30 Publicity Photos From the Set of the 1954 Classic “White Christmas”

White Christmas is a 1954 American musical film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. Filmed in Technicolor, it features the songs of Irving Berlin, including a new version of the title song, “White Christmas,” introduced by Crosby in the 1942 film Holiday Inn.

Norman Krasna had written the original story, which was intended for Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. When Astaire was ultimately replaced by Danny Kaye, comedy writers Melvin Frank and Norman Panama were hired to add special material for Kaye. Panama and Frank felt that Krasna’s entire script needed rewriting, and director Michael Curtiz agreed. “It was a torturous eight weeks of rewriting,” said Panama. Frank said that “writing that movie was the worst experience of my life. Norman Krasna was a talented man but ... it was the lousiest story I’d ever heard. It needed a brand new story, one that made sense.” They rewrote the screenplay themselves at $5,000 a week.

Principal photography took place between September and December 1953. The film was the first to be shot using Paramount’s new VistaVision process, with color by Technicolor, and was one of the first to feature the Perspecta directional sound system at limited engagements.

Made on a budget of $2 million, White Christmas earned $12 million in theatrical rentals (equal to $140 million in today), making it the highest-grossing film of 1954. It was also the highest-grossing musical film at the time, and ranks among the top 100 popular movies of all time at the domestic box office when adjusted for inflation and the size of the population in its release year of 1954. Between the original release and subsequent revivals, the film grossed $30 million at the domestic box office.

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Adorable Photos of 13-Year-Old Britney Spears From 1995 Show the Pop Princess as You’ve Never Seen Her

Before she became a pop phenomenon, Britney Spears was just a fresh-faced teen from Louisiana with huge hopes and dreams, and these amazing pictures prove that Britney was destined to be a star. In the photos, which were shot in 1995 by fashion photographer David Baren, 13-year-old Britney posed in a variety of cute ensembles, including a truly ’90s-era denim vest and ripped jeans, and showed off her now-famous dance moves in an abandoned warehouse.

One look consisted of a schoolgirl skirt and tied-up tee, giving a nod to the outfit that would catapult her career just five years later. Alycia Lerer, the artist development manager who worked with Britney in the early 1990s, spoke out about helping her style the look on the set that day, saying, “It’s a good sign because it means I did something right with my styling of her! The whole photo shoot was absolutely the inspiration to her music video.”

Lerer also reflected on the first time she met the young singer, saying, “She was a very sweet girl and very innocent but still very much on the ball. She was a good kid.” She went on to reveal that when she’d be talking business with Britney’s mom, Lynne, “Britney would be singing or dancing,” adding, “Brit was very involved in her own styling too, and was aware of what she did and didn’t like, even at 13.” She went on to describe Britney’s singing voice, saying, “She had the voice of an angel. She sang a Whitney Houston track, ‘The Greatest Love of All,’ and blew me away. I had tears in my eyes.”

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Sue Lyon: The Iconic Lolita

Sue Lyon (1946–2019) was an American actress best known for her unforgettable, breakthrough role as the title character in Stanley Kubrick’s controversial 1962 film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel, Lolita.

Chosen for the role at the age of 14, Lyon embodied the complex, seductive, and ultimately tragic character of Dolores Haze, instantly catapulting her to international fame. Her performance was critically praised, earning her a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer.

Despite the initial success and high-profile roles that followed, such as in John Huston’s The Night of the Iguana (1964), Lyon struggled to maintain her career momentum. Her early, intense association with the highly publicized and scandalous role often overshadowed her later work, defining her as an iconic, though often misunderstood, figure of mid-20th-century cinema.

Take a look at these beautiful photos to see portraits of a young Sue Lyon in the 1960s.

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Alfred Hitchcock With His New Bride, Alma Reville, at Their Wedding on December 2, 1926

Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville shared one of Hollywood’s most enduring creative and personal partnerships, a marriage that lasted over 54 years, and a collaboration that shaped the very foundations of Hitchcock’s filmmaking style.

Reville (1899–1982) was born in Nottingham, England, and began working in the film industry as a teenager, starting as a cutter and later becoming an editor, screenwriter, and assistant director. Hitchcock (1899–1980), also British, started in silent films at London’s Famous Players–Lasky studio as a title card designer. They met around 1923 while working at the same studio. Alma was already a skilled editor and continuity expert—her technical expertise and eye for story were invaluable to the young Hitchcock.

The couple married on December 2, 1926, at Brompton Oratory in London. Prior to the marriage, Reville converted from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism, reportedly at the request of Hitchcock’s mother. Their only child, Patricia Hitchcock, was born in 1928.

Reville’s expertise in filmmaking was invaluable to Hitchcock. She worked on nearly all of his films, often uncredited, as an editor, screenwriter, and story consultant. She was known for her keen eye for detail and her ability to spot inconsistencies and flaws in a plot, a talent that Hitchcock greatly admired. A famous example of her sharp eye is her spotting an error in the shower scene of Psycho where the actress Janet Leigh, playing Marion Crane, seemed to swallow after she was supposed to be dead.

Throughout his life, Hitchcock openly acknowledged his wife’s profound influence on his work. In 1979, when he received the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award, he famously dedicated the award to four people who had given him “the most affection, appreciation and encouragement, and constant collaboration,” and said that all four of them were Alma Reville.

Reville’s contributions to Hitchcock’s success were immense and have been recognized by film historians. The phrase “The Hitchcock touch had four hands, and two were Alma’s” is often used to describe their collaborative relationship. She passed away in 1982, two years after her husband.

