Exceptional Marilyn Monroe Items at Julien's Auctions "Icons & Idols" Sale

There are some truly rare and exceptional items coming up for auction at the Julien's Auctions "Icons & Idols" sale on December 2.   An exciting array of Marilyn Monroe photos are hitting the auction block, as well as a cache of quality Monroe memorabilia, including several pieces from the now famous 1999 Christie's sale, The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe.  Likely the most important item at this sale is the Cecil Beaton Triptych, gifted to Marilyn by Bus Stop director Joshua Logan, in which Marilyn posted her favorite photo of herself.  This is perhaps the highest priced item from the 1999 Christie's sale to return to auction.  The hammer price in 1999 was $145,500.00.  What will it sell for this time?

Another item of note is an early photograph of Monroe, signed by the screen legend with her original name, Norma Jeane, and her new movie star name, Marilyn Monroe.  I've never before seen an autographed photo of Marilyn signed with her given name AND her stage name.  This is sure to be an exciting item at the sale. Also included is Marilyn's costume from The Seven Year Itch, along with the harem costume Marilyn wore as she portrayed Theda Bara, and photographed by Richard Avedon.

To see all lots in this auction, visit Julien's Auctions here.

MARILYN MONROE CECIL BEATON TRIPTYCH
Estimate: $80,000 - $100,000

A three-panel sterling silver custom-made Cartier frame, gifted to Marilyn Monroe by Nedda and Joshua Logan. The center frame houses a black and white silver gelatin print of the portrait Cecil Beaton took of Monroe in 1956. This image is purported to be Monroe’s favorite image of herself. The portrait is mounted to board and signed on matte by Beaton. The center frame is engraved at the top “For Marilyn Monroe Miller” and at the bottom “Love Nedda and Joshua Logan.” Joshua Logan directed Monroe in her 1956 film Bus Stop. The left and right frames house a handwritten letter from Cecil Beaton describing Monroe. It reads in part, “But the real marvel is the paradox – somehow we know that this extraordinary performance is pure charade, a little girl’s caricature of Mae West. The puzzling truth is that Miss Monroe is a make-believe siren, unsophisticated as a Rhine maiden, innocent as a sleepwalker. She is an urchin pretending to be grown-up, having the time of her life in mother’s moth-eaten finery, tottering about in high-heeled shoes and sipping gingerale as though it were a champagne cocktail. There is an otherworldly, a winsome naiveté about the child’s eyes…” The portrait can be seen in images of Monroe’s living room, where it was housed from 1956 until the actress’ death in 1962. PROVENANCE Lot 22, “The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe,” Christie’s, New York, Sale number 9216, October 27 & 28, 1999

MARILYN MONROE EARLY SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH 
Estimate: $10,000 - $20,000

An early black and white headshot of Marilyn Monroe inscribed to her then neighbor Phil Hooper. Inscription reads “To Phil Best Wishes Always Sincerely Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane).” Monroe and Hooper both lived at El Palaccio Apartments in West Hollywood. Monroe showed Hooper her photographs as they discussed their careers, and he asked her to sign a photograph for him. The image was signed at some time in 1947–48. Norma Jeane had begun using the name Marilyn Monroe in 1946 but did not change it officially until 10 years later. The photograph has remained in the possession of the Hooper family since the time of the signing. 10 by 8 inches

MARILYN MONROE SCREEN WORN COSTUME

Estimate: $80,000 - $100,000

A raw silk pink ensemble worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch (20th Century Fox, 1955). The costume is composed of a three-quarter-length-sleeve top and tapered leg pants containing a costumer’s label that reads “Marilyn Monroe A-734” and a maker’s label that reads “designed by Jax.” Pants feature back zipper closure and shirt features deep V neckline with wing collar. Monroe can be seen wearing the ensemble with a matching belt, now absent, as she portrayed “The Girl” in the film. No size present.


