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Tag: Judy Garland

Hollywood Movie Memorabilia

When it comes to Hollywood Movie Memorabilia, much of WalterFilm’s vintage original stock might be considered “Hollywood” because a substantial amount of material either comes from Hollywood or references it. And when it comes to “Movie Memorabilia”, a large portion of what we offer could fit that description as well. But we do try to clearly define, describe and date each object we present as a vintage original poster, photograph, script, etc.

However, sometimes items come along that are difficult to define and ‘Hollywood Movie Memorabilia” provides an excellent catch all.

MGM Advertising Pull-Outs

The first three items are of particular note: they are vintage original 9 x 12″ (22 x 30 cm.) Metro-Goldwin-Mayer advertising pull-outs on card stock for three movies starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. 

They were created for the industry publication The Lion’s Roar by the famous  caricature artist Jacques Kapralik, They each were created in three dimension using elements of yarn, fabric, paper, buttons, sequins and miniature creations to highlight the themes and elements found in the film’s story.

BABES ON BROADWAY (1941)

See above photograph.

The film’s “let’s put on a show” theme was presented at its most spectacular in this Busby Berkeley extravaganza produced by Arthur Freed.

LIFE BEGINS FOR ANDY HARDY (1941)

Life Begins For Andy Hardy

The two stars are featured in a New York City setting when Betsy Booth (Garland), daughter to a Broadway actress, shows “Smalltown, USA” Andy Hardy (Rooney) the ropes of making it in the big city.

GIRL CRAZY (1943

Girl Crazy

The last and likely the finest of the grand MGM Mickey and Judy musicals featured a superb score by George and Ira Gershwin and a story set at a dude ranch college.

LUCIFER RISING (1972) 

Kenneth-Anger-(filmmaker,-artist)-LUCIFER-RISING-(1972)-Original-artwork-2
[Los Angeles, 1972]. Vintage original artwork on illustration board, 8 1/2 x 9 5/8″ (21 x 24.5 cm.) on 13 7/8 x 15 1/2″ (35.5 x 40 cm.). 

Kenneth Anger (filmmaker, artist) Original artwork used for the opening shot of Kenneth Anger’s experimental film LUCIFER RISING, which was his attempt to depict the age of the hippies. In this film, Egyptian gods summon the angel Lucifer to usher in a new occult age.

HOTEL SAHARA PRESENTS… CHRISTINE JORGENSEN (1953) 

Las Vegas: Hotel Sahara, [1953]. Vintage original 9 1/2 x 8 1/8″ (24 x 21 cm.) die-cut promotional flyer. A holograph note indicates that someone attended this show on Monday, November 16, 1953. Near fine.

“A New York Daily News article in late ’52 that brought instant notoriety to Christine Jorgensen, the first person in the US to become famous for having sex reassignment surgery. Celebrity agent Charles Yates teamed with Jorgensen to turn this notoriety into an unlikely nightclub act. The Sahara booked Jorgensen for a summer 1953 engagement with singer Marguerite Piazza and dancer Gene Nelson, but was fired when both Piazza and Nelson protested the co-billing.

Jorgensen sued the hotel.“Jorgensen was a controversial figure in the press, treated with sensationalism, praise, respectful curiosity, and indignantly. The Sahara’s firing was done with a public letter that began, ‘Dear sir’. Despite this, Jorgensen was rescheduled at the Sahara and opened in November that year. A mostly-positive column about the show in the Las Vegas Review Journal commented that Jorgensen was ‘either an opportunist of supreme magnitude or an individual of indescribable courage.’ Jorgensen returned to Las Vegas later for a show at Silver Slipper. 

ED EMSHWILLER (ca. 1980) Signed letter

[Los Angeles, ca. 1980] Original two page autograph signed letter, 11 x 8.5″ (28 x 22 cm.), folded once for mailing, near fine.

A letter from pioneering experimental filmmaker Ed Emshwiller to Doug Edwards, who was at that time the leading figure in Los Angeles for the showing of avant-garde film. In this fascinating letter, he lists each of the four films which he has selected for Edwards to screen, with a succinct paragraph describing each one: LIFE LINES (1960); THANATOPSIS (1962); RELATIVITY (1966); and SCAPE-MATES (1972).

