Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 90

Can’t imagine there is anything that will get one in the Easter mood quite like a photo of Ann Dvorak with bunny rabbits.

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 89

I’ve been collecting on Ann Dvorak for around 15 years now, and initially was interested in paper pieces like posters and lobby cards. After a while, those types of items became harder to find, so I turned to original photos of which there are thousands floating around.  Once I committed to writing Ann’s biography, I really started keeping an eye out for images that might be good for the book. Eventually, I ended up with a handful of non-Ann photos that were still somehow related to Ann and her career, like this portrait of her first husband Leslie Fenton, who was arguably the love of her life.

Once it came time to select images for the book, I realized that it would be silly to use up valuable real estate on photos of  people other than Ann. If the book is about Ann Dvorak, readers want to see photos of Ann Dvorak, right? In the case of Leslie Fenton, I have so many images of him and Ann together that it seemed especially wrong to use this portrait, even though it is rather nice. I did use three non-Ann photos, which are of her parents, but otherwise there will be 66 glorious images of the Divine Ms. D when it comes off the press.

In the meantime, we’ll spend some days in the next week looking at images that did not make the cut.

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 87

If you hadn’t already guessed, I own a lot of Ann Dvorak memorabilia. Literally thousands of pieces. Of all her films, I’m pretty sure the one I have the most items on is sadly, not Three on a Match, but I Was an American Spy. I have the full lobby card set, both 1/2 sheets, the insert, one-sheet, three-sheet, six-sheet…I think the only thing I don’t have is the twenty-four-sheet – but give me time.

I also have some foreign posters for the film, including this one from Italy. The American artwork is rather severe, with bold colors (not that I don’t love it), but I like that the Italian art is more subdued in style, even if the content is still heavy. It is an intense WWII drama after all.

This is actually one of my favorite posters in the collection, and it may be the only Italian one I own – but give me time.

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 84

For the majority of the time Ann Dvorak and Leslie Fenton were married, they were ranch dwellers. They first rented a walnut ranch on Woodman Ave. in Van Nuys for a few months before officially taking the plunge and purchasing a decent amount of anchorage in the nearby Encino neighborhood. Over the years, Ann gave plenty of quotes about how she and her husband were not “gentlemen farmers” and actually worked the land when they weren’t making movies.

The heart of the property was covered with potted plants and flowers along with a green house filled to the brim with flora. I have not doubt that Ann was responsible for these touches, but I still have my doubts that she was actually driving around in a tractor. One of Ann’s many endeavors in England during the War was as a member of the Women’s Land Army and it seems that the level of labor during this time far exceeded any farming she may have engaged in back home.

If she and Fenton really did cultivate their ranches themselves, I certainly hope Ann did so in full hair and make-up like the above photos imply and that she wielded a scythe almost as big as her.

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 83

It’s Sunday of a brutal week for me, so I’m making this one short and sweet and posting this awesome photo of Lyle Talbot convincing Ann to throw her life down the toilet in Three on a Match.

I can never get enough of that movie!

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.

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 81

This is one of those items I have owned for so long, that I sometimes forget how cool it is. I purchased this Love is a Racket lobby card in 2002 at the Hollywood Collector’s Show, formerly  held at the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn in Studio City. I was in one of the dealer rooms, contemplating if I wanted to spend $50 on some 1970s German Scarface poster, when my friend Darin ran in from one of the other dealer rooms and stopped me. He then reached into the bag and pulled out this beauty. It was also 50 bucks and he just bought it, knowing it was a no-brainer for me.

This scene isn’t actually in the movie, but who cares? It’s gorgeous. It’s Ann Dvorak. It’s from 1932.

Sorry about the poor photo. I really need to go back and rescan/photograph everything I originally did back in 2002.