Klosters

The Swiss mountain village of Klosters owes much of its fame to the British Royal Family. Few people remember that, in the 1950s and 60s, it was the visiting film stars and literati who earned this winter holiday spot the name ‘Hollywood on the Rocks’. But the post-war Klosters was ‘discovered’ by war photographer Robert Capa, together with the screenwriter Peter Viertel and the writer Irwin Shaw. Luminaries including Gene Kelly, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn, Yul Brynner, Orson Welles, William Wyler and Truman Capote soon followed. These were joined by more writers, scriptwriters, actors and photographers, fashion models, singers, designers, directors, journalists and bullfighters; there were artists, racing drivers, it girls, inventors, former prime ministers, industrial magnates and Olympic racers, not to mention gangsters’ molls, among other illustrious personages. This photo book is a snapshot retrospective of that microcosm of personalities above the clouds that made Klosters an extraordinary place for over two decades.