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- 1. ALBEMARLE46 HOLLYWOOD INVIRGINIA Elizabeth Taylor, MGM, 1948 Photographby Clarence Sinclair Bull Photographs from the John Kobal Foundation The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts exhibits a collection of photographs of the greatest stars during the golden age of film
- 2. ALBEMARLE 47 BY JOHNBOLEN AND CAROLINE PARSLEY V irginia has long been a sort of rural hub for film, with numerous movies, actors, and di- rectors calling our lush landscape home. One of the earliest twentieth century pictures filmed in Virginia was a groundbreaking project called The Colored American Win- ning His Suit. This was the first feature length film made by African American producers and actors. Later in the twen- tieth century, some of the great names in the American film industry came to Virginia, including Humphrey Bogart, Elizabeth Taylor, Ronald Regan, Charl- ton Heston, Rock Hudson, and Alfred Hitchcock. Beginning in 1980, Virgin- ia once again rose to the forefront of film production with the founding of the Virginia Film Office. Actively recruit- ing film, video, and television industries, this organization brought major pictures back to Virginia and spread excitement about the art form throughout the state. Films continued to bring revenue and publicity to Virginia, including the recent films War of the Worlds, True Colors, and Lincoln, all set in the commonwealth. In November, Virginia plans to celebrate this long history with a blockbuster line- up of film appreciation. From November 7th to 10th, Char- lottesville will host the 26th Virginia Film Festival, a four-day event celebrat- ing the magic of film. Presented by the University of Virginia, the festival will include first run features as well as time- less classics. The four days will be filled with screenings, lectures, and discussions with experts in film, giving attendees a thorough insight into the making of movies. Films range from contemporary to classic and from documentaries to experimental film, followed by special behind the scenes looks and commen- taries. Past events have included shot by shot workshops with Roger Ebert, ad- vanced screenings of movies like Mother and Child, and even live producer com- mentary of shows like True Blood. This year promises to be just as exciting. The festival recently announced a 50th an- niversary screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 classic The Birds on Friday, Novem- ber 8, featuring a post-screening discus- sion with the film’s famed star Tippi He- dren. Another highlight this year will be the annual Family Day festivities, which for the first time will take place at the Betsy and John Casteen Arts Grounds at UVA. The Family Day offerings are being expanded, and the format of the festivities has been revamped and revital- ized for this year. A complete schedule detailing all the festival’s exciting events will be announced on October 8 at www. virginiafilmfestival.org. On the same weekend that Charlottesville will be hosting the Katharine Hepburn, RKO, 1935 Photograph by Ernest A. Bachrach James Cagney for “Angels With Dirty Faces,” Warner Brothers, 1938 Photograph by Scotty Welbourne THE KOBAL FOUNDATION is the legacy of John Kobal (1940–1991) who was among the pioneering generation of Hollywood historians and among the first to examine seriously the photographs taken to promote the stars, the films, and Hollywood as place.
- 3. 48 ALBEMARLE Virginia FilmFestival, Richmond will be welcoming the opening of the highly anticipated Hollywood Costume exhibit. Starting November 9th, Richmond’s Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) will house over one hundred of the most iconic costumes in film from 1912 to 2012. The exhibition, organized by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, will give visitors an in-depth look at how these Hollywood costumes created fashion trends and social icons. The exhibit will cover over 1500 square feet and will feature costumes from Superman, The Seven Year Itch, Taxi Driver, and even Tippi Hedren’s costume from The Birds. It will also include a dialogue between Alfred Hitchcock and famed costume designer Edith Head. The Birds was Tippi Hedren’s debut film, which critics called one of the scariest movies ever made. Alfred Hitchcock, the director of both Psycho and Rear Window, agreed with critics and once admitted that The Birds could have been the most ter- rifying motion picture he ever directed. In the film, Hedren plays the flippantly adorable Melanie Daniels, a blonde so- cialite who plans to surprise love interest Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in an isolated Northern California community. However her plans going terrifyingly south when swarms of crows and seagulls begin to in- explicably attack the town’s residents. The film unfolds into a brutal, yet beautiful dis- play of both acting and filmmaking. This movie was the beginning of a controversial relationship between