Luscious Film Noir Femme Fatale Glenda Farrell Vintage George Hurrell Photograph
Item History & Price
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ITEM: This is a vintage and original Columbia Pictures studio portrait photograph by the prolific and immensely talented photographer George Hurrell of Golden Age of Hollywood actress Glenda Farrell. This luscious glamour portrait shows Farrell wrapped up in fur and looking like every inch the elegant femme fatale in promotion of her film, the 1943 film noir crime film, City Without Men.
The press snipe reads: A PORTRAIT - of Glenda Farrell currently appearing in the Columbia production, "City Without Men", produced by B.P. Schulberg and Samuel Bronston.
An actress of film, television, and theater with a career spanning more than 50 years, Farrell appeared in over 100 films and television series, as well as numerous Broadway plays. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960, and won an Emmy Award for best supporting actress for her performance in the television series Ben Casey in 1963.
Measures 8" x 10" on a glossy, double weight paper stock.
Hurrell's Columbia Pictures ink stamp, Advertising Advisory Council ink stamp, and studio paper caption on verso.
CONDITION: This photograph is in fine condition with creasing and softening at the corners, light soiling in the margins, and light, general storage/handling wear. Please use the included images as a conditional guide.
Guaranteed to be 100% vintage and original from Grapefruit Moon Gallery.
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Glenda Farrell began as the archetypal wisecracking blonde in 1930s gangland films like Little Caesar (1931) and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932). Diminutive, grey-eyed and undeniably sassy, she was a seasoned performer long before Warner Brothers snapped her up as a contract player in 1929. She made her debut on the stage as a 7 year-old playing Little Eva in "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Via provincial theatre Glenda eventually made her way to Broadway where she scored a palpable hit in "Life Begins" (later recreating her role for the screen). That attracted the Hollywood talent scouts and her movie contract followed in due course. Though seemingly destined for typecasting as hardboiled gangster molls, showgirls and gold diggers, it was her role as fast-talking, resourceful girl reporter Torchy Blane in her own series of films (beginning with Smart Blonde (1937)) that made her a star, albeit a minor one. She later recalled "Warners never made you feel you were just a member of the cast. They might star you in one movie and give you a bit part in the next...You were still well paid and you didn't get a star complex. We were a very close group..."
Glenda was also paired with another livewire, Joan Blondell, for a series of high octane, madcap farces which consistently made money at the box office. Inevitably, though, her roles became more and more repetitive. After her contract with Warner Brothers expired, she continued to appear with diminishing effectiveness in films for Universal (1938) and Columbia (1942-44). In the 50s, Glenda made the transition to more mature character roles, alternating screen work with Broadway plays -- pretty much throughout the remainder of her acting career -- eventually winning a Primetime Emmy Award in 1963 as Best Supporting Actress for the television series Ben Casey (1961). She took ill during a stage performance of "Forty Carats" in New York in 1969 and died at her home two years later. As the wife of a former U.S. Army colonel, Glenda became the only actress to be interred in the cemetery of West Point Military Academy.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: I.S.Mowis
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Along with Clarence Sinclair Bull, George Hurrell helped create the ideal standards of high end Hollywood Glamour in photography.
But while Bull showed an early interest in photography, Hurrell was actually initially more interested in painting. The only reason he got into photography was to make a record of his paintings. Hurrell was born in Covington, Kentucky and eventually moved to Chicago, Illinois. But in 1925 he found, when he relocated to Laguna Beach, California, that there was more of a profitable interest in photography.
In the later 1920s, Hurrell was introduced to actor Ramon Navarro and took a series of photographs of him. Navarro was significantly impressed enough to show the results to actress Norma Shearer who in turn sought to use Hurrell to change her wholesome image to a more provocative one. Shortly after, Shearer showed the finished photos to her husband, MGM production chief, Irving Thalberg. Thalberg signed Hurrell to a contract with MGM as the head of the portrait photography department.
However, in 1932, Hurrell left MGM and opened his own studio on Sunset Boulevard. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Hurrell photographed just about every major star in the industry including Myrna Loy, Robert Montgomery, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Carole Lombard. In the 1940s, he moved to working for Warner Brothers Studios and photographed Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Errol Flynn, Maxine Fife, Humphrey Bogart, and James Cagney. Later in the same decade, he again moved--this time to Columbia Pictures--and photographed Rita Hayworth among others.
While he also photographed Greta Garbo for the film Romance, the two did not hit it off and Garbo preferred to keep Clarence Sinclair Bull as her official photographer. However, Norma Shearer, who adored Hurrell, kept his as her exclusive photographer.
