In 1938 Hollywood was still in its infancy. While cinema had long evolved from the point where most movies were simply filmed plays, the industry was just beginning to demonstrate what movies could do as a distinct art form.

A LIFE magazine story titled “Sound Stages of Hollywood Hum with Work on Movies for 1938” took a broad look at the state of the movie industry. One sign of how young cinema was is that LIFE began its article by explaining how sound stages had become necessary with the demise of the silent film era.

Sound stages…cover all the Hollywood movie lots. Ever since the advent of sound drove the movies indoors, these huge, sound-proof buildings have been the factories of the cinema industry. Covering more than an acre of ground, each stage is so big that within its walls can be re-enacted the sinking of the Titanic or Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow.

The theme that LIFE hammered in its story was the rise of big-budget pictures, which the magazine referred to as “million-dollar epics.” A million dollars is a lot, but also not that much for a movie budget, even taking inflation into account. For point of reference, a million dollars back then would be the equivalent of about $23 million in 2026. The most expensive blockbusters of today—such as the newer entries in the Star Wars and Jurassic Park franchises—cost around $500 million.

LIFE, perhaps sensing what the future would be, looked at this culture with disdain.

Hollywood’s most successful studios are headed by producing “geniuses” with a fondness for sending expeditions to the South Seas for “atmosphere” and junking $100,000 worth of film to shoot it in color. Surrounding them are equally temperamental directors, writers and actors. The only reason the movies ever get made at all is that beneath the batteries of geniuses are amazingly smooth-working studios.

While the text of the story had its snarky moments, the photographs by Margaret Bourke-White looked more lovingly at the magic of movie making. Her images include movie sets recreating lavish ballrooms or the streets of San Francisco circa 1859, and also showed appreciation to the prop master who kept a vast collection of smoking pipes to give directors plenty to choose from.

Bourke-White also took several photos from the set of the movie The Big Broadcast of 1938, which may be of interest to modern movie fans because of the way its ship models and lifeboats and icebergs call to mind one of the most extravagant and successful productions in the history of film—James Cameron’s 1997 movie Titanic.

The Big Broadcast of 1938 was the last in a series of variety show anthologies, and this edition featured a story about a race between two big boats, the Colossal and the Gigantic—two names which obviously reference the ship Titanic.

To compare The Big Broadcast of 1938 to the vast enterprise behind of the making of James Cameron’s movie is to appreciate how far cinema has evolved. And this isn’t a knock on the prop department’s work on The Big Business of 1938. Rather, it’s a recognition of what happens when one generation after another tries top those that came before—no matter what the cost.

The Warner Bros Studio lot in Burbank, California, 1938.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

On the Paramount Studios lot Ernst Lubitsch, with cigar in his mouth, directed Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert in the 1938 romantic comedy “Bluebeard’s Eight Wife.”

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A movie set of the Paramount Studios lot, 1938.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

On the set of a movie at Paramount Studios, 1938.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

This prop was being built for the musical comedy “The Big Broadcast of 1938” from Paramount Studios.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

This prop was being built for the musical comedy “The Big Broadcast of 1938” from Paramount Studios.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

On the set of the movie “The Big Broadcast of 1938” from Paramount Studios.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstuck

A set for the oceanbound musical comedy “The Big Business of 1938” at Paramount Studios.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

This iceberg prop was built for use in the Paramount Studios musical comedy “The Big Business of 1938.”

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Paramound prop master Charles J. Mccormick posed with a prop mosquito on his hand that he controlled with a hair held in his other hand; the mosquito was made for the 1937 comedy “Thrill of a Lifetime.”

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Paramount Studios prop room included a wide selection of pipes, 1938.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

This breakaway stick in the Paramount Studios prop department was held together with toothpicks and designed to break away on contact, 1938.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prop man R.B. Berscheid at work at Warner Bros. studio, 1938.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prop champagne bottles on the lot at Warner Bros., 1938.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

This puppet of actress Martha Raye was built for a publicity gag and then kept hanging around the Paramount props department, 1938.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

This prop street on the Paramount Ranch, 30 miles from Hollywood, was meant to replicate San Francisco circa 1859 for the 1937 movie “Wells Fargo.”

