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{{short description|American film magazine}}
{{About|the American film magazine|motion pictures, sometimes called "photoplays"|film}}
{{Infobox magazine
{{Infobox magazine
| title = Photoplay
| title = Photoplay
| image_file = File:Photoplay Carole Lombard 1940.jpg
| image_file = File:Marilyn Monroe, Photoplay 1953.jpg
| image_size = 240px
| image_size = 240px
| image_alt =
| image_alt =
| image_caption = [[Carole Lombard]] on the cover of ''Photoplay'' (January 1940)
| image_caption = [[Marilyn Monroe]] in the December 1953 issue of ''Photoplay'' magazine.
| editor =
| editor =
| editor_title =
| editor_title =
Line 14: Line 16:
| company = [[Macfadden Publications]]
| company = [[Macfadden Publications]]
| publisher =
| publisher =
| founded = 1911
| founded = 1911
| finaldate = 1980
| finaldate = 1980
| country = [[United States]]
| country = [[United States]]
Line 23: Line 25:
}}
}}


'''''Photoplay''''' was one of the first American [[film]] [[fan magazine]]s. It was founded in 1911 in [[Chicago]], the same year that [[J. Stuart Blackton]] founded ''[[Motion Picture Magazine|Motion Picture Story]],'' a magazine also directed at fans. For most of its run, ''Photoplay'' was published by [[Macfadden Publications]]. In 1921 ''Photoplay'' established what is considered the first significant annual movie award. The magazine ceased publication in 1980.
'''''Photoplay''''' was one of the first American [[film]] (another name for ''photoplay'') [[fan magazine]]s. It was founded in Chicago in 1911. Under early editors, Julian Johnson and [[James R. Quirk]], in style and reach it became a pacesetter for fan magazines. In 1921, ''Photoplay'' established what is considered the first significant annual movie award. For most of its run, it was published by [[Macfadden Publications]]. The magazine ceased publication in 1980.


==History==
==History==
''Photoplay'' began as a short-fiction magazine concerned mostly with the plots and characters of films at the time and was used as a promotional tool for those films. In 1915, Julian Johnson and [[James R. Quirk]] became the editors (though Quirk had been vice president of the magazine since its inception), and together they created a format which would set a precedent for almost all celebrity magazines that followed. By 1918 the circulation exceeded 200,000, with the popularity of the magazine fueled by the public's increasing interest in the private lives of celebrities.
''Photoplay'' began as a [[short fiction]] magazine concerned mostly with the plots and characters of films at the time and was used as a promotional tool for those films. In 1915, Julian Johnson and [[James R. Quirk]] became the editors (though Quirk had been vice president of the magazine since its inception), and together they created a format which would set a precedent for almost all celebrity magazines that followed. By 1918 the circulation exceeded 200,000, with the popularity of the magazine fueled by the public's increasing interest in the private lives of celebrities.


==Popularity==
==Popularity==
[[File:Norma Talmadge Photoplay cover.jpg|thumb|left|"The Microphone—The Terror of the Studios": December 1929 ''Photoplay'' cover featuring an Earl Christy portrait of [[Norma Talmadge]], whose career did not survive in the sound era]]
[[File:Norma Talmadge Photoplay cover.jpg|thumb|left|"The Microphone—The Terror of the Studios" (December 1929 issue); the cover features an Earl Christy portrait of actress [[Norma Talmadge]], whose successful career in silent films did not survive in the sound era]]
⚫
''Photoplay'' reached its apex in the 1920s and 1930s, and was considered quite influential within the motion picture industry.<ref>{{cite news |first=Pamela |last=Hutchinson |title=Photoplay magazine: the birth of celebrity culture |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2016/jan/26/photoplay-magazine-hollywood-film-studios-stars-celebrity-culture |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=January 26, 2016 |access-date=September 13, 2018}}</ref> The magazine was renowned for its artwork portraits of film stars, by such artists as Earl Christy and Charles Sheldon, on the cover. Macfadden Publications purchased the magazine in 1934. With the advance of color photography, by 1937 the magazine instead began using photographs of the stars.


