22 Amazing Photos of a Young Lillian Gish on the Set of “Broken Blossoms” (1919)

Broken Blossoms (1919), subtitled The Yellow Man and the Girl, is a tragic melodrama based on the short story “The Chink and the Child” by Thomas Burke. It tells the story of Lucy Burrows (played by Lillian Gish), a fragile young girl brutally abused by her father (played by Donald Crisp), and Cheng Huan, a gentle Chinese immigrant (played by Richard Barthelmess) who tries to protect her. The film contrasts cruelty and tenderness, violence and compassion, all set within the fog and gloom of London’s Limehouse district.

Gish’s performance in Broken Blossoms is one of the defining moments of early silent cinema — a film often cited as her greatest collaboration with director D.W. Griffith. As Lucy, Gish delivered one of the most haunting and emotionally raw performances of the silent era. Her portrayal of fear, innocence, and suffering was revolutionary for 1919 — understated, nuanced, and deeply expressive.

One of the most distinctive and heartbreaking aspects of her performance was Lucy’s “forced smile.” To appease her violent father’s demand to “put a smile on your face,” Lucy would use her fingers to physically push up the corners of her mouth into a pitiful, artificial grin. This was Gish’s own improvisation for the character.

The most famous and critically acclaimed moment is the “closet scene.” After being dragged home by her enraged father, the terrified Lucy locks herself in a small closet. Gish’s performance of pure, hysterical terror—writhing in the confined space “like a tortured animal”—was so visceral that it reportedly shocked the crew and the director. It is cited as a masterclass in conveying raw anguish in a small space.

 Gish brought an ethereal, delicate quality to the role, perfectly embodying the film's theme of a beautiful, fragile spirit destroyed by brutality and prejudice. She conveyed Lucy’s emotional landscape—from cowering fear to brief moments of childlike peace—primarily through subtle facial expressions and body language, earning immense critical acclaim.

Broken Blossoms is often considered an early example of cinematic artistry in its use of mood, lighting, and psychological realism. It also marked a turning point in Griffith’s career — moving away from epic spectacle toward more intimate, character-driven storytelling. Lillian Gish’s performance remains a cornerstone of silent film acting — both heartbreaking and timeless.

The film was originally made for Famous Players–Lasky. The company sold it to the newly founded United Artists for $250,000. The film turned out to be a hit at the box office and earned a profit of $700,000. It was the first film ever distributed by United Artists.

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Marilyn Monroe in a Striped Bikini During Her Early Pin-Ups in California, 1946

Bruno Bernard was a German-born photographer who had fled Nazi Germany and settled in Los Angeles. He was known for his “glamour photography” style — soft lighting, expressive poses, and an emphasis on natural beauty rather than heavy makeup or artifice. Bernard’s work captured a warmth and sensuality that Hollywood soon came to love. He took thousands of photographs of Marilyn Monroe, including the iconic white dress images as she stood over a subway grate.

The encounter happened by chance on a July day in 1946 in Hollywood. Bernard was leaving a dental appointment and saw a young woman strolling along Sunset Boulevard. That woman was Norma Jeane Dougherty (her married name at the time). Struck by her beauty, Bernard gave her his business card and invited her to his studio for a “strictly-professional” test photo shoot. She was an aspiring model who took him up on the offer.

The photos were taken at Bernard’s small studio on Wilshire Boulevard. Norma Jeane arrived wearing simple clothes, minimal makeup, and her natural curly brown hair. Bernard later recalled how immediately she understood how to move in front of the camera — playful, confident, and photogenic without instruction.

“Those shots were enough to book her on her first job which was a bandage advertisement, where Norma Jean would be bandaging a dog that same week,” said Susan Bernard, the photographer’s daughter. According to Susan, at Monroe’s first ever professional photoshoot, she felt upstaged by a dog! 

For the shoot, Bernard borrowed his dentist’s dog, Rolf, who happened to be the closest dog in proximity to the studio. Everything was great at the shoot and Jean even fed the pooch treats from the box. But when she saw the images, she felt she was upstaged by the dog.