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A set on the Paramount Studios ranch, 30 minutes north of Hollywood, 1938.

Margaret Bourke-White/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Visiting the Studio Lots of Early Hollywood appeared first on LIFE.

INGLEWOOD (California), June 13 — The United States dominated Paraguay 4–1 in their opening match of the World Cup on Friday in Los Angeles, with a first-half brace by striker Folarin Balogun setting up a dream start to their home campaign in Group D.

The US broke through Paraguay’s vaunted defence in the seventh minute when Christian Pulisic deftly split two players and found Weston McKennie, whose cross was turned into the net by Damian Bobadilla for an own goal.

Shortly after the first-half hydration break, Pulisic raced up the left flank and delivered a precise cross to Balogun, who finished past goalkeeper Orlando Gill to make it 2–0.

Balogun struck again just before halftime, controlling a long pass, shrugging off a sliding defender and firing a left-footed shot into the top corner to complete a dominant opening half for the home side.

Pulisic was surprisingly substituted at the start of the second half, with the team saying coach Mauricio Pochettino would address the decision after the match.

Paraguay showed more urgency after the break and pulled a goal back in the 73rd minute through substitute Mauricio, who capitalised on a defensive lapse by the US.

However, the Americans remained in control and Gio Reyna added a fourth in the closing stages, curling a finish from the edge of the box with the outside of his right foot.

High-profile spectators

Played under Los Angeles Stadium’s massive semi-translucent roof, the match drew a star-studded crowd including Tom Cruise and David Beckham, who had been honoured earlier in the day with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Despite pre-tournament concerns over ticket prices, Los Angeles Stadium — home to the NFL’s Rams and Chargers, set to host next year’s Super Bowl and configured for a World Cup capacity of 70,492 — was sold out.

The US entered the tournament aiming to improve on their last-16 exit in Qatar, while Paraguay arrived after a demanding Conmebol qualifying campaign for their first World Cup appearance since 2010.

The match, the first men’s World Cup game on US soil in 32 years, featured a pregame performance by singer Katy Perry and a parade of nations, during which some boos were heard when Iran’s flag was carried into the stadium. Iran play their first match in Los Angeles on Monday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended alongside Paraguay President Santiago Peña and Fifa President Gianni Infantino.

The US face Australia on June 19 in Seattle, while Paraguay travel to San Francisco to meet Turkey. — Reuters

In 2011, Karl von Randow and Matt Buchanan, two tech-loving New Zealand film buffs, launched Letterboxd, a movie review and rating app inspired by Goodreads, the platform that does the same for books. For several years, they juggled this small project with their work at a web design studio. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic. In March 2020, they hired their first full-time employee, and with the world confined to their homes, their user base exploded. In 2023, the company was acquired by the Canadian company Tiny and today boasts over 26 million user profiles. While this figure seems insignificant compared to companies like Instagram (with around three billion active users), it reflects the cultural power of film as a source of conversation. Those who love movies enjoy watching them as much as discussing and analyzing them in detail, and Letterboxd is aimed at that community — including famous filmmakers and performers.

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Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 3236. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Publicity still for The King's Thief (Robert Z. Leonard, 1955).

Darkly handsome Edmund Purdom (1924–2009) was a British character actor who wore togas and sandals for a great deal of his career. In Hollywood, he replaced Marlon Brando in The Egyptian (1954) and Mario Lanza in The Student Prince (1954) and in Italy, he starred in countless Peplums and other genre films.