⚫
''Photoplay'' published the writings of Lillian Day, [[Sheilah Graham]], [[Hedda Hopper]], [[Dorothy Kilgallen]], [[Hazel MacDonald]], [[Louella Parsons]], [[Adela Rogers St. Johns]], [[Rob Wagner]] (later the editor and publisher of ''Script''), and [[Walter Winchell]], among others. The magazine was edited by Quirk until 1932; later editors include Kathryn Dougherty, Ruth Waterbury, and Adele Whiteley Fletcher. It also featured the health and beauty advice of [[Sylvia of Hollywood]], arguably the first fitness guru to the stars.
⚫
''Photoplay'' reached its apex in the 1920s and 1930s and was considered quite influential within the motion picture industry.<ref>{{cite news |first=Pamela |last=Hutchinson |title=Photoplay magazine: the birth of celebrity culture |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2016/jan/26/photoplay-magazine-hollywood-film-studios-stars-celebrity-culture |access-date=13 September 2018 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=January 26, 2016 |publisher=[[Guardian News & Media Limited]]}}</ref> The magazine was renowned for its artwork portraits of film stars on the cover by such artists as Earl Christy and Charles Sheldon. Macfadden Publications purchased the magazine in 1934. With the advancement of color photography, the magazine began using photographs of the stars instead by 1937.


⚫
[[Sidney Skolsky]], a nationally syndicated [[gossip columnist]] for the ''[[New York Daily News]]'' and later the ''[[New York Daily Mirror]]'', had a regular column in ''Photoplay'' called "From A Stool At Schwab's", the [[Schwab's Pharmacy|Hollywood drugstore]] he made famous; such was the magazine's popularity.<ref name="Lana Turner at Schwab's">{{cite news |last=Wilkerson |first=W.R. 3rd |title=Writing the End to a True-to-Life Cinderella Story : Remembrance: The facts of Lana Turner's discovery at a soda fountain have changed through the years, but the legend remains. |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1995-07-01/entertainment/ca-19119_1_lana-turner |access-date=24 September 2013 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=1 July 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216203651/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-07-01/entertainment/ca-19119_1_lana-turner |archive-date=16 December 2017}}</ref>
⚫
''Photoplay'' published the writings of Lillian Day, [[Sheilah Graham]], [[Hedda Hopper]], [[Dorothy Kilgallen]], [[Hazel MacDonald]], [[Louella Parsons]], [[Adela Rogers St. Johns]], [[Rob Wagner]], later editor and publisher of [[Rob Wagner's Script]], and [[Walter Winchell]], among others. The magazine was edited by Quirk until 1932; later editors include Kathyrn Dougherty, Ruth Waterbury, and Adele Whiteley Fletcher. It also featured the health and beauty advice of [[Sylvia of Hollywood]], arguably the first fitness guru to the stars.
{{clear}}


