HOLLYWOOD IN BRIEF : HOLLYWOOD JEWELS: Movies Jewelry Stars, <i> By Penny Proddow, Debra Healy and Marion Fasel (Abrams: $49.50; 200 pp</i> .<i> )</i>

Hatcheck Girl: “Goodness, what lovely diamonds!”

Mae West: “Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.”

Ms. West delivered that famous line in 1932, but movie stars have worn important jewels on and off screen since the early days of the silent era. “Hollywood Jewels” is the first book devoted to the subject, and anyone entranced by the glamour of old Hollywood will want the book for its illustrations--publicity shots and stills from various films, supplemented with David Behl’s exceptional photographs. It’s regrettable that the authors didn’t do a better job with the text, but many of the objects depicted here are truly dazzling: Marlene Dietrich’s Gargantuan ruby-and-diamond disc bracelet from “Stage Fright,” the rock-crystal-and-diamond bangles Gloria Swanson wore in “Sunset Boulevard,” Elizabeth Taylor’s ring with the Krupp diamond: 33.19 carats of icy perfection. Not every star had good taste, and a few of these jewels are pretty awful, including Lily Pons’ necklace of outsized gold letters that spelled “Kostelanetz” (her husband’s name) and Paulette Goddard’s gem-encrusted compact that looks like a prize from a penny arcade.