Milicent was well spoken, friendly and charming.
Shed be perfect for radio shows, television spots and interviews with journalists.
She looked polished and professional and would represent the studio well.
Credit: Mallory O’Meara/HarperCollins; Harlequin
And of course, she was beautiful.
Lets be clear here.
Universal wasnt touting Milicent as the most brilliant and talented of monster designers.
Mallory O’Meara/HarperCollins
They wanted her because of how she looked.
Ironically, because so few women have followed in her footsteps, Universal ended up making that seem true.
I certainly thought that was the case.
Mallory O’Meara/HarperCollins
The publicity team immediately cooked up all sorts of ideas to go along with the tour.
Im deeply sad that this never actually happened, because this is probably what my dreams look like.
This tour would have been revolutionary.
Yeah, the Beauty title is a little lame, but it was the 1950s.
Were still hung up on that kind of marketing and its 2018.
It would have been a weirdly unintentionally feminist move for Universal.
They were using Milicent as a gimmick.
How novel and crazy!
A lady this beautiful creates things that look this scary!
Now buy a ticket to see the movie!
Too bad Bud Westmore got wind of this idea.
He put a stop to it immediately.
Or, at least he tried to.
Right off the bat, just the name of the tour incensed him.
Since it involved his professional reputation, he told Clark that it just wouldnt fly.
Stuff like this just wasnt done.
No one outed the head of a film department as not doing the work.
Especially not a woman.
I wonder if this phone call was the moment he began regretting bad-mouthing the Creature to journalists.
The publicity team caved.
It was most important for them to promote the film and make money, not champion womens rights.
Bud Westmore had all the power and prestige; Milicent was just some freelance artist.
Excerpted fromThe Lady From the Black Lagooncopyright 2019 by Mallory OMeara, used with permission from Hanover Square Press/HarperCollins.