MARILYN MONROE THEDA BARA CLEOPATRA COSTUME
Estimate:  $200,000 - $300,000

A harem costume worn by Marilyn Monroe for a 1958 photoshoot with Richard Avedon. Avedon dressed Monroe as five of Hollywood’s famed leading ladies. In this costume, Monroe dressed as Theda Bara in her role as Cleopatra. It is purported that this was part of Monroe’s campaign to play the role of the Egyptian queen in the film Cleopatra that eventually starred Elizabeth Taylor. The costume is comprised of a goldtone brassierewith snake motif cups, prong set costume gems and metal ring straps, and a skirt created by a series of scarves affixed to a gold lame bikini bottom. The accessories include a serpentine headdress with goldtone linked rings at each side, three pressed metal wristbands and armbands with arabesque designs, and a belt designed to be worn at the hip with goldtone bead, gen and paillette embellishments. Accompanied by one scarfnot affixed to skirt. PROVENANCE Lot 25 “The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe,” Christie’s, New York, Sale number 9216, October 27 and 28, 1999

Update to Monroe Frock Fetches Millions: "Say Yes To The Dress(es)"

In my recent story, “Monroe Frock Fetches Millions, But Was It THE Dress?” I touched on some inconsistencies between the Billy Travilla designed halter dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in the 1955 classic, The Seven Year Itch, and the Debbie Reynolds owned Monroe costume that recently sold at the Profiles in History auction. The issues I referenced included variances in the belt and bow, the hem, the length and fullness of the skirt, and most notably the pleating variances between the Reynolds dress and the dress worn by Monroe.

I noted also in my recent story that an original Travilla subway scene dress was worn by actress Roxanne Arlen in the in the 1962 film Bachelor Flat. In this film, while the dress is clearly a Travilla design from “Itch,” there are notable differences between Marilyn’s dress and Arlen’s dress, specifically, there is a bow attached to the back of the dress, Arlen wears a brooch on the left side of her waist, and Arlen’s dress is shorter in length than Marilyn’s costume.

With the help of Andrew Hansford of the Travilla Estate and other industry experts, in this post I provide my opinion, along with photo evidence, as to the origins of the Debbie Reynolds dress. I also present a bit of intriguing information as to the possibility of there actually being TWO DIFFERENT Travilla costumes worn in the now famous skirt blowing scene from The Seven Year Itch.

About the Debbie Reynolds Marilyn Monroe Costume and the 1962 film Bachelor Flat:

The Back Bow

In Bachelor Flat, Arlen’s costume has a bow in the lower back area, shown in the screen capture above. The photo below shows evidence of stitching on the rear of the dress sold by Reynolds in the same location as the placement of the bow on Arlen’s costume. These stitches would be the same threads used to affix the belt to Arlen’s costume. This photo of the back of the Reynolds dress was provided directly by Profiles in History for this story. Thanks to Greg Schreiner for his expertise on this aspect of the Reynolds costume.

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The Front Brooch


Arlen wears a brooch on the left side of her waist in the film. The three photos below show a hole in the fabric of the dress sold by Reynolds, which is in the same location as the brooch worn by Arlen in the film. This hole in the fabric of the Reynolds dress would be the same hole made by the pin of the brooch on Arlen’s costume. The first photo of the dress was taken by Profiles In History for the auction catalog. The second photo of the dress was provided directly by Profiles in History for this story, and the third photo of the dress was taken while the dress was on exhibit at the Paley Center prior to the auction on June 18. All three photos, as indicated by the red arrow, show the pinhole. Thanks to Greg Schreiner for providing input on this aspect of the film costume.

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The Skirt Pleats and Length

To begin with, it’s important to note that it was quite common for costumes to be altered and then reused in subsequent film productions. Two examples below show that Lauren Bacall’s wedding dress from How To Marry A Millionaire was altered, and even Marilyn’s slip from Niagara was modified for use in another film.

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In the photo comparison below, it’s clear that the dress worn by Arlen and the dress worn by Monroe were different lengths.

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Arlen’s dress comes to just below the knee (note her knees are actually bent slightly in this image), while Monroe’s is clearly well below the knee. As a point of reference, Roxanne’s height is reported as 5’ 7” and Marilyn’s height was 5’5 ½”, a mere 1 ½” variance.

Seeing as how Bachelor Flat was considered a "B" movie, with Arlen playing a secondary character, it's very likely that a costume was pulled from the studio closets and then altered for her to wear in the film (as compared to creating an exact replica of Marilyn's "Itch" costume).

