Movie Classic, November 1935 - Artist: Charles Sheldon
I think this is one of the most sophisticated and alluring portraits of Jean Harlow I have ever seen. As covers go, it is unusual as well, because unlike most movie magazine covers of the time that portray the subject in close-up, this and the next two covers provide a fuller length view of their subjects.

Picture Play, March 1932 - Artist Modest Stein
Modest Stein was born in 1871 and became a prolific, if under appreciated commercial artist whose work can be found in and on numerous magazines, books, and advertisements. He died in Flushing, NY, in 1958. See my post on Peggy Shannon for another of his covers.

Picture Play, November 1932 - Artist: Martha Sawyers
Martha Sawyers (1902-1988) designed Broadway Playbills and art work for the theater section of the New York Herald Tribune in the 1930's. She also provided covers for American Liberty and Collier's Magazines. Martha drew illustrations for novelist Pearl Buck, and she is featured with such notables as Norman Rockwell in "Forty Illustrators and How They Work" by Earnest W Watson.

Picture Play, January 1933 - Artist: A.D. Moscon

Shadoplay, April 1933 - Artist: Earl Christy
Well here we are, back at the close up - real close up. Christy's work is all over this blog, but Shadoplay (who came up with that spelling) is really quite rare. This particular issue is Vol. 1, No.2, and I have only seen a couple of other issues, including one from October of 1934, so they had a bit of a run.

Tullulah Bankhead

An actress whose name may perhaps be more familiar than those so far featured here, Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was born on January 31, 1902 in Huntsville, Alabama. She began her career on the stage, starting in New York and then in 1923, headed to London. For the next several years she was the most popular actress of London's famed West End, the British equivalent of Broadway. In the late twenties and early thirties she tried her hand at film and with only marginal success, headed back to the stage until the forties where she was recognized for her work in Hitchcock's 1944 film, Lifeboat. Of course for those who know anything about Tullulah, it was her off stage and screen persona that is best remembered today. Read her (ribald) autobiography for that side of her life. Today her phrase, "Hello, Dahling" is known throughout the entertainment world. Tullulah's last role was in 1966 as the "Black Widow" on the camp TV Series Batman. She died in New York in 1968.