⚫
==The ''Photoplay'' Magazine Medal of Honor==
⚫
[[Sidney Skolsky]], a nationally syndicated [[gossip columnist]] for the ''[[New York Daily News]]'' and later the ''[[New York Daily Mirror]]'' had a regular column in ''Photoplay'' called "From A Stool At Schwab’s", the [[Schwab's Pharmacy|Hollywood drugstore]] he made famous, such was the magazine's popularity.<ref name="Lana Turner at Schwab's">{{cite news |last=Wilkerson |first=W.R. 3rd |title=Writing the End to a True-to-Life Cinderella Story : Remembrance: The facts of Lana Turner's discovery at a soda fountain have changed through the years, but the legend remains. |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1995-07-01/entertainment/ca-19119_1_lana-turner |access-date=24 September 2013 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=1 July 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216203651/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-07-01/entertainment/ca-19119_1_lana-turner |archive-date=16 December 2017}}</ref>
⚫
[[File:Photoplay-Medal.jpg|thumb|Front of the first ''Photoplay'' Magazine Medal of Honor, created in gold by [[Tiffany & Co.]] and presented in 1921 to [[Cosmopolitan Productions]] for the film ''[[Humoresque (1920 film)|Humoresque]]'' (1920)]]
⚫
In 1921 ''Photoplay'' established what is considered the first significant annual movie award, the ''Photoplay'' Magazine Medal of Honor.<ref name="Photoplay Awards">{{cite web|title=Photoplay Awards|url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000537/overview|publisher=Internet Movie Database|access-date=24 September 2013}}</ref> An actual medallion produced by [[Tiffany & Co.]], it was voted on by the readers of the magazine and given to the producer of the year's best film, chosen with an emphasis on (according to Quirk) "the ideals and motives governing its production... the worth of its dramatic message." Though ''Photoplay'' only gave the single award for best film, its intentions and standards were influential on the [[Academy Awards]] founded later in the decade, and they overlap on [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] choices to some extent, though increasingly in the 1930s ''Photoplay''{{'}}s choices reflected its primarily female readership. By 1939 the Medal of Honor had declined in importance, and the award was discontinued that year.


⚫
From 1944 to 1968, ''Photoplay'' awarded a Gold Medal for film of the year based on polling done by [[George Gallup]]'s Audience Research Inc. through the 1950s, and then voted on by the magazine's readers. It also awarded Most Popular Male Star and Most Popular Female Star based on actors' and actresses' popularity, not their performance. The awards were based on polling through the 1950s, and then on a vote by the readers, similar to the Gold Medal.<ref name="Photoplay Awards" /> [[Bing Crosby]] and [[Greer Garson]] were frequently named the most popular film stars during the 1940s and later winners of the title included [[James Stewart]], [[Jane Wyman]], [[Alan Ladd]], [[Marilyn Monroe]], [[Rock Hudson]], and [[Kim Novak]]. Most popular television stars were also named in the 1960s. In 1948, the ''Photoplay Awards'' were broadcast on network television as part of ''[[The Steve Allen Show|The Steve Allen Plymouth Show]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Steve Allen Plymouth Show|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0864188/combined|publisher=Internet Movie Database|access-date=24 September 2013}}</ref>
⚫
==The Photoplay Magazine Medal==
⚫
[[File:Photoplay-Medal.jpg|thumb|Front of the first Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor, created in gold by [[Tiffany & Co.]] and presented in 1921 to [[Cosmopolitan Productions]] for the film ''[[Humoresque (1920 film)|Humoresque]]'' (1920)]]
⚫
In 1921 ''Photoplay'' established what is considered the first significant annual movie award, the Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor.<ref name="Photoplay Awards">{{cite web|title=Photoplay Awards|url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000537/overview|publisher=Internet Movie Database|accessdate=24 September 2013}}</ref> An actual medallion produced by [[Tiffany & Co.]], it was voted on by the readers of the magazine and given to the producer of the year's best film, chosen with an emphasis on (according to Quirk) "the ideals and motives governing its production... the worth of its dramatic message." Though ''Photoplay'' only gave the single award for best film, its intentions and standards were influential on the [[Academy Awards]] founded later in the decade, and they overlap on [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] choices to some extent, though increasingly in the 1930s ''Photoplay'''s choices reflected its primarily female audience. By 1939 the Medal of Honor had declined in importance and the award was discontinued that year.


