Classic Hollywood: On the set with Gable, Garbo and more

Circa 1923: Mildred Harris, a leading lady and first wife of Charlie Chaplin, applies makeup on the beach between shoots.   (Edward Gooch / Getty Images )

Circa 1925: Film comedian Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) puts a wind machine to good use to blow himself clean after rolling in the dust during a film sequence.   (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Circa 1930: Mary Ann Jackson and Wheezer, two of the child stars of Hal Roach’s “Our Gang” comedy team, share a kiss on the beach at Santa Monica during the making of a film.   (Margaret Chute/Getty Images)

Circa 1925: Actress Mary Pickford (1893-1979) holds a megaphone that’s much larger than that held by director William Beaudine (1892-1970) on the set of “Little Annie Rooney.”   (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1927: American film director Dorothy Arzner (1897-1979) and Alfred Gilks, her cinematographer, survey a scene as they stand by a camera on the set of her film “Get Your Man.” Arzner was Hollywood’s only female director of the 1930s.   (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1967: John Wayne, with his son, on location in Mexico for the filming of “The War Wagon.”   (Keystone/Getty Images)

1928: Clown Harry Langdon (1884-1944) eats his favorite dish of avocado salad on the set of “The Chaser.”   (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

January 1932: Greta Garbo (1905-1990) and John Barrymore (1882-1942) chat on the set of “Grand Hotel,” directed by Edmund Goulding.   (John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

December 1932: Actress Joan Crawford (1904-1977) reads on the set of “Today We Live.”   (John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

1928: “It” girl and actress Clara Bow gets a haircut during a break from filming “Red Hair” for Paramount.   (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1926: American heavyweight boxing champ Gene Tunney (1898-1978) has his makeup applied by his trainer, Scotty, on the set of director Spencer Gordon Bennet’s film “Fighting Marine” in Los Angeles.   (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Circa 1926: Brigitte Helm (1906-1996) addresses workers during the filming of “Metropolis.” Set in the year 2000, this silent film depicts the workers of a modern city who live and labor underground. The film was directed by Fritz Lang for UFA Erich Pommer.   (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1930: Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957) play with giant building blocks in “Brats,” in which they play their own sons.   (John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

July 1929: Swedish American actress Greta Garbo (1905-1990), who plays Irene Guarry in “The Kiss,” chats on the set with French film director Jacques Feyder (1885-1948). “The Kiss” was the last silent film that MGM made.   (John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

Pilot Harold Bromley holds a compact 15-pound radio set. He took it with him on his plane in his attempt to cross the Pacific Ocean from Tacoma, Wash., to Tokyo in July 1929.   (Underwood Archives/Getty Images)

February 1932: Actress Norma Shearer (1902-1983) applies lipstick during the filming of “Strange Interlude,” directed by Robert Z. Leonard.   (ohn Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

May 1928: An on-set portrait of actor Lon Chaney (1906-1973) and the cast of the movie “While the City Sleeps.”   (John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

November 1932: Clarence Brown, Warner Oland and an actress on the set of “La Fille du Soleil.”   (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystine via Getty Images)

1931: Actress Joan Crawford (1904-1977) sits next to Clark Gable (1901-1960) on the set of director Clarence Brown’s film, “Possessed.”   (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Circa 1927: American swimmer Gertrude Ederle (1905-2003), the first woman to swim the English Channel, supervises actor Bebe Daniels (1901-1971), who is smeared with grease for her part in the Paramount production of “Swim Girl Swim,” directed by Clarence Badger (1880-1964), far left.   (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)