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Berlei Cinema Advertisement: It Isn’t Done (1930)

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The 'futility of careless dressing'

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

In an elaborate fitting room, careless Barb is always losing things. She has lost her shoes, and she just may lose her heart this evening too! But she despairs that her evening dress is ‘frightful’ because it ‘flops where it should fit and fits where it should flop’. Attended by a refined and fashionable Ms Blake, Barb learns that it is because she has no foundation beneath her frocking. Ms Blake gets out the tape measure to check her body size.

Curator’s notes

Despite some bad acting (both women were employees of the Berlei Organisation and not professional actresses), there are moments of comedy to this clip, especially from the youthful and careless Barb. She pouts and flops her way through the advertisement and even manages some cheekiness in her delivery of the line ‘but I can’t wear a tape measure’. The refined Ms Blake can barely conceal a polite laugh.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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