⚫
===Medal of Honor winners: 1920–1939===
⚫
From 1944 to 1968, ''Photoplay'' awarded a Gold Medal for film of the year based on polling done by [[George Gallup]]'s Audience Research Inc. through the 1950s, and then voted on by the magazine's readers. It also awarded Most Popular Male Star and Most Popular Female Star based on an actor and actress' popularity, not their performance. The awards were based on polling through the 1950s, and then on a vote by the readers, similar to the Gold Medal.<ref name="Photoplay Awards" /> [[Bing Crosby]] and [[Greer Garson]] were frequently named the most popular film stars during the 1940s and later winners of the title included [[James Stewart]], [[Jane Wyman]], [[Alan Ladd]], [[Marilyn Monroe]], [[Rock Hudson]] and [[Kim Novak]]. Most popular television stars were also named in the 1960s. In 1948, the ''Photoplay Awards'' were broadcast on network television as part of ''[[The Steve Allen Show|The Steve Allen Plymouth Show]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Steve Allen Plymouth Show|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0864188/combined|publisher=Internet Movie Database|accessdate=24 September 2013}}</ref>

⚫
===Medal of Honor Winners: 1920–1939===
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* 1920: ''[[Humoresque (1920 film)|Humoresque]]''<ref name=LAT>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-jun-13-la-et-classic-hollywood-20110613-story.html |title=Classic Hollywood: Film academy to screen Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor winners |author=Susan King |date=June 13, 2011 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>
* 1920: ''[[Humoresque (1920 film)|Humoresque]]''
* 1921: ''[[Tol'able David]]''
* 1921: ''[[Tol'able David]]''
* 1922: ''[[Robin Hood (1922 film)|Robin Hood]]''
* 1922: ''[[Robin Hood (1922 film)|Robin Hood]]''<ref name=LAT/>
* 1923: ''[[The Covered Wagon]]''
* 1923: ''[[The Covered Wagon]]''<ref name=LAT/>
* 1924: ''[[The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln]]''
* 1924: ''[[The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln]]''
* 1925: ''[[The Big Parade]]''
* 1925: ''[[The Big Parade]]''<ref name=LAT/>
* 1926: ''[[Beau Geste (1926 film)|Beau Geste]]''
* 1926: ''[[Beau Geste (1926 film)|Beau Geste]]''<ref name=LAT/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n23a24.html |title=The Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor |publisher=[[Numismatic Bibliomania Society]]}}</ref>
* 1927: ''[[Seventh Heaven (1927 film)|Seventh Heaven]]''
* 1927: ''[[Seventh Heaven (1927 film)|Seventh Heaven]]''<ref name=LAT/>
* 1928: ''[[Four Sons]]''
* 1928: ''[[Four Sons]]''
* 1929: ''[[Disraeli (1929 film)|Disraeli]]''
* 1929: ''[[Disraeli (1929 film)|Disraeli]]''
Line 87: Line 89:
* 1960: no awards
* 1960: no awards
* 1961: ''[[Splendor in the Grass]]''
* 1961: ''[[Splendor in the Grass]]''
* 1962: ''[[The Miracle Worker]]''
* 1962: ''[[The Miracle Worker (1962 film)|The Miracle Worker]]''
* 1963: ''[[How the West Was Won (film)|How the West Was Won]]''
* 1963: ''[[How the West Was Won (film)|How the West Was Won]]''
* 1964: ''[[The Unsinkable Molly Brown (film)|The Unsinkable Molly Brown]]''
* 1964: ''[[The Unsinkable Molly Brown (film)|The Unsinkable Molly Brown]]''
Line 95: Line 97:
* 1968: ''[[Rosemary's Baby (film)|Rosemary's Baby]]''
* 1968: ''[[Rosemary's Baby (film)|Rosemary's Baby]]''
{{div col end}}
{{div col end}}

Additionally, in September 1921, ''Photoplay'' began designating a handful of movies each month as the Best Pictures of the Month, providing a window into contemporary opinion at a time when movie coverage was not as extensive as it later became. The initial set of selections in the September 1921 issue were: <ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Shadow Stage |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_photoplay_1921-09_20_4/page/58/mode/2up |magazine=Photoplay |publisher=Photoplay Publishing Co. |date=September 1921 |access-date=September 2, 2023}}</ref>

