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All for Beauty
Makeup and Hairdressing in Hollywood's Studio Era
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Book Presentation:
Ever wonder why so many stars and featured players, male or female, in movies of Hollywood’s “Golden Age” look like they just stepped out of a beauty parlor even if the story places them in a jungle, a hospital bed, or the ancient past? All for Beauty examines how and why makeup and hairdressing evolved as crafts designed partly to maintain the white flawlessness of men and women as a value in the studio era. The book pays particular attention to the labor force, exploring the power and influence of cosmetics inventor and manufacturer Max Factor and the Westmore dynasty of makeup artists but also the contributions of others, many of them women, whose names are far less known. At the end of the complex, exciting, and at times dismaying chronicle, it is likely that readers will never again watch Hollywood films without thinking about the roles of makeup and hairdressing in creating both fictional characters and stars as emblems of an idealized and undeniably mesmerizing visual perfection.
About the Author:
ADRIENNE L. McLEAN is a professor of film studies at the University of Texas at Dallas and the author or editor of multiple books including Dying Swans and Madmen: Ballet, the Body, and Narrative Cinema and Being Rita Hayworth: Labor, Identity, and Hollywood Stardom (both Rutgers University Press).
Press Reviews:
"Adrienne McLean’s engaging All for Beauty gives us a peek under the powder, lipstick, beard, and toupee, to examine the craft and labor politics of makeup and hairdressing in the studio era. This impeccably researched and argued book is a must read for anyone interested in the Hollywood studio system, film acting, stardom, or beauty culture!"
— Mary Desjardins
"McLean combines extensive research, keen insight, detailed analysis of stars and films, and an enjoyable way with words to give readers an important overview of the history, politics, and aesthetics of 'beauty makeup' during the glory days of Hollywood cinema. I devoured it, and so will you."
— Sean Griffin
"All for Beauty reveals a treasure trove of research in this absorbing history of how beauty makeup and hairdressing became essential to Hollywood filmmaking and its construction of stardom. Adrienne McLean's tangible passion for her project makes this a gift to Hollywood historians."
— Karen McNally
See the publisher website: Rutgers University Press
> From the same author:
Cinematic Canines (2014)
Dogs and Their Work in the Fiction Film
Dir. Adrienne L. McLean
Subject: On Films > Characters
Glamour in a Golden Age (2011)
Movie Stars of the 1930s
Dir. Adrienne L. McLean
Subject: On Films > Per period
Dying Swans and Madmen (2008)
Ballet, the Body, and Narrative Cinema
> On a related topic:
Special Makeup Effects for Stage and Screen (2023)
Making and Applying Prosthetics
Made-up Asians (2022)
Yellowface During the Exclusion Era
Makeup Artistry for Film and Television (2020)
Your Tools for Success On-Set and Behind-the-Scenes
Special Makeup Effects (2013)
for Stage and Screen: Making and Applying Prosthetics
Making Faces, Playing God (2001)
Identity and the Art of Transformational Makeup
Masters of Make-Up Effects (2022)
A Century of Practical Magic
by Howard Berger and Marshall Julius
Subject: Technique > Special effects
Makeup Man (2020)
From Rocky to Star Trek The Amazing Creations of Hollywood's Michael Westmore
by Michael Westmore and Jake Page
Subject: Others persons > Michael Westmore
Paul Blaisdell, Monster Maker (2009)
A Biography of the B Movie Makeup and Special Effects Artist
by Randy Palmer
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