In July of 1932, actress Ann Dvorak seemed to have the world at her feet. After making waves in the classic gangster film Scarface (1932), she became a contract payer at Warner Bros. and seemed poised for stardom. She had also met actor Leslie Fenton whom she married within weeks. The couple threw caution to the wind and breached Ann's studio contract by traveling abroad for eight months. The honeymoon would severely compromise Ann's standing at Warner Bros., but would also prove to be the most memorable time of her life. Over eighty years later, Ann's personal scrapbook of images from the honeymoon surfaced and was obtained by her biographer. "The Inseparables" presents over one hundred candid photos from Ann Dvorak and Leslie Fenton's journeys in 1932/33 as well as some of their later trips abroad. The images, most of which have never been seen before, give an intimate glimpse into the lives of two people during the most memorable periods of their marriage.

The Inseparables: Images of Ann Dvorak & Leslie Fenton’s 1932 Honeymoon From Their Personal Scrapbook

Biographies & Memoirs

Rice, Christina

Arts & Literature

Velouria Shines, Inc.

Herman Schultheis may have been an engineer by trade, but was a photographer at heart who never seemed to go anywhere without his camera. After relocating to Los Angeles from the East Coast in 1937, Herman and his wife Ethel explored their newly adopted home, far and wide. By the end of the decade, he had snapped well over 5,000 photos.     How We Worked, How We Played: Herman Schultheis and Los Angeles in the 1930s, presents a small sampling of this amazing collection which was donated to the Los Angeles Public Library following Ethel’s death in the early 1990s. The images present an overview of a rapidly expanding city in the midst of the Great Depression and on the verge of World War II, along with the simple story of two people in love with each other—and Los Angeles.    All proceeds benefit Photo Friends and the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection

How We Worked, How We Played: Herman Schultheis and Los Angeles in the 1930s

Arts & Photography

Individual Artists

Photo Friends Publications

Defining Their Identity: The Changing Roles of Women in the Post-War Era as Documented by the Valley Times Newspaper

Photography & Video

From Pop to the Pit: LAPL Photo Collection Celebrates the Los Angeles Music Scene, 1978-1989

Horowitz, Wendy

During its history, the area of Downtown Los Angeles known as Bunker Hill has been viewed in many different ways; inaccessible, upscale, run-down, blighted, erased, renewed. These perceptions over the decades have always been open to interpretation and either agreed with or challenged. An area that has been subject to more change than any other place in the city, it has arguably invoked more passion and reverence than any other Los Angeles neighborhood, while inspiring equal amounts of disdain. Bunker Hill in the Rear-View Mirror: The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of an Urban Neighborhood, an exhibit at the Los Angeles Public Library's Central Library on display from April 2015 – April 2016, uses photographs, news articles, recollections and unique ephemera from LAPL Special Collections to illustrate the complex story of Bunker Hill, from its heyday in the 1880's to its redevelopment in the 1960's and 70's. Curated by librarians Christina Rice, Photo Collection, and Emma Roberts, Art & Music/Rare Books, the exhibit is enhanced by this companion catalog with contributing essays by Adrian Scott Fine, Nathan Marsak, Merry Ovnick, Meredith Drake Reitan, and Donald R. Spivack.

Bunker Hill in the Rearview Mirror: The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of an Urban Neighborhood

History

Roberts, Emma

Americas

Possessing a unique beauty and refined acting skills, Ann Dvorak (1911-1979) found success in Hollywood at a time when many actors were still struggling to adapt to the era of talkies. Seemingly destined for A-list fame, critics touted her as "Hollywood's New Cinderella" after film mogul Howard Hughes cast her as Cesca in the gangster film Scarface (1932). Dvorak's journey to superstardom was derailed when she walked out on her contractual obligations to Warner Bros. for an extended honeymoon. Later, she initiated a legal dispute over her contract, an action that was unprecedented at a time when studios exercised complete control over actors' careers. As the first full-length biography of an often-overlooked actress, Ann Dvorak: Hollywood's Forgotten Rebel explores the life and career of one of the first individuals who dared to challenge the studio system that ruled Tinseltown. The actress reached her pinnacle during the early 1930s, when the film industry was relatively uncensored and free to produce movies with more daring storylines. She played several female leads in films including The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932), and Three on a Match (1932), and Heat Lightning (1934), but after her walk-out, Warner Bros retaliated by casting her in less significant roles. Following the casting conflicts and illness, Dvorak filed a lawsuit against the Warner Bros. studio, setting a precedent for other stars who eventually rebelled against the established Hollywood system. In this insightful memoir, Christina Rice explores the spirited rebellion of a talented actress whose promising career fell victim to the studio empire.