“And from that moment on, there was never a time when Norma Jean/Marilyn wasn’t the most important thing in the room,” Susan said. After that, Norma became Marilyn and she was never professionally photographed with a four-legged friend again.

Bruno Bernard’s 1946 photos are now seen as the birth of Marilyn Monroe’s image — before fame, before Hollywood polish. Bernard himself later said: “She had that magic from the very first moment in front of the camera. I didn’t discover Marilyn — she discovered herself.”

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Vintage Portraits That Defined Men’s Styles in the Mid-19th Century

During the mid-19th century, men’s fashion reflected refinement, structure, and an emphasis on formality. Tailoring became more precise, with fitted coats, waistcoats, and trousers defining a gentleman’s silhouette. The frock coat was a dominant garment — knee-length, with a close fit through the torso — while the morning coat and sack coat also gained popularity later in the century.

Accessories completed the polished look: tall silk hats, cravats or neckties tied in elegant knots, gloves, and walking sticks. Darker colors such as black, brown, and navy became fashionable, signaling a shift away from the brighter hues of the early 1800s toward a more subdued, dignified aesthetic.

This period marked the rise of the modern suit and the idea of men’s clothing as a reflection of professionalism and respectability — styles that laid the foundation for men’s fashion in the decades to follow. These vintage photos capture the elegance and restraint of 19th-century menswear — a time when craftsmanship, structure, and quiet sophistication defined what it meant to be well-dressed.

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30 Photos of a Young and Handsome Roger Moore in the 1950s

Sir Roger George Moore (October 14, 1927 – May 23, 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray Ian Fleming’s fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series. Moore’s seven appearances as Bond are the most of any actor in the Eon-produced entries.

In the early 1950s, before his major acting breaks, Moore worked as a male model in the UK. His good looks landed him print advertisements for various products, most famously for knitwear, which earned him the nickname “The Big Knit.”

His earliest known television appearance was in the one-off program “Drawing Room Detective” on the BBC in 1950. He also had minor roles in other British films in the very early part of the decade, such as One Wild Oat (1951).

Moore moved to the United States in 1953 to pursue his acting career. In March 1954, he signed a seven-year contract with MGM. However, the experience was disappointing for him, and the films were not commercially or critically successful. Moore famously quipped about his time there: “At MGM, RGM was NBG” (Roger George Moore was No Bloody Good). He was released from the contract after just two years.

Toward the latter half of the decade, Moore found more substantial success in the burgeoning medium of television, which provided him with his first major leading roles. After leaving MGM, Moore began to freelance, appearing in various US TV anthology series like Ford Star Jubilee (1956) and Lux Video Theatre (1957).

He returned to England to star as Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe in the syndicated television series Ivanhoe (1958–1959). This role, where he was suitably dashing in medieval armor, was his first major success and gave him international recognition. Following Ivanhoe, Moore signed with Warner Bros. and took a starring role in the US adventure series The Alaskans (1959–1960), playing a fast-talking swindler named Silky Harris. These television roles in the late 1950s paved the way for his iconic 1960s TV success as Simon Templar in The Saint, which ultimately led to his role as James Bond.

Even in the 1950s, Moore was known for his elegant charm, wit, and refined style — traits that became his trademark. He was often described as effortlessly polite, with a sense of humor that kept him popular both on and off screen. Here’s a selection of 30 amazing photos of a young and handsome Roger Moore in the 1950s:

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Beautiful Photos of the 1954 Pegaso Z-102 Berlinetta Series II

Often hailed as the “Spanish Ferrari,” the 1954 Pegaso Z-102 Berlinetta Series II is a masterpiece of advanced 1950s engineering and flamboyant design.

Conceived by Wilfredo Ricart to challenge the greatest Italian sports cars, the Z-102 was technically revolutionary, featuring an all-alloy, quad-cam V8 engine (2.8-liter, producing 195 hp) and a sophisticated rear five-speed transaxle—features decades ahead of its time.

While most Z-102s wore bodies by Touring, only 18 chassis were sent to the legendary Parisian coachbuilder Jacques Saoutchik, whose Series II Berlinetta is considered his final and most dramatic work. Distinguished by its low roofline, emphatically curved fenders, and bold use of chrome, the Saoutchik version transformed the high-tech chassis into a visual tour de force.

