DEBBIE REYNOLDS

  .....

Debbie Reynolds Targets America's Heartland for Hollywood Motion Picture Museum

March 2004 (Newstream) -- Film star Debbie Reynolds, a collector of movie memorabilia for 35 years, will bring Hollywood to Tennessee when she opens the Hollywood Motion Picture Museum in the resort community of Pigeon Forge in spring 2005.

The museum will be part of the multi-purpose Belle Island Village development. Pigeon Forge attracts more than 11 million visitors a year and is a gateway to America's most visited national park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The $50 million collection, estimated to be the largest private collection of its kind, contains more than 3,500 costumes and tens of thousands of props, movie posters, photos, lobby cards and other items. Original film clips relating to the artifacts comprise another important part of the collection.

"The Hollywood I remember well from my early years in the business-the real 'Golden Era"-is now gone. What's left of it in this collection should be preserved and protected for future generations," Reynolds said. Her own film career began in 1948 and includes award-winning films as "Singin' In The Rain" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."

"One of the most important reasons that we were drawn to Pigeon Forge is that people wanted the museum to be here. East Tennessee is in the heart of the country-an ideal location for a museum that celebrates a form of entertainment that always has been shaped by American vision and creativity."

Pigeon Forge is located within a 750-mile radius of more than one-half of the U.S. population.

The museum includes items from almost every Academy Award-winning film, from the era of silent movies through the present.

Perhaps the most famous dress in movie history-Marilyn Monroe's sleeveless white halter dress blown upward as she stood on a subway grate in "The Seven Year Itch"-is one of about 20 Monroe dresses in the collection.

Also included is one of the most recognizable cinematic icons in the world-a pair of Dorothy's ruby-red slippers worn by Judy Garland for "The Wizard of Oz."

Other notable items include:

• Costumes worn by John Wayne ("How the West Was Won"), Tom Hanks ("Big"), Sean Connery ("Highlander"), Shirley Temple ("The Littlest Rebel") and Barbra Streisand ("Hello, Dolly!")
• Elizabeth Taylor's "Cleopatra" headdress.
• Gary Cooper's uniform from "Sergeant York."
• Laurel and Hardy's car from "Jitterbugs."
• Betty Grable's corset from "The Farmer Takes a Wife."