Posts in Category: Collection Spotlight

Blast From Ann Dvorak’s Past: Ramona Sheet Music

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 341

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As I make the final touches on my pre-Code lecture for this afternoon, here’s an oldie but a goodie from my Ann Dvorak collection. I guess everything I have is an oldie, but this piece goes all the way back to 1916. As many of you already know, Ann technically made her film debut as a tot in the feature Ramona. Credited as “Baby Anna Lehr,” she was only in the prologue (on a reel that is now “lost”) and played the title character as a child. Despite this limited screen time, Ann garnered excellent notices, and as we can see from the above sheet music was featured not once, but twice!

I think that kid may have a future in pictures.

Collection Spotlight: Ann Dvorak Enjoys the Holidays

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 337

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I am currently succumbing to some sort of flu, so today’s post is purely visual. Here is a snapshot from the honeymoon scrapbook of Ann enjoying the winter holidays, possibly in St. Moritz, Switzerland in 1932.

The Hobbies of Ann Dvorak: Writing

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 336

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At various points in Ann Dvorak’s life, if you had asked her if she would rather be an actress or a writer, she may have opted for the latter. Writing was a personal love of Ann’s and something she always engaged it. As a child she would fill reams of paper with poetry which she occasionally shared with her mother. She claimed to have worked on the newspaper at her private school and to have been briefly employed at the Los Angeles Times as a cub reporter after graduating.

There were occasionally rumors Ann’s writing being published including a book of poetry, an account of her eight-month honeymoon, and a play she had written about her parents called “Vaudeville Days.” Unfortunately, none of these projects came to pass. She finally fulfilled this personal dream during the Second World War where she wrote articles for a newspaper syndicate, a British publication, and even for a couple of American movie magazines. In fact, when she came back to the United States from England, she is identified on the ship manifest as being a writer.

In later life, Ann launched an impressively ambitions project called “Historical Digest,” where she penned an 18 volume history of the world and recorded herself reading it. Aimed at being a teaching aid for university courses, the opus was not embraced by the academic community. I still have hopes that a copy of “Historical Digest” will one day appear.

The above photo of Ann engaged in one of her favorite hobbies is from her honeymoon scrapbook.

Photo of Bette Davis & a Turkey (Because Ann Dvorak Skipped Town)

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 332

Davis Turkey

Author Charles Tranberg posted this festive photo of Bette Davis on his Facebook page yesterday and it’s so fabulous that I am borrowing it. Plus, I do not have any comparable images of Ann Dvorak in my collection. I am guessing this one of Bette is from 1932, and if that’s the case, Ann was far from Burbank at the time because she was traipsing around Europe with husband Leslie Fenton. Had Ann stayed home that year, I would imagine the pilgrim costume and turkey would have been thrown her way for some equally celebratory Thanksgiving pics. But, she did skip town which resulted in a woeful dearth of Ann Dvorak/turkey photos in this world. Still, I think Bette makes a nice substitute.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Collection Spotlight: My First Ann Dvorak Photo

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 331

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As you thumb through your copy of Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel and come across this photo, some of you may be wondering why I did not select one of the more shocking ones  from Three on a Match showing a disheveled, drug-addicted Ann getting ready to throw herself through a window. Yes, one of the images from later on in the film may have been more visually arresting, but I felt very strongly about including this photo with Warren William because it was the first piece of Ann I ever owned. This photo is what got me started on this crazy journey.

A few months back I detailed how my friend Darin introduced me to the world of memorabilia collecting by giving me a photo of Ann Dvorak he just happened to have at home. This was that photo. At this time I was unaware that a working class kid like myself could own vintage movie memorabilia, so to be handed an original still of one of my favorite actresses in one of my favorite films was a revelation. Sixteen years later I have A LOT of Dvorak memorabilia to show for it and along with a published book about the lady herself.

I think including this photo in the book was a fitting homage to Darin, Ann, and that fateful date in 1997 that changed the course of my life.

Ann Dvorak & Leslie Fenton in Uniform

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 329

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This photo of Ann Dvorak and Leslie Fenton in uniform was included in the amazing stash of Ann’s personal belongings I acquired in the 11th hour of publishing Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel. Since the items arrived at the last possible moment, I did not include this photo in the book because of the missing corner. It was only after I sent everything off that a friend commented she could have fixed it digitally in mere minutes. Sigh! Had I known someone could do it so easily for me, I would have used this wonderful portrait showing Ann in her Mechanised Transport Corps uniform and Fenton in his Royal Navy digs.

Silent Sunday: Anna Lehr in “Valley of Doubt” Part II

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 328

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I am going to be heading out the door soon to go and present on Ann Dvorak for the first time. In the meantime, here is a photo of Ann’s mom, Anna Lehr from 1920 feature Valley of Doubt costarring Arline Pretty. Amazingly, I have another photo from this film that I posted a few months back. However, I decided to use this one in the book because I think Anna (left) looks undeniably like Ann Dvorak’s mom here.

Happy Sunday!

Candid Ann

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 326

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This scan is off an original negative I own. I considered using it in the book, since it is an unseen candid and Ann Dvorak looks just lovely in her mid-1940s attire. However, the condition of the negative is not fantastic and I am not well versed in any sort of online photo editing. Plus, I have another 1940s candid neg that was an alternative and can be seen on page 223 of Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel. I am guessing she is coming out of some swanky Hollywood restaurant and that may be Igor Dega (hubby #2) holding the door for her. Despite the defects of the physical object, it’s such a great photo that it shouldn’t be hidden away in my filing cabinet.

Enjoy!

Ann Dvorak is “Molly Louvain”

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 325

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I’m still hard at work preparing for my first Ann Dvorak talk on Sunday. In the meantime, here is a lovely photo of Ann from The Strange Love of Molly Louvain in a silly blonde wig.

Ann Dvorak Sells A “3-Way Medicinal Treatment” For Hair!

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 324

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One aspect of Ann Dvorak that has not been discussed on this site is advertisements with Ann endorsing products. I am not sure how this worked back in the day, but I am guessing these types of ads were worked into studio contracts as opposed to the multi-million dollar deals that modern day celebs make independently. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I don’t have too many Ann Dvorak ads, and this is definitely the most colorful one. I love how “Mange Medicine” is so elegantly listed. Was that a major problem in humans in the 1940s? I also like that Glover’s 3-Way Medicinal Treatment could cure one of “annoying scalp” and “excessive falling hair.” But hey, if Ann Dvorak says it’s good stuff then it must be, right?