Monthly Archives: June 2013

Ann Strikes a Pose as Cesca Camonte

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 161

Yesterday, I mentioned that I had started rescanning some of the photos that have been posted on this site for over ten years. I dove in with Scarface, and was amazed by how many cool portraits I have of Ann as Cesca Camonte. This was Ann’s first big role and looks striking with teased up hair and 5 feet of make-up piled on her face. She never looked quite this way again which is why these photos are some of my favorites.

So, here’s a little gallery of Cesca, along with a couple of Ann’s mentor Karen Morley as “Poppy.”

“Racing Lady” on TCM

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 160

Racing Lady is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Monday, June 10th at 6:00am PST.

Go here to see previous comments about Racing Lady.

More Cool Stuff I Forgot I Had: Dvorak & Raft, Living and Loving in “Scarface”

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 159

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I have started rescanning some of the photos that were done back when this site first launched in 2002 and came across this magnificent photo of Ann and George Raft in Scarface. I am ashamed to admit that I totally forgot I had it and only have a vague recollection of buying it.  I am fairly certain it was an eBay purchase and I bought it within the last two years. No clue what I shelled out for it.

Most Scarface photos I have come across over the years are of Ann with Paul Muni, so any with George Raft is something to get excited about. Well, I guess all Scarface photos are worth getting excited about, but this one is especially cool.

Enjoy!

 

“Three on a Match” Screening in DC

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 158

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This is really short notice, but for those of you in the Washington DC area, Three on a Match, that most magnificent of pre-Codes is going to be screened at Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital TONIGHT at 7:00pm.

As if viewing this gem of a flick wasn’t enough fun, Margaret Talbot, daughter of Lyle, and author of The Entertainer: Movies, Magic, and My Father’s Twentieth Century, will be introducing the film and doing a book signing.

I have never seen Three on a Match on the big screen, so if you’re in the area this is not to be missed!

Full details are here.

“Girls of the Road” One Sheet – Meet the Girls of the Female Hobo Jungles!

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 157

Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions

Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – I love Girls of the Road. A film with that title leads one to have certain expectations and this film delivers. It may not be Academy Award material, but it’s damn good fun and even has a social message in there if you want to stop and think about it. Girls of the Road even lives up to expectations with its poster art! What’s not to love about this one sheet when we can “meet the girls of the female hobo jungles?”

This poster comes up for sale every so often and depending on what way the wind is blowing, can go for as much as $250 and as little as $50. I don’t remember exactly what I paid, but I think it was on the lower end. Either way, every penny spent on this beauty is well worth it.

Another Photo Not Included in the Book: Post-War Ann

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 156

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This is an image I toyed with using in the Ann Dvorak biography, but ultimately didn’t. It’s an unusual photo for a few reasons. First, it’s a glass plate negative which you don’t come across too often from the 1940s, when this photo was taken. Ann’s tightly pulled hair is not a style you see too often with her and the photo is not retouched, so there are some lines visible around her eyes which gives her a subtle maturity. The speckling on the image is on the negative and not freckles, and since I did not submit it for the book, I did not bother to correct that.

Overall, an unusual but still lovely image of a post-War Ann Dvorak.

Meet Darin Barnes

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 155

Me & D after scoring big at a London movie memorabilia show in 2005.

Me & D after scoring big at a London movie memorabilia show in 2005.

If it weren’t for Darin Barnes, there would be no Ann Dvorak book.

No, Darin didn’t know Ann and doesn’t have any particular connection to her. However, without him, I would have never even thought of writing a book on Ann.

I met Darin back in the fall of 1997. I was majoring in film as an undergrad and entering my last semester, so I needed to find an internship. I was interviewed by Darin at a Beverly Hill talent agency where he was the assistant. The interview was pretty routine until he asked me what I wanted to do for a living. At the time I was toying with film preservation as a career and said so, adding that I loved old movies. The interview abruptly ended with Darin asking when I could start. I had never landed a job so easy and thought it seemed a bit strange, but I was happy to have an  internship and didn’t think twice about it.

As it turned out, Darin was a classic film buff – the likes of which I had never seen. I knew a thing or two about old Hollywood, but compared to Darin I was a hack. I quickly realized I was offered the position because I had said I love old movies and after working there a couple of weeks, felt like I was a disappointment. I was fine when it came to the tasks of the job, but when carrying on a conversation about 1930s Hollywood, I totally fell short – at least that’s how I felt. I should also mention I was unreasonably insecure at that age.

