In the 1930s, the legendary City of Cinema moved from the silent era to the talking picture. It was a decade of pomp and excess in the motion picture capital, of glorious stardom and megalomaniac directors; a time when politicians and the mob all wanted a piece of the thrilling action. It was the age of the
Marx brothers,
Greta Garbo,
Frankenstein, and
Gone with the Wind,
Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and moustache,
Marlene Dietrich's androgynous glamor, and
Jean Harlow's perfectly positioned beauty spot.
In this tribute to Tinseltown's finest age,
illustrator Robert Nippoldt and film critic Daniel Kothenschulte team up to pay homage to the creators, characters and charisma that made up this golden era. With his evocative illustration style, previously showcased in TASCHEN's
Jazz: New York in the Roaring Twenties,Robert Nippoldt captures the scene with all its seduction, celebrity, and its grit. In the accompanying text, Kothenschulte profiles the
movers and shakers of the age, as well as its most
groundbreaking developments across movie direction, music, costume, scenery and beyond.
Brimming with elegance and energy, this enchanting journey in images and words takes the reader back in Tinseltown time, direct to the heart, and the sheer movie-making thrill, of a decisive cinematic decade.
Awards for the original German edition:
- Red Dot Design Award, Essen, 2011
- German Designer Club Award, Frankfurt, 2011
- “Cinema Book of the Year”, German Film Institute, Berlin, 2010
The author:Daniel Kothenschulte has written books and numerous articles about film history and visual culture. Beside heading the film department of
Frankfurter Rundschau since 2001 he is a devoted silent movie pianist.
The illustrator:Robert Nippoldt is a German graphic designer, illustrator, and book artist. He is best known for his award-winning books
Gangster,
Jazz and
Hollywood about America in the 1920s and 1930s. His studio is located at the very hip old depot of Muenster.
