Author: Robert Hudovernik
Publisher: Universe
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

18 reviews
Sales Rank: 80234

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.2

ISBN: 0789313812
Dewey Decimal Number: 779.24092
EAN: 9780789313812
ASIN: 0789313812

Publication Date: October 17, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Despite Prohibition, the '20s was the decade of jazz, flappers and hip flasks. While some took their vote and joined the Woman's Christian Temperance Movement, others, well, took liberties. Compiled here for the first time are more than 200 publicity stills and photos of some of America's first "It" girls—the silent film-era starlets who paved the way for the cacophony of Monroes and Madonnas to follow. Accompanying these iconic images are the stories behind them, including accounts from surviving Ziegfeld Girls, as well as ads featuring them that helped perpetuate the allure of It girl glamour. When rare and striking portraits of these women surfaced on the internet in 1995, author Robert Hudovernik began researching their source. What he discovered was the work of one of the first "star makers" identified most with the Ziegfeld Follies, Alfred Cheney Johnston. Johnston, a member of New York's famous Algonquin Round Table who photographed such celebrities as Mary Pickford, Fanny Brice, the Gish Sisters, and Louise Brooks, fell out of the spotlight with the demise of the revue. A sumptuous snapshot of an era, this book is also a look at the work of this "lost" photographer.

Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

beautiful and infomative coffee book of a phenomenal photographer! July 28, 2008
Stanley K. Wong (sunnyvale, ca)
I also bought this book for the photos and to learn about the Ziegfeld girls. I was really impressed about the variety of subjects that Mr. Johnston photographed.
The text was illuminating and really "fleshed out" the subjects of Mr. ACJ's photos. It left me wanting more and now I want to learn more about this underappreciated man and his work.
Buy this book if you are into the history of Ziegfeld girls, 1920's fashion photography, or interested in an amazing photographer.
I, too, wish the book was a bit larger so the pictures could be really appreciated.
A must have!

5 out of 5 stars

For Hollywood Fans Too June 25, 2008
Booklover (United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This book is gorgeous. The photos are reproduced quite well, and the book looks and feels like quality. Included is a nice history of Ziegfeld Follies, along with brief biographies of many of the women.

Julie Newmar provides a fascinating Foreword (her mother was in the Ziegfeld Follies and posed for photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston--as did a teenage Newmar). We also learn much about photographer Johnston.

The highlight of the book for me, though, is the photographs (some are nudes) of actresses, including Renee Adoree, Adrienne Ames, Tallulah Bankhead, Theda Bara, Lina Basquette, Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, Billie Burke, Norma Shearer, Claudette Colbert, Betty Compton, Dolores Costello, Marion Davies, Claudia Dell, Billie Dove, Jeanne Eagels, Mary Eaton, and more.

Like George Hurrell, Johnston was a true artist. His work makes these beautiful women immortal.

4 out of 5 stars

Phenomenal, just needs to be in a larger format... June 5, 2008
Nachtjager (Baton Rouge, LA)
This is a spectacular book in every respect but one - it's size. The photos are fantastic, the layout is fantastic, the quality of its production is top drawer, everything about it is classy and well refined, but it's a downright unusual size for a book of this type, and that's why I only give it four stars.

This needed to be in a large format to fully appreciate the photos and the beautiful layout work, but instead, it's sized about the same as most hardback novels, and when you place four photos on a page of that size, the images tend to be very small and you lose the overall impact of those photos.

I highly recommend this one, get the hardback while you can before being forced into a reprint paperback, but I would've prefered the book be a sized more in keeping with most art and photography books.

5 out of 5 stars

jazz age beauties April 21, 2008
George D. Guzzi
the book is beautifully designed and printed. the ziegfeld girls, many of whom are familiar, are all gorgeous.. it's a window into the roaring twenties and the spectacular beauties of the jazz age.

3 out of 5 stars

Three Stars for Beautiful Book February 26, 2008
Kent A. Wilson (Denver, CO)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Obviously a wonderful collection of images with historical and insightful text accompanying. Nonetheless, as a photographer, I was moderately disappointed with the manner in which the images were presented. The images are all presented in a sepia tone which I doubt is true for all of the originals. More concerning, however, is that most of the images lack the sharpness and fine detail which was undoubtedly present in many of the originals. While one reviewer compliments the "soft focus" techniques, I have seen several of the images before in very sharp focus with fabulous detail. To soften any of the images for publication for any reason betrays the brilliance which Alfred Cheney Johnston displayed in creating the images. It is still a wonderful collection.