FEATURE image: The 1947 Hollywood glamour portrait of Marlene Dietrich, photographed by A.L. “Whitey” Schafer, Paramount Pictures’ head of still photography since 1941. Photo Credit: Photograph by A.L. “Whitey” Schafer / Paramount Pictures (1947). Status: Public Domain. This image is a Hollywood publicity still distributed freely to the press without a copyright notice, subsequently failing to meet statutory registration and renewal requirements under pre-1978 U.S. copyright law.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the Hollywood “glamour machine” relied on innovative studio photographers like A.L. “Whitey” Schafer and László Willinger to systematically transform actresses into larger-than-life, idealized icons.
This portrait of A.L. “Whitey” Schafer dates from about May 1936 and was taken by an unknown photographer. Captured shortly after Schafer’s appointment as head of Columbia Pictures’ still photography department, the image reflects his rising stature within the industry. He had assumed the position at Columbia in 1935 following the death of department chief William Fraker. As was customary for newly promoted studio executives, Schafer sat for a series of professional publicity portraits created by fellow photographers in the studio’s own portrait gallery. The photograph presents Schafer as not merely a technician behind the camera but conveys his personal warmth as one of the key visual architects of Hollywood’s star-making machinery during the studio era. Photo Credit: Photographer Unknown / Columbia Pictures (May 1936). Status: Public Domain. This image is an official studio promotional portrait distributed freely to trade publications and the press without a formal copyright notice or subsequent registration.
Born in in Salt Lake City and growing up in California, A.L. “Whitey” Schafer ran the leading portrait gallery at Columbia in the 1930’s and early 1940’s. His work contributed to the emerging stardom of Rita Hayworth. “Whitey” Schafer was one of Hollywood’s elite studio photographers, becoming head of Paramount’s still photography department in 1941. A visionary technician as well as an accomplished artist, Schafer wrote extensively about photographic lighting and portrait design, publishing his influential manual Portraiture Simplified in 1941. He believed that successful portraiture depended upon disciplined composition, arguing that a portrait was much like a symphony, with every element supporting a single focal point. For Schafer, that center of interest was always the subject’s head, and the highest light in the image should direct the viewer’s eye there.
That philosophy is evident in his celebrated 1947 portrait of Marlene Dietrich, where a carefully placed key light transforms her blonde hair into a radiant halo, separating her from the background and drawing immediate attention to her face. The result is both technically precise and emotionally compelling, demonstrating Schafer’s mastery of the glamour style that defined Hollywood’s Golden Age.
“Whitey” Schafer wrote an important book on glamour photography
Photographer A. L. “Whitey” Schafer started shooting stills in 1923 and continued in that line of work at Columbia Pictures when he moved there in 1932. Personally outgoing, Schafer was appointed head of the still photography department at Columbia in 1935. In the 1940’s Shafer wrote copiously on his craft and advocated for techniques in glamour photography that are seen in this Dietrich color portrait.
In 1941 Schafer published Portraiture Simplified, a book in which he argues that “portraiture’s purpose is the realization of character realistically.” Among his technical observations Schafer wrote elsewhere that “composing a portrait is comparable to writing a symphony. There must be a center of interest, and in all portraits this naturally must be the head, or your purpose is defeated. Therefore, the highest light should be on the head.” Author’s photograph.
In 1941 Schafer replaced Eugene Richee (1896-1972) as department head of still photography at Paramount Studios. Schafer remained in that position where he photographed the stars until he died at 49 years old in an accident in 1951.
MARLENE DIETRICH
The 1947 Hollywood glamour portrait of Marlene Dietrich (1901, Berlin – 1992, Paris), photographed by Paramount Pictures’ head of still photography A.L. “Whitey” Schafer, perfectly captures the intersection of postwar studio publicity, advanced color-imaging technology, and the meticulous construction of screen mythology. By 1947, the forty-six-year-old Dietrich was mounting a major cinematic comeback after years devoted to entertaining Allied troops during World War II. The image was created to promote her return film, Golden Earrings (1947), Paramount’s romantic spy thriller so-starring Ray Milland and one of the most important projects of her postwar career.
Produced using the tri-chrome Cabro process to simulate the rich visual impact of Technicolor, the portrait reveals the dramatic reinvention of Dietrich’s screen image. Gone is much of the shadow-drenched femme fatale persona associated with her celebrated 1930s collaborations with director Josef von Sternberg. In its place stands a radiant, golden-haloed blonde wearing a green turtleneck sweater whose precisely penciled arc eyebrows, lifted in a knowing, seductive expression, project confidence and sophistication. High, sculpted cheekbones, luminous skin, and vivid red lipstick matched to her polished fingernails create striking accents of color that reinforce both glamour and modernity.
Historically, the photograph marks a crucial turning point in Dietrich’s career. It demonstrated that her unique screen magnetism could transition seamlessly from the classic black-and-white era into the vibrant color culture of the postwar entertainment industry. At the same time, it remains a textbook example of Schafer’s mastery of Hollywood commercial photography, illustrating how a single carefully engineered image could reposition an established actress not as a fading star, but as a timeless contemporary icon.
