Behind the Lights

As a big film appreciator, Marco Island Historical Society CEO Pat Rutledge is excited to exhibit the iconic photography of Bob Willoughby. But not everyone agreed with her vision.

“People ask me, why would you bring something like this to Marco Island?” Rutledge said. “And I reminded them that if you think back to the Tony Lema golf tournament and all of the famous names that came to Marco, this was really an extension of that. There’s just different names. But, you know we have a history of bringing important, famous people here. And this is another nod, in a way, to that. It’s got broad appeal. It’s the kind of exhibit that many people could come and enjoy and maybe have different perspectives, but still see something that they can connect with.”

Popular Photography calls Willoughby the man who virtually invented the photojournalist motion picture still. He was the first outside photographer hired by the major studios to create photographs for the magazine. He was considered the link between the filmmakers and major magazines of the time.

Among the 98 photographs and panels that make up the Backstage Hollywood exhibit are a who’s who collection of the greatest Hollywood stars - and films - of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Such big screen icons as Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn, Alfred Hitchcock, Dustin Hoffman, Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Elvis Presley, James Dean…and the list goes on and on. Willoughby was on set for some of the greatest movies of all time: The Graduate, Roman Holiday, Rebel Without a Cause, My Fair Lady, and many, many more.

Rutledge believes in the exhibit so much that she’s decided to keep it around a little longer.

“We've extended it,” Rutledge said. “Originally, the exhibit was for six weeks. Then, when we thought about how much work went into hanging it, we thought we could capitalize on that by reaching back out and seeing if we could keep it for another six weeks. We got the nod, and the Historical Society is funding it to the middle of October.”

Museum manager Rebecca Mazeroski curated the exhibit.

“This is just a fun exhibit,” Mazeroski said. “That's my favorite part about this. It's work to install an exhibit, but some exhibits are just delightful. There's fun in doing that. And this is definitely one of those. The images themselves are beautiful. This is where you can appreciate the difference between good photography and the stuff most of us can manage to take. One of the things I think is interesting was Bob’s willingness to kind of work with the crew and with the filmmakers. He was capturing some of the best images because he worked around the film crew. He wasn't making a nuisance of himself. One of the things he developed was a way to silently and remotely take the photo so it wouldn't distract from the filming. You can see that he was sort of interested in understanding the actors and actresses, interested in understanding the story and not just doing a job. The films that many of these images represent are the iconic images of that Hollywood era.”