* ''[[The Conquering Power]]''
* ''[[The Old Nest]]''
* ''[[The Affairs of Anatol]]''
* ''[[Experience_(1921_film)|Experience]]''
* ''[[Doubling for Romeo]]''
* ''[[The_Golem:_How_He_Came_into_the_World|The Golem]]''

In January 1923, ''Photoplay'' also added the category Best Performances of the Month. The initial selections for this award were: <ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Shadow Stage |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_photoplay_1923-01_23_2/page/62/mode/2up |magazine=Photoplay |publisher=Photoplay Publishing Co. |date=January 1923 |access-date=November 27, 2023}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!scope="col" style="width:40%;"| Actor
!scope="col" style="width:60%;"| Film
|-
| {{sort|Pickford|[[Mary Pickford]]}}
| ''{{sort|Tess of the Storm Country|[[Tess_of_the_Storm_Country_(1922_film)|Tess of the Storm Country]]}}''
|-
| {{sort|Beery|[[Wallace Beery]]}}
| ''{{sort|Robin Hood|[[Douglas_Fairbanks_in_Robin_Hood|Robin Hood]]}}''
|-
| {{sort|Compson|[[Betty Compson]]}}
| ''{{sort|To Have and To Hold|[[To_Have_and_to_Hold_(1922_film)|To Have and To Hold]]}}''
|-
| {{sort|Nichols|[[George_Nichols_(actor_and_director)|George Nichols]]}}
|rowspan=2| ''{{sort|Flirt|[[The_Flirt_(1922_film)|The Flirt]]}}''
|-
| {{sort|Eddy|[[Helen Jerome Eddy]]}}
|-
| {{sort|Coogan|[[Jackie Coogan]]}}
| ''{{sort|Oliver Twist|[[Oliver_Twist_(1922_film)|Oliver Twist]]}}''
|}


== Mergers and closure ==
== Mergers and closure ==
''Photoplay'' merged with another fan magazine, ''Movie Mirror'', in 1941; and with ''TV-Radio Mirror'' in 1977, when the name became ''Photoplay and TV Mirror''.
''Photoplay'' merged with another fan magazine, ''Movie Mirror'', in 1941; and with ''TV-Radio Mirror'' in 1977, when the name became ''Photoplay and TV Mirror''.


The magazine published its final issue on April 15, 1980.<ref name="Slide71">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5hDG6auRCJ4C&pg=PA71|title=Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators, and Gossip Mongers|first=Anthony|last=Slide|authorlink=Anthony Slide|date=2010|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|page=71}}</ref> In a sign of changing times, the cover photo featured not movie stars but two television actresses, [[Victoria Principal]] and [[Charlene Tilton]].<ref name="Slide71"/> The skeleton staff of six people were all transferred to ''[[Us Weekly|Us]]'' magazine, which Macfadden Publications had recently acquired.<ref name="Slide71"/> The president of Macfadden, Peter J. Callahan, said the decision to cease publication was made "very reluctantly", but also added the bald observation that "the day of the traditional movie magazine is over".<ref name="Slide71"/>
The magazine published its final issue on April 15, 1980.<ref name="Slide71">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5hDG6auRCJ4C&pg=PA71|title=Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators, and Gossip Mongers|first=Anthony|last=Slide|author-link=Anthony Slide|date=2010|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|page=71|isbn=9781604734140}}</ref> In a sign of changing times, the cover photo featured not movie stars but two television actresses, [[Victoria Principal]] and [[Charlene Tilton]].<ref name="Slide71"/> The skeleton staff of six people were all transferred to ''[[Us Weekly|Us]]'' magazine, which Macfadden Publications had recently acquired.<ref name="Slide71"/> The president of Macfadden, Peter J. Callahan, said the decision to cease publication was made "very reluctantly", but also added the bald observation that "the day of the traditional movie magazine is over".<ref name="Slide71"/>

⚫
A British version of ''Photoplay'' debuted in March 1950, and in April 1981 it was rebranded as ''Photoplay: Movies and Video''.<ref name="Slide71"/> It featured an equal mix of American and British films and stars, and ceased publication in 1989.


