Book Review--George Hurrell's Hollywood: Glamour Portraits, 1925-1992

George Hurrell's Hollywood: Glamour Portraits 1925-1992
Mark A. Vieira
2013, Running Press

Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits, photographer and writer Mark Vieira's 1997 tribute to the glamour photography legend has long been one of my favorite books. It was my first experience with the "smart" coffee table book, a large format publication with well-written and researched text to accompany Hurrell's drool-worthy shots. It was my introduction to an artist I already admired, though I didn't know he was the man behind those dreamy shots of swoonily supine actresses with shining skin, dabbled with halos of light and swathed in darkness.

Now Vieira has returned to the master with George Hurrell's Hollywood: Glamour Portraits 1925-1992, a tribute with twice as many photos and a much deeper analysis of the talented, mercurial photographer. In addition to being an expansion, the book also sets the record straight, correcting errors that Vieira discovered after the publication of the earlier tribute. There's a bit of overlap in photos and information, but the overall presentation is more polished and detailed.

It is now so easy to see a photo of just about anything online, that it can be easy to forget how amazing beautifully printed and executed photography can be. In his introduction, Vieira makes clear his desire to share these images as they should be seen. If you can't make it to a gallery, this book will more than suffice.

Hurrell shot nearly everyone in studio age Hollywood, and many stars beyond. His first actor was silent film star Ramon Novarro. The success of their sessions together attracted Norma Shearer, who as queen of MGM did much to promote the man whose seductive images of the actress won her the much-desired lead in The Divorcee (1930). Joan Crawford wedged in as many sessions with the energetic photographer as she could, almost seeming to enjoy posing more than acting.

With a sexy, humorous line of patter, Hurrell would crank up his record player and break a sweat moving lights and grabbing shots with smooth subtlety. His erotic word pictures could result in some seriously steamy photos, as can be seen in several shots of Jean Harlow in the book (his shot of Harlow reclining on a polar bear rug is probably his most famous). Others were offended; Olivia de Havilland was famously uncomfortable with his antics. Garbo found him flat out weird and refused to work with him again after their first session.

In Hollywood Portraits, Vieira moves beyond the studio and photo shoot stories to reveal the rest of Hurrell's life and the collector culture he helped to inspire. Part of the reason the photographer worked for nearly every studio in town, was that he was too restless and demanding to stay in any one position for long. His talent, and Shearer's support, kept him working despite his sometimes outrageous behavior, but eventually his troublemaking caught up with him. He also became obsolete; his style an artifact of a very different age.

Vieira explores the ebb and flow of Hurrell's early career, his late life struggles and the huge comeback he made in the seventies when collectors began to understand the value of his work. His portraits of Bianca Jagger and Diana Ross fulfilled the need for glamour in a gritty age. He kept his touch to the end, in his final sessions with Sharon Stone, an actress he felt embodied the glow of the golden age.

I can't say I enjoyed Vieira's exploration of the world of collectors in the last part of the book, though I agree that it is an important part of Hurrell's story. After getting such a heavy dose of glamour, even throughout the photographer's more turbulent years, it was a bit dispiriting to learn of the grimy dishonesty among the men who rediscovered and began obsessively acquiring glamour portraits from the studio age. I had no idea there was a sort of collector's casting couch. There was, and probably still is, some repellant behavior in this fanatical community.

While Vieira doesn't hold back on the facts, he wisely emphasizes the contributions these determined, if often corrupt, collectors have made to the preservation of movie history. In his later years, Hurrell even committed fraud with his own images and those of other photographers that he claimed as his own. Vieira offsets these details with a view of the big picture, where the benefits outweigh the dishonesty and sleaze. He believes it's all for the greater good if these photos survive.

Though I still treasure Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits, George Hurrell's Hollywood is now the definitive record of his life, a beautiful and richly informative tribute.

Many thanks to Running Press for providing a review copy of the book.

Quote of the Week

Everything that's realistic has some sort of ugliness in it. Even a flower is ugly when it wilts, a bird when it seeks its prey, the ocean when it becomes violent. I'm very sensitive to ugly situations. I'm quick to read people, and I pick up if someone's reacting to me as just a sexy blonde. At times like that, I freeze. I can be very alone at a party, on the set, or in general, if I'm not in harmony with things around me.

-Sharon Tate

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It's The Holiday Screenshot Quiz!

Several years ago, I used to follow a blog that posted a new movie screenshot quiz every Sunday morning. I thought it was so much fun that I'd barely slow down to make coffee before checking out the new pics each week. Since I'm always grabbing screenshots of my favorite scenes anyway, I thought I'd give it a try myself. And what better theme to choose than the holidays? These movies are all over the map otherwise, so keep in mind that they are not necessarily Christmas movies.

Click on the images to enlarge. Share your guesses in the comments!

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Book Review--Majestic Hollywood: The Greatest Films of 1939

Majestic Hollywood: The Greatest Films of 1939
Mark A. Vieira
Running Press, 2013

Though many will champion other years, I agree with the common belief that 1939 was Hollywood's most remarkable 365 days. Art, commerce, society and luck combined to give an unprecedented boost to the product of an industry celebrating its 50th anniversary. Majestic Hollywood celebrates fifty of these treasures, from B pictures to glossy epics.

