Life Lessons, Courtesy of Ann Dvorak
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 112
When I first encountered Ann Dvorak in the mid-1990s while watching Three on a Match, I had no idea she would alter my life. Writing a book on Ann has really been a one-of-a-kind experience. Even if I ever decided to write another biography, it would not be possible to duplicate the kind of experiences I have had with Ann over the last 15+ years. I was recently reflecting on my life with Ann and thought I would share 10 things I learned while writing the book and accumulating a hell of a lot of memorabilia.
- Writing & collecting on Ann Dvorak has lead me to meet fascinating and wonderful people who I may not have encountered otherwise.
- Writing & collection on Ann Dvorak has lead me to meet bizarre and not-so-wonderful people who I may not have encountered otherwise, and wish I hadn’t.
- Writing a book on a relatively obscure Hollywood actress is a great ice-breaker at parties.
- Choosing Belgium as a vacation destination because Belgian movies posters are pretty is a silly reason.
- There’s a hell of a lot of Crooner sheet music in this world.
- Giving birth and realizing I had no time to work on an Ann Dvorak biography was somehow a catalyst to find time to work on, and finish, an Ann Dvorak biography.
- When writing a 100,000 word manuscript, it’s amazing how many names of celebrities will get misspelled.
- Relying only on digitized materials for historical research is a cop-out, as there is still a lot of materials in libraries and archives that need to be accessed the “old fashioned” way.
- Interviewing actors about insignificant films made 60 years ago is not necessarily the best way to get information. Also, I am really bad at interviewing actors about insignificant films they made 60 years ago.
- It takes a very patient person to marry a woman who has devoted over 15 years to Ann Dvorak.
I could go on, but will stop here. I think it’s safe to say that the past 15 or so years would have not been nearly as exciting without the Divine Miss D.
Ann Passed Out in “Out of the Blue”
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 111
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Yesterday, we flew from Los Angeles to Chicago, then hopped in a rental and drove to the in-laws in Des Moines.
Here is a photo a Ann from Out of the Blue looking like I feel.
The Year of Ann Dvorak will get back on track tomorrow.
At Long Last, A “Scarface” Lobby Card to Call My Own
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 110
Over the years, I have amassed a decent collection of memorabilia from Ann Dvorak films, mainly because most of her titles are not particularly collectible, so there’s been virtually no competition. Scarface is on one of those rare Ann-D films that commands a high price tag, so I don’t have much from it except for still photographs.
My Scarface memorabilia dry-spell is now coming to an end with the purchase of this lobby card. I won it on eBay a couple of days ago. Maybe I shouldn’t jinx it, because it has not yet arrived in the mail but I am pretty excited about it. Sure, it’s trimmed, mounted on craft paper, and may or may not be from a 1930s reissue, but for 27 bucks, I’ll take it. Lobby cards from Scarface usually go for a few hundred and can run into the thousands, so this is a deal even if it is in lousy condition.
Biography Progress Report # 19: UPK Fall Catalog is Now Available
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 109
The University Press of Kentucky’s Fall/Winter Catalog is now available, featuring – you guessed it – Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel. It’s on page four, and it’s awesome.
The full catalog can be viewed here.
Anna Lehr Lobby Card
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 108
A by product of collecting Ann Dvorak memorabilia for 15+ years is my small collection of items relating to Anna Lehr, Ann’s mom. Lehr started her career as a vaudeville performer before moving on to films. Considering she retired from cinema in the early 1920s, I think the amount of items I have been able to find is pretty impressive. I posted a few of them in an Anna Lehr gallery, which I have not gotten around to updating even though I have picked up a few more items since.
Once upon a time, before marriage and parenthood, I use to actually do eBay searches for all of Ann’s movie titles, along with all of Anna Lehr’s which is how I came across this lobby card for A Child For Sale from 1920. In some photos of Lehr, you can really tell she is Ann’s mom though in this image she kind of looks like a generic 1910s film actress. Still, a lobby card of Ann Dvorak’s mom is pretty darn cool, don’t ya think?