From the book, Glamour of the Gods:
George Hurrell started work at MGM at the beginning of 1930 and almost immediately transformed Hollywood photography. Brought to MGM at the insistence of Norma Shearer, his task was to make his subjects, especially women, sexy. Not only did he succeed but his work, in this respect, has never been bettered. Norma Shearer was an attractive and talented actress, who through determination and fortitude, not to mention marriage to MGM's top producer Irving Thalberg, managed to secure most of the studio's choicest female roles. But she found herself increasingly cast as the nice girl or sophisticated matron when she wanted the racier roles given to Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo. Hurrell changed Shearer's appearance, at least in the portrait gallery, and there is no question that the lovely lady portrayed by Ruth Harriet Louise took on a new smoldering guise when seen through Hurrell's lens. Hurrell's very best work was saved for Joan Crawford who probably enjoyed being photographed more than any actress before Marilyn Monroe. Of the approximately 100, 000 photographs that were coded by MGM's publicity department between 1924 and 1942, Crawford's face appears more often than that of any other star. Hurrell and Crawford enjoyed an extraordinary collaboration, beginning at MGM and continuing after he went independent in late 1932. Hurrell could be almost brutal with his sitters, subjecting them variously to strong lights, extreme close-ups, and complicated positions. Crawford survived all of Hurrell's antics and her allure was only heightened by his inventive camerawork.
Glamour was Hurrell's hallmark and he saved the best for his ladies. Harlow reached her peak of sexual allure in front of Hurrell's lens, as did Carole Lombard and Veronica Lake when he shot portraits for Paramount. As good as Hurrell was in the 1930s, his 1943 photographs of Jane Russell in the hay, taken to promote "The Outlaw, " are portably his most famous and frequently reproduced.
Hurrell did not have the temperament to last long as part of a studio team. He remained available to MGM on a contract basis throughout the 1930s photographing Harlow, Gable and Crawford among others, both at his studio and at MGM. MGM seemed to have been grooming Harvey White to take Hurrell's place, but he lasted at the studio less than a year. The work by White that survives includes copious shots of Jean Harlow on the set for "Dinner at 8.”
John Kobal (the famous chronicler of Hollywood) and Hurrell must have enjoyed swapping tales about Marlene Dietrich, who, when Kobal met her in 1960, was in the midst of a second career as a concert performer. A quarter of a century earlier she was one of Hollywoods reigning queens and for six years, beginning when she came to Hollywood in 1930, Dietrich's star shone brightly, especially in a series of films made at Paramount and directed by Joseph von Sternberg. But two duds released in 1937, "Knight Without Armour" and "Angel", saw her value sink rapidly and she was dropped from the Paramount roster. Strategically, and in an attempt to bolster her career, she commissioned a series of portraits from Hurrell. The feathered hat and chiffon dress she selected for the session obviously pleased both actress and photographer, and the results proved that, although her film career might be faltering, she was as beautiful as ever. Two years later she was back with one of her greatest hits, "Destry Rides Again"--but it was a western and made at Universal, something of a comedown for a Paramount star. Might Hurrell's dazzling portraits have helped her secure the role?
For a time, Hurrell left Hollywood to make training films for the United States Army. But, when he tried to return to Hollywood in mid 1950s, he found that his original style of glamour photography was no longer in vogue. So he decided instead to venture to New York, where he photographed for fashion magazines and did advertisements for various products.
However, his initial style did not fall out of favor for long. In 1965, a revival of his work was exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art in New York and it caused a sensation. He began to work again returning to Hollywood and photographing occasionally but by the 1970s he was in full swing again taking photos of such new stars as Raquel Welch, Farrah Fawcett and John Travolta.
He decided to retire though in 1976. Nevertheless, he sporadically would photograph certain new stars if he found an interest in them. Sharon Stone, Brooke Shields, and Shannon Tweed were among those he felt imparted the same kind of glamour that he was famous for shooting in the Hollywood heydays.
In addition, in 1984, he could not say no when Joan Collins (then hot off Dynasty) said that he would be the only photographer she would allow to photograph her in the nude for a spread that Playboy was proposing. In turn, Hurrell photographed the classy 50 year old star in some page layout shots and the subsequent issue became a best seller.
Lastly, he created publicity photos of Annette Benning and Warren Beatty for the film "Bugsy" and Natalie cole for her album Unforgettable ... with Love.
Around the same time, there was a documentary being made about his life and he did his last legendary style shots of actors Sherilyn Fenn, Sharon Stone, Julian Sands, Raquel Welch, Eric Roberts and Sean Penn.
After the documentary was completed, he fell ill from complications from a recurring problem with bladder cancer. He passed away May 17, 1992.
Like C. S. Bull, his photographs have appreciated in value over time. His work is highly sought after by art dealers and collectors.
— Biography From: VintageMovieStarPhotos (dot) BlogSpot (dot) com
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