While reading the book, I had to keep reminding myself that this amazing variety of films all debuted in 1939. So many of them are classics, and most are memorable in some way. It was the year of Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Directors William Wyler, Cecil B. de Mille and John Ford were among the giants thriving in the industry. Bette Davis was a the top of her game and Vivien Leigh, William Holden, Ingrid Bergman and John Wayne were among the stars who made their big breakthroughs. Technicians like cinematographer Gregg Toland polished their art, and sound, color and production reached new heights of sophistication.

Times were tense and exciting in 1939. Even in newspapers of the day, you can see that people sensed they were living in remarkable times. Amid the relief of recovery from the Depression, there was anxiety over the spread of fascism across Europe. Life was intensely beautiful and terrifying all at once.

Vieira captures the flavor of the times through these films, weaving in set gossip with current events and audience reactions. The entries in the book are arranged chronologically in order of release and presented in a pleasing orderly fashion, with a quote from the film, a (sometimes amusingly) concise plot summary, one or two quotes from critics of the time and a brief essay about the making of the film.

I especially enjoyed the tidbits of information in the production notes. Some were well-known Hollywood legends, but many details surprised me. I didn't know Bette Davis nearly backed out of Dark Victory because of her immense personal problems at the time. How sad it would have been not to have that performance to admire! I also loved director Ernest Lubitsch's description of Garbo's startled and joyful reaction to the laughing crowd at the premiere of her first comedy, Ninotchka. I was surprised she cared so much what people thought.

Since this is a Vieira book, the images are clearly chosen with care. Here you can see all the expertise of this skilled photographer, collector and champion of Hollywood portrait legend George Hurrell. The format and style of Majestic Hollywood remind me a lot of the Films of books featuring stars like Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow and Carole Lombard that I used to collect as a teenage classic movie fan, but they never had photos as stunning as these. They elevate the book from a fun, light read to something a bit more special.

Many thanks to Running Press for providing a review copy of the book.

Quote of the Week

Wouldn`t it be wonderful if we could all be a little more gentle with each other, and a little more loving, have a little more empathy, and maybe we'd like each other a little bit more.

-Judy Garland

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Book Review--A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True, 1907-1940

A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True, 1907-1940
Victoria Wilson
Simon & Schuster, 2013

It's impossible not to ask the question: how can you justify writing 1,000 pages about thirty-three years of a life? The answer is both intimate and grand. Stanwyck is uniquely worthy of careful attention for her impact on her industry, but also for what she stood for, for her grit and for the times she lived through, from the New York theater world of the teens and twenties through the early talkies, World War II and the years leading up to and after the studio age.

She was active throughout enormous social changes and always managed to stay with the times. And yet, there was a loneliness to her. She clung to whatever family she could find, while simultaneously protecting herself from the world around her.

Wilson has made Stanwyck the center of a history that includes the social, political and artistic life the goes on around her. It's as if the book is an epic mini-series and she is the star. She floats and fights in this vibrant world; you can sense its energy pulsing around her. Not many subjects could justify this kind of attention to detail. A woman as complicated as Barbara Stanwyck practically demands it.

Sometimes I would become impatient with the scope of the story. Stanwyck can disappear for several pages while Wilson devotes her attention to a detail of the Roosevelt administration or a Hollywood scandal. As a whole it works though. It's a big, juicy story. Fifteen years of enthusiastic research woven into an addictive whirl of lives and events, with its subject perched on top.

Barbara Stanwyck was orphaned at four, a showgirl by her teens and in a short period of time advanced to dramatic roles on the stage. Independent, tough and hardworking, she funneled the emotion of her turbulent life into passionate, moving performances. Hollywood followed, and there she allowed directors like Frank Capra to mold her rough, natural talent so that she became a screen actress of breath-taking power, drawing as much emotion from the film crew as theater audiences.

The book takes the star from her rough childhood and early years on the stage, through her stifling, abusive marriage with Frank Fay and early screen stardom, to a more easygoing relationship with movie heartthrob Robert Taylor. In thirty-three years she advances from poverty to wealth, obscurity to worldwide stardom. She succeeds through the force of her talent, and yet she struggles to relax and to enjoy her success. Always fighting to keep up her weight up, drinking twelve cups of coffee a day and reading through the night due to insomnia, any happiness she finds has an edge.

Stanwyck confounded many with the extremes of her personality, friendly and open to some, frosty and distant to others. Sometimes she'd shift from one to another with a single, baffled friend. She was often on guard. Still, she overcame the hurt and dysfunction of her early life to build many strong relationships and even occasionally grab a little fun.

Steel-True ends on a tense note, with World War II ready to explode. Stanwyck has finished Remember the Night (1940), with costar Fred MacMurray, and she is preparing to work with director Frank Capra for the fifth time on Meet John Doe (1941). She's already seen enough for a lifetime, but there is so much more waiting in the years ahead. Even a partial list of films to come is enticing: The Lady Eve (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), Christmas in Connecticut (1945), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), The Furies (1950) and The Thorn Birds (1983). I don't know how I'm going to distract myself until the next volume arrives.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing a review copy of the book.

Quote of the Week

Screen credit is valuable only when it's given you. If you're in a position to give yourself credit, you don't need it.

-Irving Thalberg

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