==See also==
⚫
A British version of ''Photoplay'' debuted in 1952, and in April 1981 it was rebranded as ''Photoplay: Movies and Video''.<ref name="Slide71"/> It featured an equal mix of American and British films and stars, and ceased publication in 1989.
* ''[[Screenland]]''
* ''[[Silver Screen (magazine)|Silver Screen]]''


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
Line 111: Line 150:
* [http://www.greta-garbo.de/interview-with-greta-garbo-photoplay-1928-ruth-biery Original ''Photoplay'' interview with Greta Garbo - as told by her to Ruth Biery]
* [http://www.greta-garbo.de/interview-with-greta-garbo-photoplay-1928-ruth-biery Original ''Photoplay'' interview with Greta Garbo - as told by her to Ruth Biery]


[[Category:American film magazines]]
[[Category:Film magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct magazines of the United States]]
[[Category:Fiction magazines]]
[[Category:Fiction magazines]]
[[Category:Magazines disestablished in 1980]]
[[Category:Magazines disestablished in 1980]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1911]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1911]]
[[Category:Magazines published in Chicago]]
[[Category:Defunct magazines published in Chicago]]

Latest revision as of 22:50, 27 March 2024

This article is about the American film magazine. For motion pictures, sometimes called "photoplays", see film.
Photoplay
Marilyn Monroe in the December 1953 issue of Photoplay magazine.
CategoriesFilm
Entertainment
Founded1911
Final issue1980
CompanyMacfadden Publications
CountryUnited States
Based inChicago
LanguageEnglish
ISSN0732-538X

Photoplay was one of the first American film (another name for photoplay) fan magazines. It was founded in Chicago in 1911. Under early editors, Julian Johnson and James R. Quirk, in style and reach it became a pacesetter for fan magazines. In 1921, Photoplay established what is considered the first significant annual movie award. For most of its run, it was published by Macfadden Publications. The magazine ceased publication in 1980.

History[edit]

Photoplay began as a short fiction magazine concerned mostly with the plots and characters of films at the time and was used as a promotional tool for those films. In 1915, Julian Johnson and James R. Quirk became the editors (though Quirk had been vice president of the magazine since its inception), and together they created a format which would set a precedent for almost all celebrity magazines that followed. By 1918 the circulation exceeded 200,000, with the popularity of the magazine fueled by the public's increasing interest in the private lives of celebrities.

Popularity[edit]

"The Microphone—The Terror of the Studios" (December 1929 issue); the cover features an Earl Christy portrait of actress Norma Talmadge, whose successful career in silent films did not survive in the sound era

Photoplay reached its apex in the 1920s and 1930s, and was considered quite influential within the motion picture industry.[1] The magazine was renowned for its artwork portraits of film stars, by such artists as Earl Christy and Charles Sheldon, on the cover. Macfadden Publications purchased the magazine in 1934. With the advance of color photography, by 1937 the magazine instead began using photographs of the stars.

Photoplay published the writings of Lillian Day, Sheilah Graham, Hedda Hopper, Dorothy Kilgallen, Hazel MacDonald, Louella Parsons, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Rob Wagner (later the editor and publisher of Script), and Walter Winchell, among others. The magazine was edited by Quirk until 1932; later editors include Kathryn Dougherty, Ruth Waterbury, and Adele Whiteley Fletcher. It also featured the health and beauty advice of Sylvia of Hollywood, arguably the first fitness guru to the stars.