Edmund Anthony Cutlar Purdom was born in Welwyn Garden City, England, in 1924. His father was an artist and London drama critic Charles Benjamin Purdom. Jesuits educated Edmund at St Ignatius College and by Benedictines at Downside School. He began his acting career in 1945 by joining the Northampton Repertory Company, appearing in productions which included 'Romeo and Juliet' and Molière's 'The Imaginary Invalid'. It was followed by two years of military service, during which he joined the Army Pool of Artists. He made his screen debut in the BBC TV film Carissima (1950), followed by a BBC TV adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (Leonard Brett, 1951). He then joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. In 1951-1952, Purdom was part of the company that Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh took to Broadway for alternating performances of Shakespeare's 'Antony and Cleopatra' and George Bernard Shaw's 'Caesar and Cleopatra'. He tested at Twentieth Century-Fox for the leading male role in My Cousin Rachel (1952), but Richard Burton got the part. The studio cast him instead as ship's officer Lightoller in Titanic (Jean Negulesco, 1953). His performance caught the attention of MGM, and he got a small role in the classic Julius Caesar (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1953) starring Marlon Brando. Purdome played Strato, the young servant of Brutus (James Mason), who holds the sword out for his master to run onto at the climax. Then he was cast in the title role opposite Jean Simmons in the epic The Egyptian (Michael Curtiz, 1954), 20th Century-Fox's most lavish production of the year. He played a brilliant physician in the service of the Pharaoh in 18th-dynasty Egypt. Ronald Bergan in The Guardian: “Purdom's reputation as a surrogate is underlined by the fact that he got his first chance of stardom when he replaced Marlon Brando in The Egyptian (1954) after Brando wisely cried off, preferring to play Napoleon in Desirée instead. (...) Purdom's striking dark good looks and dimpled cheeks made up for his rather wooden personality and inability to pronounce his 'r's, but not even Brando could have known how to react to dialogue such as: ‘You have bold eyes for the son of a cheesemaker.’”

Edmund Purdom then played the leading role opposite Ann Blyth in the MGM musical The Student Prince (1954), a part originally intended for Mario Lanza. According to Wikipedia, Lanza’s disagreement with director Curtis Bernhardt over how a certain song was to be sung led to his dismissal by MGM. (Ronald Bergan adds: “Mario Lanza's drugs-alcohol-weight problems got the better of him”) The film was subsequently directed by Richard Thorpe, and Purdom lip-synced to Lanza's singing voice. MGM gave the young unknown a considerable build-up. In the same year, he appeared in another MGM musical, Athena (Richard Thorpe, 1954), opposite Jane Powell and Debbie Reynolds. Tom Vallance cites in The Independent Debbie Reynolds saying, “The only relief on the set was the action going on off camera. Linda Christian, who was Mrs Tyrone Power at the time, was also in the picture. She was a temptress, and right before our eyes, we saw the tempted, who was Edmund Purdom. They would go to his little trailer, close the door and be gone for quite a while.” Christian later divorced Power and married Purdom. He then played the title role opposite superstar Lana Turner in the biblical epic The Prodigal (Richard Thorpe, 1955), MGM's most lavish production of 1955. It was a huge flop. He partnered with Ann Blyth again in the swashbuckling CinemaScope adventure film The King's Thief (Robert Z. Leonard, 1955). Purdom's MGM contract was terminated. On television, he starred as Marco del Monte in the swashbuckler series Sword of Freedom (Peter Cotes, Anthony Squire,1957-1958). In 1959, he filmed the crime drama Malaga / Moment of Danger (Laslo Benedek, 1960) in Europe. The American premiere of the film, co-starring Trevor Howard and Dorothy Dandridge, was delayed for nearly two years. After that, he did not work in Hollywood anymore except for some cameos, such as in the MGM production The Yellow Rolls-Royce (Anthony Asquith, 1964), in which peer Rex Harrison buys his wife (Jeanne Moreau) the titular limousine, unaware that she will be using the back seat to make love to Purdom.

