The Powder & The Glory

2007     1 x 86/56 min     Color & B/W DigiBeta     English

Powderglory production in association with AVRO/Netherlands, YLE TEEMA Ateljee/Finland and ABC/Australia

Produced and directed by Arnie Reisman and Ann Carol Grossman, in association with The Center for Independent Documentary

Narrated by Jane Alexander

Major funding awarded from the CPB/PBS Challenge Fund

World premiere at the Boston Jewish Film Festival Nov 4, 2007

BROADCAST PREMIERE on PBS March 23, 2009

Official selection: Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival, Detroit Jewish Film Festival and Toronto Jewish Film Festival

Special Screening at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston – June/July 2008

Based on British author Lindy Woodhead’s bestselling book – War Paint: Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden – their lives their times, their rivalry – this film focuses on two women from meager means who immigrated to the US nearly a hundred years ago, reinvented themselves and ultimately created the cosmetics, health, and beauty industry we know today. Their story corresponds with the styles, values and changes of the first half of the 20th century as they build their markets and redefine the image of women. Fired by their competition, determined not to be undone by economics or men, they presided over expanding global empires. Headquartered only blocks apart in New York, they never spoke to one another. Their legendary rivalry left an unsurpassed business, social and cultural legacy.