Sidney Skolsky, a nationally syndicated gossip columnist for the New York Daily News and later the New York Daily Mirror, had a regular column in Photoplay called "From A Stool At Schwab's", the Hollywood drugstore he made famous; such was the magazine's popularity.[2]

The Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor[edit]

Front of the first Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor, created in gold by Tiffany & Co. and presented in 1921 to Cosmopolitan Productions for the film Humoresque (1920)

In 1921 Photoplay established what is considered the first significant annual movie award, the Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor.[3] An actual medallion produced by Tiffany & Co., it was voted on by the readers of the magazine and given to the producer of the year's best film, chosen with an emphasis on (according to Quirk) "the ideals and motives governing its production... the worth of its dramatic message." Though Photoplay only gave the single award for best film, its intentions and standards were influential on the Academy Awards founded later in the decade, and they overlap on Best Picture choices to some extent, though increasingly in the 1930s Photoplay's choices reflected its primarily female readership. By 1939 the Medal of Honor had declined in importance, and the award was discontinued that year.

From 1944 to 1968, Photoplay awarded a Gold Medal for film of the year based on polling done by George Gallup's Audience Research Inc. through the 1950s, and then voted on by the magazine's readers. It also awarded Most Popular Male Star and Most Popular Female Star based on actors' and actresses' popularity, not their performance. The awards were based on polling through the 1950s, and then on a vote by the readers, similar to the Gold Medal.[3] Bing Crosby and Greer Garson were frequently named the most popular film stars during the 1940s and later winners of the title included James Stewart, Jane Wyman, Alan Ladd, Marilyn Monroe, Rock Hudson, and Kim Novak. Most popular television stars were also named in the 1960s. In 1948, the Photoplay Awards were broadcast on network television as part of The Steve Allen Plymouth Show.[4]

Medal of Honor winners: 1920–1939[edit]

Gold Medal Winners for film of the year: 1944–1968[edit]

Additionally, in September 1921, Photoplay began designating a handful of movies each month as the Best Pictures of the Month, providing a window into contemporary opinion at a time when movie coverage was not as extensive as it later became. The initial set of selections in the September 1921 issue were: [7]

In January 1923, Photoplay also added the category Best Performances of the Month. The initial selections for this award were: [8]

Actor Film
Mary Pickford Tess of the Storm Country
Wallace Beery Robin Hood
Betty Compson To Have and To Hold
George Nichols The Flirt
Helen Jerome Eddy
Jackie Coogan Oliver Twist

Mergers and closure[edit]

Photoplay merged with another fan magazine, Movie Mirror, in 1941; and with TV-Radio Mirror in 1977, when the name became Photoplay and TV Mirror.

The magazine published its final issue on April 15, 1980.[9] In a sign of changing times, the cover photo featured not movie stars but two television actresses, Victoria Principal and Charlene Tilton.[9] The skeleton staff of six people were all transferred to Us magazine, which Macfadden Publications had recently acquired.[9] The president of Macfadden, Peter J. Callahan, said the decision to cease publication was made "very reluctantly", but also added the bald observation that "the day of the traditional movie magazine is over".[9]

A British version of Photoplay debuted in March 1950, and in April 1981 it was rebranded as Photoplay: Movies and Video.[9] It featured an equal mix of American and British films and stars, and ceased publication in 1989.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hutchinson, Pamela (January 26, 2016). "Photoplay magazine: the birth of celebrity culture". The Guardian. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  2. ^ Wilkerson, W.R. 3rd (1 July 1995). "Writing the End to a True-to-Life Cinderella Story : Remembrance: The facts of Lana Turner's discovery at a soda fountain have changed through the years, but the legend remains". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b "Photoplay Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  4. ^ "The Steve Allen Plymouth Show". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Susan King (June 13, 2011). "Classic Hollywood: Film academy to screen Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor winners". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ "The Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor". Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
  7. ^ "The Shadow Stage". Photoplay. Photoplay Publishing Co. September 1921. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  8. ^ "The Shadow Stage". Photoplay. Photoplay Publishing Co. January 1923. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d e Slide, Anthony (2010). Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators, and Gossip Mongers. University Press of Mississippi. p. 71. ISBN 9781604734140.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Photoplay.
Look up photoplay in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Photoplay&oldid=1215918599"