Hurrell for Hollywood

Just as Velazquez glorified the court of Philip IV, portrait photogra pher George Hurrell immortalized Hollywood's Golden Age. When Norma Shearer hired him to shoot her, improbably, as a sexpot, the steamy picture persuaded MGM to cast her as a vamp and hire Hurrell as publicity head. For the next two decades, Hurrell, with his raking light, atmospheric shadows, and hyperstylized poses, apotheosized the likes of Garbo ("she laughed"), Crawford ("serious"), Rita Hayworth ("a dream"), Tyrone Power ("a perfect face")—all of whom shed their starlight on The Portfolios of George Hurrell (Greystone Books), and scintillate at an exhibition at Santa Monica's G. Ray Hawkins Gallery. It is, writes critic Gene Thornton, "a wonderful world where all women are young, beautiful and desirable, all men are handsome, strong and masterful, everyone is beautifully dressed and coiffed, and life is a marvelous party that never stops."

A.F.C.