Vintage Portraits of Marlene Dietrich by Milton H. Greene (1952)

Milton H. Greene (1922 – 1985), Marlene Dietrich, 1952 juin, New York gelatin silver print via

Milton H. Greene (1922 – 1985), Marlene Dietrich, 1952 juin, New York gelatin silver print via

Vintage Photos of Berlin Cabaret Artists (1920s-1930s)

Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992). Her earliest professional stage appearances were as a chorus girl on tour with Guido Thielscher’s Girl-Kabarett vaudeville-style entertainments, and in Rudolf Nelson revues in Berlin. Her performance as Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel (1930) brought her international fame and resulted in a contract with Paramount Pictures. Photo of Dietrich by Ruth Harriet Louise, c 1930 via

Trude Hesterberg (1892 – 1967) was a German stage and film actress, cabaret artist, chanson singer, soubrette and operetta singer, as well as founder and director of a cabaret stage. It is thought that she was an early consideration for the lead role in The Blue Angel, before it was given to Marlene Dietrich via

Margo lion (1899 – 1989) first came to Berlin in 1921 and made her debut at Trude Hesterbergs cabaret ‘Wild Bühne’ (The Wild Stage) in 1923 . She is best known for her role as Pirate Jenny in director G.W. Pabst’s 1931 French language adaptation of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) via

Anita Berber (1899 – 1928) was a German dancer, actress, and writer. Her hair was cut fashionably into a short bob and was frequently bright red, as in 1925 when the German painter Otto Dix painted a portrait of her, titled “The Dancer Anita Berber” via

Valeska Gert (1892 – 1978) could be considered one of Germany’s most ambiguous and overlooked artists. She was a dancer, actress, film and cabaret star. She was a pioneering performance artist who is said to have laid the foundations and paved the way for the punk movement via

Kate Kühl (1899-1970) nicknamed ‘The Red Nightingale’ went on to perform in all the major cabaret venues of the time including the Wilde Bühne, Kadeko and the Katacombe via

Blandine Ebinger (1899 – 1993) was a German actress and chansonniere. Ebinger became acquainted with Friedrich Hollaender in 1919, and with him she became heavily invested as a performer, writer, and composer in the Berlin cabaret scene in the 1920s, beginning in the cabaret Schall und Rauch and the Café Größenwahn. Photo of Blandine Ebinger performing Lieder eines armen Mädchens, 1925 via

Amazing Vintage Surreal Glamour by photographer Angus McBean

Angus McBean (8 June 1904 – 9 June 1990) was a Welsh photographer, set designer and cult figure associated with surrealism.

Two figures have prevented McBean from gaining more fame: Cecil Beaton (thanks to his lavish lifestyle and work for Vogue and the British Royal Family); and David Bailey, who much later (1960s) was close to Cecil Beaton both personally and in terms of style.

McBean did not enjoy this level of fame either in his life or after death, even though he was arguably the better technically and artistically.

Additionally McBean’s focus on the world of theatre (particularly London’s West End) did not give him international recognition.

In 2007, seven original colour transparencies (slides) of his photographs for the Beatles album cover Please Please Me by McBean were accidentally thrown in the bin at the headquarters of EMI.

Marlene Dietrich, “No Highway in the Sky” by Angus Mcbean Pinewood Studios, 1951 via

Audrey Hepburn by Angus Mcbean via

Vivien Leigh as Aurora by Angus McBean, 1938 via

 Hermione Baddeley by Angus McBean, 1938 Gelatin via

Marika Rivera by Angus Mcbean via

Dorothy Dickson by Angus Mcbean, 1938 via fotographiaonline.com via

Beatrice Lillie by Angus McBean, 1940s via

Marlene Dietrich in New York by Cecil Beaton (1935)

Cecil Beaton came to New York in 1928. Through personal connections he gained access to some of Hollywood’s biggest stars–including Marlene Dietrich (source).

Portrait of Marlene Dietrich in New York by Cecil Beaton, 1935 via

Portrait of Marlene Dietrich in New York by Cecil Beaton, 1935 via

A Collection of Photos Feat. Old Hollywood Costumes by Travis Banton

Travis Banton (1894 – 1958) was the chief designer at Paramount Pictures. He is considered one of the most important Hollywood costume designers of the 1930s.

An early apprenticeship with a high-society costume dressmaker earned him fame. When Mary Pickford selected one of his dresses for her wedding to Douglas Fairbanks, his reputation was established.

He opened his own dressmaking salon in New York City, and soon was asked to create costumes for the Ziegfeld Follies. In 1924, Travis Banton moved to Hollywood when Paramount contracted with him to create costumes for his first film, The Dressmaker from Paris.

