1956 | “Eyes right” is executed with near-military precision by men aboard a New York-bound 20th Century Limited train as movie star Kim Novak eases into her seat in the dining car. Originally published in the March 5, 1956, issue of LIFE.
Over several decades spanning the heart of the 20th century, one American magazine ― called, plainly and boldly, LIFE ― published an astonishing number of the most memorable photographs ever made. Driven by the certainty that the art of photojournalism could tell stories and move people in ways that traditional reporting simply could not, LIFE pursued a grand vision, articulated by TIME Magazine’s co-founder, Henry Luce, that not only acknowledged the primacy of the picture, but enshrined it.
Click the pic to see some of the magazine’s greatest works.