was terrified she would make a connection and hate his guts. She did make the connection and said "No, no, he was just doing his job. I don’t hold any grudges."

Was he under a lot of pressure at the studio and did that contribute to his drinking problem?

He designed for 22 films in 1930, 19 in 1931, 20 in 1932. ... Remember, it’s not just a sketch. When you’re designing for a film, there are conferences with the stars, fittings, adjustments, all of this is going on. Whatever he designed might not work for one reason or another and the actress might change her mind and it was back to the drawing board. While he was working on two or three films, he might spend 36 hours working on a costume for Dietrich for "Shanghai Express." He was a real workhorse. And that might have contributed to the drinking problem that he had.

How do you think he would have fared working today in movies?

Today films are independent productions and director and producers may seek financing from a studio or production company. They are not necessarily working together for that specific company. Banton became an independent contractor after he left Paramount ... and that’s the way most costume designers work today so he might have fared very well on that front. ...

He could be a diva because he was so used to most of the actresses at Paramount accepting what he gave them. There’s a story I didn’t put in the book where George Cukor was directing "A Double Life" in 1947, and Cukor told Banton that he didn’t want a nightgown for the character Shelley Winters was to play to look like the kind of thing Banton used to create for Carole Lombard with ostrich feathers. Well, Banton basically ignored him and did just that, and he was fired. That sensibility, that mind set, I don’t know how well that would work today.