FEATURE image: This striking color portrait of Hedy Lamarr was photographed by the German-born émigré glamour specialist László Willinger (1909-1989), one of the Hollywood photographers who helped define the look of major stars during the late 1930s and 1940s. Commissioned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a premium publicity image for its lavish all-star production Boom Town (1940), the portrait was designed to reinforce Lamarr’s growing reputation as one of the studio’s most glamorous and sophisticated leading ladies.
The photograph is especially significant because it survives as an authentic color studio portrait from an era when most Hollywood publicity photography was still produced in black and white. At a time when color photographic processes remained expensive, technically demanding, and relatively uncommon in studio portraiture, Willinger achieved a remarkably rich and luminous result through the labor-intensive three-color Carbro printing process. The image captures the brilliance of MGM’s carefully crafted star-making machinery while preserving an unusually vivid record of how audiences were meant to see Lamarr at the height of her early fame.
In Boom Town, Lamarr portrayed Karen Vanmeer, a poised and sophisticated woman whose beauty and elegance play a central role in the film’s drama. Her wardrobe in the portrait, including the luxurious white fur wrap, dramatic pearl earrings, and oversized double-pearl ring, was carefully chosen to project privilege, refinement, and irresistible glamour. Created as a prestige publicity asset, the image was intended for distribution to leading fashion magazines, Sunday newspaper pictorial sections, and upscale theater displays, where its dazzling color and cinematic elegance could help attract audiences long before they reached the box office. Today, it remains one of the finest surviving examples of MGM’s Golden Age publicity art and of Willinger’s mastery of the Hollywood glamour portrait. Public Domain.***
László Willinger’s 1940 glamour portrait of Hedy Lamarr for Boom Town transcends routine film marketing, serving as a masterclass in mid-century studio escapism that weaponized arresting European beauty to anchor MGM’s highest-grossing, star-studded box office juggernaut.
Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000) posed for the glamour portrait in the Feature Image in 1940. The legendary Austrian beauty in Hollywood was 27 years old. Since her first American film in 1938, Algiers from United Artists, Lamarr was believed to be the most beautiful women in the world. Her beauty was so great that when she entered a room all activity in it stopped so to admire her.
The publicity photograph of Lamaar was for the 1940 American adventure film Boom Town from Metro-Godwyn-Mayer. The fast-paced American drama film set against the backdrop of the oil-well drilling industry co-starred Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Claudette Colbert. Boom Town was the highest grossing film of 1940.
One of the defining headshots that secured Hedy Lamarr’s legacy as an enduring icon of Golden Age glamour was this late-1939 publicity portrait by the legendary Hungarian-born photographer László Willinger, created during her early reign at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Having recently arrived in Hollywood, Willinger quickly became one of MGM’s most valuable image-makers, renowned for combining sharp technical precision with the sophisticated European sensibility he brought to American studio photography. The portrait was commissioned as a major promotional vehicle as Lamarr’s star continued its rapid ascent and MGM prepared audiences for high-profile productions such as Boom Town (1940). Reproduced by the thousands and distributed worldwide to newspapers, fan magazines, exhibitors, and theater displays, the image kept Lamarr continually before the public even between film releases.
The photograph also showcases Willinger’s mastery of lighting. A glowing rim of backlight outlines Lamarr’s dark hair, separating it from the softly textured gray background and creating the subtle halo effect that became one of his signature techniques. A carefully controlled key light illuminates the left side of her face, directing the viewer’s attention toward the remarkable symmetry of her features, her luminous complexion, and her expressive eyes. Stripped of unnecessary distractions, the portrait achieves an almost sculptural purity, transforming a studio publicity photograph into one of the most memorable and enduring images of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Public Domain.***
How Does the Three-Color Carbro Process Work?
First, the photographer, in this example László Willinger, used a specialized, heavy “one-shot” color camera. Inside the camera, a system of internal prisms split the light entering the lens to expose three separate black-and-white glass plate negatives simultaneously—one through a red filter, one through a green filter, and one through a blue filter.
Next, in the darkroom, these three separation negatives were used to create three separate silver bromide prints. Those prints were then pressed against specialized carbon tissues containing cyan, magenta, and yellow pigmented gelatin. The silver in the prints chemically hardened the gelatin layer by layer.
For the final image these three delicate, colored gelatin layers were physically stripped from their backings, precisely aligned (squeegeed) on top of each other over a single paper support medium, and fixed into place.
Because Carbro prints use permanent color pigments instead of unstable chemical dyes, they retain an extraordinary, paint-like richness and remain completely immune to fading over time.
