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

Asides - Cover Catch Up

This post features movie magazine covers with looks generally different than those shown in previous posts. The first major difference is that none of these covers come from Photoplay, the most popular film magazine in the 20's and 30's, and the publication that makes up the bulk of our collection. Enjoy and click on the images for a larger view.

Movie Classic, November 1935 - Artist: Charles Sheldon
I think this is one of the most sophisticated and alluring portraits of Jean Harlow I have ever seen. As covers go, it is unusual as well, because unlike most movie magazine covers of the time that portray the subject in close-up, this and the next two covers provide a fuller length view of their subjects.

Picture Play, March 1932 - Artist Modest Stein
Modest Stein was born in 1871 and became a prolific, if under appreciated commercial artist whose work can be found in and on numerous magazines, books, and advertisements. He died in Flushing, NY, in 1958. See my post on Peggy Shannon for another of his covers.

Picture Play, November 1932 - Artist: Martha Sawyers
Martha Sawyers (1902-1988) designed Broadway Playbills and art work for the theater section of the New York Herald Tribune in the 1930's. She also provided covers for American Liberty and Collier's Magazines. Martha drew illustrations for novelist Pearl Buck, and she is featured with such notables as Norman Rockwell in "Forty Illustrators and How They Work" by Earnest W Watson.

Picture Play, January 1933 - Artist: A.D. Moscon

I can find absolutely no information on artist A.D. Moscon. However, searching the NYT archive I did find a 1968 obituary notice of a Hanna Moscon. It listed her as a distinguished member of the American Society of Contemporary Artists. Quite possibly she is A.D. Moscon because the name itself is quite rare. Anybody with more information, please share.

Shadoplay, April 1933 - Artist: Earl Christy
Well here we are, back at the close up - real close up. Christy's work is all over this blog, but Shadoplay (who came up with that spelling) is really quite rare. This particular issue is Vol. 1, No.2, and I have only seen a couple of other issues, including one from October of 1934, so they had a bit of a run.

Asides - Post 100!

Yep-I can't believe it, but this is my 100th post. I just want to thank all who have visited and commented and I hope you will continue to drop in from time to time. This post is not specific to any one actresss, but contains 13 newly scanned and cleaned up magazine cover images from our small but slowly expanding collection. Gee, deja vu all over again, we started with a small postcard collection and...

Click on the images for a larger size view.

Enjoy.

Screen Secrets, September, 1929 - Lily Damita. Artist: Edwin Bower Hesser

Picture Play, May, 1932 - Frances Dee. Artist: Modest Stein

Silver Screen, September, 1931 - Marlene Dietrich. Artist: John Rolston Clarke

Motion Picture, October, 1933 - Adrienne Ames. Artist: Marland Stone

Photoplay, April 1932 - Norma Shearer. Artist: Earl Christy

Photoplay, July, 1930 - Jeanette Mac Donald. Artist: Earl Christy

Photoplay, October, 1932 - Irene Dunne. Artist: Earl Christy

Picture Play, March, 1930 - Mary Brian. Artist: Modest Stein

Modern Screen, October, 1932 - Constance Bennett. Artist: Uncredited

Motion Picture, June 1930, - Mary Nolan. Artist: Marland Stone

Hollywood, October, 1931 - Billie Dove. Artist: Edwin Bower Hesser

New Movie Magazine, September, 1931 - Marian Marsh. Artist: Rolf Armstrong

Photoplay, April, 1927 - Lois Wilson. Artist: Carl Van Buskirk

Marlene Dietrich - Fifth of 5 postings

Our final set of images and quotes from Marlene Dietrich. Enjoy.

I had no desire to be a film actress, to always play somebody else,
to be always beautiful with somebody constantly
straightening out your every eyelash.
It was always a big bother to me.

They want you to bring out your intestines.

I'm worth more dead than alive. Don't cry for me after I'm gone; cry for me now.

Marlene Dietrich - What do you think - Allure?

Marlene Dietrich - Fourth of 5 postings

We have had quotes by the Divine Miss M, now we have some notable quotes about her.

If she had nothing more than her voice she could break your heart with it. But she has that beautiful body and the timeless loveliness of her face. It makes no difference how she breaks your heart if she is there to mend it.
Ernest Hemingway

She remains what she has been for many years - an absolutely strange delight, whose gift lies outside her achievement as an actress, is not tied to a specific time and does not depend on the taste of the moment, not even on common sense.
Cecil Beaton

The most intriguing woman I've ever known.
John Wayne

I am at heart a gentleman.

Without tenderness, a man is uninteresting.

The average man is more interested in a woman
who is interested in him than he is in a woman with beautiful legs.

Marlene Dietrich - What do you think - Allure?

Marlene Dietrich - Third of 5 postings

If you are new to this blog you might not have come across two earlier posts that discussed Marlene's fashion and style and the controversy she caused. The February 6th post relates a letter to the editor of the June 1933 edition of Movie Classics magazine. The February 17th post contains comments from no less than Cecile B. DeMille in the April 1934 issue of Modern Screen magazine. Check them out. Here are four more images and quotes from the "Divine Miss M".

