Dvorak & O’Brien In “I Sell Anything,” My Great Chicago Find

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 118

There are some pieces in my collection that I adore, just because I find them to be visually appealing. This is the case with my favorite photo of Ann which I posted a few days back. There are other items I am partial to because of the circumstances under which I found them. As is the case with this photo of Ann Dvorak & Pat O’Brien in I Sell Anything.

Being in Chicago this weekend reminded me of when I found this photo nine years ago. It was in the spring of 2004 and I visited the city with some friends in order to attend the Hollywood Collectors Show. This was back in my pre-marriage, pre-parenthood, hard-core collecting days when I could do something like hop a plane in order to attend a memorabilia convention. The show turned out to have mainly the same dealers who would set up at a similar Los Angeles show, so it was a bit of a disappointment.

However, while sightseeing near Wrigley Field, we discovered this little shop stuffed to the gills with all kinds of vintage paper which included some movie related things. After digging for a while, we started to leave when the shopkeeper showed us a list of actors & actresses he had photos of. There was no Ann Dvorak, but I asked for the Pat O’Brien folder, knowing they had made a couple of films together. Low and behold, in that folder was this gorgeous image from I Sell Anything. It’s probably one of my least favorite Ann films, but the photo is pretty and makes for a good story.

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