As one of the four original Life photographers, Peter Stackpole captured decades of a Hollywood enchanted with its own creation, the movies. A native Californian, Stackpole trained a fresh and curious eye on stars and would-be stars, directors, producers and the rest of the coast's elite, capturing such disparate characters as William Randolph Hearst, Elizabeth Taylor, Gary Cooper, Vivien Leigh, Alfred Hitchcock, Judy Garland and Jane Russell. He recorded epics, scandals, publicity stunts and a dream society's response to a very real World War II. Containing more than 350 images and annotated with Peter Stackpole's often humorous accounts of picture-taking sessions, this book takes a look at a golden American fantasy world.