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John Kobal

Hollywood Glamor Portraits: 145 Photos of Stars, 1926-1949 Paperback – July 1, 1976

by John Kobal (Editor)

105 ratings

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145 striking, black-and-white photos capture famous actors from 1926 to 1949 — Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Hedy Lamarr, Marlene Dietrich, Robert Montgomery, Marlon Brando, Veronica Lake — 94 stars in all. Portraits do not duplicate those found in Kobal's Movie Star Portraits. Introduction. Captions.

Print length

160 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dover Publications
Publication date

July 1, 1976
Dimensions

8.43 x 0.34 x 11.2 inches
ISBN-10

0486233529
ISBN-13

978-0486233529
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dover Publications; 1st edition (July 1, 1976)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0486233529
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0486233529
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.21 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.43 x 0.34 x 11.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,084,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,293 in Movie Direction & Production
- #1,544 in Photography History
- #2,807 in Movie History & Criticism

Customer Reviews:
105 ratings

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4.2 out of 5

105 global ratings

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2 star		3%
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Allure of Beauty: Unforgettable faces of 1930s/40s movie stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 22, 2013

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The lost divas of 1930s and 1940s Hollywood are beautifully illustrated in this book. Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard and other legendry figures. They were the most stunning beauties, and their personalities were even bigger. They lived in the lap of luxury that only money and prestige could buy. They were elegant and pompous, and in this book, the author has given the glamour portraits that show the style and beauty of these unforgettable women of Hollywood. These portraits could have donned the cover page of modern magazine like Vanity Fair, Elle, Vogue, GQ, etc., if they were active in Hollywood now.

Famous pairs like Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are also seen in this book. Other portraits include; Gloria Swanson, Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Hedy Lamarr, Marion Davies, Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers, Norma Shearer, Kathryn Hepburn, Rosalind Russell, Tallulah Bankhead, Buster Keaton, Robert Montgomery, Marlon Brando and many more.

The author discuses the style, fashion, and the technical side of the photography that essentially captured the mood and persona that generated the magical appeal for an average moviegoer. The job of the photographers those days were to treat their subjects as gods of love & allure, and reincarnation of perfection. Every care was taken to highlight the glazed lips parting seductively; poses that help expose the breasts, waved hair spilling over a bed of fur that came out of an exotic animal. They were iconic and movie bosses expected that they are to be adored and pictures collected like work of arts and follow their work in films. These were central to the idea of glamour pictures both from the point of the studio and also the leading ladies of Hollywood. Norma Shearer hired photographers like George Hurrell to portray her as sensual and sexy woman to earn more appealing roles in an industry that was fast becoming highly competitive place.

There are numerous poses to look and enjoy. My personal favorites are the pictures of Greta Garbo (1928 & 1931), Mary Pickford (1931), Jean Harlow (1932), Joan Crawford (1932), Marlene Dietrich (1934), Carole Lombard (1935), Mae West showing her beautiful legs (1932), Tallulah Bankhead in a pensive mood (1932), Ann Harding (1933), Miriam Hopkins (1932) and Greer Garson (1938). If you are a fan of 1930s movies, I think you would like to treasure this book and it also makes a great book on your coffee table.

1. Film-Star Portraits of the Fifties: 163 Glamor Photos
2. Hollywood Portraits
3. The Art of Hollywood Glamour: Marlene Dietrich Portraits
4. Movie-Star Portraits of the Forties
5. Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits: The Chapman Collection

2 people found this helpful

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Arali

A wonderful collection of photos for all classic film fans..

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 15, 2001

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Here is a beautiful book with some breathtaking photos of some the hottest Hollywood film stars of the golden era. The quality of the first and oldest photos are not the best, but one can see an improvement as the years go by. What makes these photos so special are the talented actors who can portray just about any emotion the photographer calls for and his ability to capture it on film. The best ones at this is Joan Crawford and Marlene Dietrich.

My favorite is one of Carole Lombard on page 40. It will knock your socks off. I too wish these books came in hardcover, but then it wouldn't be as affordable. A wonderful addition to your library and for anyone who loves the old movie stars.

13 people found this helpful

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Carolyn A. Brookhart

Great pictures

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 29, 2021

Verified Purchase

It was a gift. Great pictures and words to go with the pictures

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Morgan V. Madison

A nice collection of photography

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 9, 2019

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you don't see anymore.

It's a collectible book, whether you like old movie stars or photography. They no longer take this style of glamour shots of actors, and this type of black and white film hasn't been used for around 80 years.

