Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 82

The great thing about early movie memorabilia is that there is so darn much of it. And, as long as you’re not interested in Universal horror, King Kong, or Metropolis, it’s usually not too terribly expensive. As I mentioned before, sheet music for movies is relatively easy to find and usually inexpensive. Ann Dvorak showed up on a sheet music for a handful of titles, including Crooner, The Way to Love, Thanks a Million, and Flame of Barbary Coast. My favorite piece of Ann-D sheet music, however, is this one from the 1930 MGM feature Way Out West starring William Haines. Ann is a dance hall girl in the film, and only in it for a few moments, but whoever designed the sheet music could not resist including this bevy of scantily-clad beauties.

I remember first coming across this sheet music around 2003 at a shop called Baseball Cards & Movies Collectibles. I was sitting on the floor, plowing through stacks of lobby cards, desperately looking for anything with Ann on it. My friend Darin was searching through a mountain of sheet music when he suddenly paused and said, “Hm, was she in something called Way Out West?” At that point we both did the happy dance. I would also like to point out that most people who have known me long enough, can now pick out Ann Dvorak in a crowd – or on 1930 sheet music.