The LIFE archives showcase Hollywood and the magic of cinema. With LIFE. Hollywood, Taschen offers a 706-page double volume with more than 600 photos, more than half of which were unpublished until now.
The Golden Age of the world’s most popular photo weekly (1936-1972) coincided with the most glamorous decades in Hollywood. The hundreds of images meticulously chosen for this book from the vast LIFE archives show stars, their sublime homes, film sets, the Oscars and heady parties.
“Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.” – Marilyn Monroe
In November 1936, publisher Henry R. Luce launched the weekly LIFE centered on pictures with a clear ambition: “To see life; to see the world; to witness great events.” Before readers’ attention was captured by television, LIFE was their window on the world, and by the late 1940s the magazine was read by 1 out of 3 Americans. Jean Harlow became the first movie star to grace its cover in 1937, and between then and 1972, more than 200 covers were devoted to Hollywood-related topics, illustrating the symbiotic relationship between LIFE and the movie industry.
In keeping with the magnificence of Hollywood’s finest productions, this abundant two-volume anthology tells the intertwined stories of a magazine and an art that embodied the height of the American imagination. The result of meticulous research and selection, it presents more than 600 images extracted from the magazine’s archives – more than half of which were never published and are icons of the 7th art
Like Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Clark Gable, Steve McQueen, Sophia Loren, Alfred Hitchcock, Sydney Poitie, Paul Newman, Jane Fonda, Brigitte Bardot and many others. LIFE enjoyed special access to these stars, to their film sets and their extravagant parties, to the Oscars and in the privacy of their sumptuous homes, far from the spotlight.
Volume 1 (1936 to the 1950s) covers the Golden Age of Hollywood: young leading men and starlets, legendary male stars, powerful studio moguls, luxury and opulence. Observe how LIFE did not just shine a light on frivolity, but also documented the workings of the industry and the collective efforts made to create illusion on the silver screen, by screenwriters, composers, publicists and acting coaches.
Volume 2 (1950s–1972) focuses on the era of New Hollywood, which saw the gradual decline of the big studios and the emergence of independent films, international stars, and a more diverse range of voices and faces. LIFE is still there, on the set of such great classics as The Godfather, Guys and Dolls, or The Ten Commandments. Through exclusive documents such as contracts, story pitches, and memos, you’ll also learn how LIFE planned and calibrated the angle of its photo essays.
Featuring introductory essays by photography scholar Lucy Sante, captions by film historian Justin Humphreys, and more than 70 legendary LIFE photographers including Alfred Eisenstaedt, Peter Stackpole, Gordon Parks, Lisa Larsen, Margaret Bourke-White, Gjon Mili, and more, LIFE. Hollywood celebrates the most important photography magazine of the 20th century and the captivating allure of Hollywood and the cinema in its prime.
LIFE. Hollywood
Taschen
Hardcover, two vols. in slipcase, 10.4 x 14.2 in., 19.15 lb, 708 pages
ISBN 978-3-8365-8959-8
250 US$
www.taschen.com
