Upton Bell Collection at UMass Lowell Libraries

"They were pioneers in the most glamorous business in the world, and you only know half of their story. Playbills To Photoplays reveals colorful episodes in the lives of the stars before they became stars. Everyone saw them, but few knew where they came from. This collection of essays follows some of the most famous names in show business from Vaudeville and Broadway to Hollywood, revealing a part of their lives that movie historians have neglected -- until now. I think this book is terrific. It's a must read for any fan of the silver screen, and the days when movie stars were real stars." - Morgan Loew, great-grandson of Adolph Zukor, founder, Paramount Pictures, and Marcus Loew, founder, Loews Theaters and MGM. "Ms. Loew's choice of performers to write about is amazingly diverse and fascinating, from character actors like Conrad Veidt to major stars like Katharine Hepburn. She has written a most compelling book about their transitions from stage to film... many of the stories new to me. Wonderful!" - Joan Benny, daughter of comedian, Jack Benny, one of America's greatest entertainment icons of the 20th century, whose career included vaudeville, radio, movies and television. "A nice compilation of essays on film stars who made the transition from the stage to early talkies with essays on Al Jolson, Mae West, Eddie Cantor, Harpo Marx, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Charley Grapewin, Ed Wynn, and the Morgans (Frank and Ralph). Some essays were much better than others - I loved the one on the Morgans, Burns and Allen, Harpo Marx, and Katharine Hepburn... I would highly recommend the book as it gives you a good idea what vaudeville and the Broadway stage was like in the early 20's and what it was about these stars that allowed them to make the transition." -Librarything.com "....big stars as well as a raft of character actors, and decorated with dozens of striking photos...perceptive close-ups that make for vibrant film criticism...engaging profiles of Old Hollywood icons..." - Kirkus "Performers attempting to breakthrough will find this book inspirational!" - An Aspiring Actor Motion pictures with recorded sound --known as "talking pictures", or "talkies"--signaled the end of silent films and created some of the greatest entertainment icons of the twentieth century. Playbills To Photoplays: Stage Performers Who Pioneered the Talkies introduces a new generation to the real life struggles and careers of talented, hard working, early twentieth century vaudeville and stage entertainers who migrated to sound film. Twenty-eight essays and over one hundred photographs examine the actors before, during, and after the revolutionary new sound film technology catapulted many of them to superstardom during Hollywood's Golden Age. Playbills To Photoplays: Stage Performers Who Pioneered the Talkies explains the social, political, economic, historical, and cultural issues that shaped each performer's body of work, acting technique, persona, and public following over time.

Spencer Tracy simply was every character he played on the silver screen. He was known as the actors-actor, a master of his craft. As members of the Tracy Family, we arte grateful to Brenda Loew for putting together this amazing photo book of Spencer Tracy for all the world to enjoy. His memory and legacy live on in this intimate portrait of a man and a life that was fully lived. - Cyndi Tracy & the Spencer Tracy Family The minute you see Spencer Tracy on the screen you are immediately transfi xed on his humanity. Whether he plays a poor man, a wise-cracking sportswriter, the father of the bride, or the defender of a great cause, in the end, Spencer Tracy truly is the heroic Santiago from Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea, courageously battling the sharks that would tear apart his dignity and life's work. No other actor had his gift. - Upton Bell, New England radio and television talk show host whose mother, Broadway actress and comedienne Frances Bell, starred with Eddie Cantor in Whoopee! and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1928, in the early talkie Night Work, and in one of the first experimental television broadcasts in New York City with Gertrude Lawrence and Lionel Atwill. She was a great admirer of Tracy when he was on the New York stage. _______________ Spencer Tracy, A Life in Pictures: Rare, Candid and Original Photos of the Hollywood Legend, His Family, and Career presents a unique and compelling portrait of the man, his career, and family, including rare imagesof his marriage to actress Louise Treadwell and their two children: John, who was born deaf, and Susie. More than 300 rare, candid and original images in this edition illustrate how Spencer Tracy's life, family and career touched people in every corner of the world. Combining a unique mixture of original news service photographs, celebrity stills, and rare, candid, and unique snapshots, this dazzling collection of over three hundred images, Spencer Tracy, A Life in Pictures: Rare, Candid and Original Photos of the Hollywood Legend, His Family and Career captures the life and legacy of a Golden Age Hollywood legend, onscreen and off. One of the most versatile and popular movie stars of the twentieth century, Spencer Tracy's life and career spanned sixty-seven tumultuous years of twentieth-century American history, including two world wars, the Great Depression, technological advances, the emergence of the nuclear age, the cold war, and the rise of the women's and civil rights movements. Behind the scenes, two-time Academy Award-winner Spencer Tracy faced personal and professional challenges without parallel or precedent. Books and articles are still being written today in an attempt to explain the mystique surrounding the Spencer Tracy legend. His story is an inspiring legacy.

The New England Vintage Film Society Inc. proudly presents this collection of essays and images extolling legendary two-time Academy Award winning actor Spencer Tracy's outstandingly energetic legacy of early screen performances in Fox's lively 1930s depression era pre-code films, rare Americana from Hollywood's Golden Age to be re-discovered, discussed and learned from today, including: Up the River (1930) Quick Millions (1931) Goldie (1931) Me and My Gal (1932) Face in the Sky (1933) The Power and The Glory (1933) Looking for Trouble (1934) Bottoms Up (1934) Now I'll Tell (1934) Marie Galante (1934) It's a Small World (1935) Dante's Inferno(1935)