I am not a myth.

I was raised almost entirely on turnips and potatoes, but I think
that the turnips had more to do with the effect than the potatoes.

Grumbling is the death of love.

If there is a supreme being, he's crazy.

Marlene Dietrich - What do you think - Allure?

Marlene Dietrich - Second of 5 postings

On this 4th of July it is appropriate to note that Marlene, a German, was a tireless worker in supporting U.S. troops and the war effort during WWII. Records show that in a 1944 nine-week tour of NATOUSA (North African Theater of Operations United States Army) she played to 149,750 troops in 68 performances throughout North Africa. She then traveled to Italy and entertained the troops there. In June 1944, she returned to the USA. Her second tour for USO, between September 1944 and July 1945, took her to England, France and also to Germany.

Here are the next set of images and quotes from Marlene Dietrich, truly the "Divine Miss M".

Darling, the legs aren't so beautiful, I just know what to do with them.

A man would prefer to come home to an unmade bed

and a happy woman than to a neatly made bed and an angry woman.

It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.

Glamour is what I sell, it's my stock in trade.


Marlene Dietrich - What do you think - Allure?

Marlene Dietrich - First of 5 postings

We have featured a few fairly well know actresses on these pages, but have spent more time on those whose fame has been lost to time. For those actresses we have provided a bit of not readily available biographical information. Forget that approach for Marlene. There are hundreds of articles, bios, and books about her. The images for this series of posts will feature quotations by the woman I consider the "Divine Miss M".

Her 90 years embraced every facet of life. Here are the images and thoughts of one of stage and screen's most renowned actresses and personalities.

I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public,
not for fashion, not for men.

How do you know love is gone? If you said that you would be there at seven and you get there by nine, and he or she has not called the police yet - it's gone.

Latins are tenderly enthusiastic. In Brazil they throw flowers at you.
In Argentina they throw themselves.

There is a gigantic difference between earning a great deal of money and being rich.


Marlene Dietrich - What do you think - Allure?

Asides

A quick mention of the current (March 2007) Vanity Fair. There are two items that caught my interest (thanks Aimee for the heads up). Annie Leibovitz has a photo essay in conjunction with a short narrative that recreates, using today's "stars", a short film noir screenplay. Following the 32 page Leibovitz shoot is a concise essay on film noir by Ann Douglas, Columbia professor and author of "Terrible Honesty: Mongrel Manhattan in the 1920s". Check it out.

In my prior Asides I posted what I thought was a rather amusing 1933 letter to Movie Classic magazine by Mrs. Hannah Feldman of Atlanta, Ga., on Marlene Dietrich's fashion sense, and how it wasn't going to last. Well, I was looking through the April 1934 issue of Modern Screen, and none other than Cecil B. DeMille weighed in on the same issue. Asked about what defines glamor, DeMille says, "It's all your old friend sex appeal anyhow, dressed in fancy clothes, but not, if you please, in trousers." This when he was a Paramount director and Marlene was its biggest star. He finishes with these words, "When they wear 'em they take away all the allure, all charm, all subtlety. In other words, I'm agin 'em and agin' em strong!" So there you have it, Feldman and DeMille have spoken.

Asides

Decided to move "Asides" section to the posts area on the off chance that someone may actually have a comment.

Feb 3 -
So I am perusing the June 1933 Issue of Movie Classic magazine and come across the letters column. It seems each month they rate the letters submitted and give $20 for the top letter and then $10 and $5 for the runner-ups. The letter below seemed appropriate for this blog and it gives one woman's opinion on how women should dress to enhance their allure (although she doesn't use the word) and sticks up for the poor beleaguered gentlemen of the time.

The $20.00 letter - Marlene's Pants
All this hullabaloo about Marlene Dietrich's pants gives me a pain in the neck. Nothing, say I, but a cheap bid for publicity, and believe me, she got her share. Her assertion that American women should not imitate her because they do not look good in trousers, is an insult to the symmetry of our American stars, and if they are foolish enough to follow her idiotic fashion, they will soon find they have lost plenty of their popularity. But there's no need to worry as this foolish fad won't last any longer than Eve's fig leaf. The lure of feminine finery is too strong for women, and what would the stars spend their money on, if they eliminated beautiful clothes? The more feminine women are, the more attraction they have for men. And we, the long suffering General Public, want our stars feminine. There is nothing in the world more charming than a beautiful girl in a shimmering dress, be it silk or organdie. Our poor men are having enough trouble these days, what with women having taken their jobs; their barber chairs; their cigarettes and choice swear words. The least they can do is leave the poor creatures their trousers. MRS. HANNAH FELDMAN, Atlanta, Ga.

Jan 30 -
I watched The Silver Horde (1930) this past weekend starring Evelyn Brent in her third talkie after about 75 silent outings. I must say she reminded me so much of a young Barbara Stanwyck (Barbara was seven years Evelyn's junior) in terms of her confident manner, worldly savvy and even her speech patterns. Check Ms. Brent out on this blog - 6/5/06, but if you get a chance, try to catch her when it comes around on TCM. Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur, Blanche Sweet, and Raymond Hatton also star.