One day, I was feeling particularly desperate to impress Darin with my film knowledge and blurted out, “You know who I love, but just can’t find anything on – Ann Dvorak.”And this was true. I had seen her in 3 movies and was fascinated by her, but had not been able to find anything else. Immediately, I had stumped and impressed him. Ann had come though for me.

The next time I walked into the office, he handed me a still of Ann from Three on a Match. Darin was also a movie memorabilia collector and had been collecting on Norma Shearer since he was a teenager. Anyone who has been collecting long enough knows that you end up with a bunch of stuff you don’t actually want, which is why he had this photo of Ann and Warren William. I was amazed to own an actual piece of 1930s ephemera from an Ann Dvorak film, and soon learned the photo was barely the tip of the iceberg. This was in the pioneering days of eBay, so there were still a handful of memorabilia shops around town. On our lunch break, we would hit the shops and I soon realized I could collect, not only photos, but lobby cards and large posters. Because of Darin, I officially became an Ann Dvorak collector.

Amazingly, days after making my Dvorak confession to Darin, TCM actually did a tribute to her and spent an evening airing some of her movies. Darin recorded them all and when we weren’t trolling for posters, we were having Ann Dvorak Theatre on our lunch breaks and after the office closed. During those fall months, we totally bonded over Ann’s films. I remember us shrieking with outrage when she went blonde in Molly Louvain and watching all of A Life of Her Own, hoping Ann’s character survived the jump out a hi-rise building and would re-appear. Darin was also the one who introduced me to the Margaret Herrick Library whose clipping file started to give me an idea of who Ann Dvorak was off screen. It was during these months that I first contemplated writing her biography – something I would have never dreamed of had Darin not brought me into this world.

During these subsequent 15+ years, Darin has been along for the Ann Dvorak ride. We’ve traveled to London, Brussels, Amsterdam, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Columbus in search of Ann. He came with me to Hawaii, not to lay out in the sun, but to sit with me in the Honolulu City Archives and behind microfilm readers at the public library, along with trolling random antique shops hoping to find Ann’s personal possessions. He endured multiple trips and countless hours at the L.A. Recorder’s Office in Norwalk and the Downtown courthouse, all in the name of finding every last shred of documentation on Ann. When I first visited Ann’s Encino ranch home, where I would ultimately be married, Darin was with me. It was Darin who ended up brokering the recent deal to buy Ann’s  personal belongings when I was at my wit’s end.

I may not have met Darin because of Ann, but I can thank her for forging one of my most cherished and lasting friendships. I can thank them both for impacting my life in a most excellent way.

 

Another Sacrificed Photo: Behind the Scenes on “Sweet Music”

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 154

Last week, I posted one of the photos initially submitted for the interior of the book, but was ultimately swapped out for one of the recently acquired Ann-D personal photos. This is another one of those sacrificed images which is a behind-the-scenes shot from the Warner Bros. feature, Sweet Music.

It was included in a chapter titled “Warner Workhorse” which discusses the mountain of movies Ann made during a two year period starting in September 1933. I love photos like these, and this one is especially cool because it shows a few members of the cast (Rudy Vallee, Phillip Reed, Alice White), along with director Alfred Green. This was a tough one to let go, but since I have had this photo posted on the Sweet Music page of this site for years, it’s not unknown and was worth sacrificing for one of the Ann’s personal snapshots.

And the Winner Is…

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 153

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The last few days we have been looking at some of the portraits of Ann that I submitted to the publisher as possible book covers that were not chosen. Now, here is the image that was ultimately selected.

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As I mentioned before, I was not surprised that this is the image that was selected. After all, it is the most provocative of the group. However, I was not expecting the photo to be cropped the way it was for the cover. I’m not complaining of course, and I love how the cover turned out, but it is interesting to see how this whole book publishing process is moving along.

One More Day of Rejected Book Cover Photos

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 152

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Here are the last two photos I submitted for the book cover that were not chosen. These are two of my favorite photos of Ann. The first one which is behind the scenes of College Coach is so unusual that it’s really interesting. Her eyebrows had been dramatically shaped for her role as a gypsy in The Way to Love which makes her look even more intense in this image. Her position next to the faceless woman holding a script is also intriguing. Perhaps Ann is looking so serious because she realized what a lousy role she had been cast in.

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This next one is just simply gorgeous. It’s the only photo that I have ever seen from this sitting and I think it perfectly captures Ann at the time. I would have also been very happy had this one been chosen.