PAUL HESSE STARS ON PARADE.

Here some of the Hollywood Stars photographed by Paul Hesse. Many of them also appeared in Maybelline Advertisements in the 1940's.

Carole Lombard cover by Paul Hesse 

Anne Sheridan by Paul Hesse.

Joan Leslie by Paul Hesse.

Marlene Dietrich by Paul Hesse.

Gene Tierney by Paul Hesse. "Carbro from John Lloyd Lovell collection."

  Maria Montez by Paul Hesse. "Carbro from John Lloyd Lovell collection." 

                                           Lucille Ball by Paul Hesse.

Ava Gardner by Paul Hesse.

Loretta Young by Paul Hesse. 

One of the biggest discoveries by Paul Hesse was little Margaret O'Brien. seen here in 1946.  She however never appeared in a Maybelline advertisement.

So ends my series on Hollywood's Ziegfeld of Photography, Paul Hesse.  Check out this video from the show, Love That Bob.  Bob Cummings plays a bachelor Hollywood photographer in the 1950s.  It has been said that Bob's character was molded after Paul Hesse.

Hollywood photographer, Carlyle Blackwell Jr. gives new expression to the Stars in the late 40's and 50's.  Check in tomorrow to see what I mean......

MERLE OBERON - PAUL HESSE - MAYBELLINE AND THE STUDIO/STAR SYSTEM.

Renowned pioneer advertising Photographer Paul Hesse and exotic Merle Oberon.

Not only a genius when it came to glamour photography, Paul Hesse helped launch many starlets careers in Hollywood by introducing them to the right Studio bosses.  He also photographed the Biggest Stars on the Silver Screen as promotional advertising vehicles for products like Maybelline cosmetics. The combination of Studio, Star, film and product - helped make up 

the Hollywood Star system.  

MY MAKE-UP WOULD NOT BE COMPLETE WITHOUT MAYBELLINE MASCARA, EYEBROW PENCIL AND EYE SHADOW, Signed, Merle Oberon, 1944.

When the full page color Maybelline ad of Merle Oberon appeared on the back cover of 1944 movie magazines,  she was starring in the Gothic horror film Dark Waters.  Paul Hess shot the exotic photo of her as an advertising tool to promote her career, the Studio's name and Maybelline cosmetics.  That's one way the Studio Star/System worked up until the 1950s.

The front cover of a movie magazine would promote the film, the inside story would exploit the Studio and the back cover would display a Maybelline ad, autographed by Merle Oberon, suitable for framing.

It's easy to recognize the quality of color film used by Paul Hesse in the late 1930's and 40's.

The brilliance of Merle Oberon's eyes stand out just as much as the flowers or ruffles on her dress.

Merle Oberon's exotic features allowed her to play various ethnic rolls throughout her career and Paul Hesse captured the magic of dark eyes, red lips and raven hair in this picture of an Indian Princess.

The lighting in this photo captured the sparkle in Oberon's eyes, her smile and the energy she exuded.

During its original airing between 1955 and 1959 and in syndication as Love That Bob, The Bob Cummings Show depicted the exploits and pranks of bachelor Bob Collins, a celebrity photographer of Hollywood stars, and his network of mostly unmarried friends. 

It's been said that Bob Cummings character was taken directly from the famous Paul Hesse, Hollywood's flamboyant Star maker.

Check back tomorrow for the last day of Paul Hesse, his Stars and the Hollywood Studio/Star System.

JOAN CRAWFORD - PAUL HESSE - MAYBELLINE

Paul Hesse clearly understood the power

that an image can have over the public. 

Paul Hesse was the first professional photographer to  create a true-to-life likeness but idealized, glamorized and enhanced by his ground breaking technique of producing only delicious color values.

To Maybelline-The eye make-up I would never be without, signed.....

Hesse designed rear projection screens for creating custom backgrounds that framed his subjects.  The twinkling background in this Maybelline ad made Joan Crawford's eyes sparkle with expression......  Women who wanted that Star Quality chose Maybelline.....
Tom Lyle, contracted Crawford to be Maybelline's official spokesperson between 1946 and 1960.

This Hesse photo of Joan Crawford was so highly stylized and hyper-realistic..... she just leaped off the page.  

Hesse took this photograph of Joan Crawford and gave it a style that captured the hearts and minds of the American public.  He inspired countless celluloid  dreams of beauty, glamour and sex appeal.

He was so admired in Hollywood that the actor Bob Cummings modeled his television character on the popular Bob Cummings Show (1955-1959) after him.


Stay tuned for Merle Oberon, Paul Hess and Maybelline next week.

HEDY LAMARR - PAUL HESSE - MAYBELLINE .

If you wanted glamour and sex appeal, Paul Hesse was the Hollywood Photographer to see.  

Cary Grant and Paul Hesse at a photo shoot.

By the late 1930’s, Hesse had become known as one of the best commercial photographers in New York, and  traveled to Hollywood several times a year to shoot photos of movie stars for Photoplay and for national advertising campaigns for companies like Maybelline.  

