Archive Of Five Original Photographs Belonging To Kenneth Anger, Relating To His Research Into The Underbelly Of Hollywood [Kenneth Anger] Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Virginia Rappe, Alma Rubens, William Desmond Taylor, Ramon Novarro (Subjects) Avant-Garde,Directors,Hollywood,Photographs,Religion And Spirituality

Small archive of five vintage photographs belonging to noted avant-garde filmmaker and writer Kenneth Anger, relating to his research into homosexuality, drugs, and murder for his notorious books "Hollywood Babylon" (1959) and "Hollywood Babylon II" (1984). Two photographs with Anger's ownership stamp and label on the verso, four with press stamps on the verso, and three with printed mimeo snipes affixed to the versos. "Hollywood Babylon" and its sequel detailed the various improprieties (both real and imagined) of the elite of Hollywood's Golden Age. Archive includes: A photograph of Irish American director and actor William Desmond Taylor, released for newspaper usage after his murder on February 1, 1922. A photograph of actress Virginia Rappe, circa 1922, released for newspaper usage after her death at the height of the Fatty Arbuckle scandal. A photograph of actress Alma Rubens, released for newspaper usage after she was arrested for narcotics possession in 1931. Rubens had been arrested on similar charges in 1929, and (as noted on the snipe) had "taken the narcotic cure" that year. Rubens would die weeks later from lethal pneumonia and bronchitis, on January 21, 1931, shortly after her release from jail. A Paramount studio photograph of actors Cary Grant and Randolph Scott at a swimming pool, circa 1935. The two men lived together sporadically for twelve years, throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, and were suspected by both Anger and contemporary sources to have been lovers. A photograph of the body of Mexican American actor and closeted homosexual Ramón Novarro being removed from his body after its discovery in 1968. Novarro was tortured and murdered by two male escorts who (falsely) believed a large sum of money was hidden in the actor's house. Photographs range in size from 6 x 8 inches to 8 x 10 inches. Generally Very Good plus, with moderate edgewear and age toning overall, with photograph of Grant and Scott Good only, with a bruise on the center top edge of the recto.