Asides - Covers and Cards

Time to share a few recent acquisitions, including the covers from three issues of Motion Picture magazine. Motion Picture was one of the earliest film publications, dating back to at least 1916. All the issues featured in this post are from the late twenties. Next we have a couple of postcards, and finally four small cigarette cards from the Will's 1928 series.

Click on the images for a larger view

All three of these covers were created by artist Marland Stone. Marland's birthdate is unknown, but he died in 1975 after a very successful career as an illustrator and artist.

Motion Picture, March 1928 - Joan Crawford

Motion Picture, August 1928 - Norma Shearer

Motion Picture, June 1929 - Mary Duncan

A young Peggy Shannon in happier days

What can you say - taken during the filming of Shanghai Express

These cigarette cards are four from a series of 25 entitled Cinema Stars. The artwork harkens back to an earlier style than any cards subsequently produced by Will's or the other cigarette firms. Quite beautiful. Remember these are only about 1.5x3 inches and when viewed larger, lose some of their charm.

Clara Bow and Norma Talmadge

Pola Negri and Billie Dove

Anna May Wong - (Third of 3 postings)

Anna May Wong

For Anna's bio highlights, see the first of her posts. There is much information about Anna on the net - her battle with the descrimination in Hollywood (and the U.S.) never got her down, although she was denied many parts due to her Asian heritage. To close, it's said that

her friend Eric Maschwitz wrote the dreamy lyrics to the pop standard

These Foolish Things (an American classic) in Wong's honor.

Anna May Wong - What do you think? Allure?

Anna May Wong - (Second of 3 postings)

Anna May Wong

For Anna's bio highlights, see the previous post. Here is another aspect of life she had to deal with. Her genuine romances typically were with Caucasian men, but California law forbade marriage between Asians and Caucasians until 1948! One of her lovers offered to marry her in Mexico, but their intentions became known and he backed off when his Hollywood career was jeopardized. Wong once mused about marrying a Chinese man, but the Chinese culture held actresses to be on par with prostitutes, which made her suspect marriage material.

Anna May Wong - What do you think? Allure?

Anna May Wong - (First of 3 postings)

Anna May Wong

Anna May Wong was born Wong Liu Tsong on January 3, 1905, in Los Angeles, California. As the famous James Wong Howe's cousin, she was fascinated with the movie industry at a young age. Anna's big break came when she landed the role of a Mongol slave girl in The Thief of Bagdad (1924)starring Douglas Faribanks. This film put her in the position of being the first (and for a long time, the only) Chinese-American to become a bona fide movie star. Anna's talent and beauty carried her through a successful transition into talkies, where she was a hit in 1932's Shanghai Express, the von Sternberg opus starring Marlene Dietrich. Anna made over 50 films before her death in 1961. Her fame lives on, four decades after her death. She is a part of American popular consciousness, chosen as one of the first movie stars to be featured on a postage stamp. This is the first of 3 pages featuring images of this wonderful actress.

Anna May Wong - What do you think? Allure?