Part of the Encore Film Book Classics series, this is a reprint of the original text to The Paramount Pretties by James Robert Parish. In the heyday of Hollywood, every major studio had its own unique individuality. . . a personality defined by its films and its roster of stars. Thus Paramount Pictures was thought to be the haven of sophistication, style, and subtlety; its actresses the epitome of wit, intelligence, and beauty. The Paramount Pretties focuses on 16 of the most striking and celebrated of Paramount's actresses to illustrate the studio's distinctive identity. The result is a fascinating display of decades of filmmaking-and an eye-opening mirror of the changing tastes of American filmgoers and filmmakers. Here are the big screen queens of the Paramount lot, each ruling in turn as the American scene shifts from Prohibition, Depression, New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, and thereafter. Each actress reflects the dreams and the character of the era . . . as seen by Paramount Pictures. Detailed filmographies accompany the expansive narrative of each leading lady's impressive film career and her complex personal life: GLORIA SWANSON: Grand sophisticate with a flair for comedy . . . CLARA BOW: The troubled jazz baby . . . CLAUDETTE COLBERT: Tongue-in-cheek vivacity . . . CAROLE LOMBARD: Striking good looks and high spirits . . . MARLENE DIETRICH: The eternally feminine German import . . . MIRIAM HOPKINS: Cheeky chic from the Deep South . . . SYLVIA SIDNEY: Polished, dynamic, and dramatic . . . MAE WEST: The first truly Liberated Woman . . . DOROTHY LAMOUR: Manicured exoticism in a sarong . . . PAULETTE GODDARD: Saucy sparkle and radiant . . . VERONICA LAKE: Provocative lynx with the peek-a-boo hairstyle . . . DIANA LYNN: The precocious girl next door . . . BETTY HUTTON: Madcap Rosie the Riveter-on the town . . . JOAN CAULFIELD: Charming refinement . . . LIZABETH SCOTT: Vibrant toughness and icy allure . . . SHIRLEY MacLAINE: Piquant individualist with a range of talents Also included in The Paramount Pretties is an appendix summarizing the contributions of Paramount's moviemaking geniuses over the decades, including Cecil B. DeMille, Buddy De Sylva, Jesse L. Lasky, Ernst Lubitsch, B. P. Schulberg, Hal Wallis, and Adolph Zukor.

From the Peter Neil Issacs collection.

After a series of sex scandals rocked the film industry in 1922, movie moguls hired Will Hays to clear the image of movies. Hays tried a variety of ways to regulate movies before adopting what became known as the production code. Written in 1930 by a St Louis priest, the code stipulated that movies stress proper behaviour, respect for government, and 'Christian values'. The Catholic Church reinforced these efforts by launching its Legion of Decency in 1934. Intended to force Hays and Hollywood to censor films, the Legion of Decency engineered the appointment of Joseph Breen as head of the Production Code Administration. For the next three decades, Breen, Hays, and the Catholic Legion of Decency virtually controlled the content of all Hollywood films.

They had more in common than just a scream, whether they faced Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, King Kong, the Wolf Man, or any of the other legendary Hollywood monsters. Some were even monsters themselves, such as Elsa Lanchester as the Bride, and Gloria Holden as Dracula's Daughter. And while evading the Strangler of the Swamp, former Miss America Rosemary La Planche is allowed to rescue her leading man. This book provides details about the lives and careers of 21 of these cinematic leading ladies, femmes fatales, monsters, and misfits, putting into perspective their contributions to the films and folklore of Hollywood terror--and also the sexual harassment, exploitation, and genuine danger they faced on the job. In a previously unpublished account, Bride of Frankenstein's Anne Darling remembers when, at age 17, she was humiliated on-set by director James Whale over the color of her underwear. Filled with anecdotes and recollections, many of the entries are based on original interviews, and there are numerous old photographs and movie stills.

Relates the story of how Sunset Boulevard became a screen classic, revealing the secrets and scandals involving the big names associated with the movie and documenting the impact of this film on society.

How a Korean American actor became a Hollywood ''Oriental'' star.

Gangsters such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano were considered by many people to be the most exciting personalities of the 1920s and 1930s. The public was hungry for press coverage about these mysterious and dangerous men. Most reports about them were sketchy, as the reporters did not want to get on the bad side of the racket bosses. Hollywood's response to the public's fascination was to portray the lives of gangsters on the movie screen, using actors such as Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Edward G. Robinson. Perhaps surprisingly, these men received not-so-favorable reviews from the Academy Award voters, and as their popularity grew with the public, censorship dictated other actors be brought in to play the roles. That's what this book is about--the personal and professional lives of William Bendix, Charles Bickford, Ward Bond, Broderick Crawford, Brian Donlevy, Paul Douglas, William Gargan, Barton MacLane, and Lloyd Nolan, second-string actors who replaced the big names and did a memorable job. A filmography is supplied for each actor.

Miriam Hopkins (1902–1972) first captured moviegoers' attention in daring precode films such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), The Story of Temple Drake (1933), and Ernst Lubitsch's Trouble in Paradise (1932). Though she enjoyed popular and critical acclaim in her long career—receiving an Academy Award nomination for Becky Sharp (1935) and a Golden Globe nomination for The Heiress (1949)—she is most often remembered for being one of the most difficult actresses of Hollywood's golden age. Whether she was fighting with studio moguls over her roles or feuding with her avowed archrival, Bette Davis, her reputation for temperamental behavior is legendary. In the first comprehensive biography of this colorful performer, Allan R. Ellenberger illuminates Hopkins's fascinating life and legacy. Her freewheeling film career was exceptional in studio-era Hollywood, and she managed to establish herself as a top star at Paramount, RKO, Goldwyn, and Warner Bros. Over the course of five decades, Hopkins appeared in thirty-six films, forty stage plays, and countless radio programs. Later, she emerged as a pioneer of TV drama. Ellenberger also explores Hopkins's private life, including her relationships with such intellectuals as Theodore Dreiser, Dorothy Parker, Gertrude Stein, and Tennessee Williams. Although she was never blacklisted for her suspected Communist leanings, her association with these freethinkers and her involvement with certain political organizations led the FBI to keep a file on her for nearly forty years. This skillful biography treats readers to the intriguing stories and controversies surrounding Hopkins and her career, but also looks beyond her Hollywood persona to explore the star as an uncompromising artist. The result is an entertaining portrait of a brilliant yet underappreciated performer.

Cleopatra—a brave, astute, and charming woman who spoke many languages, entertained lavishly, hunted, went into battle, eliminated siblings to consolidate her power, and held off the threat of Imperial Rome to protect her country as long as she could—continues to fascinate centuries after she ruled Egypt. These wide-ranging essays explore such topics as Cleopatra’s controversial trip to Rome, her suicide by snake bite, and the afterlife of her love potions. They view Cleopatra from the Egyptian perspective, and examine the reception in Rome of Egyptian culture, especially of its religion and architecture. They discuss films about her, and consider what inspired Egyptomania in early modern art. Together, these essays illuminate Cleopatra’s legacy and illustrate how it has been used and reused through the centuries.

Acclaimed for its breakthrough approach and its combination of theoretical analysis and empirical evidence, this is the standard work on the classical Hollywood cinema style of film-making from the silent era to the 1960s.