With Andrew Hansford's insight into Travilla's costumes, a detailed review of the Reynolds dress indicates that it was in fact altered. It's been determined that the skirt was shortened, and it was shortened from the top. It appears as if at some point the skirt was separated from the dress, cut from the top and then reattached to the bodice, which would result in a change to the pleating of the dress. When the skirt was shortened the narrow sunburst pleating (at the top of the skirt) was cut away, and the dress was then reattached to the bodice, resulting in a wider pleat in the skirt, hence the variance in pleats between photos of Marilyn wearing a Seven Year Itch costume and the costume sold by Ms. Reynolds. Also, the shortening of the skirt likely explains the lack of fullness when compared to the dress worn by Marilyn. As the costume Arlen wears in the film is clearly shorter than the costume Marilyn wears, it’s apparent that the dress Arlen wears was altered for her for the film, and not after it was acquired by Reynolds, as previously proposed. Note that this may have been the time when the skirt was re-hemmed. Thank you to Andrew for providing valuable expertise on this aspect of the dress. (Unfortunately, screen captures of Arlen in the dress aren't clear enough to compare the pleating of her costume and the Reynolds costume.)

The photo below shows the inside of the Reynolds costume, specifically the fabrics of the skirt, which are irregular and unfinished, likely a result of the alterations made to shorten the skirt. This photo of the inside of the Reynolds dress was provided directly by Profiles in History for this story.

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In summary, there are stitching remnants on the back of the Reynolds dress in the same location as the bow on the dress worn by Arlen, there is a hole in the Reynolds dress in the same location as the brooch worn by Arlen in the film (and the hole is evident in many different photos of the dress taken before and after the auction), and there is solid evidence that the skirt of the Reynolds dress was altered, likely for Arlen to wear in Bachelor Flat, which would explain the variances in pleats and the length of the skirt when compared to photos of Monroe's costume in The Seven Year Itch. Accordingly, it can plausibly be concluded that the Debbie Reynolds Seven Year Itch dress sold at the Profiles In History auction on Saturday, June 18, was without question acquired by Ms. Reynolds directly from Fox studios, seeing as it’s the same dress worn by Arlen in Bachelor Flat.

While it’s my opinion that the dress sold at auction came from Twentieth-Century Fox, we must rely on the taped audio recordings of Oscar winning costume designer William "Billy" Travilla himself as to whether or not the Reynolds owned Marilyn Monroe costume was actually the dress worn in The Seven Year Itch.

In Travilla’s own words: “Debbie Reynolds has the original dress from The Seven Year Itch and after all these years it has changed colour slightly and some of the threads have all but gone. Debbie is a woman that trusts me with everything but even when I borrowed the dress to make an exact copy she had someone watching while we opened some seams and carefully put them all back.”

TWO Subway Scene Dresses?

As reported in my recent story, the now famous subway skirt blowing scene from The Seven Year Itch was originally shot on location in New York City. Unfortunately, there were so many people in attendance at the filming (media and general public) that the footage couldn’t be used due to all of the noise from the crowd. It’s not a well known fact that the subway skirt blowing scene was actually re-shot on the Fox lot back in Los Angeles (Hollywood).

Why is this information important? Because it’s led to my personal realization that there may have been TWO different dresses used to film this famous and iconic scene. How is that possible? Read on…

First, it’s important to establish the New York City location and the Hollywood Location. Note the differences in the scenes below. On the left is the New York City location, and the Los Angeles set is on the right. Note the differences between the “Jewelry – Hats” signs, the mirrors on the wall, and the items for sale in the jewelry store window.

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Second, in the photo below, note the differences in the pavement around the subway grates. There are subtle differences between the two locations, with New York being on the left, and Los Angeles on the right.

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Third, notice the differences in Marilyn's hair, and the belt on her costumes in the images below.

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Finally, as stated previously, it’s been reported that the footage shot in New York City couldn’t be used due to the large number of people (media and general public) in attendance at the taping. The crowd roared each time Marilyn’s dress blew above her head, hence rendering the footage unusable, or at least that’s what has always been reported and believed.

