Robert Dance’s new evaluation of Joan Crawford looks at her entire career and—while not ignoring her early years and tempestuous personal life—focuses squarely on her achievements as an actress, and as a woman who mastered the studio system with a rare combination of grit, determination, beauty, and talent.Crawford’s remarkable forty-five-year motion picture career is one of the industry’s longest. Signing her first contract in 1925, she was crowned an MGM star four years later and...

Joan Crawford's remarkable forty-five-year motion picture career is one of the industry's longest. Signing her first contract in 1925, she was crowned an MGM star four years later and by the mid-1930s was the most popular actress in America. In the early 1940s, Crawford's risky decision to move to Warner Bros. was rewarded with an Oscar for Mildred Pierce. This triumph launched a series of film noir classics. She teamed with rival Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?...

Named a 2022 Richard Wall Award Finalist by the Theatre Library AssociationFrom the late 1920s through the thirties, Greta Garbo (1905–1990) was the biggest star in Hollywood. She stopped making films in 1941, at only thirty-six, and thereafter sought a discreet private life. Still, her fame only increased as the public and press clamored for news of the former actress. At the time of her death, forty-nine years later, photographers continued to stalk her, and her ...

Longlisted for the 2020 Moving Image Book Award by the Kraszna-Krausz FoundationAs only an accomplished author, consummate collector, and savvy insider can, John Kobal tells the story of the man who invented Hollywood, Cecil Blount DeMille (1881–1959). Kobal narrates the story of DeMille’s life and follows the director’s career from his first film, The Squaw Man, in 1914, through the seventy films he directed culminating with The Ten C...

Famously elusive, Greta Garbo only had her picture taken when a contract required it. She shunned publicity, kept her private life a secret, and rejected the spotlight. Though ambivalent about fame and her public image, Garbo saved all of her favorite portraits, carefully archiving original prints.Garbo is the defining actress of early Hollywood. Her image was created by films, but also by photography. Garbo worked as hard at portraits as she did at acting. The result are the most ...

Famously elusive, Greta Garbo only had her picture taken when a contract required it. She shunned publicity, kept her private life a secret, and rejected the spotlight. Though ambivalent about fame and her public image, Garbo saved all of her favorite portraits, carefully archiving original prints.Garbo is the defining actress of early Hollywood. Her image was created by films, but also by photography. Garbo worked as hard at portraits as she did at acting. The result are the most ...

“Letters and journals always make lively intimate listening.” The IndependentUnveil history’s hidden gems with the Classic Letters & Journals Box Set, as we bring their intimate letters and journals masterfully to life.The Letters of Jane Austen portrayed by the incomparable Fiona Shaw. Austen's candid and occasionally scandalous correspondence offers a mesmerizing glimpse into the life of England's beloved wordsmith....