[Los Angeles: Samuel Goldwyn, 1959]. Vintage original 10.5 x 13.5″ (26 x 33 cm.) sepia tone double weight matte photo. Fine.
Popular Black actors of the era were cast to play the leads in this epic presentation of George Gershwin’s pop opera. Though Dandridge was a singer, she was dubbed (as was Poitier) to achieve the vocals of this challenging endeavor.
[Los Angeles: Twentieth Century Fox, 1957] Set of three (3) vintage original 8 x10″ (20 x 25 cm.) black-and-white single weight glossy silver gelatin keybook print still photos.
Interracial relations, racism, politics and murder were the elements of this melodrama set in a fictitious island in the Caribbean. Dorothy Dandridge played the second leading lady and was dressed to the tee by David Folkes.
Set of three (3) vintage original Spanish flyers, one 5 1/4 x 3 3/8″ (13 x 9 cm.), two are 5 1/2 x 4″ (14 x 10 cm.), JUST ABOUT FINE.
Promotional flyers for the Spanish releases of CARMEN JONES (1954), ISLAND IN THE SUN (1957) and TAMANGO (1958).
Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an American film and theatre actress, singer, and dancer. She is one of the earliest black movie stars and the first woman of color to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, which was for her performance in Carmen Jones (1954).
Hollywood: 20th Century Fox, [ca. 1957]. Vintage original 10 x 8″ (25 x 20 cm.) black-and-white photo, USA. A glamour portrait of African American performer Dorothy Dandridge, with a background of ethnic iconography, JUST ABOUT FINE.
[Hollywood]: 1958, MGM. Vintage original 81 x 41″ (206 x 104 cm.) three sheet poster, USA. James Mason, Dorothy Dandridge, Broderick Crawford, dir: Andrew L. Stone; MGM. Conserved on archival linen, there is some very minimal shelf wear at what had been fold lines, VERY GOOD+.
Bogle, p. 72: “[Director Andrew Stone] treats [Dorothy] Dandridge as a true movie goddess.” In THE DECKS RAN RED she plays the only woman aboard a ship where a mutiny is happening. An interesting and quite scarce example of her work in the period immediately after CARMEN JONES.
Vintage original borderless 8 x 7 ¼” (20 x 18 cm.) photo, USA.
A very uncommon publicity photo to reflect Dandridge’s career as a night club performer. Two clippings, both of them date stamped, are affixed to the back. The photo has been trimmed a bit irregularly for publication, VERY GOOD-.
[Danish: Den sorte slavinde] Vintage original 33 1/2 x 24 1/2″ (85 x 62 cm.) poster, Denmark. Dorothy Dandridge, Curd Jürgens, dir: John Berry; Wivefilm. Folded, with small tears at edges and unobtrusive Danish censor board stamp in blank background, VERY GOOD. Film about a slave revolt which gave African American actress Dorothy Dandridge a chance to work in a European production (the film was actually a French-Italian co-production). This very scarce poster from Denmark by artist Benny Stilling has some of the nicest artwork of any of TAMANGO’s various releases.
Vintage original 14 x 11” (36 x 28 cm.) color photo, USA. Dorothy Dandridge, dir: Otto Preminger; Goldwyn. There is a minor marginal chip on blank middle left border, and some slight signs of very light handling, NEAR FINE.
An exceedingly scarce oversized color photographic portrait of Dandridge as Bess.
Vintage original 9 1/4 x 6 1/2″ (23 x 17 cm.) poster, Hungary. Dorothy Dandridge, dir: John Berry. Unfolded, with one tear along left border, NEAR FINE. Film about a slave revolt, which gave Dandridge a chance to work in a European production (the film was actually a French-Italian co-production). This miniature Hungarian poster is without doubt one of the absolute scarcest ones done in any country.
[New York: Cotton Club, 1940]. Vintage original program, pictorial wrappers, 16 pp. 12 x 9″ (31 x 23 cm.), light discoloration to front wrapper, very good+.
A very scarce program for the legendary Cotton Club, which showcased many of the foremost African American performers of the time. This New York World’s Fair was held in 1939 and 1940. This iteration of the Cotton Club Review featured Cab Calloway and Bill Robinson, as well as Glenn & Jenkins (a minstrel duo, in the traditional burnt cork make up), Sister Tharpe, and Katherine Perry.
This appears to be the final program of the Cotton Club, which closed in 1940. We previously offered a Fifth Edition, which we dated as ca. 1939. That is an entirely different booklet for a quite different review, as it featured the Dandridge Sisters and the Nicholas Brothers, neither of whom appeared in this review. Also, Bill Robinson was not in that 1939 version.
Although the New York World’s Fair was held in 1939 and 1940, we date this as from 1940 (because Bill Robinson was busy in 1939 as the star of The Hot Mikado). All of the various editions of Cotton Club programs are genuinely scarce (OCLC lists only three copies. However, one of the three refers to the Nicholas Brothers and Dandridge Sisters, which tells us that this is from a previous 1939 edition, with very different contents).
[Hollywood]: Twentieth Century Fox, 1954. Set of thirty-four (34) vintage original mostly 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm.) black-and-white photos, with a few slightly smaller borderless photos. Near fine.
Otto Preminger directed Dorothy Dandridge in her most legendary film role, supported by Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll.
[Hollywood]: MGM, 1953. Vintage original 11 x 14″ (28 x 36 cm.) lobby card no. 4, JUST ABOUT FINE.
