Film Journal - Hardcover

This book highlights a little-known aspect of longtime Magnum member Arnold's career: her photojournalism and publicity work on over 20 films, ranging from Joan Crawford's The Best of Everything (1959) to John Huston's Under the Volcano (1984), with a few stray celebrity shots included as a bonus. Sadly, this work has been little seen, perhaps because so many of the films covered here were box office bombs. The book captures Arnold's gift for establishing intimacy with her subjects. Most memorable is a portrait of a bone-weary Anne Bancroft on the set of The Pumpkin Eater, taken just days after President Kennedy's assassination. Arnold's reflections on the films are jottings and impressions, not fully developed essays. Still, readers may enjoy some gossipy tidbits, as when, moments after meeting Arnold, an aging, inebriated Joan Crawford insisted that she be photographed in the nude (the photographs were taken but don't appear in the book). Movie buffs will enjoy some film history photographic footnotes, like the one of a young Vanessa Redgrave accompanied by toddlers Joely and Natasha Richardson, now both respected actresses. The best shots: a young, intense, T-shirt clad Paul Newman attending a 1955 Actor's Studio class and a classic shot of film legends Montgomery Clift and Marilyn Monroe in intense concentration before a take on The Misfits. This black-and-white photo collection deserves a place on the shelves of large popular film history collections. Stephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA
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