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Book Review: GEORGE HURRELL’S HOLLYWOOD | Backlots

Vickie Lester

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The book is also a treasure trove for lovers of old Hollywood gossip, providing the reader with information about the mystery of Greta Garbo that existed offscreen as well as on. Vieira relates an anecdote on the unusual way in which Hurrell finally succeeded in getting Garbo to smile for a picture, the eccentricities of Marlene Dietrich, and the resistance of Olivia de Havilland to Hurrell’s unorthodox methods of getting a shot. One of my favorite parts of the book is an examination of how Hurrell airbrushed his subjects. A famous Hurrell photograph of Joan Crawford, glamorous, sexy, and a true movie star, is shown alongside its original negative–and we see Crawford as the freckle-faced, normal woman she was when she came into Hurrell’s studio. The difference between the two photographs is astounding, and shows what Hurrell was capable of long before the days of digital airbrushing and Photoshop.

via Book Review: GEORGE HURRELL’S HOLLYWOOD | Backlots.

George Hurrell’s Hollywood: Glamour Portraits 1925-1992: Mark A. Vieira, Sharon Stone: 9780762450398: Amazon.com: Books.

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