Mahogany (1975)

Even tho miss Ross is credited with the costumes designs for this film. The fashion show sequence was a ripoff. The kabuki gowns and her purple costume for the fountain scene were direct direct ripoffs from the famous and great ERTE. The late Russian artist. Her gold kabuki gown was horrid her design. The multi colored pleated gown was OK. But no earth shaker. The white Galitzan gown look terrible on her. She was to thin for that look. As a fashion picture this film has much to be desired. She did wear some nice things in the film. But not sure if she had a hand in those also. I know some designers like be difficult to work with. But her scene where she was berating the seamstress. Made me angry you get nothing from yelling at people who don't understand your language. I would have clocked her if she spoke to me that way. lol Evan Divas have to come down off the pedestals sometime.

Though Diana Ross has been in a number of films as well as TV movies, I don't think the general public thinks of her as a well rounded actress. Mahogany is a testament to her talent. The film Mahogany covers the "Beware, you may actually get what you want" syndrome. Do you know what to do once you get it and it doesn't feel as good as you dreamed? Diana Ross gorgeous, Billy Dee Williams handsome and strong. Anthony Perkins driven, scary and maniacal. The chemistry between these characters as well as the cinematography (Mahogany goes to Italy)are awesome. Loved this movie. Can't wait until it is on DVD. I will never tire of watching it.

"And now, Mahogany presents…the Kabuki Finale!" This is the movie that made me want to be a fashion designer *and* a drag queen. Who else would be able to sit through this tripe? But if you're a designer *or* a drag queen, or at least play one on TV, this is *delectable* tripe. Just like in *Mommie Dearest* when you *know* you're looking into the heart of Joan Crawford, *Mahogany* makes you feel as if you're looking into the heart of Diana Ross. A vanity production to beat *all* vanity productions, Mr. Gordy showcases his star (who was also his lover, *and*, we now know, mother of his child) in her first non-singing film -- her only other film being *Lady Sings The Blues*. In this self-serving tale of the perils of stardom, Diana, as Tracy Chambers, scales the heights of the glamour and glitter of international high fashion and plummets directly into Bad-Movie-Hall-Of-Fame. Tracy is in school to be a fashion designer, and we know this because we see her riding the bus around town sketching big drag queen-y outfits. But one humiliating interview follows another (Diana *excels* in demonstrating humiliation – lots of teeth-gnashing and tossing her head), and life looks grim. Even the local neighborhood activist (this *is* the Seventies), played by the devastatingly handsome, but not deeply talented Billy Dee Williams, holds no charms for her. He wants to make the world a *better* place, and *she* just wants to make it a *prettier* place. Just when things seem hopeless, her job in the display department of a local department store puts her in the line of vision of a famous, but unstable fashion photographer, played to extreme by Anthony Perkins. Perkins mistakes Ross for a fashion model, and is smitten by her beauty *and* her commercial possibilities. He assigns her the name of Mahogany (since he names *all* of his women after inanimate objects), and she skyrockets, amidst *much* of Miss Ross' signature teeth gnashing, to the very pinnacle of the high-fashion scene. Unsatisfied with such superficial glory, and intent on furthering her own design career, Tracy/Mahogany slips one of her own designs into a fashion show she's modeling in. It is a hysterical, yet painful moment as the crowd falls silent and Mahogany is left on the stage and complete embarrassment. But the day is saved by an older Italian gentleman who becomes her lover and mentor. He bankrolls a design house for her, of course, and she scores another major success. This leads to a particularly favorite scene where Ross is in her element – as the prima donna couturierre, she parades through her workroom, issuing demands and dictums, and eventually becomes entirely unglued, shrieking and cursing at her workers, who, not speaking English, have no idea what she's carrying on about. This scene seems to sum up Ross herself, as so many in this movie do, and she is utterly delightful – but *not* in a pleasant way. Of course, it's inevitable that Mahogany will chuck her entire career in the trash and go home to Mr. Right, having learned her lesson about the ugly business of beautiful clothes, and the viewer sighs a sigh of palpable relief that this movie, this monument to egotism, has finally come to an end. Writing credits go to John Byrum and Bob Merrill. I don't imagine that they put this movie on their resumes.

This film is another vanity piece for the ultimate diva Diana Ross. This film is also a classic example of Berry Gordy's failed attempts to make Motown more than what it was, and that was one of the most influetial record companies in history. Gordy even went as far as to direct this film with mixed results. This is nothing but pure melodrama and Diana Ross overracts throughout the whole film. Only Billy Dee Williams and Jean-Pierre Aumont manage to do credible performances as the two men who love Ross' character and Anthony Perkins is at his creepy best as the psychotic photographer. Unfortunately, Diana Ross is wasted in this role, which tends to prove that she had only one good performance in her and, unfortunately, it was in her debut, Lady Sings the Blues.