This annual edition of HOLLYWOOD ALBUM is from 1947 (Gloria de Haven on the cover). And in case you are wondering who Ivy Crane Wilson is, she was the Hollywood correspondent for a London newspaper and edited the annual for at least 14 years, starting in  1947.

Curiously, most of the articles are written in the first person by stars such as Ida Lupino, Deborah Kerr, Van Johnson, Lana Turner, Larry Parks, Dorothy Lamour.

I think they were probably written by the studio publicity depts. Some of it can only be described as purple prose! Eg Ida Lupino talking:

“I am looking forward to a new horizon, that of the sea. To become a vagabond, without the pantomime , the glare of the footlights, the merciless eye of the camera – that is my dream.”

Though Deborah Kerr sounds natural when she says, “What with making my debut in “The Hucksters”, playing in “If Winter Comes ” and having a baby , 1947 is a year I’ll never forget.”

 

Aside from the color star photos, the book has some very interesting film industry statistics  for 1945/46.

The average weekly  earnings of an industry production worker was $87.

The average pay for an extra was $13 a day.

One  in every nine craft workers were women. The film industry ranked 8th bottom in the list of California industries with female employees.

8000 actors were registered with the Screen Actors  Guild.

The Federal Govt collected $415 million in admission taxes.

 

I’ve had no response to my query about similar American Christmas annuals. It seems unusual that such annuals didn’t come out in the States. They were always a handy Xmas stocking filler over here.

 

Here are some of the book’s illustrations.