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FROM THE BOOK:
When
Laszlo Willinger arrived in Hollywood in July 1937 under contract to MGM,
he had already been a photographer for the famous German magazine Berliner
Illustrierte and had established himself in European film studios as one
of the foremost photographers of film stars of the period, among them
Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings, Isa Miranda, and Zarah Leander. Until his
resignation from MGM in 1944, he was the studio's top photographer,
shooting all of their stars and replacing George Hurrell as personal
photographer to Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. Although by the early
1940's Hollywood glamour photography was entering its decline, Willinger
brought a freshness and energy to his portraits and gave his subjects a
quality of intelligence. He described what it was like to work with the
studio's leading stars:
A
sitting with Shearer, that was like the King of England traveling. First
there would be a great deal of diplomatic back and forth before I was even
notified that she was available. I'd get a stage, set up fifteen to twenty
sets, and light them, so that all she had to do was to move from one set
to another. She had photos of the sets before she agreed. If that was
okay, then you were finally told, "Thursday, 11 a.m., Miss
Shearer." Thursday I'd be there with a makeup woman, a hairdresser, a
man from Publicity to keep her busy and see that she turned up, two or
three electricians, depending on the size of the set, a prop man, a grip,
and a flower man ... and my own two assistants. After three or four
last-minute cancellations (that's the way she operated - that's the way
all stars operated), she would show up. Then she worked. And she would
work hard. Once you had her you tried to take as many pictures as you
could, because you knew you wouldn't have her for another six months.
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