Publisher's Synopsis
"A silky monochrome selection of studio shots ranging from superbly natural (Betty Grable) to incredibly forced (George Bernard Shaw and Clark Gable). Shirley Temple says she stopped believing in Santa when he asked for her autograph; these sun-kissed photographs created that demand" The Independent on Sunday "This book is a display of those hidden unseen photographic gems" Le Journal de la Photographie "Where else will you ever see Gregory peck on a pogo stick or Lana Turner in wading boots?" The Herald "These photographs let you in to a more glamorous, more innocent and more romantic world. Who cares about reality?" The Royal Photographic Society Journal "This wonderful book brought back many memories of my endless hours spent in the studio stills gallery posing for countless photographers in a variety of 'turn 'em on' outfits!...Most of the photographs in this fascinating book of pictures, some of which have never been seen before, are of that sweet and innocent kind, overseen by a protective studio system that by the early 1960s no longer existed." Joan Collins Hollywood Unseen is a tribute to the incredible inventiveness and ingenuity of the great Hollywood film studios: Columbia, Paramount, MGM, Universal, Warner Brothers, RKO and Twentieth Century Fox. From the late 1920s to the early 1950s these studios presided over the 'Golden Age of Cinema', and their publicity departments created some of the most stunning and iconic images of Hollywood's stars ever taken. Here, for the first time, are photographs showing the 'ordinary lives' of the stars, including Rita Hayworth, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe. In reality, these photographs were as carefully constructed and prepared as any classic portrait or scene, and they depicted the actors and actresses exactly as the studios wanted them to be seen. The publicity departments cleverly formed an idealised view of the husbands, wives, children, pets, parties, premieres and hobbies of the stars. Ironically, many of the images were only used once or twice, and were then never seen again. Drawn from the extensive archive of the John Kobal Foundation, this book showcases an extraordinary collection of these hidden photographic gems.
