Author, The Queen of Technicolor, Maria Montez in Hollywood

This week, Ira spoke with Tom Zimmerman, author of The Queen of Technicolor, Maria Montez in Hollywood (published by The University Press of Kentucky). In this silver screen episode of Ira’s Everything Bagel, Tom talks about how he discovered Maria Montez and realized that he had to write about her; why she became a movie star despite not being able to act, sing, or dance; how technicolor (“assaultively colorful”) and Montez were made for each other; why the “Good Neighbor” policy of the federal government worked in her favor; and how she supported the allied war effort during World War II.

Tom Zimmerman is a photographer who has permanent collections in the United States Library of Congress, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Motion Picture and Television Photo Archive, and Fortress of Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg, Russia, among others. He is the author of Paradise Promoted: The Booster Campaign that Created Los Angeles 1870-1930, Downtown in Detail, and Spectacular Illumination.