Here's (above) one of my favorite Basil Wolverton caricatures. I assume it's Greta Garbo. She was famous for her profile shots and Basil probably referenced one of them when he sketched this.
Maybe it was this one (above).
Garbo must have had a lot of imitators because after a point a lot of actresses (above) tried it. Most of the photos I've seen failed...neck shots must be harder than they look.
This girl (above) succeeded on technical grounds, but didn't have the personality to pull it off. Garbo was sickly. This actress disappoints by radiating health. How boring!
Dietrich (above) had no problem with sickly...she was a master at sickly... she just couldn't get the steep angle.
Katherine Hepburn came close (above), but...no cigar. She just looks too doggone healthy.
It's possible that other actresses (above), unable to compete with Garbo in the profile department, settled on a high-chin frontal version that showed them to better advantage.
After a point you see a lot of these photos. Looking down your eyes was the in thing to do.
Maybe being snooty became fashionable. Maybe it was discovered that frontal necks took well to underlighting. Maybe more parts were written for snooty women...I don't know.
I guess that high chin look was overdone in the 40s. Now it's underdone. Even when it fits, Hollywood won't use it. The "Maleficent" poster cried out for it and it was denied. If the two types of poses above were under consideration for that movie which would you choose?
