From Powells.com
Vanity Fair was launched by Condé Nast in 1914, the same year Paramount
Pictures was founded and Technicolor was first introduced. During the twenties
and thirties photographic masters such as Cecil
Beaton and Edward
Steichen were providing the magazine with such iconographic images as the
breathtaking still of Louise
Brooks that graces the opening pages of Vanity Fair's Hollywood. Over
the course of almost ninety years Vanity Fair has held a reputation for
publishing some of the most memorable images of Hollywood the movie stars,
directors, producers, agents and this stunning tome celebrates the best
of them. Contemporary photographers such as Annie
Leibovitz, Herb
Ritts, and Helmut
Newton stand impressively beside the classic masters. Predominantly a book
of glorious photography, there are also fourteen typically compelling essays by
an impressive lineup of authors, including P.
G. Wodehouse, D.
H. Lawrence, and Dorothy
Parker. It would be hard to find a better visual chronicle of the silver screen.
And, possibly, Vanity Fair's Hollywood is worth every cent just for the
closing photograph, an Annie Leibovitz classic from 1995 of Tony Curtis and Jack
Lemmon together in drag once
again. Truly glorious! Georgie, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Vanity Fair has, from the start, made Hollywood its stomping ground. For its readers, this star-studded book encapsulates a century of the movie mecca's glory, glamour, and scandal. Garbo and Grant, Tracy and Hepburn, Fairbanks and Pickford, Taylor and Burton, the Gishes and the Barrymores rub shoulders with today's cinematic giants in an incomparable collection of luminous images, classic essays, and delightful caricatures from the archives of Vanity Fair from as far back as 1914.
Surrveying the brightest stars, moguls, directors, and writers, Vanity Fair's Hollywood is a stylish and definitive focus on timeless glamour, mythic beauty, and unquenchable celebrity.
Review
"A magnificent keeper. Stunning photos of everyone I've ever wanted to know." Sue Mengers
Review
"Every page tops the one before... You want it to never end. Vanity Fair's evocation of Hollywood is dazzling." Barry Diller
Review
"This book is a dynamic reflection of the period and its personalities through the eyes of some great photographers." Tom Cruise
Review
"Vanity Fair's Hollywood recreates this powerful sensation...striking, beautiful photographs of the icons of the studios' golden age." Martin Scorsese
Review
"Here is a remarkable gallery of personal moments and uninhibited vanities captured forever." Steven Spielberg
Synopsis
Hailed by "American Photo" as "the ground zero of modern iconography", "Vanity Fair" has from the start made Hollywood its stomping ground. This star-studded book encapsulates a century of the movie mecca's glory, power, glamour, and scandal as the stars of the past rub shoulders with today's cinematic giants in an incomparable collection of luminous images, classic essays, and delightful caricatures from the magazine's archives from as far back as 1914. 300 photos in color and b&w.
About the Author
Vanity Fair is the acknowledged authority on Hollywood, celebrity, and entertainment. Graydon Carter is a winner of the National Magazine Award.
Table of Contents
Without the cane and derby / Carl Sandburg -- The great Garbo / Clare Boothe Brokaw Luce -- Things I never knew till now / Walter Winchell -- Sex appeal / D.H. Lawrence -- The phenomenal growth of the movies / Frank Peale -- San Simeon's child / Martha Sherrill -- Idol gossips / Amy Fine Collins -- Starlight, starbright / Margaret Case Harriman -- When Sue was queen / Peter Biskind -- A school for movie villains / P.G. Wodehouse -- Is your little girl safe? / Dorothy Parker -- The gangster and the goddess / Patricia Bosworth -- When Liz met Dick / David Kamp -- It happened on Sunset / Christopher Hitchens.