As part of my research into the Reynolds costume, I discovered that the full subway skirt blowing scene actually includes footage shot in New York City and on the Fox lot at the studio in Los Angeles. Incredibly, I’d never picked up on the differences previously. The images below, taken directly from the film, verify that indeed footage from both locations was used in the final production. Marilyn's skirt blows up twice. The location splice occurs between the "skirt blowings," once in New York and once in Los Angels, implying that technically, there are TWO skirt blowing costumes.

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View the subway scene from the movie on YouTube.com here. The subway scene is the first two minutes of the clip.

Research I’ve conducted indicates the New York City location filming occurred on September 15, 1954, and the Los Angeles location filming occurred on January 9, 1955. This is an important fact because it signifies that there were very possibly TWO separate dresses used in the filming of this one scene. The New York location filming occurred from approximately 12:00 to 3:00 AM. Considering the hours of filming, it’s very likely that Marilyn departed (and possibly arrived) wearing the costume for this scene. The image below shows Marilyn wearing the subway scene dress, along with her mink fur coat. Was she arriving for or departing from shooting the subway scene?

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"Stolen Marilyn Monroe Items Recovered, Mostly"

With the information presented in the previous paragraph, it’s critical to note that the storage facility containing the personal effects of Marilyn Monroe (after having been bequeathed to Lee and Paula Strasberg) was burglarized in 1993, and a number of Marilyn Monroe’s personal effects were stolen, including a white subway scene dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch. The burglar was apprehended in 1994 and all of the items were returned...except for the white dress. For a news post from 1994 about the recovery of the stolen items, click here.

It's clear that subway scene footage from New York and Los Angeles was used in the final cut of The Seven Year Itch. Also, there is documented evidence that Marilyn actually had a subway scene dress in her possession at the time of her death. If the New York taping occurred on September 15, 1954, and the Los Angeles taping occurred on January 9, 1955, nearly four months later, and on different coasts of the United States, what are the chances that the same dress was used for both tapings, especially considering the extreme possibility that Marilyn may have worn the dress off of the New York film set?

Were there TWO subway scene dresses?

Also, if four duplicate dresses were created for "Itch," (as detailed in Travilla's notes) where are the other two costumes?

Update: Was it THE dress?

It's been a whirlwind 24 hours since posting my recent blog entry, "Monroe Frock Fetches Millions, But Was It THE Dress." After many telephone conversations, email exchanges, and Skype video calls with industry experts, the Travilla Estate and my contacts at Profiles In History, I've come to the definitive conclusion that the Debbie Reynolds Seven Year Itch dress sold at the Profiles In History auction on Saturday, June 18, was without question acquired by Ms. Reynolds directly from Fox studios, and I will soon post photographic evidence verifying this fact, along with additional information that is very specific to this issue, which as you can tell is quite complicated.

Stay tuned, story and photos to come soon.

Monroe Frock Fetches Millions, But Was It THE Dress?

I personally watched history in the making on Saturday, June 18, 2011, as the most memorable and iconic film costumes of all time from the Debbie Reynolds collection were auctioned by Profiles In History at the Paley Center for Media in downtown Beverly Hills. Items in Ms. Reynolds’ collection number in the thousands, and include costumes, props, film posters, furniture and an array of other important and classic film pieces. She’s collected movie memorabilia for over 45 years, and has saved thousands of irreplaceable items from the most classic films of all time, many of them Oscar winners.

Of course, the item highlighting the auction was what is now considered to be the most iconic film costume of all time: The William “Billy” Travilla designed ivory halter dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in the subway scene of the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch. (Photo Below: Me taking a photo with the dress.)

Three other Marilyn Monroe costumes were also featured at the auction, all of which were Travilla pieces.

The first Marilyn gown was lot 282, a red sequined gown from the 1953 classic Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The gown was worn by Marilyn as she sang “We’re Just Two Little Girls From Little Rock,” with Jane Russell in the film’s opening number. Incredibly, the gown sold for $1,476,000.00 ($1,200,000.00 and $276,000.00 buyer’s premium), shattering the previous auction record for a film costume, which was a black Givenchy gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany’s. The costume was sold by Christie’s in 2006 for $923,187.00.

The second Monroe costume was lot 313, a gown worn by Marilyn in River of No Return, selling for $627,200.00 ($510,000.00 and $117,200.00 buyer’s premium).