Classic 1938 studio publicity still promoting United Artists’ landmark romantic drama, Algiers, featuring its stars: Sigrid Gurie, Charles Boyer, and Hedy Lamarr. Because it was published without a copyright notice during the studio system era, the photograph, like the film itself, resides fully in the public domain. The photo perfectly distills the high-stakes, sultry romantic triangle that drives the entire plot of the movie. This film changed cinema history by introducing Hedy Lamarr to American audiences. Studio mogul Louis B. Mayer had brought her over from Europe, changed her name from Hedwig Kiesler, and lent her to United Artists for this film. The moment audiences saw her face in Algiers, she became an overnight sensation, widely dubbed “The World’s Most Beautiful Woman.” Public Domain.
In Boom Town, Austrian-born Lamarr plays Karen VanMeer, a sophisticated and elegant corporate spy. She is recruited by Clark Gable who plays “Big John” McMasters, an oil speculator.
M-G-M splurged on its star power to turn a routine oil-well story into a four-time Academy Award-nominated money gusher called Boom Town. The field was crowded with new films in 1940 just from M-G-M studio, including 18 pictures in Technicolor. Escapism was still the most rewarding M-G-M product.
Producer Sam Zimbalist brought big names to the screen in Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, and Hedy Lamarr backed up by an “A” list screenplay and Jack Conway’s forceful direction. The movie was the first Gable made under a new seven-year contract with MGM.
Hedy Lamarr, 1938. Photograph by Clarence Sinclair Bull (1896-1979). Captured by photographer Clarence Sinclair Bull in late 1938 or early 1939, this portrait of Hedy Lamarr stands as one of the great masterpieces of Hollywood studio photography. Following the success of her first American film, Algiers (1938), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer moved quickly to transform its newest star into the screen’s ultimate exotic beauty. Audiences were captivated by Lamarr’s dark elegance, and Bull was assigned to create a series of portraits for MGM’s publicity files as the studio prepared to launch her upcoming films, including Lady of the Tropics (1939) and I Take This Woman (1940).
The photograph proved so successful that MGM repeatedly reissued it for later promotions, including Boom Town (1940) and Ziegfeld Girl (1941). In an era when Lamarr was usually presented beneath elaborate gowns, jewels, and headwraps, Bull and the studio made a calculated departure from the formula. Their goal was to reveal the woman behind the myth and emphasize her natural, almost sculptural beauty.
Instead of exotic glamour, Lamarr appears in a sharply tailored silk blouse marked by bold vertical stripes and oversized white buttons. The relaxed sportswear styling was unusually modern for an MGM leading lady. Her pose, with one hand resting against her head and fingers slipping through her dark curls, suggests a private moment of reflection rather than a carefully staged publicity portrait. The result is an image that balances sophistication with intimacy, transforming Lamarr from an untouchable screen goddess into a living, approachable presence while losing none of the mystery that made her a star.
More than a publicity still, the portrait demonstrates Bull’s genius for simplifying a composition until every line, shadow, and expression serves the subject. By stripping away the studio’s usual ornaments, he revealed the extraordinary face that made Hedy Lamarr one of the most unforgettable icons of Hollywood’s Golden Age. PHOTO: “Hedy Lamarr” by floorvan is marked with CC BY-SA 2.0.
This iconic “totem pole” photograph is a legendary 1941 MGM studio publicity still promoting the hit musical drama Ziegfeld Girl, featuring MGM’s powerhouse trio of female leads for the film: Lana Turner, the blonde, quintessential American girl-next-door; Hedy Lamarr, the sophisticated European exotic beauty; and Judy Garland, the immensely talented and vibrant performer. The vertical alignment was a brilliant marketing gimmick that reminded audiences that they were getting three stars when they bought one movie ticket. Prior to 1941, MGM primarily cast Lamarr as a mysterious, sometimes dangerous femme fatale or an unattainable “goddess” (such as in Algiers or Lady of the Tropics). In Ziegfeld Girl, her character is a more relatable, sweet, and sympathetic European immigrant. The publicity shot captures her with a soft, warm, and highly approachable smile, successfully humanizing her and showing audiences she could play warm, grounded dramatic roles. MGM made three high-profile movies celebrating Florenz Ziegfeld. The first (The Great Ziegfeld, 1936) and the second (Ziegfeld Girl, 1941) were both black-and-white. Its third installment, Ziegfeld Follies (1946) (which also featured Judy Garland), was filmed in Technicolor. Public Domain**
As a standalone film, Ziegfeld Girl (1941) serves as the middle chapter of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s unofficial “Ziegfeld Trilogy.” Together with The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and Ziegfeld Follies (1945-46), it was one of MGM’s lavish prestige productions designed to celebrate the enduring legend of master showman Florenz Ziegfeld. Originally conceived in 1938 as a vehicle for established stars such as Joan Crawford and Eleanor Powell, the project ultimately became a showcase for MGM’s rising generation of leading ladies: Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner.
