Earlier this year, I wrote about the Morris Everett Auction Part I which was held through Profiles in History. Just to recap – Everett tried to collect at least one lobby card from every American film made and is now selling off the collection. Back in June, there were certainly some choice lots, but the prices didn’t quite gel for me so I held off. This past week came the highly anticipated (for me anyway) Part II which included some Ann Dvorak treasures my little heart desperately desired, so I threw my hat (ie credit card) in the ring. I even visited Profiles in History in person and looked through all the lots to see the cards that were not pictured in the catalog. Gloves were off and I was ready!

I will reveal upfront that I walked away with nothing. Absolutely nothing. Yeah, super disappointing. Still, there are some amazing Ann Dvorak pieces that are worth sharing and I will try my best to not let the bitter grapes show through. And now I present: all the lobby cards that are not in my collection! (The nice professional photos were pulled off of Invaluable. The lousy shots with thumbs visible are the photos I look at the auction house.)

Scarface Lobby Card 

My bid: $950
End price: $1,000 + premiums

Let’s start off with my true heartbreak of the auction, an original 1932 release Scarface lobby card. This is one of two Scarface cards to picture Ann.  I have the other one, but had only seen this one once, 14 years ago. At that time, I think the dealer wanted $1,250 and sold it shortly thereafter. I had actually forgotten what it looked like and was over the moon to see it again. I bid $950 which would have ended up being around $1,250 with tax and premiums and is by far the most I would have ever paid for a piece of Ann paper. Alas, I was outbid by a mere $50 though I like to think that even if I had gone a little higher I would have still been outbid.

Stranger in Town Lobby Cards

My bid: $450
End price: 1,000 + premiums

This is my other true heartbreak. In all my years of collecting, I had never seen any cards from Stranger in Town, so I was very excited to see 5 cards up for auction. Unfortunately,  Ann is only on the two cards shown here, and they were included in a lot of  52 (that’s right, 52) First National/Warner Bros cards. Bidding $450 was really a stretch for me because lobby cards with Ann Dvorak, David Manners, and Chic Sale aren’t exactly sought after, but I figured if I won, I could recoup my losses by selling the others. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

The Way to Love Lobby Cards

My bid: $350
End price: $850 + premiums

Just because the opening bid was low (relatively speaking), I bid on this lot of 16 lobby cards from 3 Maurice Chevalier films which included 4 cards with Ann from The Way to Love. I already had 2 of the cards, but figured what hell. No dice.

Midnight Alibi Lobby Cards

My bid: $0
End price: $1,200 + premiums

Midnight Alibi is another title I had never seen a lobby card from. Unfortunately, this was another one of those massive lots with 46 cards from multiple Warner Bros/First National films, with an opening bid of $600, so I didn’t even bother.

Crooner Lobby Cards

My bid: $0
End price: $950 + premiums

This is another honey of a card that I had never seen. Again, it was included in a large lot of 45 Warner Bros/First National cards. Considering I had paid around $20 for each of the two Crooner cards I already own, I just couldn’t justify the $600 opening bid for this one card.

Massacre Lobby Cards 

My bid: 0
End price: $1,100 + premiums

Yet another giant lot of 36 cards, this time featuring Native American portrayals. For whatever reason, Massacre cards pop up every now and then, and I own the other Ann card that was included in this lot, so I did not have a hard time passing on it.

Housewife Lobby Card 

By bid: $0
End price: $2,250 + premiums

This is the first time I have ever seen a Housewife card, so I was really disappointed to see it included in a lot of 17 early Bette Davis cards. I never had a fighting chance.

Guardsman Lobby Card

My bid: $0
End bid: $3,000

This card from The Guardman is chopped off at the top and was included in a lot of 53 MGM cards, so there was no way I was going for it. Still, it’s fun to see that extra-girl Ann made it onto a card.

She’s No Lady Insert

My bid: $0
End price: $0

This is a lovely insert from She’s No Lady  that I had never seen before which was included in a lot with another insert from a film called Sailing Along starring Jesse Matthews. The $300 opening bid was a non-starter for me…and everyone else.

So there you have it! I wonderful assortment of Ann Dvorak memorabilia that I was not able to add to my collection. Fingers crossed that the people who purchased these large lots are not Dvorak fans, and I’ll get a second shot at these.

If you’re visiting this website and are not familiar with Pre-Code.com, then you need to correct that wrong immediately. It’s a comprehensive ready-reference source of pre-Code film titles, actors, and resources that was conceived and constructed by a fella named Danny Reid who maintains the site out of passion, not profit. I refer to it fairly often and utilized it quite a bit while preparing a pre-Code lecture earlier this year.

I first started following Danny on Twitter years ago when he was watching and reviewing every Audrey Hepburn movie. I respected his being honest about not liking the much revered Funny Face, which is a film I have always secretly loathed, but usually don’t fess up to in polite company. In the ensuing years, Danny and I have become friends and I was happy to be a contributor to his brainchild Thoughts on the Thin Man which was released last year and includes my ode to the Thin Man display at the dearly departed Movieland Wax Museum.