1935 Lagonda Rapier Sports Special: One of the Most Spirited British Sports Cars of the Interwar Era

The 1935 Lagonda Rapier Sports Special represents a highly sought-after chapter in Lagonda’s history, born from a period when the company was striving for competitive success in the small car segment. Although the standard Rapier was a compact model, the Sports Special designation refers to highly tuned or specially bodied versions built for speed and agility.

The Rapier was powered by a sophisticated, small-capacity 1,104 cc four-cylinder engine featuring a twin overhead camshaft (DOHC) design—an advanced engineering feature for its time—enabling it to produce impressive horsepower for its size, often exceeding 50 hp. These lightweight specials were known for their excellent handling and frequent use in pre-war racing and trials events.

Production under Lagonda lasted only until 1935 when the company entered receivership, with around 470 examples built in total. Today, the 1935 Rapier Sports Special is cherished by collectors for its elegant, compact proportions, advanced mechanics, and its place as one of the last true sporting Lagondas built before the company’s major reorganization.

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18 Photographs of Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland in the 1940s

In the 1940s, both Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra were major stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, known for their exceptional singing and charisma. The two performed together on Sinatra’s radio show multiple times, including an episode on May 24, 1944. These collaborations were popular morale boosters during World War II, allowing Americans to escape the realities of war through their music. They were also part of the “Committee for the First Amendment” in 1947, which opposed the Hollywood blacklist.

They were romantically involved for a short time starting in 1949. This took place while Garland was married to director Vincente Minnelli and after Sinatra had separated from his wife, Ava Gardner. The couple would have a second, brief romantic relationship later in 1955 during a separation from her husband, Sidney Luft.

Sinatra was known for being very protective of Garland and was a constant source of support throughout her life. They remained close friends until her death in 1969.

According to vintagehollywoodstars, Sinatra paid for Garland’s funeral and interment, which was approximately $37,500 because Garland was deeply in debt at the time of her death. His offer to pay was initially turned down by Garland’s daughter, Liza Minnelli, who felt she could raise the funds herself for a simpler burial, though she was ultimately unable to do so.

In 2016, a four-page love letter from Judy to Frank, written after a secret Hamptons meeting, was auctioned and sold for $5,897. Part of the letter read: “You said today that you’d been negligent. But darling—that’s so unimportant compared to the great amount of happiness you’ve given me. I shall not forget the hours we’ve spent together—ever!”

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Behind the Scenes Photos of Andy Warhol and Truman Capote During a Photoshoot for High Times Magazine, 1978

In December of 1978, Andy Warhol and his good friend and collaborator Truman Capote appeared on the cover of an issue of High Times. Warhol is wearing a Santa suit, and is holding his dachshund Archie. Capote is dressed as an elf.

Their photoshoot took place on September 26, 1978 by Mick Rock, and is detailed in Warhol’s entry that day in his book, The Andy Warhol Diaries. As he recounted later that day: “Dropped Fred. Truman was coming to the Factory at 3:00 for the High Times Christmas cover photograph of him and me. Truman was early, 2:30. Bob MacBride peed on one of the Piss paintings in the back for me, and he kept going back to see if the colors had changed. Truman told Brigid about the drying-out place, and she interviewed him, and that's where her sister Richie is, too.

“Paul Morrissey was down, and he and Truman talked all afternoon about scripts and things. Then Toni arrived four hours late, she had a Santa costume for me and a little girl outfit for Truman. But Truman wasn’t in the mood to go into drag, he said that he was already dressed like a little boy. Truman was really drunk, hugging around. Truman was pleading with Brigid to get him a drink and not tell Bob—this is after she caught him drinking in the kitchen. Ronnie was trying to make the makeup girl. My makeup wasn't working, it was no use, I had too many pimples.”

In the “Opinion” section of the December, 1978 edition of High Times, Truman Capote chats with Andy Warhol about what they want for Christmas.

AW: So do you know what you want for Xmas?

TC: Well, first of all, I don’t want anything for myself at Xmas, I think that’s very selfish and what not. I know what I want for other people.

• For Jackie Kennedy I want a sex-change operation. The reason is that since the American people must have a Kennedy, I’d rather have a Jackie than a Teddy.
• I want for Timothy Leary justice at last, a ten-year full professorship at Harvard.
• For Richard Avedon, I hope his portrait of Kate Graham finally makes the cover of Newsweek. You know, they took a picture of him for the cover of Newsweek and then discarded it because I don’t know…the Pope died or something.
• For Gore Vidal, because of his great politics, I wish him an ambassadorship to Paraguay…and hope he stays there forever.
• For Larry Flynt, the newborn Christian, I want him to be made first ambassador to the Vatican.
• For Norman Mailer, I want a five-million-dollar contract to rewrite the old Tenth Amendment.
• For Mick Jagger, in his old age, the directorship of the Metropolitan Opera.
• For Andy Warhol, at all times, the directorship of the Metropolitan Museum and all its branches.
• For Anita Bryant, I want her to be appointed editor of the Advocate.
• For Steve Rubell [owner of Studio 54], I want him to be appointed ambassador to the court of St. James.
• For Muhammad Ali, I want him to be our first black president.
• For Ralph Nader, a wife at last, none other than little Anne Ford.

AW: Is high society really high?

TC: I wouldn’t know, I never met anyone from high society. I think high society is a complete myth, made up from the movies. When Joan Crawford died, so did high society.

AW. Do you think everything in the world should be legal?

TC: Yes, I do, except murder.

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