When his Hollywood career sizzled out, Edmund Purdom went to Italy to star in the crime drama Agguato a Tangeri / Trapped in Tangiers (Riccardo Freda, 1957) with Geneviève Page. He decided to stay in Europe. In Italy, he made the Peplums (sword and sandal epic) Erode il grande / Herod the Great (Viktor Tourjansky, 1959) with Sylvia Lopez, I cosacchi / The Cossacks (Viktor Tourjansky, Giorgio Venturini, 1960) opposite John Drew Barrymore, and Salambò / The Loves of Salammbo (Sergio Grieco, 1960) featuring Jeanne Valérie. In France, he played Rasputin in Les nuits de Raspoutine / The Night They Killed Rasputin (Pierre Chenal, 1960) with Gianna Maria Canale. In Austria, he appeared in Das große Wunschkonzert / Big Request Concert (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1960) with Carlos Thompson and Linda Christian. In Great Britain, he played with Ian Hendry and Janette Scott in The Beauty Jungle (Val Guest, 1964) about the dangerous world of beauty contests. Another British film was the drama The Comedy Man (Alvin Rakoff, 1964) starring Kenneth More as a struggling actor. He lived in Rome for the rest of his life and continued to work extensively in Italian B-films and on television. His later films include the Spaghetti Western Crisantemi per un branco di carogne / Chrysanthemums for a Bunch of Swine (Sergio Pastore, 1968), the Horror film Thomas e gli indemoniati / Thomas and the Bewitched (Pupi Avati, 1970) and the thriller Giornata nera per l'ariete / Evil Fingers (Luigi Bazzoni, 1971) starring Franco Nero. He also worked as a voice actor. He dubbed dialogue translated from Italian into English for the sales of Italian films in English-speaking countries. During the 1970s and 1980s, he appeared in interesting films like the crime drama L'onorata famiglia / The honourable family (Tonino Ricci, 1974) with Raymond Pellegrin, the TV film Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (Mel Stuart, 1980) in which he convincingly played actor-writer-director Vittorio de Sica, and Don Bosco (Leandro Castellani, 1988) featuring Ben Gazzara. On TV, he was seen in The Scarlet and the Black (Jerry London, 1983) starring Gregory Peck, and the mini-series The Winds of War (Dan Curtis, 1983) starring Robert Mitchum. In 1984, he directed the Horror mystery Don't Open 'Til Christmas, about a psychopath who slaughters Santas. Purdom also played the leading role of a police inspector. It would be his first and last film direction. He was also very active as a sound engineer for music, recording many classical concerts in Florence and Vienna, and he devised a technique for transferring mono (sound) to stereo. He narrated popular short Christian documentaries on the life of Padre Pio and the 7 Signs of Christ's Return. His final film was the adventure film I cavalieri che fecero l'impresa / The Knights of the Quest (Pupi Avati, 2001) starring Raul Bova. Purdom was married four times. His first three wives, all divorced, were actress and ex-ballerina Tita Phillips (1951-1956), the mother of his children; Alicia Darr (1957-1958); and actress Linda Christian (1962-1963). In 2000, he married his fourth wife, the photographer Vivienne Purdom. Edmund Purdom died from heart failure in 2009 in Rome. He was 89. His daughter, Lilan Purdom, worked as a journalist for the French television channel TF1.

Sources: Ronald Bergan (The Guardian), Tom Vallance (The Independent), Wikipedia and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Truus, Bob & Jan too! posted a photo:

Canadian postcard in the Artists of the Camera series by McKenzie & Marlow, Vancouver. Ruth Chatterton in Once a Lady (Guthrie McClintic, 1931). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

On 5 June 2026, the new La Collectionneuse post at European Film Star Postcards will feature American stage and film actress Ruth Chatterton. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, one of the few female pilots in the United States at the time. In the late 1930s, Chatterton retired from film acting.

Nestled amid plants native to the U.K., a giant figure of Gaia, or Mother Nature, sleeps in a verdant garden. With willow-branch locks shaped by artist Tom Hare and a crown of leaves, the figure’s face and shoulders are made from a fallen mature tree carved by Tim Wood. A winding pathway leads beneath an arch that extends the character’s torso, created in the tradition of dry stone walls and meticulously assembled by the family-run outfit Noble Stonework.

You’ll find Gaia in a garden titled “On the Edge” at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which has taken the top prize of Garden of the Year. The project is a collaboration between designer Sarah Eberle and Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), which champions the countryside and the sustainable practices necessary to protect and preserve its ecosystems.

For this year’s exhibit, Eberle emphasized “edgelands,” or spaces between rural and urbanized areas like the borders of fields or even residential gardens. Think roadside berms or the seemingly unruly growth beside a canal. Often, these spots just look like a lot of weeds. Eberle sees not only the beauty, but the value, in these overlooked areas.

