DOWN BY THE LAZY RIVER: A STUNNING PHOTOGRAPH OF DONNA REED THAT WAS REJECTED BY LIFE MAGAZINE.
Here is a rarely published photo appearing on the Twitter account “Hollywood Actresses” of Ms. Reed, taken by Bob Landry of Life Magazine. This seems to be an outtake from a photoshoot done to promote “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Ms. Reed, wearing the same skirt, appeared on the cover of Life’s June 10, 1946 issue. So the pic must be from this shoot. But it is not in the issue, which can be read for free by visiting Google Books and typing “life magazine donna reed 1946” in the search window. Inside, on pages 133-136, are more photos of her during her visit to Saratoga, CA, which is a stand-in for fictional Bedford Falls. The article calls Ms. Reed "no fake farmerette."
During World War II, Landry was a photojournalist for Life Magazine, snapping photographs of action at Pearl Harbor and Utah Beach during the D-Day invasion. He also covered Hollywood for Life during its heyday, as illustrated in this photo. And after the war, he even worked in the movie industry. Interestingly, IMDB.com lists him as a technical adviser on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 masterpiece “Rear Window,” starring Jimmy Stewart, who plays a news photographer sidelined by a broken leg, killing time ogling his neighbors from his apartment window, only to witness what he thinks is a murder by one of them. -courtesy of Jeff Call