Rare Photos from the Movie Sets of Old Hollywood Classics

Brigitte Bardot checks her reflection one last time as the clapperboard waits nearby, the moment hovering between preparation and performance. Her signature bouffant, effortless yet precise, is part costume, part armor—Bardot fully aware of the power of her own image.

Le Mépris (1963) was Jean-Luc Godard’s cool, fractured take on love, cinema, and disillusionment, and Bardot was its beating heart. Even in downtime, she commands the frame. The line between actress and icon was already beautifully blurred.