Hollywood has always stood for dreams. Vanity Fair's take has always
been to turn the tinsel used to depict those dreams into glamor. This
book is very much in keeping with the magazine's slant and Hollywood's
most inflated view of itself. The book faithfully reproduces a
cross-section of Vanity Fair's 86 year history.
Before you read
further, let me caution you that this book teems with suggestiveness.
If that sort of thing isn't your cup of tea, skip this book.
The
photographs are the best part of thebook. There are large numbers of
outstanding examples of work by Edward Steichen and Annie Leibovitz.
The pages are oversized, and many images are done as double
spreads. This makes for seeing very large features of the stars
portrayed, and this has high impact effects on the viewer -- evoking a
sense of the wide screen. The editing was wisely done to select many
images that can be reasonably faithfully reproduced that way.
Unfortunately, many fine photographs were reproduced with the
middle fold through an important part of the image. Some of the
images that were not so spoiled also were overinked in a way that make
the details hard to discern. Inexplicably, there were no credits
listed for many photographs. I graded the book down one star for
being insufficiently well designed, credited and printed to portray
all of the photographs to their best advantage.
Except for this
very regrettable and significant set of flaws on the photography side,
the book is very well done. The selection of photographs was
brilliantly done to not only highlight great ones, but to create
interplay among them . . . and among themes . . . and among
generations of Hollywood performers. I found it all quite exciting
and entertaining.
Some of my favorite photographs in the book
are:
Jack Nicholson; Annie Leibovitz, 1992
Robin Williams, Eddie
Murphy, and Jim Carrey; Annie Leibovitz, 1997
Doris Day; John
Florea, 1953
Spencer Tracy and Katherine Kapburn; n.c., 1949
Nancy and Ronald Reagan; Harry Benson, 1985
Pee-Wee Herman; Annie
Leibovitz, 1984
Walt Disney; Edward Steichen, 1933
Dustin
Hoffman; Herb Ritts, 1996
Rita Hayworth; n.c., 1946
Robert
Redford; George Gorman, 1984
Meryl Streep; Annie Leibovitz,
1982
Gloria Swanson; Edward Steichen, 1928
I also liked the
caricature of Greta Garbo by Miguel Covarrubias from 1932.
The
essays were more of a mixed lot. My favoite was D.H. Lawrence on sex
appeal. "Sex appeal is only a dirty name for a bit of life
flame." Other essays looked at Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo (by
Walter Winchell), the queens of gossip columnists, and agent Sue
Mengers.
After you have finished enjoying this close-up look at
Hollywood, ask yourself where your dreams come from. Then consider
where they should come from. Should Hollywood be the source of your
dreams, the reinforcement of your dreams, or simply be a source of
entertainment? You'll have to decide. But do so explicitly. Your
dreams are too important to turn over to others to create and
manipulate.
As the Everly Brothers used to sing: "Dream, Dream,
Dream . . ."
