Marvelously illustrated with more than 200 rare images from the silent era through the 1970s, this joyous treasure trove features film and television’s most famous actors and actresses celebrating the holidays, big and small, in lavishly produced photographs. Join the stars for festive fun in celebrating a variety of holidays, from New Year’s to Saint Patrick’s Day to Christmas and everything in between. Legends such as Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, and Audrey Hepburn spread holiday cheer throughout the calendar year in iconic, ironic, and illustrious style. These images, taken by legendary stills photographers, hearken back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, when motion picture studios devised elaborate publicity campaigns to promote their stars and to keep their names and faces in front of the movie-going public all year round.
Marvelously illustrated with more than 200 rare images from the silent era through the 1970s, this joyous treasure trove features film and television's most famous actors and actresses celebrating the holidays, big and small, in lavishly produced photographs. Join the stars for festive fun in celebrating a variety of holidays, from New Year's to Saint Patrick's Day to Christmas and everything in between. Legends such as Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, and Audrey Hepburn spread holiday cheer throughout the calendar year in iconic, ironic, and illustrious style. These images, taken by legendary stills photographers, hearken back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, when motion picture studios devised elaborate publicity campaigns to promote their stars and to keep their names and faces in front of the movie-going public all year round.
Each page of the book is crammed with glossy black and white and colour photographs with more stars than in the heavens as the old MGM adage goes, each page celebrating holidays beginning with New Year through to Christmas and everything in between including St. Patricks Day and 4th July, each represented by a separate chapter. What is clear is how twisted, bizarre and surreal some of these images are such as the smiling but sadistic Thanksgiving images silent star Mary Philbin sharpening her blade in front of a giant turkey. Few of these pictures, no matter how beautifully composed or shot are anything short of disturbed and at the very least kitsch. Rich in imagery but less in text this perfect coffee table is a nice soak to the brain. - Chris Hick Filmwerk.co.uk March 2016