Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 91

After spending the past 15 years of my life with Ann Dvorak, I have ended up with a handful of items relating to her. Some things I bought with the intention of using them in the Ann-D book, while others I picked up just because I liked them. These two portraits of Sammy Lee are a little bit of both.

Sammy Lee was the head choreographer at MGM from 1929-1931, during the early craze of talkie-movie-musicals. The studio had recruited him from Broadway to oversee the dance numbers on  The Hollywood Revue of 1929, and he stuck around to work on shorts and features, including Chasing Rainbows, It’s a Great Life, and Lord Byron of Broadway.

He came on board at MGM right around the same time as a 17-year-old Ann Dvorak, who fought her way into the chorus on Hollywood Revue. It did not take Sammy Lee long to notice Ann’s gumption and strong work ethic, and she was eventually signed to a contract,  becoming Lee’s assistant choreographer. Once the public grew bored of these early musicals, Lee briefly returned to the stage and Ann started getting cast as an extra, and not much else.

The top photo was issued by MGM which I bought with the idea of using it in the book. Since I have a few photos of Ann and Sammy working together, I went with one of those instead. The second image is an 11″x14″ print from his Broadway days that I bought for dirt cheap just because he was an important figure in Ann’s early life, and it’s pretty.

Lee eventually came back to Hollywood and worked as a director and choreographer for a number of years. The last film he worked on was 1946’s Abilene Town starring – you guessed it – Ann Dvorak. I don’t know for sure that she had anything to do with his being employed on the movie, but I like to think they always remained friends.

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!