Leah Rhodes (1902-1986) was born in Port Arthur, Texas. She began her motion picture career as a seamstress at Warner Bros. in 1929, working under costume designer Orry Kelly. Rhodes succeeded him as head of Warner Bros. Costume Department in the 1940s and remained with the studio into the 1950s. Her numerous credits include "Passage to Marseilles" (1944), "God Is My Co-Pilot" (1945), "Saratoga Trunk" (1945), "The Big Sleep" (1946), "Pursued" (1947), "Key Largo" (1948), "Strangers on a Train" (1951), "April in Paris" (1952), and "Forty Guns" (1957). Other films include "5 Card Stud" (1968) and "Rio Lobo" (1970). She created designs for such notable stars as Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Doris Day, Hedy Lamarr, Cyd Charisse, and Alexis Smith. Rhodes received an Academy Award in costume design with co-designers Travilla and Marjorie Best for the film "The Adventures of Don Juan" (1949).
Leah Rhodes costume sketch for "The Adventures of Don Juan"
The Leah Rhodes costume design drawings span the years 1941-1970 (bulk 1940s-1950s) and encompass 5.3 linear feet. The collection consists almost entirely of original costume design drawings. Thirty films are represented by approximately 120 designs and include "The Adventures of Don Juan" (1949), "April in Paris" (1952), "The Big Sleep" (1946), "Blowing Wild" (1953), "Cheyenne" (1947), "Experiment Perilous" (1944), "It's Only Money" (1962), "Mark of the Renegade" (1951), "One Sunday Afternoon" (1948), "Saratoga Trunk" (1945), and "Sex and the Single Girl" (1964). A sampling of Rhodes's nonfilm work, which ranged from general fashion design to elaborate costumes created for Las Vegas shows, is also included.
Gift of the Leah Rhodes family (Eugene Montgomery, Walter Montgomery, Etta Moriaty, Helen Oberholtzer, and Flora Richardson), 1986.
