Picture Post Idols

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With its emphasis on high-quality photographs, Picture Post (1938-57) was the most popular and influential magazine of its day. 'Picture Post Idols', based on photographs from the magazine's archives, is a celebration of the men and women who captured the public imagination during this period - the idols and image-makers of popular entertainment. All the great names and landmarks of the Forties and Fifties are here: forces' sweetheart Vera Lynn, who captured the spirit of the time with songs straight from the heart; Glenn Miller and other pioneers of the 'big band sound'; screen classics like 'Gone with the Wind' and 'Casablanca', which still tug at our emotions half a century later; and Ealing Studios which, even without a star like the mean and moody James Dean, could still give Hollywood a run for its money. Billie Holliday sang the blues and Bill Haley rocked around the clock; crooners crooned and skiffle groups skiffled; and the Bluebell Girls kicked up their heels and much more besides. On the wireless there was the anarchic comedy of 'ITMA' and 'The Goon Show', while in 1953 proud owners of brand-new television sets thrilled to the glorious black-and-white spectacle of the Coronation. Crowning them all, of course, was the ineffable, incomparable Marilyn Monroe. With photographs from some of the greatest photojournalists and portrait photographers of the time, combines glitz and glamour with unique behind-the-scenes coverage. Shining through above everything else is the undefinable 'star quality' that made the Forties and Fifties a golden age of popular entertainment.