Irene Mayer Selznick – first producer of A Street Car Named Desire
As I watch the Tony Awards at home in Sydney, Australia on a rainy, stormy day – as always from a distance to those major events…
What I Will Look Like in 40 Years
“She was driven, passionate and unstoppable. It is uncanny to me how alike she and LB were in sheer determination…” It dawned on me recently as…
Rabbi Magnin and the Moguls
“He was the right rabbi in the right temple in the right city at the right moment in time. If he had not presided over our…
Mitzi Transformed by Wizard of Oz Make-up Artist Jack Dawn
I am fascinated by amber that contains a trapped primordial insect inside. One moment it is minding its own business on a tree, the next, it…
Mitzi Joins the MGM Star Factory
Oh, that smile… My grandmother Mitzi is probably in her early 20s in this photo and appears to be signing in at MGM’s employee entrance. From…
Friends? Lovers? Enemies? Yes.
“…these people lived lives – were friends, were lovers, were enemies. They bickered, they shouted, the cried, they laughed. They went home, flopped down, dropped hats,…
My Great Gatsby moment
Ruth Harriet, MGM glamour photographer from 1925 – 1930
I have just watched the trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s new movie The Great Gatsby. A gorgeous looking remake if I’ve ever seen one. Baz has channelled the 1920’s and once again I found myself thinking that if ever there was a time I wished I had experienced, it was those magical years of singular expression in fashion, film, art, literature, architecture, dance and design generally. With this on my mind, I then went through my family’s collection of photographs and was stopped in my tracks by a photo that appeared to summarize this time in one magical shot. I looked a little closer and realized that I was looking at a portrait of a portrait master, Ruth Harriet who worked as MGM’s portrait photographer for only five years but is responsible for thousands of glamorous photos of the stars of the day. In 1930 she retired, for reasons I don’t know, and only ten years later she died from complications of childbirth. Now, have a look at The Great Gatsby trailer and I hope you see the same thing I did in this amazing portrait of Ruth Harriet.
The Great Gatsby trailer, Director Baz Luhrmann
