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Vintage Original Photographs, Posters, Scripts, Rare Books and Memorabilia

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BARBRA STREISAND / HEADSHOT + RESUME (1959) 8 x 10" (20 x 25 cm.) glossy gelatin silver print still photo, USA. One of the most outstanding show biz legends of our time is presented here at the very start of her career, back in the days when auditioning for theatre roles meant a headshot with printed or attached resume. At age 17 she was, indeed, an ingénue, her address and phone number handwritten (also note the handwritten correction of her name, misspelled as so often occurs). Upon graduating in Jan. 1959 she would play Lorna in Driftwood at the Garret Theatre and moved to Manhattan that spring, the exact time this resume would have been used at various auditions (including that for the role of Leisel in The Sound of Music). A fascinating look into the early career of a great talent.

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OUR HOSPITALITY (1923) 11 x 14" (28 x 36 cm.) lobby card, USA. Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge, dir: Buster Keaton, John G. Blystone; Metro. Keaton’s slapstick classic about a family feud of the worst kind in the pre-Civil War South, and Keaton’s first great feature film. Cards from it have never been easy to find, but this particular card, a portrait of Keaton with his co-star (and then-wife) Talmadge is an especially scarce piece. 

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OUR HOSPITALITY (1923) 11 x 14" (28 x 35 cm.) lobby card, USA. Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge, Joe Keaton, Buster Keaton, Jr., dir: Buster Keaton, John G. Blystone; Metro Pictures. Story set in 1830s Kentucky about the feuding Canfields and McKoys. Returning to his home from New York, Willie McKay (Buster) meets Virginia Canfield (Talmadge). They fall in love, which puts Willie in grave danger once he meets her family. The title refers to the film’s zany premise – because of traditional southern hospitality, the Canfields have to be gracious while Buster is inside their mansion, but they keep trying to lure him outside so they can kill him.

In this card, Buster is seen asleep on a bench as two of the Canfield brothers, with pistols drawn, search for him. Buster used his wife (Talmadge), son and father in the cast. This was pure masterful Keaton, with moments of great adventure, daring feats and brilliant comedy. It is considered to be his first classic feature.

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SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937) 8 x 10" (20 x 25 cm.) color-glos photo, USA. Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne, Roy Atwell, Eddie Collins, Pinto Colvig, Billy Gilbert, Otis Harlan, Scotty Mattraw, Moroni Olsen, dir: David Hand; Walt Disney Feature Productions/RKO Radio Pictures. The immortal classic and very first animated feature length motion picture. The original release theatrical art is of increasing value and collectability. These color stills were used to promote the film in various ways, including theatrical display. The imagery was also used for the various and widespread merchandising of the film, such as for hardcover story books and softcover paint and coloring books. While the characters are in color, the backgrounds are black-and-white.

In this still, the Dwarfs are enthusiastic to have the dinner Snow White has just prepared, but they will have to wash their hands first.

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SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937) 8 x 10" (20 x 25 cm.) color-glos photo, USA. Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne, Roy Atwell, Eddie Collins, Pinto Colvig, Billy Gilbert, Otis Harlan, Scotty Mattraw, Moroni Olsen, dir: David Hand; Walt Disney Feature Productions/RKO Radio Pictures. The immortal classic and very first animated feature length motion picture. The original release theatrical art is of increasing value and collectability. These color stills were used to promote the film in various ways, including theatrical display. The imagery was also used for the various and widespread merchandising of the film, such as for hardcover story books and softcover paint and coloring books. While the characters are in color, the backgrounds are black-and-white.

Still labeled “S.W.H. 33" depicts Snow White’s reaction upon arriving in the upstairs room to seeing seven little beds.

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SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937) 8 x 10" (20 x 25 cm.) color-glos photo, USA. Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne, Roy Atwell, Eddie Collins, Pinto Colvig, Billy Gilbert, Otis Harlan, Scotty Mattraw, Moroni Olsen, dir: David Hand; Walt Disney Feature Productions/RKO Radio Pictures. The immortal classic and very first animated feature length motion picture. The original release theatrical art is of increasing value and collectability. These color stills were used to promote the film in various ways, including theatrical display. The imagery was also used for the various and widespread merchandising of the film, such as for hardcover story books and softcover paint and coloring books. While the characters are in color, the backgrounds are black-and-white.

Still labeled “S.N. 13” is a rendering by one of Disney’s concept artists for the finale of the story, in which the Prince takes Snow White off to his castle. This is a rarely seen image.

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TOSCA (1918) Vintage original 39 x 105" (100 x 270 cm.) linen-backed poster, Italy. Olga Benetti, Frecesca Bertini, Vittorio Bianchi, Luigi Cigoli, Alfredo De Antoni, dir: Alfredo De Antoni; Caesar Film. Italian version of the famous story based on the Victorien Sardou play, a print of which is still in existence. A stunning Art Nouveau-style portrait of star Francesca Bertini as Floria Tosca.