Recently, Danny launched an online journal called The Pre-Code Companion which is largely designed to serve as a primer to pre-Code films and actors. Each issue spotlights three actors/actresses along with one film each of those actors appeared in.  The first issue was released in August and focuses on Barbara Stanwyck/Baby Face, Jean Harlow/Red Headed Woman, and Mae Clark/Waterloo Bridge.

When Danny put out a call for the second issue, which included Ann Dvorak, I just had to throw my hat in. My piece, which compliments Danny’s essay on Three on a Match, briefly discusses Ann’s pre-Code experience and how those films cause her to sink into obscurity post-retirement, but have ultimately brought her talents to the forefront with classic film fans. Since a huge chunk of my brain is still a Dvorak repository, I was happy to be included and appreciate that Danny didn’t scoff at having me write the Ann essay.

In addition to Ann/Three on a Match, Volume 2 of The Pre-Code Companion features Ruth Chatterton/Female and Grant Withers/Other Men’s Women. As if reading about pre-Code cinema wasn’t great on its own, 100% of the proceeds go to the ASPCA. You’ll be reading about Ann Dvorak AND helping adorable animals. It’s a win-win!

Both issues of The Pre-Code Companion are available on Amazon with more issues around the corner.

As a hardcore collector of all things Ann Dvorak, there is one place I regret not travelling to in my quest to be a Dvorak completest. That place is Cleveland. For it is in Cleveland that Morris Everett and his massive collection of lobby cards reside.

My understanding is that Mr. Everett attempted to collect a lobby card from every American film ever made, and that he came pretty damn close. Last year he tried to sell the collection as a whole through Profiles in History, but no buyers came forward. Now, the first round of individual lots is set to go up for auction at the end of the month, and wow, just wow. The items are beyond description.

If you’re a classic film fan and not aware of John Bengtson, there’s a big gaping hole in your life. John is a rock star film historian. I’d say he’s the David Lee Roth of film historians, and if you’ve seen one of his lectures, you know why. For the last couple of decades, John’s specialty has been identifying precise locations of movies shot outside of studio lots. This happened a lot in the early days of film, particularly in Los Angeles in the 1910s, 20s, and 30s. These movies now serve as amazing time capsules of a city that once was.

John focused his earliest efforts on Buster Keaton, which resulted in the book Silent Echoes (Santa Monica Press, 1999). I like to add that the research for that book was done in the dark pre-Internet days without the aid of such online marvels as Google Maps. Plus, his research was conducted largely from his home base in San Francisco! The guy doesn’t even live in Los Angeles and was able to pin-point locations and buildings that no longer exist with hard copy maps and photos, etc. Since then, he’s given the treatment to Charlie Chaplin in Silent Traces (Santa Monica Press, 2006) and Harold Lloyd in Silent Visions (Santa Monica Press, 2011).

Maybe I am not doing John’s projects justice, but trust me, they are incredible. I first saw him lecture at UCLA around 10 years ago and the audience was mesmerized by his weaving though all these different sources to give a visually dazzling presentation that traced the footsteps of these early film giants throughout Los Angeles. When he pieced together three screen captures from different films to create a panoramic image of Downtown Los Angeles, I think we have him a standing ovation. Yeah, it was that kind of crowd.

In the ensuing years I have gotten to know John through my work at the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection. Leave it to him to teach me a thing or two about Ann Dvorak movies that I did not know. The most recent post on his excellent  Silent Locations website focuses on location shots from Three on a Match and G Men. While I figured the kidnapping scene in Match was filmed at Hollenbeck Park, I never caught that the schoolyard scene was filmed at the long-departed Los Angeles High School. I also had no clue that G Men provided a great look at the interior of the long-gone Southern Pacific Depot (yes, there’s  a lot of “long gone” in John’s work).

A little birdy told me just this morning that John has another book in the works, and I certainly hope so. In the meantime, check out his books and website and run, don’t walk, if he comes to your town to do a lecture.

Those of you who have been following this site for the last year and/or read the preface to Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel are aware that last year I has the opportunity to obtain some of Ann Dvorak’s personal possessions. Among the cancelled checks and rent receipts was a holy grail for a Dvorak collector – her personal scrapbook of photos from her 1932 honeymoon with Leslie Fenton. This was the trip that pretty much torpedoed her career trajectory at Warner Bros, as she breached her contract with the studio to take it. The 8 month journey was also quite possibly the happiest time of her life. To become the custodian of something so precious to Ann was an unexpected honor.

I used four photos from the scrapbook in the Ann Dvorak bio and posted a handful more on this site, but I wanted to do something more with the 100+ images of Ann and Leslie Fenton which also contained snapshots from some of their later travels. I didn’t think such a large quantity of images would be practical to navigate here, but I didn’t want to hide them away either. My solution was to put together a book, which is now available.

The book, titled The Inseparables is an intimate glimpse into the lives of two Hollywood personalities during the peak of their romance which I hope will be of interest to all you Dvorak devotees out that. It can now purchased directly through this site  where I can sign and personally inscribe copies or through Amazon.

I will also have copies for sale at Cinecon on Labor Day weekend (more details on that will be forthcoming).

Enjoy!