The third Monroe costume was lot 314, the famous and sultry outfit worn by Marilyn in the “Heat Wave” number from There’s No Business Like Show Business. This costume sold for $615,000.00 ($500,000.00 and $115,000.00 buyer’s premium). I was actually surprised this costume didn’t sell for more.

Finally, lot 354, the “Subway Dress” from the Seven Year Itch was up. When the photo of the dress was presented on the overhead display, the audience broke out into resounding applause. It was clear that history was going to be made with the sale of this dress.

Bidding for the dress started at $1,000,000.00, and bids were in increments $100,000.00. An absentee bid of $1,000,000.00 had been submitted, and after several minutes of excited and feverish activity, bidding finally closed at a record breaking $4,600,000.00. With the buyer’s premium of $1,058,000.00, the final price for the dress was $5,658,000.00. It was undeniable at that point: Marilyn Monroe was the most iconic film actress of all time. She held the record for the most expensive personal dress ever sold at auction (the gown she wore as she sang Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy on May 19, 1962, which sold for $1,267,500 at Christie’s in 1999) along with the most expensive film costume ever sold at auction as well.

In the days following the auction, the media was abuzz with the news of the record setting auction prices. While we all knew the subway dress could sell for a record setting amount, no one really knew just how far collectors and investors were willing to go to own this iconic piece of American memorabilia. However, with the media buzz came a stirring in the Marilyn Monroe community. Almost immediately after the auction, I was contacted by several people with concerns about the subway dress. I also saw comments being posted on Facebook about the Reynolds dress.

“How could this not be the dress?” I asked myself. “It’s from the Debbie Reynolds collection, and everyone knows that Debbie Reynolds owns the subway dress, along with many other Marilyn Monroe costumes." I soon began searching for myself to see if there was merit to concerns being raised. I’d obviously seen the dress in person so I began to conduct some research.

I saw a comment on Facebook, “The belt doesn’t look right to me.” I did some photo comparisons and realized that yes, the belt was not exactly right. Marilyn wore a belt with the dress in the film, yet there was no belt on the Reynolds subway dress. A bow had been attached to the dress. It’s quite common for film costumes to have been altered back then. It’s likely that a bow was created from the original belt and it was simply affixed to the dress for display purposes. Note in the photo below that the bow on the Reynolds dress is actually perfectly shaped. The knot was likely sewn to the dress, and I noticed that the loops of the bow are actually attached to the dress with small metal snaps. It’s quite plausible indeed that a bow was created from the original belt, and simply attached to the dress.


Not long after, someone pointed out a fairly significant difference between the hem of the Reynolds subway dress and the hem of the skirt of the dress worn by Marilyn in photos. I did a bit more photo research for myself and discovered very quickly that yes, the hem of the Reynolds dress was in fact very different from the hem of the dress when it was worn by Marilyn. Again, this could be very easy to explain. If the original hem had come undone, it was simply re-sewn. This is a very plausible and logical explanation. The most iconic film costume of all time simply cannot be un-hemmed.

As part of my research, I remembered a past Profiles In History auction item: An official replica of the subway dress, created by designer Billy Travilla himself.


In looking at the photo of the official Travilla copy, I noticed a significant difference immediately: The pleating of the skirts on the dresses was completely different. The pleating of the Reynolds dress was a wide box pleat, yet the pleating of the Travilla copy was a very narrow sunburst pleat. See photo below.

I began to do side-by-side comparisons of photos of the Reynolds dress, the Travilla copy, and photographs of Marilyn in the dress from the movie. I looked at the studio test shot of Marilyn wearing the costume, other images, and of course the actual film.

The subway scene from the film was originally shot on location in New York City. However, there were so many people in attendance at the filming (media and general public) that the footage couldn’t be used due to all of the noise from the crowd. It’s not a well known fact that the subway skirt blowing scene was actually re-shot on the Fox lot back in Hollywood. In order to ensure I covered all bases, I compared the Reynolds dress to photos of Marilyn wearing the subway dress on location in New York City and also on the set in Hollywood.


Finally, in comparing photos, I noticed that the skirt of the Reynolds subway dress does not appear to be as full or as long as the skirt of the dress worn by Marilyn Monroe. See below a side-by-side comparison which appears to show a much fuller, longer skirt on the dress worn by Marilyn.

