This Day in Ann Dvorak History: Ann Prepares to Throw Her Career Away

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 184

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On July 3, 1932, Ann Dvorak sent a handwritten note to the Warner Bros. accounting department asking that all forthcoming paychecks be sent directly to the First National Bank of Los Angeles in Hollywood, as, “I will be out of town for a few weeks.” Less than 24 hours later, Ann and her bridegroom, Leslie Fenton would be far from Hollywood as they made their way to New York via the Panama Canal. From there, they would head to Europe for an extended honeymoon. The trip would be one of the most memorable experiences of Ann’s life, but is also what arguably torpedoed her career at Warner Bros.

6 Comments

  1. Mike July 3, 2013

    Another beautiful photo of the young Ann. So how does the serious collector store the posters/lobby cards/photos/other memorabilia that is not framed and on display at home/work?

    BTW, I recently showed a co-worker (and fellow old movie fan) the photo posted from Valentine’s day, and asked ok, who is this? He looked, and quickly responded, that’s a young Joan Crawford, right?

  2. admin July 3, 2013

    He would not be the first to mistake Ann for Joan Crawford! It happened quite a bit, especially when Ann was a chorus girl at MGM and Joan was a rising star.

    All of my photos are in individual bags & boards and stored in a lateral filing cabinet. The lobby cards are also in bags & boards and stored in archival boxes. The large posters are stored in an oversized map case. The other assorted odds and ends are in acid-free folders and archival boxes.

    When I was getting my MLIS, I actually earned 3 units of credit for creating an archival filing system for my Ann Dvorak collection. That was the best semester of grad school!

  3. Scott July 3, 2013

    Without giving away too much from what will be included in the book, but — since we know how long she eventually did go away for — would that “few weeks” comment made to the studio 81 years ago today have been an accurate or honest statement on Ann’s part at that time? As far as her actual, or original, intentions?

  4. admin July 3, 2013

    I do think it was an honest statement on Ann’s part. Not sure what Leslie Fenton had in mind. They ended up kicking around Europe until the money ran out, which Fenton has done previously, so that may have been his intention all along.

  5. Vienna July 5, 2013

    Thank heavens you remind us all that if things had been different, Ann would have been as big a star as Bette Davis at Warners – or any other studio. She was so talented, whether in drama,comedy or musicals.

  6. admin July 5, 2013

    Thanks Vienna. I actually compare Ann and Bette’s career a bit in the book. I’m not sure if she would have ever been as big a star as Bette, who was a force to be reckoned with, but Ann definitely could have had a much more notably career!

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