Please, what (the hell) is this amazing 1940's film ?

[Ko.Fe.]

Well, Kodachrome is actually a film built from three black and white emulsions .....

It is color film, the rest is irrelevant.

 

[Neil Grant]

Are you talking about tilt or swing? I assume swing.

...getting the sitter to tilt their head slightly towards the shoulder furthest from the camera. A posing thing, not a camera movement. Purposely controlling in front of the camera, not merely recording what is there. The photo is an example of a standard, strong, male portrait and is what any competent studio photographer should be able to set up in a matter of moments. The sitter is looking left to right
So we read the photo in the same direction as a book (in the west) and this is subjectively interpreted as ' looking into the future'.

 

[cjbecker]

...getting the sitter to tilt their head slightly towards the shoulder furthest from the camera. A posing thing, not a camera movement. Purposely controlling in front of the camera, not merely recording what is there. The photo is an example of a standard, strong, male portrait and is what any competent studio photographer should be able to set up in a matter of moments. The sitter is looking left to right
So we read the photo in the same direction as a book (in the west) and this is subjectively interpreted as ' looking into the future'.

Thank you for the explanation.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I've seen quite a few old Kodachrome 5x7 sheets that still look amazing, including of a number of Hollywood celebrities of that era like WC Fields. They aren't just unfaded, but the hues themselves are rich and convincing, more so than most current color films, maybe better than any of them. I guess it just depends on what generation of Kodachrome emulsion was involved. But I'm no expert on the subject; I'm just reporting what my eyes saw.