Mistress Masham's Repose

Mistress Masham's Repose by T.H. White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Maria is shown the tiny livestock
illustration by Fritz Eichenberg

The premise of Mistress Masham’s Repose is a clever one - the travels of Lemuel Gulliver described in Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” actually took place and some Lilliputians, captured on a later expedition, have escaped and have been hiding out and living in exile on a rundown English estate.  For over a century, they have managed to avoid detection by living inside of a garden folly. Their secret comes close to being exposed when they are discovered by Maria, a young girl living on her ancestor’s estate. For me, the best parts of the book were in White’s descriptions of how the tiny Lilliputians are forced to cope in a land of gigantic threats. The writing is often somewhat dense, but filled with humor and White shines in describing the foibles of his characters. The character of Maria is not always likable but White uses her to show how a little power can corrupt even a person with the best of intentions. As is often the case, the villains of the story are often the most interesting characters and White has created a devious pair in the characters of Maria’s governess, Miss Brown and Mr. Hater, a greedy Vicar. There is a lot of suspense created when these two conniving schemers discover the existence of the Lilliputians and plot ways to make a fortune off of them. They even discuss murdering Maria if it should become necessary to achieve their gains. White fills the book with doses of English humor (which may go over the heads of some younger readers) and frequently goes off on rather esoteric tangents, which I felt slowed down the narrative. If it weren’t for these esoteric and wordy asides, I probably would have given this book 5 stars. All in all, it’s an enjoyable read, especially if you’re in the mood for a story rooted in a classic of English literature. If you can, make sure and find an edition that contains the fantastic illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg. His amazing pen and ink work perfectly captures the humor and drama in White's story.

All illustrations are by Fritz Eichenberg and were scanned from a 1946 copy of Mistress Masham's Repose by T.H. White, published by G.P. Putnam's Sons.

The book has recently been reprinted by The New York Review Children's Collection.


Click on the illustrations to see them larger.

Miss Brown and Mr. Hater poke a captured Lilliput

Miss Brown discovers the People in Maria's room

The Professor and the People try to figure out
a way to release Maria from the dungeon

Some of the dangers faced by a
person who is only six inches tall.

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The Color Palettes of Vincente Minnelli

Bells Are Ringing (1960)

I recently became aware of a Tumblr blog titled "Wes Anderson Palettes," a visual examination of the color palettes that predominate in the films of director Wes Anderson. Being a visual artist, and always on the look out for interesting color palettes, I was fascinated by the blog, but I was also reminded of another director, Vincente Minnelli, who as a visual stylist, also used color in a very stylized way. For those of you unfamiliar with Minnelli, other than as the father of Liza, Vincente Minnelli was one of the top directors at MGM from the mid 1940s through the early 1960s. Before entering the world of motion pictures, Minnelli was a set and costume designer and before that, he was a window dresser for Marshall Field's department store in Chicago. After directing several well received revues, Minnelli was offered a contract at MGM where, in 1943, he directed his first motion picture, "Cabin in the Sky." That was followed by "Meet Me in St. Louis," in 1944 and a whole slew of other musicals such as "Yolanda and the Thief" (1945), "The Pirate" (1948),"An American in Paris," (1951), "The Band Wagon" (1953), "Brigadoon" (1954), and "Gigi" (1958). Besides musicals, he also directed comedies and melodramas such as "The Clock" (1945), "Lust for Life" (1956) "Tea and Sympathy" (1956), "Home from the Hill" (1960) and "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" (1963).

Growing up, my family had a black and white television. It wasn't until I was almost out of high school that my parents finally splurged and bought a color TV set. Up until that time, my experience of Minnelli's films had been on a small black and white screen. My imagination had to fill in the colors. When I first had the opportunity to see some of Hollywood's classic films in color, it was an eye-opener. The technicolor films from the forties, fifties and early sixties, didn't look a thing like the films that were currently playing in theaters. Instead of looking like "real" life, these classic films looked they had drifted on to the screen out of a carefully designed dream.

I think even a casual movie-goer watching a Minnelli film will notice the impeccable design choices that went into the art direction, set design, costumes and overall look of his films. I think the first time I became aware of this in one of Minnelli's films was when I was in college and had an opportunity to see his wide-screen drama "Tea and Sympathy," on a big screen. Right away I noticed the color harmonies in each scene. It almost seemed as if the whole movie was designed to compliment star Deborah Kerr's red hair.

Whether or not Minnelli was responsible for all of the design choices in his films, I don't know. He did have frequent collaborators in the likes of Art Director/Production Designers E. Preston Ames, Cedric Gibbons, George W. Davis, F. Keogh Gleason, Edwin B. Willis and others. Many of these people worked on the films that are pictured in the examples below. But considering the fact that Minnelli's background was in set design, and as a particular film's director he was in charge of the picture, I would venture to guess that he had a great deal of input into the look of a film. Minnelli has been criticized by some as a director who put style before substance in his films. I suppose there are those who are saying the same thing about Wes Anderson's films. 

In 1968, critic Andrew Sarris said this about Vincente Minnelli:

"If he has a fatal flaw as an artist, it his his naïve belief that style can invariably transcend substance and that our way of looking at the world is more important than the world itself. Critic-film-makers like Godard and Truffaut pay lip service to these doctrines, but they don't really believe them. Only Minnelli believes implicitly in the power of his camera to transform trash into art, and corn into caviar. Minnelli believes more in beauty than art."

Below are a few examples of some of the beautiful color palettes from the films of Vincente Minnelli. I put these together from various still images that I found on the internet. In each case I tried to select the colors that I felt dominated a particular scene. You can click on the images to see them larger.

An American in Paris (1951)

An American in Paris (1951)

An American in Paris (1951)

An American in Paris (1951)

The Band Wagon (1953)

The Band Wagon (1953) 

The Band Wagon (1953)

The Band Wagon (1953)

Brigadoon (1954)

Brigadoon (1954)

Brigadoon (1954)

Brigadoon (1954)

Bells Are Ringing (1960)

Bells Are Ringing (1960)

Tea and Sympathy (1956)

Tea and Sympathy (1956)

Home from the Hill (1960)

Home from the Hill (1960)