PAUL ROBESON AUSSTELLUNG ZU EHREN SEINES 70 GEBURTSTAGE AM 9 APRIL 1968 German pamphlet

[East] Berlin, Deutsche Akademie der Künste zu Berlin, 1968. Printed wrappers, 24 pp. Light wear to wrappers, VERY GOOD+.

A pamphlet issued to honor Paul Robeson’s seventieth birthday. Contains photos documenting Robeson’s varied visits to the USSR and then-East Germany, as well as commentary on his artistic and political careers.

SHE’S A HE – Lynn Carter (1957) Vinyl record

New York: Fiesta Records, [1957]. Vintage original 12 x 12″ (31 x 31 cm.) vinyl LP record. Very good+ in pictorial sleeve.

The front sleeve states “Introducing Mr. Lynn Carter, America’s foremost female impersonator.”

Lynn Carter was a headliner in the Jewel Box Revue, a racially inclusive traveling revue of what were then dubbed female impersonators. The show was staffed almost entirely by gay men and one lesbian. OCLC only records one known copy.

AGNÈS VARDA (ca. 1965-77) Archive

Portrait of Varda (ca.1965) 7 x 5″ (18 x 13 cm.) black-and-white print still photo;

Collection of vintage original French promotional materials, all just about fine or better.

  • LE BONHEUR [HAPPINESS] (1965)  Pressbook
  • LES CRÉATURES [THE CREATURES] (1968) Pressbook
  • LION’S LOVE (1969) US two-sided poster, 23 x 19″ (59 x 49 cm.)
  • L’UNE CHANTE, L’AUTRE PAS (1977) Promotional book

female impersonator, George and Ira Gershwin, Hollywood Movie Memorabilia, Hollywood Musicals, Judy Garland, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, Mickey Rooney, sex reassignment surgery

SHIRLEY TEMPLE & JUDY GARLAND – DOLLS FOR THE AGES

Hollywood Movie Memorabilia encompasses a fascinating range of material that appeals to an extraordinary number of collectors from almost every country.

In last December’s blog, “1939 – HOLLYWOOD’S GOLDEN YEAR OF MOVIES & DOLLS,” Woolsey Ackerman (Walter Films’ Film Researcher & Curator) shared an article he wrote for the 2019 United Federation of Doll Clubs Convention Souvenir Journal.” It focused on the dolls that related to the classic movies and stars of 1939 that were available for purchase during that Christmas season.

A good number of our readers expressed how much they enjoyed reading it and we thought that, given our current trying time, not unlike the Great Depression, Woolsey might like to share his thoughts and his extraordinary collection of dolls celebrating two of the greatest stars of that period, now icons of the entertainment world: Shirley Temple and Judy Garland.

Arthur Freed, Betty Grable, Busby Berkeley, Carmen Miranda, children's literature, Depression, film merchandising, Film Musicals, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, MGM musicals, movie costumes, movie dolls, movie posters, movie props, Movie Scripts, Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, Rita Hayworth, Shirley Temple, THE WIZARD OF OZ, Turner Classic Movies, Vincente Minnelli, World War II

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1939 – HOLLYWOOD’S GOLDEN YEAR OF MOVIES & DOLLS

Imagine it’s Christmas 1939 and you, as a movie aficionado, or just someone who loves going to the pictures, have enjoyed a year of groundbreaking brilliant entertainment.  You have no idea that in 80 years “1939” will be the year that the world will crown as, “Hollywood’s Golden Year.”

Also, just imagine that under your Christmas tree there are a plethora of toys and dolls created in the likeness of those Hollywood movie characters presented as marketing tools and designed by those who would become legends in their fields.  Well, child or adult wishing for such and looking at the Christmas store windows or under the tree— it did happen.

Hollywood's Golden Year - The Movie Dolls of 1939

Hollywood’s golden year of movies also became the golden year of movie merchandising and today those dolls and toys created for that season represent the apex in that arena of movie and doll related collecting.

Baby Sandy, Carmen Miranda, Charlie McCarthy Detective, Deanna Durbin, Gone With The Wind, Gulliver's Travels, Hollywood Movie Dolls, Judy Garland, Pinocchio, Shirley Temple, Sonia Henie, Superman

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