At the time production began, Garland and Lamarr were the studio’s safer box office investments. MGM, however, was still searching for a glamorous blonde star capable of filling the void left by Jean Harlow’s death in 1937. Executive producer Mervyn LeRoy believed Turner possessed the screen magnetism to become that successor and famously ordered her hair dyed platinum blonde for the role that would transform her career. The contrast among the three stars was so striking that Garland later joked: “When Lana Turner arrived on the set, the crew would whistle. When Hedy Lamarr passed by, the technicians would sigh and fall in love. When I showed up, I was greeted with a simple, ‘Hello.'”
The film’s all-star machinery, which also included Jimmy Stewart, Jackie Coogan, Tony Martin, and Philip Dorn, culminated in a glossy backstage melodrama built around the new torch song “You Stepped Out of a Dream,” written by Nacio Herb Brown and Gus Kahn. Introduced in a dazzling Busby Berkeley production number featuring Turner and Lamarr, the song becomes the emotional thread binding the destinies of the three Ziegfeld girls. That thread ultimately leads to the film’s devastating climax: Sheila Regan, played by Turner, descending the theater staircase for the last time as a fallen Ziegfeld star. It is one of MGM’s great heartbreaking moments, bringing the film’s dreams of fame, beauty, and success crashing down in tragedy while simultaneously launching Lana Turner herself into the highest ranks of Hollywood stardom.
This portrait is another masterwork from the MGM portrait galleries, captured to promote the screwball romantic comedy The Heavenly Body (1944). This is a modern colorization version of the original black-and-white studio asset. The glamour photograph was taken by M-G-M’s László Willinger and showcases Willinger’s signature methodology for sculpting film icons. The image was commissioned as a principal publicity headshot to market The Heavenly Body. It was widely distributed to newspapers, fan magazines, and promotional theater lobbies prior to the movie’s early 1944 release.
In The Heavenly Body, Lamarr plays Vicky Whitley, the astrology-obsessed wife of a serious astronomer (played by William Powell). After years of MGM casting her as a dangerous, sultry foreign temptress (like in White Cargo), the studio used this shoot to soften her look. Willinger captured her looking upward with wide, luminous eyes—portraying an innocent, whimsical, and dreamy expression that matched her comedic character’s preoccupation with the stars and cosmos. Willinger was a master of the rim-light, backlighting technique. He placed intense lights directly behind Lamarr’s head to catch the outer edges of her hair. This created a glowing “halo” or celestial effect that intentionally played on the film’s title (The Heavenly Body).
The wardrobe choice—a simple, high-collared black dress accented by a striking, intricate silver foliate brooch—was curated by the studio to emphasize elegance. This refined presentation appealed directly to wartime fashion magazines, keeping Lamarr positioned as an elite style trendsetter. PHOTO: “Hedy Lamarr 1914 – 2000” by oneredsf1 is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Public Domain**
Conclusion
Ultimately, László Willinger’s saturated color portraits and Clarence Sinclair Bull’s dramatic shadows cemented Hedy Lamarr’s legacy as Hollywood’s definitive “dark, exotic” beauty. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, MGM’s marketing machine leveraged this hyper-stylized gallery imagery to transform the Austrian émigré into an international icon, using her striking brunette features to redefine an industry previously dominated by traditional fair-haired blondes. While Lamarr’s breathtaking glamour frequently overshadowed her brilliant, analytical mind, it established an enduring cinematic mythology for the screen siren that permanently altered Hollywood’s aesthetic standards.
This explanatory article may be periodically updated.
*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.)
**This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1927 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. Note that it may still be copyrighted in other countries.
***Under United States copyright law, promotional materials—such as publicity stills, headshots, and lobby cards—published by Hollywood studios between 1928 and 1977 are in the public domain if they were distributed without a formal copyright notice. Major studios like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer intentionally distributed thousands of these headshots to newspapers, fan magazines, and theater owners completely free of charge to maximize press coverage. Because MGM did not print copyright symbols (such as ©, “Copyright,” or the studio name with a date) directly on the front or back of these mass-produced promotional handouts, the images legally failed to secure copyright protection upon publication and immediately entered the public domain.