Glamour, understated elegance, and exquisite fabrics endeared Travis Banton to the most celebrated of Hollywood’s beauties and made him one of the most sought-after costume designers of his era.

Because of his alcoholism and reputedly also at the instigation of his subordinate Edith Head, Banton was forced to leave Paramount. He started his own business and also designed for Twentieth Century-Fox from 1939-1941 and Universal from 1945-1948.

Marlene Dietrich in “The Devil is a Woman,” 1935. Costume by Travis Banton via

Marlene Dietrich in “Morocco,” 1930. Costume by Travis Banton via

Marlene Dietrich in “Blonde Venus,” 1932. Photo courtesy of Photofest. Costume by Travis Banton via

Travis Banton, Fay Wray in One sunday Afternoon, 1933 via

Claudette Colbert in “Tonight is Ours” 1933, costume by Travis Banton via

Eleanor Whitney in The Big Broadcast of 1937. Costumes by Travis Banton, 1937 via

Anna May Wong in “Limehouse Blues” 1934, costume by Travis Banton via

Lucille Ball in “Lover Come Back” 1946, costume by Travis Banton via

 

Carole Lombard in “Rumba”, 1935. Costume by Travis Banton via

Two Stunning Portraits of Marlene Dietrich by Cecil Beaton (1930)

Portrait of Marlene Dietrich by Cecil Beaton, 1930 via

Portrait of Marlene Dietrich by Cecil Beaton, 1930 via

A Collection of Photos Feat. Hollywood Actresses With Cigarette Holders

Marlene Dietrich via

Five Came Back, Lucille ball, 1939 via

Lupe Velez, 1941 via

Rita Hayworth, Colombia ictures, 1940s via

Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson, 1950 via

Anita Ekberg, with a cigarette holder via

Beautiful Photos of Marlene Dietrich for Shanghai Express (1932)

Don English, Marlene Dietrich in “Shanghai Express” directed by Josef von Sternberg, 1932 via

Don English, Marlene Dietrich in “Shanghai Express” directed by Josef von Sternberg, 1932 via

 

Old Hollywood Film Stars by Edward Steichen

Edward Jean Steichen (1879 – 1973) was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator.

Steichen was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz’ groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Together Stieglitz and Steichen opened the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession, which eventually became known as 291 after its address.

His photos of gowns for the magazine Art et Décoration in 1911 are regarded as the first modern fashion photographs ever published. From 1923 to 1938, Steichen was a photographer for the Condé Nast magazines Vogue and Vanity Fair while also working for many advertising agencies includingJ. Walter Thompson. During these years, Steichen was regarded as the best known and highest paid photographer in the world. In 1944, he directed the war documentary The Fighting Lady, which won the 1945 Academy Award for Best Documentary.

After World War II, Steichen was Director of the Department of Photography at New York’s Museum of Modern Art until 1962. While at MoMA, he curated and assembled the exhibit The Family of Man, which was seen by nine million people

Gloria Swanson by Edward Steichen, 1924 via

Anna Mae Wong by Edward Steichen, 1931 via

Marlene Dietrich by Edward Steichen, 1932 via

Joan Crawford by Edward Steichen via

Lillian Gish by Edward Steichen, 1934 via

Greta Garbo by Edward Steichen, 1928 via

A Collection of Vintage Photos of 1930s Schiaparelli

Elsa Schiaparelli couldn’t sew and she didn’t sketch, yet she stormed Paris fashion in the 1920s and 1930s.  Along with Coco Chanel, her greatest rival, she is regarded as one of the most prominent figures in fashion between the two World Wars.

While her contemporaries Chanel and Vionnet set the period’s standards of taste and beauty in fashion design, Schiaparelli flouted convention in the pursuit of a more idiosyncratic style. Her designs were heavily influenced by Surrealists and she Invented the power shoulders, the wedge shoes, the jumpsuit, and the color shocking pink and inspired a generation of unconventional couturiers. Of her contemporaries she described Chanel as “that milliner”, while Chanel once dismissed her rival as ‘that Italian artist who makes clothes”.

Elsa Schiaparelli, 1930’s via

Comtesse de Zoppola in Elsa Schiaparelli, photographed by Edward Steichen, 1931 via

Elsa Schiaparelli & Salvador Dali, Shoe-Hat, 1937/ 1938, wearing by Gala. Photo by André Caillet Fils, c. 1930s via

A model in a Schiaparelli design, 1934 via

The actress Ginger Rogers wearing Schiaparelli’s black velvet “Galyak” coat, 1937 via

Marlène Dietrich in Elsa Schiaparelli evening dress, 1930s via

Mae West in ‘Everyday’s a Holiday’, Elsa Schiaparelli designed her outfit, 1938 via

Elsa Schiaparelli, dress and silver gloves, 1939 via