Ann Dvorak: Hollywood's Forgotten Rebel (Screen Classics)

University Press of Kentucky

By the early 1950s, Jane Russell (1921-2011) should have been forgotten. Her career was launched on what is arguably the most notorious advertising campaign in cinema history, which invited filmgoers to see Howard Hughes's The Outlaw (1943) and to "tussle with Russell." Throughout the 1940s, she was nicknamed the "motionless picture actress" and had only three films in theaters. With such a slow, inauspicious start, most aspiring actresses would have given up or faded away. Instead, Russell carved out a place for herself in Hollywood and became a memorable and enduring star. Christina Rice offers the first biography of the actress and activist perhaps most well-known for her role in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Despite the fact that her movie career was stalled for nearly a decade, Russell's filmography is respectable. She worked with some of Hollywood's most talented directors--including Howard Hawks, Raoul Walsh, Nicholas Ray, and Josef von Sternberg--and held her own alongside costars such as Marilyn Monroe, Robert Mitchum, Clark Gable, Vincent Price, and Bob Hope. She also learned how to fight back against Howard Hughes, her boss for more than thirty-five years, and his marketing campaigns that exploited her physical appearance. Beyond the screen, Rice reveals Russell as a complex and confident woman. She explores the star's years as a spokeswoman for Playtex as well as her deep faith and work as a Christian vocalist. Rice also discusses Russell's leadership and patronage of the WAIF foundation, which for many years served as the fundraising arm of the International Social Service (ISS) agency. WAIF raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, successfully lobbied Congress to change laws, and resulted in the adoption of tens of thousands of orphaned children. For Russell, the work she did to help unite families overshadowed any of her onscreen achievements. On the surface, Jane Russell seemed to live a charmed life, but Rice illuminates her darker moments and her personal struggles, including her empowered reactions to the controversies surrounding her films and her feelings about being portrayed as a sex symbol. This stunning first biography offers a fresh perspective on a star whose legacy endures not simply because she forged a notable film career, but also because she effectively used her celebrity to benefit others.

Mean...Moody...Magnificent!: Jane Russell and the Marketing of a Hollywood Legend (Screen Classics)

Introducing the Internationally Famous Yale PuppeteersThey amused Albert Einstein, enchanted Elsa Lanchester, discovered Odetta, and sort of impressed Amy Semple McPherson. Collectively known as the Yale Puppeteers, Harry Burnett (1901-1993), Forman Brown (1901-1996), and Richard "Roddy" Brandon (1904-1985) serendipitously found each other in the 1920s and formed a partnership that lasted until their deaths nearly 70 years later. The trio developed a shared vision of sophisticated adult entertainment in the form of marionettes and from 1941-1956 operated the Turnabout Theatre on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles which brought them international fame.In 1998, the Los Angeles Public Library became custodian of a vast collection of ephemera chronicling the careers of the Yale Puppeteers and their Turnabout Theatre. For the first time, these programs, posters, scrapbooks, costumes, props, and marionettes are on exhibition. "Life on a String: The Yale Puppeteers and the Turnabout Theatre" presents the life's work of these three men who forged a professional and deeply personal bond that lasted a lifetime and who invited the city of Los Angeles to turnabout

Life on a String: The Yale Puppeteers and The Turnabout Theatre

Performing Arts

Photo Friends LAPL

Herman Schultheis may have been an engineer by trade, but was a photographer at heart who never seemed to go anywhere without his camera. After relocating to Los Angeles from the East Coast in 1937, Herman and his wife Ethel explored their newly adopted home, far and wide. By the end of the decade, he had snapped well over 5,000 photos. How We Worked, How We Played: Herman Schultheis and Los Angeles in the 1930s, presents a small sampling of this amazing collection which was donated to the Los Angeles Public Library following Ethel's death in the early 1990s. The images present an overview of a rapidly expanding city in the midst of the Great Depression and on the verge of World War II, along with the simple story of two people in love with each other--and Los Angeles. All proceeds benefit Photo Friends and the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection.

Createspace Independent Pub

The popular view of women in the years following World War II has come to be of homemakers like television’s Donna Reed and June Cleaver who maintained picture perfect households in suburban settings. In many cases this was indeed the primary role assumed by women of the era, but it wasn’t the only one. Women pursued advanced degrees, became professionals, held office, excelled in sports, fought for equal rights, and became civically involved, and often while running those households. The San Fernando Valley has come to exemplify the post-War suburban growth that took place throughout the country and the Valley Times newspaper was there to document this expansion along with the Valley’s dynamic women in their various roles. Now, the exhibit and companion catalog, Defining Their Identity: The Changing Roles of Women in the Post-War Era, explores the changing roles of women through the lens of the Los Angeles Public Library’s Valley Times’ image archive.

Defining Their Identity: The Changing Roles of Women in the Post-war Era As Documented by the Valley Times Newspaper

Picus, Joy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rice, Christina. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Rice, Christina

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rice, Christina. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Inseparables: Images of Ann Dvorak & Leslie Fenton’s 1932 Honeymoon From Their Personal Scrapbook

How We Worked, How We Played: Herman Schultheis and Los Angeles in the 1930s

Defining Their Identity: The Changing Roles of Women in the Post-War Era as Documented by the Valley Times Newspaper

From Pop to the Pit: LAPL Photo Collection Celebrates the Los Angeles Music Scene, 1978-1989

Bunker Hill in the Rearview Mirror: The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of an Urban Neighborhood

Ann Dvorak: Hollywood's Forgotten Rebel (Screen Classics)

Mean...Moody...Magnificent!: Jane Russell and the Marketing of a Hollywood Legend (Screen Classics)

Life on a String: The Yale Puppeteers and The Turnabout Theatre

How We Worked, How We Played: Herman Schultheis and Los Angeles in the 1930s

Defining Their Identity: The Changing Roles of Women in the Post-war Era As Documented by the Valley Times Newspaper