Dorothy Dandridge’s first starring role in a feature film, about a schoolteacher trying to help a wayward student. Harry Belafonte co-starred in his movie debut.
[Hollywood]: MGM, 1958. Set of eight (8) vintage original 11 x 14″ (28 x 36 cm.) lobby cards, there are a few light marginal tears and stains, overall VERY GOOD+.
Dorothy Dandridge appears in five of these cards, including some nice portrait artwork on the title lobby card, for this film about mutiny on a slave ship.
[New York: Cotton Club, ca. 1939]. Printed wrappers, 12 x 9″ (31 x 23 cm.), 16 pp., JUST ABOUT FINE.
The Cotton Club was a legendary New York nightclub which consistently featured some of the greatest African American performers. It was located in Harlem, on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue, from 1923 to 1935. It moved to the midtown theater district from 1935 until 1940, when it closed.
This program, which is described as for the “Fifth Edition of the Cotton Club Parade” (the name of their review), featured a host of luminaries including Cab Calloway, the Nicholas Brothers, W.C. Handy and the Dandridge Sisters (which included a still-teenaged Dorothy Dandridge).
This is an exceedingly scarce booklet. The OCLC only records one known copy (Harvard). A single known copy is cited of a program from the previous Third Edition, and only single copies are listed of menus for these two reviews.
Anna May Wong was considered to be the first Chinese American Hollywood movie star, as well as the first Chinese American actress to gain international recognition. Her varied career spanned silent film, sound film, vaudeville, cabaret, television, stage and radio.
[Barcelona?]: Twentieth Century Fox, 1963. Vintage original Spanish pressbook (for the film’s first release in Spain), about 13 x 10″ (33 x 26 cm.), folded once (as issued), stamp of a former collector on front cover, pictorial wrappers, 6 pp., a few very light stains, very good+.
The artwork on the front cover of Dorothy Dandridge is adapted from the American campaign, but the Spanish artist has greatly improved on the U.S. original — this rendering of Dandridge is much livelier and lifelike. The inner spread contains a montage of images from Otto Preminger’s classic Black musical.
Hollywood: Herbert Holcombe, [ca. 1944]} Vintage original 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm.) black-and-white print still photo, NEAR FINE, with stamp on verso “HERBERT HOLCOMBE PHOTOGRAPHER HOLLYWOOD”.
There was a period in Los Angeles Black entertainment history when many night clubs, traveling musicals and bands would form their own basketball teams. This is a photo of seven musicians and performers who were appearing in the musical SWEET N’ HOT, promoted as “The Greatest Negro All Star Musical to Hit the Coast”. The show ran for eleven weeks at the Mayan Theatre in downtown Los Angeles and featured a young Dorothy Dandridge.
The legendary jazz composer and bass player Charlie Mingus can be seen at the right under the light. He grew up in the Los Angeles Watts area, and would have been all of 20 years-old when the photo was taken. Among the others seen here are Leonard Reed, Lee Young (Lester Young’s brother), Sneaks of the Sneaks and Emil dance team, tenor player Maxwell Davis, Calvin Jackson, Marques Haynes and Carmen O’Leary. Accompanied by a letter from jazz scholar Bill Reed. An extraordinarily early photo of the great Mingus.
Hollywood: Hal Roach Pictures, 1959. Vintage original 11 x 14″ (28 x 36 cm.) lobby card set of eight (8) cards, USA. Dorothy Dandridge, Curd Jürgens, dir: John Berry; Hal Roach Dist. Corp. Various chips, pinholes and other signs of handling, primarily in blank margins, GOOD+. After Dorothy Dandridge triumphed in CARMEN JONES, she had difficulty finding work. TAMANGO, a film about a slave ship revolt, offered her an opportunity to work on a European film (a French-Italian co-production).
Stockholm: Twentieth Century Fox, [1955]. Vintage original 39 x 27″ (99 x 69 cm.) one sheet poster, Sweden. Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, dir: Otto Preminger; Twentieth Century Fox. Conserved on archival linen, with routine touch-ups to address minor tears and chipping, near fine.
Dorothy Dandridge‘s greatest and most iconic role.
This Swedish poster, with a design entirely different from its U.S. equivalent, has a large image of her, hands on hips and smiling broadly, alongside designer Saul Bass’ image of the flaming red rose (which occurs in the film’s credits).
Walter Film.com offers a range of African-Americana Collectibles or Black Memorabilia that celebrate the achievements of actors, artists, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other members of the black community.
Movie Lobby Cards Shop Now Movie lobby cards are a uniquely American creation. They are a hybrid of movie posters and, usually, movie star photos. Back in the early 1910’s, the small nickelodeons, where films were first shown, started morphing into larger, more permanent,[…]
View & Purchase WalterFilm Lobby Cards What Are Lobby Cards? The uniquely American Movie Lobby Card was one of the first means of marketing early motion pictures. Around 1913 lobby cards came into being as small nickelodeons, where the first movies were shown, began to grow into what[…]
Vintage original 13 x 10 ” (34.5 x 26 cm.) borderless black-and-white double weight print still photo, USA. Dorothy Dandridge, Sidney Poitier, Sammy Davis, Jr., dir: Otto Preminger; Columbia. A magnificent, and certainly extremely scarce, photo of the three principals from this classic musical film, adapted from Gershwin. FINE.
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