This photo of Hedy Lamarr was taken by Paul Hesse.  TO MAYBELLINE.....THE EYE MAKE-UP I FIND AS TRULY FLATTERING.....signed Hedy Lamarr.  Maybelline paid to have a Star's autographed picture placed on the back cover of movie magazines like Photoplay..... suitable for framing. 

Hedy Lamarr, 1950.

Photoplay was a movie fan magazine that was founded in 1911 and reached its peak of popularity in the 1920s and 1930s as fans became increasingly interested in the private lives of celebrities. 

Hedy Lamarr by Paul Hesse.

Photoplay was known for its artwork portraits of film stars on the cover, but once color photography was perfected around 1937, photographs of the stars were used on the covers instead.

                          Old Movies Nostalgia.

A Paul Hesse photo shoot, creating a wholesome image of Hedy Lamarr during World War ll.

Hedy Lamarr the girl next door.

Hesse used color film to create eye popping photos that would sell magazines, Brands and products.

He used lighting, clothes, hair and makeup to create a Hedy Lamar who  looks like she's from Kansas..... except sexy and glamorous even in an apron

Photoplay carried advertisements for makeup, hair, skin products, and fashions. It also contained movie reviews, personal stories about big name stars such as Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard, Hedy Lamarr, Merle Oberon, Betty Garble and several vivid color photographs of other movies stars as well.

In this Photoplay article, Hedy Lamarr discusses the value of wearing comfortable shoes in the 1940's..... just like we could expect Paris Hilton discussing shoes she loved today in PEOPLE MAGAZINE, on EXTRA or FASHION POLICE.

Hedy Lamarr may have been a Paul Hesse - Maybelline model, as well as one the most beautiful women in Hollywood, but she was also a Scientist who patented this Secret Communication System in the 1940's a forerunner for electronic communication today.

Read all about it in Hedy Lamarr's new book, Hedy's Folly, by Richard Rhodes.

I have one Hedy Lamarr mini-makeup bag left.  See PayPal box on the right side of this page.

Hedy Lamarr Video

Hedy Lamarr, Extase/Ecstasy by Gustav Machaty, 1933.

ECSTASY - Scandalous 1933 Hedy Lamarr Debut  Click highlighted.

Hedy Lamarr and Bob Cummings on the Love That Bob TV Show.  Cummings character is said to be taken directly from Paul Hesse.

Continued tomorrow with Paul Hesse, Maybelline 

and Joan Crawford.

PAULETTE GODDARD AND "HOLLYWOOD'S PHOTOGRAPHIC ZIEGFELD" PAUL HESSE,

Paul  Hesse’s fascinating career mirrors the rise and fall of the Hollywood studio system and you can trace the history of photography through his work. His photos present Hollywood as a mythical and slightly surreal place where blemish free beauties with perfect teeth smile endlessly for our pleasure. The Hollywood fantasy that Paul Hesse helped create is still being used to sell movie tickets today but it has lost some of its luster.....
                 Old Movies Nostalgia.

Paulette Goddard best known for her film performances 

and her marriage to Charlie Chaplin and Burgess 

Meredith.  You can see the meticulous attention to detail

and use of lighting in this photograph.  Hesse  

selected his models clothing, created the scene and  

assisted in the makeup. When a Maybelline ad was 

being shot, Tom Lyle Williams, Emery Shaver and 

Arnold Anderson were also present, making sure 

Maybelline's Brand was perfectly presented.

A child fashion model - Paulette Goddard moved to Broadway as a Ziegfeld Girl, performing the elaborate Ziegfeld Follies productions. Goddard went on to become a major star of the Paramount Studios and was  one of Tom Lyle's favorite Maybelline model's throughout the 1940s.

"Glamour photography started to lose its appeal when the powerful Hollywood studio system that had been in place for decades began to crumble. Major studios were no longer interested in grooming young stars or signing long-term contracts with them." From the blog, Old Movies Nostalgia.

Burgess Meredith with his wife Paulette Goddard and Merle Oberon with Lucien Ballard.

Charlie Chaplin and his wife Paulette Goddard.

    ANOTHER WORD FOR GLAMOUR WAS MAYBELLINE.

I argue that glamour is an enticing and seductive image that is woven around people places and things to make them seem more magnificent than they really are. It rests on a series of values including beauty, wealth, sex appeal, mobility, theatricality, dynamism and leisure. The most effective bearers of glamour in the last two hundred years have not been aristocrats or the established rich, but those, like Otero, who were outsiders who rose from nothing by sheer determination and force of personality. They captured the dreams of the masses with an aura that combined exclusivity with accessibility. In the twentieth century the major motion picture studios would learn how to manufacture this aura as a corporate product linked to consumption.

Learn more about Glamour: A History at the Oxford University Press website. Visit Stephen Gundle's faculty webpage.

Paulette Goddard

"A WOMAN'S GREATEST POSSESSION IS A 

MAN'S IMAGINATION." 

Quote by, TOM LYLE WILLIAMS.....MAYBELLINE.

Read more about Tom Lyle Williams and the  Stars who appeared in Maybelline's glamorous color ads in.....

The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty 

Behind It.