“These spaces connect millions of people to nature in everyday life, yet they’re undervalued and under constant pressure,” CPRE says in a statement. “This garden is an invitation to see them differently: not as ‘leftover’ land, but as living places that can recover and thrive with the right care.” Eberle’s choice of plants has a slightly wild aesthetic, with vines taking over the stone arch—redolent of the U.K.’s historic stone bridges—and a graceful yet somehow satisfyingly chaotic arrangement of plants we might associate with untamed overgrowth.

The garden’s design encourages people to consider using natural materials, cultivating local plants to help pollinators, and embracing “flaws” like old stumps or rocky areas that can be havens for wildlife. Amid nature’s innate rhythms, Gaia is a gentle protector who snoozes calmly with everything in balance. Eberele describes the effect: “A sense of abundance, a landscape under repair, the beauty in the ordinary. It’s about how it makes you feel—it’s almost a homecoming, an embrace, a hug.”

The Chelsea Flower Show is the flagship event of the Royal Horticultural Society, and it has been held on the grounds of the Royal Hospital since 1913, with the exception of a few skipped seasons during the two World Wars and in 2020. It’s not just limited to British gardeners, however: exhibitors from around the globe conceive of some of the most creative gardens imaginable. Tickets are available on the RHS website, and the show continues through May 23 in London.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Gaia Sleeps Amid Sarah Eberle’s Award-Winning Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show appeared first on Colossal.

A life without imagination is not a life. Without fantasy, without creation, without daydreams or fairy tales. But how are we going to develop our imagination if we do not do so from childhood, playing with our toys, if we are instead dazzled by the bright screens of our phones? Thirty years ago in November 1995, when Toy Story premiered, that question was unthinkable. Today, after three sequels, half a dozen shorts, a handful of mini-shorts, a series and television specials, and with Toy Story 5 about to open in movie theaters, the question is unavoidable.

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Misato Sano’s studio is replete with piles of wooden offcuts, heavy lumber, woodworking equipment, and flowing natural light. The Miyagi-based artist has been sculpting charismatic dogs for several years, steadily adding more distinct characters to her growing pack.

Self-portraiture remains a consistent theme within Sano’s practice. Each dog evokes a different emotion mirroring the artist’s personality, ranging from shy and skittish to excited and silly. “Visualizing my inner self through expressions and gestures full of charm and humor has also become an opportunity to deepen my self-love,” she shares.

Sano’s distinctive woodcarving techniques are exemplary of the artist’s signature style. Dimpled surfaces, for instance, evoke different types of dog coats and allow for color variance to come through upon the finishing application of oil paint. Working with camphor wood, the sculptural exaggeration of physical features such as limbs, bulbous tufts of fur, and even nails add to the body of work’s playful appeal.

These rhythmic textures and amusing design choices have also lent themselves to explorations of embroidery and illustration. Meditative stitches and repetitive, gridded ink drawings are a continuation of the artist’s dialogue with herself.

Sano is gearing up for an exciting year. Later this month, her work will be on view in a duo exhibition at the Kan Hai Art Museum in Taiwan. In August, the artist’s work is traveling to the states for Nucleus Portland’s 10th anniversary show, before a third exhibition at Igoone Arai in her native Miyagi, Japan. Keep up with the artist’s tail-wagging adventures by following her on Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Misato Sano’s Charming Wooden Dogs Are Carved With Personality appeared first on Colossal.

Paint and stain create a whole “new vintage” look for this $9 vintage chair update! Hello friends! When I was at the ReStore (about the only place I can find furniture these days!) recently, I came across a vintage chair. Well, an Early American Empire chair, to be exact. It was in great shape except...

The post $9 Vintage Chair Update appeared first on Artsy Chicks Rule®.

Mike Flanaganhas distinguished himself as one of the great modern horror creatives, and he’s not limited to just one medium. Although Flanagan got his start making low-budget horror films, he later struck up a deal with Netflix and has made some of the best miniseries on the streamer. Flanagan has consistently proven himself an expert at adapting Stephen King, as he has both shown reverence for the source material and been willing to put his own spin on the stories. However, Flanagan’s best series to date was based on a legendary work by Edgar Allan Poe and still managed to earn King’s seal of approval.

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