The film’s song, “Golden Earrings,” with music by Victor Young (1900-1956) and lyrics by Ray Evans (1915-2007) and Jay Livingston (1915-2001) was sung in the movie by actor Murvyn Vye (1915-1976). It was a hit recording in 1947-48 by Peggy Lee. See- https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1633213/m1/#track/4
1940s blondes
Like other leading ladies in the 1940’s, the Hollywood glamour machine transformed Dietrich into a golden-haloed blond which accentuated her magnificent cheekbones and sultry eyes under penciled-arc eyebrows and painted nails that A.L. “Whitey” Schafer’s color portrait makes evident.
It was also in 1947—the same year that the photograph was made— that Dietrich received the Medal of Freedom. Dietrich called it her life’s proudest achievement.
While Golden Earrings was a decent film, its main purpose was to provide the actress with a job. It led into her next project—the 1948 American romantic comedy A Foreign Affair directed by Billy Wilder. That film made Dietrich a top star again.
From Paramount Pictures, A Foreign Affair is a 1948 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Billy Wilder. The film made Marlene Dietrich a top star in the post-war years.
Following Dietrich’s meteoric rise at Paramount Pictures starting in 1930 her acting parts later stagnated as film directors —including Josef von Sternberg and others—seemed to use her more as a piece of expensive cinematic scenery than as a serious dramatic actress.
ELIZABETH TAYLOR
Though still a teenager, Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) in 1949 when the publicity still photograph was made, was celebrated as the new generation’s great beauty. In 1942, at 10 years old, Elizabeth made her film debut and her life and beauty blossomed over the decade in front of the cameras. The photograph captures Taylor after she made a little over a dozen films.
In 1950 she co-starred in M-G-M’s comedy film, Father of the Bride. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, Taylor played Kay, the daughter of Stanley T. Banks (Spencer Tracy) who is trying to cope with the preparations for her wedding day.
WHO IS HYMIE FINK? HIS IDENTITY REMAINS A MYSTERY
Who was Elizabeth Taylor’s photographer, Hymie Fink? Was Hymie Fink a studio photographer? Freelancer? Pseudonym for an unknown talent or combination of unknown talents?
His name appears among the stars starting in the late 1930’s until his death was announced by Hedda Hopper in the mid-1950’s. The gossip columnist ended her newspaper column for September 28, 1956 with this epitaph: “Hymie Fink, one of the sweetest men in Hollywood, died of a heart attack on Jane Wyman’s TV set. Hymie photographed every star and every major event in (Hollywood) for twenty-five years.”
By prioritizing high-contrast lighting, bold colorization, and curated personal archetypes over realistic character study, these pioneering still photographers manufactured the enduring, sensuous visual mythology of the Golden Age star.
LANA TURNER.
Before she became in the 1940’s the well-known Hollywood sensuous platinum blonde of movie legend and fame, Lana Turner (1921-1995) was a pretty redhead from Idaho named Julia Jean Turner.
Lana Turner, 18 years old in this unretouched color portrait by László Willinger (1909–1989), had been discovered three years earlier. Her discovery in a malt shop near Hollywood High School where she was a student, has entered the annals of show-biz mythology. Her discovery’s immediate result was a movie contract with producer-director Mervyn LeRoy (1900-1987).
László Willinger
Hungarian-born photographer László Willinger started his professional career in Vienna, Austria. He left Europe for America in 1937 where he joined M-G-M that same year. Soon after, he made this lush shot of 18-year-old Lana Turner in a silky green dress seated on a red divan (or chair) with her head turned and looking to one side with slightly bloodshot eyes.
Willinger’s color portrait of red-headed Lana Turner emphasizes the sensuality of her personality manifested in her full red sensuous lips and painted nails. In 1944, László Willinger left MGM and established his own photography studio in Hollywood. For the next 40 years he successfully practiced his craft.
“America’s Sweater Sweetheart”
The title of Lana Turner’s first film in 1937 for Warner Brothers was They Won’t Forget. The title proved prophetic for Lana Turner’s Hollywood career as she went on to make over 50 glamorous films, most of them at M-G-M.
Lana’s image in her film debut created such a stir among movie-going audiences that gossip columnist Walter Winchell (1897-1972) coined her “America’s Sweater Sweetheart.” Over the next 20 years, a bevy of Hollywood actresses would wear tight sweaters over specialty bras that emphasized the bust line in the hope of sparking the same Lana Turner movie success story for themselves.
New Jean Harlow?
Lana was originally being groomed to be the new Harlow. She followed the sex-bomb script in full force in 1941 when the studio dyed her hair whitish blonde for Ziegfeld Girl. Lana co-starred with Judy Garland and Hedy Lamarr and stole the show.
About her own reputedly rowdy personal life in those M-G-M years, Lana Turner later remarked: “My plan was to have one husband and seven children, but it turned out the other way…”
SOURCES:
SCHAFER – Like the bulk of Hollywood studio promotional imagery generated during the Golden Age, these photographs were distributed widely, freely, and without copyright notices to newspapers, magazines, and the public to maximize media coverage. Under U.S. copyright law for works published before 1978, the lack of a formal copyright notice—combined with a total failure to renew any studio registrations—permanently placed these promotional stills into the public domain.
