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Artifice and Atmosphere: The Visual Culture of Hollywood Glamour Photography, 1930–1935
- Film History: An International Journal
- Indiana University Press
- Volume 29, Number 3, Fall 2017
- pp. 105-135
- 10.2979/filmhistory.29.3.05
- Article
- Additional Information
ABSTRACT:
During the first half of the 1930s, the idea of glamour was changing. Early in the decade, the term referred to a particular category of character or star: the sophisticated, mysterious woman. But this type came to be represented in a recognizable way, turning glamour into a visual style that could be copied—within Hollywood and beyond. Soon, the word glamour had become a synonym for beauty itself. This essay discusses the shifting meanings of the term, while examining glamour's visual construction in three distinct sites: Vanity Fair, the fan magazines, and the films of Greta Garbo.