With all of this confusion, I reached out to Andrew Hansford, the England-based curator of the Travilla Estate. The estate possesses patterns and sketches from Travilla for many of his costumes. Andrew actually shared with me an image of the pattern and a sketch for the subway dress.

In our conversation, Andrew indicated that Travilla left “very” detailed notes, along with accounts as to how the dress was made, the fabric that was used and his inspiration for the costume. According to Travilla’s notes, he actually delivered four subway scene dresses for The Seven Year Itch to Fox.

(Above: Marilyn Monroe & Billy Travilla)

Also according to Andrew, Travilla himself knew that Debbie Reynolds had an original subway scene dress. This is evident from taped conversations and interviews with Travilla, wherein he discusses contacting Reynolds to borrow the subway scene dress in order to recreate dress patterns for the costume as the original patterns were unfortunately lost in a fire at his home, along with many original costume sketches.

In Billy Travilla’s own words, “Debbie Reynolds has the original dress from The Seven Year Itch and after all these years it has changed colour slightly and some of the threads have all but gone. Debbie is a woman that trusts me with everything but even when I borrowed the dress to make an exact copy she had someone watching while we opened some seams and carefully put them all back.” Interestingly, Andrew recalls that Debbie herself recounted this same story when he himself had a chance to visit with her earlier this year.

Finally, another little known fact. An original Travilla subway scene dress was worn by actress Roxanne Arlen in the 1962 film Bachelor Flat. If Arlen wore the same dress Marilyn wore in The Seven Year Itch, would it have been altered for her, hence the variances? See a clip from Bachelor Flat with Arlen wearing the dress here.

I have reached out to Profiles In History to discuss the dress and the apparent variances. Unfortunately, my personal contacts there were not available and the staff member I was able to speak to was unwilling to discuss this issue with me in detail. However, he did state that, due to the fact the dress was "off the rack" there were likely going to be some inconsistencies here and there. Regardless, it was apparent that I wasn't the first caller to bring questions about the Debbie Reynolds dress to their attention.

It’s important to note that with the sale of the most iconic film costume of all time, and for a record setting amount at that, there are some questions around consistency. Above all else, it cannot be dismissed that the pleats of the Debbie Reynolds subway dress do not appear to match the pleats of the dress(es) Marilyn worn in the film and in photographs. There are additional questions as well: the hem of the skirt and what appears to be differences in the fullness and the length of the skirt.

Was this truly the dress worn in the subway scene in The Seven Year Itch?

Might this actually be a prototype dress, designed by Travilla, but not used in the film?

Did Travilla perhaps alter the dress when he borrowed it from Reynolds to recreate his patterns?

Could Reynolds have purchased a (possibly altered) dress that was worn by Arlen in Bachelor Flat?

Debbie Reynolds Marilyn Monroe Costumes

Profiles in History will sell the massive memorabilia collection of Debbie Reynolds through a series of auctions starting with part one in June 2011 and part two in December 2011. Reynolds' entire collection contains over 3,500 costumes, 20,000 original photographs, several thousand original movie posters, original costume sketches and hundreds of key props from film history.

“I heard the news that MGM was going to sell their inventory of costumes and props,” says Reynolds on how she started collecting, “I went everyday for weeks and focused on purchasing the costumes and props of Academy Award winning films. It soon turned into an obsession. Until now! I've concluded that my dream of having a museum cannot be fulfilled, so I have decided to share my fabulous collection with other collectors.”

Part one of this auction will have approximately 700 of Debbie’s very best and most historic costumes and props including the most famous costume in screen history with an estimated value of 1 to 2 million dollars, Marilyn Monroe's ‘subway’ dress from The Seven-Year Itch.


Other Marilyn Monroe costumes from the Reynolds collection include:

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (20th Century-Fox, 1953) Marilyn Monroe costume worn as Lorelei Lee: signature red sequin dress from “Just Two Little Girls from Little Rock” opening musical number, designed by Travilla.

There’s No Business Like Show Business (20th Century-Fox, 1954) Marilyn Monroe black, white and pink, tropical-print “Heat wave” dress and hat by Travilla.

Anticipation is building for what is deemed to be the most significant collection of Hollywood costumes and props since the liquidation of the MGM and FOX studios in the 1970’s.