“Molly Louvain” To Be Screened By the Toronto Film Society
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 107
The Toronto Film Society has announced the line up for a pre-Code weekend taking place May 10th – 12th at the Carlton Cinema in Ontario. On the bill for Sunday is The Strange Love of Molly Louvain which is a personal favorite of mine, co-starring Lee Tracy and Leslie Fenton (aka Mr. Ann Dvorak). Ontario is a bit too far from home, which is too bad because, wow – 24 films in three days + Ann Dvorak. What a weekend!
Full details on the Toronto Film Society’s pre-Code weekend can be found here.
My First Lobby Card
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 106
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There are certain “firsts” one usually remembers; first kiss, first date with a spouse, first trip to Disneyland – my list also includes my first Ann Dvorak lobby card.
It was the fall of 1997 and while interning at a Beverly Hills talent agency, I met a fellow named Darin who introduced me to the mad, mad world of movie memorabilia collecting. I had expressed an interest in Ann Dvorak, who turned out to be an economical choice because – well, no one else collected on her, so items from her films were relatively inexpensive.
One day on our lunch break, Darin took me to a shop called The Hollywood Poster Exchange located in West Hollywood at the corner of Santa Monica and La Cienega. By that time, the shop had been around almost 30 years under the ownership of Bob Colman. I was completely new to the memorabilia hobby and was in awe when Bob pulled out a few Racing Lady lobby cards. Up until then, I thought all vintage posters cost a bloody fortune, so to have the opportunity to own something from the 1930s was truly amazing. The card I selected was $15, which was a lot for me at the time and I had never even heard of Racing Lady, but it didn’t matter. It was vintage, it was Ann Dvorak, and it was mine.
It’s now been over 15 years since I bough that first card, and I have purchased many, many more. Still, I will never forget that first one, which marked the day that I officially became an Ann Dvorak collector.
“Thanks a Million” DVD Release Confirmed
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 105
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A couple of months back I reported that a Thanks a Million DVD was in the works. Looks like tomorrow is the big day, with the film getting its first official home “video” release as part of the Fox Cinema Archives. It is available though their website for $19.98, but Amazon looks like a better bet at $13.99.
Thanks a Million is not a personal favorite and Ann absolutely hated the movie, but any Ann is worthwhile Ann, so I’ve already pre-ordered this one.
Collection Spotlight: Ann, Ann, & Ann (Dvorak, Sheridan, & Nagel That Is)
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 104
This is another item from the collection that falls under the “favorite” category. It’s three Warner Bros. gals, Ann Dvorak, Ann Sheridan, and Ann Nagel presumably hanging out in Sheridan’s dressing room since she doesn’t have any make-up on and appears to be in lounge-wear. The photo is from late 1936 and Dvorak is in costume as Della Street in The Case of the Stuttering Bishop. Even though Nagel is also in that film, I don’t think she’s in costume, but I could be wrong. When this was taken, Dvorak was weeks, or even days away from severing ties with the studio.
I purchased this one around 11 years ago at a local shop. It was filed in the Ann Sheridan folder and when I found it, I felt like I had struck gold. I considered using it in the book, but ultimately it did not make the cut. Still, it is a great picture of three fabulous ladies.
Biography Progress Report #18: Book Description Is Online & UK Pre-Orders
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 103
The Biography Progress Reports keep coming fast and furious, which is great considering how few and far between they were when I first started posting them almost four years ago. There are a few minor things to report.
First off, I was contacted by the designer/typesetter this week who laid out what to expect in the coming months. A copy editor has been assigned to the book and will be looking it over for spelling/grammar/style more so than content. I should be getting those corrections in about two weeks, and fingers crossed they are minimal. Once I approve the corrections, the revised manuscript will be sent to the designer who will lay it all out.
Next, a full description of the book is now posted on the University Press of Kentucky’s website. It is not showing up on Amazon yet, which still is just displaying bare bones, but I would imagine it is only a matter of time. I did not write this description, though I did have final approval on it. Still, it’s bizarre to have someone else writing about this book I had been working on for over a decade. I’m not sure I will ever get used to the fact that this thing is really out of my hands and out in the world.
Finally, the book is now available for pre-order on the Amazon UK site, though the discount is currently a mere .17 pence. Oh, and for the library crowd, Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel is now available through Baker & Taylor!
More news soon for sure! (Oh, and I can’t get enough of this cover, so expect to see it pop up on multiple posts.)