Young Lana Turner, Joan Crawford, Betty Davis, Marlon Brando, Clark Gable, Barbara Stanwick, plus Hedy Lamarr, Robert Montgomery, Carol Lombard, Marlene Dietrich, Clara Bow, and many more.

One person found this helpful

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HTV

Printing job

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 4, 2014

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This has a great collection of glamor shots of the 40s, 50s. I only get disappointed with the publisher. I have bought 3 copies, and 2 of them, perhaps from the recent publication, have poor printing job. the ink is smeared, poor reproduction that has no b&w contrast, worse than a photocopy of an image.

I bought a used copy from a much older publication, and the images were better printed. This volume deserves a re-print, or it'd be a disgrace.

9 people found this helpful

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Christopher Vardas

Glamor Portraits Book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 9, 2009

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I am delighted with this purchase. The authors took the time to elaborate on the background of the images and, in some cases, who took them. The photos themselves are primers on how to take good portraits which is why I bought the bought. I do feel inspired and am glad to own this edition

2 people found this helpful

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Kirsten Sund

Dementia clients love it

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 7, 2018

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I use this book in the assisted living community I work in. Our facility specializes in dementia care, and the clients love this book. It’s amazing that some of the folks still remember all these famous faces from their youth. Has brought back lots of good memories for them!

One person found this helpful

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Kathleen Jensen

Wonderful book! Arrived quickly.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 31, 2008

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This is an excellent book for my actress/dancer daughter living In LA for 7 years. We sent it to her for Christmas and she loved it, especially the unusual photos of familiar stars. She was also impressed with the great clothes and jewelry they wore. I sent her a long string of pearls with the book and she appreciated the thought. The book arrived quickly and was well-packaged. Thanks for your wide selection of books and good service. KJ

One person found this helpful

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PAD

Its a Book on old Hollywood stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 22, 2022

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I was a bit hesitant to buy this book as some of the reviews were not complimentary/positive ! and I unfortunately am now going to advise NOT to waste your money on this book.
The Quality of the photography /prints are very poor and I have seen them in other publications which is how I can say that these are Poor and do not represent the true print of the subject. Don't waste your time or money on this poor publication, if you must see what you are supposedly missing I suggest you vist your local library and try to see it there, if they haven't got it and can't get it then it will only endorse what has been written about it being Rubbish!
I purchased this book in the hope it would be able to give some insight to how some of the photos were shot! However the prints were that bad it was a waste of money.

Mr Triggs

Another good reference and inspiration volume.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 17, 2021

Verified Purchase

I have three John Kobal books like this and they are all worth picking up at the right price. They are full of great images from the old masters of Hollywood and can give you some much needed inspiration for producing some really great, striking portraits.
Even if you only use them a few times a year to reference a lighting technique or pose, you will be glad you did because I guarantee you, you will find a picture that makes you go 'That's it, that's the look I want.' and another great portrait will be part of your portfolio.

Devizes Darkroom

great subject, not the most famous shots and disappointing repro quality.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 19, 2016

Verified Purchase

As a record of the exhibition that featured these pictures, the book is useful, and the foreword does give some insight into the way the "gallery" photographers had to work within the studio system. Apart from the two most famous pictures of Louise Brooks with the long string of pearls ( see the cover), most of the shots are not the ones that are most associated with the Stars, they are mostly up exciting and one or two have not aged well at all. As an ex film still photographer, I was very sad to see how badly the photos are reproduced here, I know some of the shots from other books and the results here are very poor in some cases, with blown highlights, murky shadows and an overall lack of sparkle, which the original prints would certainly have had. The book is not expensive and is interesting, but the repro quality lets it down badly. Such a waste of good material.

4 people found this helpful

Joe R.

Very poor quality

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

The quality of the reproductions and the printing in this book is the worst I have ever seen !!
The one star is for the decent quality box it arrived in.
The introduction on the first few pages is informative and the comments by some of the photographers interesting.
Assuming the original photographs were of good quality, the copies on these pages really are dreadful.
If my copy is typical of the batch, it is one to avoid. The good news is, there are better books to be found dealing with the subject.

Anne

Beautiful Pictures

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 30, 2019

Verified Purchase

Bought this for a friend who has suffered memory loss due to a stroke. He loved the old black and white films, but has no memory of them. This is helping him remember, he was asking who they were, and then remembering the films they were in. A very unusual review, but a grateful one x

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