Hedren and Hitch- cock, who continued to work together fol- lowing the film. On November 23rd the VMFA contin- ues their exploration of the film industry with the Made in Hollywood exhibit. Featur- ing over ninety original prints from 1920 to 1960 from some of the most important pho- tographers working during the golden age of cinema, Made In Hollywood will give view- ers another behind the scenes look at some of the most iconic films ever made. The photographs, which include stars like Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, and Clark Gable, were selected from the John Kobal Founda- tion Collection in England. John Kobal, a film historian and author of thirty books, began collecting photographs of Hollywood actors in the 1970s and 80s. Before even realizing the worth of this project, Kobal set out to reunite forgotten artists with their original negatives, which he then displayed at museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Some photographs reveal the subtle beauty of actors like Grace Kelly, while others provide insight into the troubled but genius minds of stars like Mar- lon Brando or Alfred Hitchcock. James Dean for “Rebel Without a Cause” Warner Brothers, 1955 Photograph by Floyd McCarty Rock Hudson for “Lover Come Back,” Universal, 1961 Photograph by Leo Fuchs
- 4. 49ALBEMARLE The VMFA seeksto encourage and foster film appreciation in everyone, in- cluding younger audiences. In December, the VMFA will host an event called Teen Stylin’ designed for young students with a passion for clothing design, studio arts, installation art, or sculpture. Teen Stylin’ will provide aspiring designers with the guidance and assistance to create their own one-of-a-kind, wearable works of art. More than 80 Virginia student designers in grades 6-12 will work throughout eight weeks to create these wearable works of art inspired by Hollywood Costume. During orientation, each student designer will choose an inspiration piece from several predetermined works of art in the per- manent collection that explore cinematic themes including: Wearing the Nation; Beauty & Vanity; Bold, Graphic & Iconic; Culture; The Good Life; Setting & Style; Picturing Power; Making Myths; and Hu- man Stories. Using creative construction and alternative material application, stu- dent designers will represent characters, plot, and setting through the sheer power of costumes. The students’ creations will then be featured during the Teen Stylin’ Fashion Weekend Runway Exhibitions. The Virginia Film Festival, Hollywood Costume, Made in Hollywood, and Teen Stylin’, are coming together this fall and winter to make them landmark seasons for Virginia film lovers. With Virginia’s Marilyn Monroe, RKO, 1952 Photograph by Ernest Bachrach Audrey Hepburn for “Funny Face,” Paramount Pictures, 1956 Photograph by Bud Fraker Nina Mae McKinney for “Hallelujah,” MGM, 1929 Photograph by Ruth Harriet Louise Jean Harlow, MGM, 1933 Photograph by George Hurrell Hedy Lamarr, MGM, c. 1940 Photograph by Clarence Sinclair Bull
- 5. 50 ALBEMARLE Marx Brothersfor “A Day at the Races,” MGM, 1937 Photograph by Ted Allan Alfred Hitchcock with the MGM Lion, MGM, 1958 Photograph by Clarence Sinclair Bull
- 6. 51ALBEMARLE natural beauty andpicturesque landscape, it is not difficult to see why a genre so reliant on aesthetics would flourish here. But beyond aesthetic beauty, it is the deep history and culture found here that makes Virginia unique among our nation’s fifty states. Lincoln production designer Rick Clark recognized the distinctiveness of our state when he said, “History is alive in Richmond in a way that you don’t find it in the rest of the country.” This combination of beauty, history, and culture has made Virginia a popular destination and a flourishing home in the film industry world. a Rita Hayworth for “Gilda,” Columbia Pictures, 1946 Photograph by Robert Coburn Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for “Swing Time,” RKO, 1936 Photograph by John Miehle Grace Kelly, MGM, 1956 Photograph by Clarence Sinclair Bull Clark Gable and Joan Crawford for “Dancing Lady,” MGM, 1933 Photograph by George Hurrell
- 7. 52 ALBEMARLE Humphrey Bogartfor “High Sierra,” Warner Brothers, 1940 Photographer by Scotty Welbourne Marlene Dietrich, on the set of “Manpower,” Warner Brothers, 1944 Photograph by Laszlo Willinger Buster Keaton, MGM, 1925 Photograph by Arthur Rice FOR MORE INFORMATION ONLINE VISIT: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts WWW.VMFA.STATE.VA.US John Kobal Foundation London WWW.JOHNKOBAL.ORG Victoria and Albert Museum London WWW.VAM.AC.UK Virginia Film Festival WWW.VIRGINIAFILMFESTIVAL.ORG Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation, Culpeper, VA WWW.LOC.GOV/AVCONSERVA- TION/THEATER/ Ava Gardner for “The Little Hut,” MGM, 1956 Photograph by Davis Boulton Laurel and Hardy, 1925 Photograph by Lansing Brown
- 8. 53ALBEMARLE Charlie Chaplin andJackie Coogan for “The Kid,” Charles Chaplin Productions, 1921 Photographer by unknown