Hollywood at Play: The Lives of the Stars Between Takes - Softcover

Sylvester, Stephen X.; Mallory, Mary; Brandt, Donovan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1493030752 ISBN 13: 9781493030750

Publisher: Lyons Press, 2018

Synopsis

Fans from around the world continue to be fascinated by classic-era Hollywood (1925-1960) and its larger-than-life stars. Nostalgia for this simpler, more glamorous time offers a safe and temporary escape from our complex lives. The authors capture this era with in Hollywood at Play, featuring unique and rarely seen images of such legendary stars as Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, W.C. Fields, and Tyrone Power enjoying fun and relaxation outside of their studios.
Hollywood at Play presents iconic images of the classic stars taking time out from the demands of celebrity to enjoy dancing, bike-riding, roller skating, bowling, and playing tennis; diversions offering a chance to relax and be themselves. This delightful and unique book will appeal to classic movie fans, and enthusiasts of celebrity, fashion, and Hollywood history.
The photos contained in Hollywood at Play come from the collection of Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee, Hollywood’s first and oldest family-owned photo archive. From the 800,000 images available in their collection the authors have chosen over 200 fascinating and rare photos to include in this book. Among the photos are eight rare photos of a young Marilyn Monroe at play; Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland frolicking at a pool party; Steve McQueen and James Garner astride McQueen’s iconic motorcycle between takes of The Great Escape;Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee out on the town; Sammy Davis Jr. hamming it up with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra; and many others.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen X. Sylvester a filmmaker and co-author M-G-M: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot and 20th Century Fox: ACentury of Entertainment (August 1, 2016) and the former Executive Director of the Wattles Mansion and Gardens, Hollywood’s last remaining original intact estate. In addition, he has lectured on the Hollywood studio system for the Los Angeles Club, the Art Directors Guild of America, and the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.Mary Mallory is a respected researcher, author, and film historian. She is the author of Hollywood Celebrates theHolidays (Schiffer, 2015), Hollywoodland (Arcadia, 2011), and Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found (Kindle, 2013), and contributes to many publications including Discover Hollywood, The Silent Treatment, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Hollywood Bowl programs. Her weekly posts for the Los Angeles themed history blog The Daily Mirror attract a wide readership, and are re-posted by blogs such as Curbed LA, LA Observed, and The Daily Deception, as well as by KFWB and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Mary has appeared on TCM and in Hollywood-themed documentaries. She served on the Board of Directors for Hollywood Heritage, Inc., and acts as a docent for the Hollywood Heritage Museum that it supports.Donovan Brandt is the owner and operator of Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee, Hollywood’s oldest and largest family-owned photo archive. He has contributed to numerous Hollywood themed books and documentaries and has appeared on American Movie Classic and Turner Classic Movies.

Review

Boris Karloff playing baseball dressed like the Frankenstein monster! Carole Lombard bowling in high heels! Groucho Marx doing the hustle with Diana Ross! Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, just two happy roommates at the fights! Jayne Mansfield's cleavage upstaging Sophia Loren's! Orson Welles on the town with Charlie Chaplin! The famous caricatures on the walls of the Brown Derby! Posters from legendary watering holes such as the Hollywood Palladium and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, home of the Cocoanut Grove! Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Deborah Kerr, Bob Hope, Louis Armstrong, and Tallulah Bankhead, all rehearsing a sketch together for a 1950 NBC radio show! It's all here--and more--in a delightful return to the Golden Era of the silver screen, when life was fun, and everyone was beautiful and glamorous, without even trying. It's a nostalgic trip down memory lane that is well worth taking! (Rex Reed, New York Observer)

There's something refreshing about this steadfastly light-hearted book; a connoisseur of old Hollywood will find its images working like a cool breeze at twilight on a summer day. Plenty of stuff to smile over: young Clint Eastwood doing a handstand, Ernie Kovacs schooling Lucille Ball in pool, Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn engaging in swordplay in mufti on the "Adventures of Robin Hood" set, sexy shots of Joan Fontaine, Carole Lombard, and Barbara Eden bowling (not together, alas). It's not all unalloyed good times though: look at the way Orson Welles is glaring as Hedda Hopper on page 52. But even the intrigue here often has a salutary effect on the spirits. (Glenn Kenny, film critic for RogerEbert.com)

Edition details

• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1493030752
• ISBN 13: 9781493030750
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272