This prolific star of the Italian cinema, one of film’s first true divas, was also a writer and director. She made the first of her 140 films in 1907 (most were made before 1935) and her last in 1976: Bertolucci’s 1900. Bertini was the ultimate diva of 1910s-era Italian film, the most celebrated and most adulated of Italian movie actresses of her generation. She married count Paul Cartier, and lived a life of luxury until her passing at the age of 93.

Poster artwork is by Tito Corbella (1885-1966), a famous painter noted for portraits, nudes, and also for his now-highly collected Art Deco postcard designs. As was often the case with early silent posters, there is no title, because the poster would then be exported to numerous different countries.

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CHINATOWN CHARLIE (1928)

Featured in both TCM Spotlight's Asian Americans in Classic Hollywood as well as on Ryan Murphy's Hollywood on Netflix, Anna May Wong is depicted here (with Louise Lorraine) in this rare keybook photo for First National's Chinatown Charlie (1928). Wong has only a small part—she was eighth-billed—as "The Mandarin's Sweetheart".

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THINGS TO COME (1936) Vintage original 8 x 10" (20 x 25 cm.) silver gelatin print still photo, USA. Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman, Ralph Richardson, Margaretta Scott, Cedric Hardwicke, Ann Todd, dir: William Cameron Menzies; London Film Productions. From H. G. Wells’ novel speculating on the future of technology, politics and civilization. An epic production under the Korda siblings, with superior art direction by brother Vincent and staff. The sets and costumes were heavily influenced by the high-tech Art Deco style of the time, as evidenced by the fantastic visual feast depicted in still coded W.M.129A.

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ELIZABETH TAYLOR (1941) Vintage original 8 x 10" (20 x 25 cm.) double weight matte finish print still photo, USA. Born in England in 1932 to American parents, Elizabeth was brought to the states in 1939 (as were many children) to escape the doom of war. Her mother had appeared on stage until marrying. Elizabeth’s beauty was noticed and her mother took her for an audition at Universal, where she was immediately given a contract and put in a film – as sister to Our Gang child actor Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer – called There’s One Born Every Minute. Universal dropped her right after, but MGM took her on; the rest is history.

This portrait of the 10-year-old girl was made in 1942 upon her arrival at Universal. It is a very rare image and print, with “Proof Only" stamped at the top front margin. One of the most remarkable Taylor pieces we’ve ever seen, from any period of her career.

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KING KONG (1933; 1962 re-issue) Vintage original 15 x 19" (38 x 48 cm.) poster, Belgium. Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Kong, dir: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack: RKO. Vintage style art, based on some of the original 1933 campaign, and a contemporary styling of Kong make this a unique and colorful presentation for the all-time classic horror fantasy.

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SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (1941)

The AFI Movie Club selection for today is Preston Sturges' classic Sullivan’s Travels (1941). Joel McCrea (as John L. Sullivan) and Veronica Lake (as The Girl) can be seen in both the black-and-white photo and colorful lobby card above.

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Hattie McDaniel

Queen Latifah plays Hattie McDaniel in Ryan Murphy's Hollywood on Netflix, and we've got two rare images of McDaniel IRL in her role as Aunt Tempy in Disney's controversial live action/animated musical film Song of the South (1946), and in her Academy Award-winning portrayal of Mammy from Gone with the Wind (1939).

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ON THE AVENUE (1937)

Happy Birthday to Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888), the great American songwriter whose credits include the music for Fox's 1937 musical On the Avenue.

This iconic one sheet poster features Dick Powell & Madeleine Carroll in gorgeously-crafted colorful artwork.

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Rock Hudson

Check out Ryan Murphy's Hollywood on Netflix, then check out more of our top Rock Hudson picks:

Rock Hudson paper doll cut-out book (1957). By the mid-1950s, Hudson had rapidly emerged as a major star. His homosexuality, though an open secret in Hollywood, was unknown to the general public, and publications like this bolstered his rugged, he-man image.

Photo of Rock Hudson w/Douglas Sirk for Captain Lightfoot(1955). Hudson appeared in seven movies directed by Sirk, who effectively served as a mentor to the young actor. This was to be their third collaboration.

Italian due foglio poster for Written on the Wind [Come le foglie al vento] (1956). Rock Hudson is shown with Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack in a dramatic scene from the film 

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Anna May Wong

This month's TCM Spotlight is on Asian Americans in Classic Hollywood.

Anna May Wong is featured in these 3 photos from early in her career. The first, by studio photographer Clarence S. Bull, is an oversized double weight photographic print for MGM’s 1927 film Mr. Wu.

The second and third images depict her role in the 1930 British International Pictures UK-release of The Flame of Love. Both are double weight 8 x 10″ gelatin silver photographic prints.

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BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (1962)

And our birthday girl of the week: Audrey Hepburn (May 4, 1929), featured here in the program for Paramount's Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1962).

One of the scarcest of all ephemeral paper connected to this mythical film, with a large selection of imagery, with some pages simply printed in black and white, and others with a background color of either green or pink. It is particularly difficult to find this program in especially nice condition.