I love everything about this look from the shallow DOF to the lighting. With such a shallow depth of field, I'm guessing that the photographer used modeling lights or some other constant light source and a wide aperture or large format camera. I would be grateful for any tips on how to achieve this look (BTW I don't own a set of studio strobes and don't have an interest in using them).
Large tungsten or carbon arc fixtures (at the studio, you know)
High right key, lower(eye level) left fill (you can see them in her eyes, and the key angle from the nose shadow), a hair light, and lots of makeup. Portrait lens.
The triangle of light under her eye (left frame) was the thing in the day.
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--J Brunner, The Prints of Darkness
Massive retouching is the key. The photographic image - made under HOT lights - was often completely painted over. This particular image was also vignetted ( probably in the printing ). You COULD do this all day long in Photoshop.
Pick the most appealing quality of the image, and you can probably do it easily enough without tricks. But combining the whole catalog of FX ? Paint, pencil, etching knife, airbrush...
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I briefly used an Adams Retouching Machine in high school to retouch b&w 4x5 portraits. I hope these still teach this somewhere. Very rewarding if you get it just right.
Don't forget our buddy, Max Factor here. He began by providing pancake to the silents for shooting with Ortho stocks which made the caucasian face turn very dark. Next time you watch a low budget silent, look around the nape of the neck and cuff area of the arms and see where the makeup ends.
It made it really easy for white guys to play Native Americans; they simply didn't apply makeup...
I assume the lass has as very thick layer of (base) makeup on her face.
BTW FWIW, the kicks in her eye suggest to me a spun glass Mole Richardson "rifle" light (5K tungsten) for her camera-right key, up at 2 O'clock and a Niner-broad Mole on camera left with silks at 9 O'clock for fill with a tweenie or other small illuminary providing the kicks on the hair from behind at 10 and 2 O'Clock.
Hurrell used to like to photograph subjects with makeup only to define the eyes and lips and no base makeup to get the natural glow from the skin, and then all blemishes would be retouched out and lines would be softened with pencil on the neg.
Lowell DP kit, Key at 1:30, medium flood with hard reflector at 8 feet away. Fill, another DP light full flood behind a sheet of toughspun diffusion at 12 feet and directly at eye level to fill sockets. 2 Teenies, no more than 150 watt each, just out of frame behind subject at 10 and 2, hard spots raked across hair tips from behind. White cyclorama (or sheet) behind subject about 4 feet (no shadows on it) and a nice even, diffused light source on it; put it on a dimmer or variac and adjust by eye. Stack NDs on camera to get minimum DOF and focus on eye kicks. Heavy makeup, vaseline on teeth and you are ready.
1930's Hollywood/glamour lighting 
Linear Mode
