—Ingrid Bergman
[Read more…] about Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions
Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions
—Ingrid Bergman
Laurence Olivier
—Ingrid Bergman
Hollywood: Cheek to Cheek
Commenting on yesterday’s Cheek to Cheek post, a faithful Seraphic Secret reader privately wrote that the lovely pictures saddened her. “Romance is gone,” she mused. “There are no contemporary Hollywood stars who can be photographed with such loving conviction.”
Very true. Ever since movie stars first sat down with Johnny Carson and revealed themselves to be ordinary mortals, the glamorous Hollywood star has devolved into vulgar celebrity. Today, there is no difference between Kim Kardashian and Angelina Jolie. They both occupy the same space in the public’s mind. It’s beside the point that Jolie is a skilled actress. To a celebrity-hungry culture, where reality stars reign supreme as public gladiators of ghastly humiliations, talent no longer matters. In fact, Kardashian’s notorious rise—let’s not forget that her celebrity was ignited by a self-made sex tape—is an awesome success story. The collective public thinks: “If no-talents like Kim and her sisters can earn 40 million a year, why can’t I?”
But the power and majesty of romance will never die, and Seraphic Secret suspects that images—and, of course, the movies—from Hollywood’s Golden Age, would, if given half a chance, exert a magical influence on even the most jaded and cynical of today’s media drenched generation.
Movie Posters: Hollywood’s Golden Age
Have you looked at a movie poster recently and said to yourself: I really have to see that film.
Doubtful.
In the digital era movie posters are barely there, a minor and frequently mediocre—tedious star shots dominate—element in the white-noise media that is dominated by an ever-shifting social media.
There was a time, however, when movie posters were the dominant element by which audiences were lured to the movies.
Here are just a few samples of ordinary posters cranked out by the Hollywood studios; all are characterized by bold graphics and unusual fonts. These are posters that artfully promise action, mystery and romance.