With only seven Series II Berlinettas ever built, this Pegaso is an exceptionally rare and highly coveted jewel of automotive history. Here is a set of beautiful photos of the 1954 Pegaso Z-102 Berlinetta Series II.

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60 Amazing Behind the Scenes Photos From the Making of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968)

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is renowned for its groundbreaking visual effects, which were all achieved without computer-generated imagery (CGI). The production was a massive, secretive undertaking, involving meticulous planning and the development of new, innovative filming techniques.

Kubrick co-wrote the screenplay with science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, inspired by several short stories optioned from Clarke, primarily “The Sentinel” (1951) and “Encounter in the Dawn” (1953). The two spent years developing a scientifically plausible depiction of space travel and humanity’s evolution. Kubrick famously said he wanted to make “the proverbial good science fiction movie” — one that would stand apart from the “flying saucer” clichés of the 1950s.

The film’s effects, supervised by Douglas Trumbull and a team of about 200 artists and technicians, were so advanced that the Academy created a special Oscar category for Best Visual Effects, which Kubrick won.

The “Dawn of Man” sequence used a pioneering front projection technique to blend live-action apes with vivid African landscapes, filmed at Elstree Studios in England. The rotating centrifuge set built by Vickers-Armstrong Engineering cost $750,000 — allowing actors like Keir Dullea to appear as if walking upside-down inside Discovery One. The spacecrafts (e.g., the Discovery, the Orion shuttle) were meticulously detailed miniatures, often filmed using long exposures to achieve perfect realism.

Kubrick and Clarke envisioned HAL 9000, the intelligent computer, as both calm and chilling. The famous “eye” of HAL was a simple fisheye lens from a 35mm camera, backlit with a red light. Voice actor Douglas Rain, a Canadian stage performer, was chosen for his eerily emotionless delivery — recorded months after filming was completed.

Keir Dullea (as Dave Bowman) and Gary Lockwood (as Frank Poole) trained extensively to perform slow, controlled “space movements” that mimicked zero gravity. Many scenes were physically grueling — especially those inside the rotating centrifuge. The crew had to mount cameras, props, and actors into spinning sections of the set, sometimes filming upside down. The “spacewalk” scenes were filmed by suspending actors with hidden wires, which required days of precision lighting to conceal.

The prehistoric sequence used mime artists from London’s theatre scene instead of stunt performers. Led by mime instructor Stuart Freeborn (who later designed Star Wars’ Yoda), the performers spent months studying ape movement and wearing elaborate suits and masks — so convincing that many first-time viewers believed real apes had been used.

Kubrick demanded dozens, sometimes hundreds, of takes. His meticulous control extended to lighting, set design, and even how actors breathed in their space suits. Shooting lasted over two years, and post-production another two. The attention to realism bordered on obsessive: Kubrick even consulted NASA scientists and engineers to ensure every button and display looked functional.

The psychedelic Star Gate sequence was filmed using slit-scan photography, a technique Trumbull developed for the movie. By moving colored lights past narrow slits and photographing them over long exposures, the crew achieved the trippy visuals — all done in-camera, years before digital effects existed.

When 2001 premiered in 1968, audiences were divided — some walked out, others watched it repeatedly. Over time, it became a masterpiece of modern cinema, influencing generations of filmmakers (from Spielberg and Lucas to Nolan and Villeneuve).

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Studio Portraits of Turkish Women From the 1920s

The 1920s were a pivotal time for photo studios in Turkey, coinciding with the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923. The new government’s requirement for photographs on all personal identification led to a boom in photography and the opening of many new studios.

Many of the prominent studios were located in cosmopolitan areas of Istanbul, such as Beyoğlu and Galata, which carried on the strong photographic tradition of the late Ottoman Empire.

Taken in Turkish studios in the 1920s, these photographs were produced in half postcard size. Originally there were probably two on each postcard which was then cut in half. They show women at the time of the secular revolution. Most are likely to be Armenian or Greek.

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