Nice Girls of 1940’s vs. PRETTY LITTLE LIARS

The next episode of Pretty Little Liars, “Shadow Play” (8/7c/ABC Family) is filmed in black and white for a noir feel, as Spencer tries to work out her mystery in a dream. Ever since I heard they were doing this episode I couldn’t wait to see how it would look. Judging by these photos, the costume and set designers did their homework. As a huge fan of black and white films, I am blown away by the beauty of these photos, which only intensifies my anticipation of the episode.

Looking at the girls in full costume, hair and makeup, I couldn’t help but be struck by some similarities I saw between our Liars and the ladies who graced our screens in the 1940’s. So I created some side-by-sides choosing actresses I felt closely resembled the look or expression or both, of each of the girls from the show.

Starting off with Alison Di Laurentis, the resemblance to Lauren Bacall almost knocked me over. I couldn’t help but wonder if she’s who the designers drew their inspiration from when dressing Alison.

Next up is Spencer Hastings. At first I thought of Barbara Stanwyck but upon further research, she more reminded me of the lovely Deanna Durbin.

Now we come to Hannah Marin. Only one 1940’s actress came to mind when I saw her photo. Veronica Lake.

Emily Fields was a bit difficult until I found a beautiful photo of Olivia de Havilland.

Last but not least, Aria Montgomery. She was very difficult because I only had two photos to work with and the expression was the same in both. I may change my mind after seeing the episode, but for now I saw a resemblance to Gene Tierney.

I’ve always been in love with the way women dressed in the 40’s. Feminine and business-like when they needed to be, sexy and elegant when the occasion called for it. Spencer pulls off the boudoir look perfectly in this photo:

All the girls’ business/travel attire definitely fit the era.

Spencer and Toby rock the social look nicely. Toby is a great double for Dana Andrews.

But my favorite, heart-stopping, photo is a dupe of the 1944 film (and one of my personal faves), “Laura”, with Ali in the portrait. This is perfection, y’all!

Alison (L), Gene Tierney as “Laura” (R)

In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the entire episode was patterned after this movie. Alison’s story certainly parallels Laura’s, in a way. If so, well done Pretty Little Liars’ creators. Well done.