DIETRICH – “Miss Dietrich to Receive Medal,” The New York Times, November 18, 1947;
https://ladailymirror.com/2013/11/04/mary-mallory-hollywood-heights-mdash-a-l-whitey-schafer-simplifies-portraits/;
http://vintagemoviestarphotos.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-l-whitey-schafer.html;
They Had Faces Then. Annabella to Zorina: The Superstars, Stars and Starlets of the 1930’s, John D. Springer and Jack D. Hamilton, Citadel Press, Secaucus, New Jersey, 1974.
Hollywood Color Portraits, John Kobal, William Morrow and Company. Inc., New York, 1981.
https://www.aenigma-images.com/2017/04/a-l-whitey-schafer/
PHOTO CREDIT – *The photograph copyright may be believed to belong to the distributor of the film, Paramount, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. The copy is of sufficient resolution for commentary and identification but lower resolution than the original photograph. Copies made from it will be of inferior quality, unsuitable as counterfeit artwork, pirate versions or for uses that would compete with the commercial purpose of the original artwork. The image is used for identification in the context of critical commentary of the work, product or service for which it serves as poster art. It makes a significant contribution to the user’s understanding of the article, which could not practically be conveyed by words alone. As this is a publicity photo (star headshot) taken to promote an actress, these have traditionally not been copyrighted. Since they are disseminated to the public, they are generally considered public domain, and therefore clearance by the studio that produced them is not necessary. (See- Eve Light Honthaner, film production expert, in The Complete Film Production Handbook, Focal Press, 2001 p. 211. Gerald Mast, Further, film industry author, in Film Study and the Copyright Law (1989) p. 87, writes: “According to the old copyright act, such production stills were not automatically copyrighted as part of the film and required separate copyrights as photographic stills. The new copyright act similarly excludes the production still from automatic copyright but gives the film’s copyright owner a five-year period in which to copyright the stills. Most studios have never bothered to copyright these stills because they were happy to see them pass into the public domain, to be used by as many people in as many publications as possible.” Kristin Thompson, committee chairperson of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies writes in the conclusion of a 1993 conference with cinema scholars and editors, that they “expressed the opinion that it is not necessary for authors to request permission to reproduce frame enlargements … [and] some trade presses that publish educational and scholarly film books also take the position that permission is not necessary for reproducing frame enlargements and publicity photographs.”(“Fair Usage Publication of Film Stills,” Kristin Thompson, Society for Cinema and Media Studies.)
TAYLOR -http://tatteredandlostephemera.blogspot.com/2009/06/who-is-hymie-fink.html;
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1956/09/29/page/22/article/diana-dors-isnt-homesick-shes-set-for-film-in-britain;
Hollywood Color Portraits, John Kobal, William Morrow and Company. Inc., New York, 1981.
TURNER – Hollywood Color Portraits, John Kobal, William Morrow and Company. Inc., New York, 1981.
Lana Turner interview with Phil Donahue, 1982 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhu6_V7pNL0
“Hollywood Photographer Dies,” The Hour, Associated Press, August 9, 1989 – https://news.google.com/newspapers nid=1916&dat=19890814&id=azIiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uXQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1804,2177679
PHOTO CREDIT: *The photograph copyright may be believed to belong to the distributor of the film, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. The copy is of sufficient resolution for commentary and identification but lower resolution than the original photograph. Copies made from it will be of inferior quality, unsuitable as counterfeit artwork, pirate versions or for uses that would compete with the commercial purpose of the original artwork. The image is used for identification in the context of critical commentary of the work, product or service for which it serves as poster art. It makes a significant contribution to the user’s understanding of the article, which could not practically be conveyed by words alone. As this is a publicity photo (star headshot) taken to promote an actress, these have traditionally not been copyrighted. Since they are disseminated to the public, they are generally considered public domain, and therefore clearance by the studio that produced them is not necessary. (See- Eve Light Honthaner, film production expert, in The Complete Film Production Handbook, Focal Press, 2001 p. 211. Gerald Mast, Further, film industry author, in Film Study and the Copyright Law (1989) p. 87, writes: “According to the old copyright act, such production stills were not automatically copyrighted as part of the film and required separate copyrights as photographic stills. The new copyright act similarly excludes the production still from automatic copyright but gives the film’s copyright owner a five-year period in which to copyright the stills. Most studios have never bothered to copyright these stills because they were happy to see them pass into the public domain, to be used by as many people in as many publications as possible.” Kristin Thompson, committee chairperson of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies writes in the conclusion of a 1993 conference with cinema scholars and editors, that they “expressed the opinion that it is not necessary for authors to request permission to reproduce frame enlargements … [and] some trade presses that publish educational and scholarly film books also take the position that permission is not necessary for reproducing frame enlargements and publicity photographs.”(“Fair Usage Publication of Film Stills,” Kristin Thompson, Society for Cinema and Media Studies.)
