The photos were taken primarily in March 1962 during the Roman phase of filming. His work often features Taylor in her iconic blue crown or golden headdress, showcasing the Academy Award-winning costume design. These images remain essential pieces of film history, depicting Taylor at the peak of her “screen goddess” status amidst the extravagance and scandal that defined the production.

Originally created as a promotional magazine for the Associated British Cinemas (ABC) circuit, it quickly transcended its marketing roots to become the UK’s longest-running film publication. For generations of moviegoers, the magazine was an essential companion to the silver screen, famous for its glossy star portraits, behind-the-scenes features, and its comprehensive “descriptive reviews” that helped shape public taste.

By capturing the transition from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the blockbuster era, ABC Film Review served as a vivid historical archive of changing cinematic trends and celebrity fandom. Even as digital media eventually took over, the magazine’s legacy remains a nostalgic symbol of a time when the magic of the movies was first captured on the printed page, making it a prized collectible for cinephiles and historians today.

Below is a collection of ABC Film Review magazine covers from the 1950s.

She started the decade on Broadway with hits like Two for the Show (1940) and Panama Hattie (1940), where her “overdrive” energy even led to songs being cut to keep the show balanced. After signing with Paramount in 1941, she made her feature debut in The Fleet’s In (1942). Her major breakthrough came in Preston Sturges’s screwball comedy The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944), which proved she could handle both comedy and dramatic acting.

During World War II, she was a favorite for entertaining the troops and starred in morale-boosting hits like Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) and Here Come the Waves (1944). She dominated the mid-to-late 1940s with films like Incendiary Blonde (1945), where she played Texas Guinan, and The Perils of Pauline (1947).

Below is a selection of 30 stunning portraits of a young and beautiful Betty Hutton in the 1940s:

As scientists worked to recover gold and other items from the ship in 2014, they found more than 100 photos, many in glass case holders. A majority were degraded beyond recognition, but 10 standouts are remarkably clear, including this striking daguerreotype portrait, which was found in a pile of the ship’s coal on the seabed. Because the deep ocean is cold, dark, and low in oxygen, and because daguerreotypes are made on metal rather than paper, the image was perfectly preserved.

Scientists dubbed it the “Mona Lisa of the Deep” due to the woman’s enigmatic smile and the hauntingly clear preservation of the image after 157 years underwater. To this day, the woman remains unidentified. Historians believe she may have been a relative of one of the miners, a “treasure” more personal and valuable to its owner than the gold that sank with it. In March 2023, the original daguerreotype was sold at auction for $73,800.

“She’s the Mona Lisa of the depths… staring up at the living from the seabed,”  said Bob Evans, Chief Scientist of the recovery mission.

In September 1857, the SS Central America was traveling from Panama to New York City. It was carrying over 30,000 pounds (13.6 tonnes) of gold, much of it belonging to miners returning from the California Gold Rush, to help bolster New York banks during a financial crisis.

On September 9, the ship encountered a Category 2 hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas. For days, the crew and passengers fought to keep the ship afloat. On September 12, 1857, the ship’s boilers failed, leaving it powerless. Despite rescue efforts by passing vessels, the SS Central America sank roughly 160 miles off the coast of South Carolina.

The sinking of the SS Central America remains one of the most significant maritime disasters in American history. Of the 578 people on board, 425 lost their lives. The loss of the gold cargo was so massive that it directly contributed to the Panic of 1857, the first global economic recession.

The wreck was located in 1988 at a depth of 7,200 feet (1.3 miles), but the “Mona Lisa of the Deep” wasn’t recovered until a later expedition in 2014.