Bert Stern: Original Mad Man DVD Review

The new documentary, Bert Stern: Original Mad Man, gives us a rather intimate look at the man who truly changed the advertising industry through his photography. Perhaps most famous for his photo sessions with Marilyn Monroe (he conducted what would turn out to be her final photo sitting), Bert Stern is a fascinating subject, and this documentary covers not only his career, but the women who helped shape and inspire it.

Bert Stern: Original Mad Man opens with Bert arriving at a gallery that is showing his work, and then signing books. The first impression you get of him is of a quiet, somewhat reserved man. Regarding the documentary itself, he says, “The reason I became a photographer is so I wouldn’t have to do things like this.” He says he never wanted to be in front of the camera, and he says this to Shannah Laumeister, the documentary’s director, who appears on camera with him. So right away you get the sense that is going to be a somewhat unusual documentary, for the filmmaker also becomes part of the subject.

Interestingly, Shannah Laumeister started as Bert Stern’s subject, as we learn partway through the film. When she was seventeen, she asked him to take photos of her to make her look like Marilyn Monroe. And we see those photos (she looks beautiful, by the way). They actually met even earlier, when she was thirteen and had braces. Bert says, “You looked like Jaws to me, from James Bond,” and looks directly into the camera when saying it. Their relationship developed slowly. He says to her (and to us), about taking the photos first rather than taking her, “It’s my way of having more of you. I can never get enough of you.”

Bert Stern’s two passions were photography and women, not necessarily in that order. Even when discussing his early years, he relates every subject to women. For example, he mentions that he was drafted into the army, but what he talks about is the streets being full of beautiful Japanese women, all looking for a boyfriend.

The film moves rather quickly through the early years, in order to focus on his career. Smirnoff Vodka used drawings in its advertising, and had decided to switch to photos. Bert Stern landed that job, and those photos really began his photography career. The film shows us those photos, and they’re amazing. For the shoot, he hired a woman nicknamed Teddy to be his assistant because he was attracted to her. “I didn’t want to get married,” he says. “I just wanted to make out with her.” But of course he married her, and then met another woman, Dorothy, “who was crazy, which was more what I wanted.”  Yes, Bert Stern is so casually candid in this film. And that is likely due to the fact that he was being filmed by the woman he considered his closest friend. Had this been done by someone else, we might not have gotten such an intimate view of the man.

What is also wonderful is that the film includes an interview with Dorothy Tristan. About her, Bert says he couldn’t handle her. “When she drank, she was very dangerous.” He tells an anecdote about her with a big knife. And in her interview, Dorothy actually talks about it too, however briefly. The film also includes an interview with Allegra Kent, a ballerina with the New York City Ballet, who married Bert Stern.  This film is really as much about the women in his life as about his photography career. Bert says he worshiped Allegra. (There are also interviews with their two daughters.)

This documentary is told in photographs as much as it’s told by interviews, and if ever there was a documentary that should be told in photographs, it’s this one. We’re treated to a lot of the photographs used in ad campaigns, as well as the photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Twiggy.  There is also some excellent footage that Bert shot of Twiggy being interviewed by Woody Allen. And there is a great interview with Twiggy Lawson.

The two most fascinating professional stories for me are his photo shoot for Lolita and, of course, his Marilyn Monroe shoots. Bert Stern had met Stanley Kubrick years earlier, and that’s how he got the Lolita job. Interestingly, it was Bert who found and bought the heart-shaped sunglasses, even after producer James B. Harris had told him to downplay the actor’s youthfulness. (James B. Harris is interviewed in this film.) As for Marilyn Monroe, he conducted two sittings with her – in June and July of 1962. He says, “I tried to kiss her, and she said no.” But it’s the photos that really tell the story, and we’re treated to many of them.

And of course, the film documents his troubles, including the use of amphetamines and his divorce. And then it talks about his comeback.

Special Features

The DVD includes a photo gallery. Each photo is labeled, with the subject and year. They’re not in chronological order, nor are they organized by subject. I usually don’t find DVD photo galleries all that interesting, but in this case, I really want more photos to be included.  There is also a short biography of Shannah Laumeister.

Bert Stern: Original Mad Man is scheduled to be released on July 16, 2013 through First Run Features.

Bert Stern died on June 26, 2013.