Original MGM Scene Lobby Card (11×14) for the Harry Beaumont war drama talkie WEST OF BROADWAY (1931)– starring John Gilbert, Madge Evans, Lois Moran, Madge Evans, and Gwen Lee. Little has ever been offered on this title. John Gilbert had been a huge silent star for MGM. His career did not flourish in the sound era. In this film he plays a World War I veteran returning home to Manhattan to find that things are not what they were before he went to war, especially with his lady. He takes refuge in the bottle, but finds this is not the way. Redemption comes in the guise of another lady. This is a theme in film that would be repeated often: THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) for the World War II generation and COMING HOME (1978) for VIet Nam. And most recently in several films of the mideast wars. Gilbert had been a leading man and personal favorite of Greta Garbo. The conventional story is that his high pitched voice was effeminate and did not make the transition to sound well. This scenario doesn’t hold up under close examination; rather Gilbert’s own demons seemed to undermine his career. This original scene lobby card of Evans, Gilbert, and Lee is in fine plus condition.

Original United Artists One Sheet Poster (27×41) for the Lowell Sherman sophisticated comedy, THE GREEKS HAD A WORD FOR THEM (1932) starring Joan Blondell, Madge Evans, and Ina Claire. Based on a play by Zoe Akins, this fun precode romp is about the amorous adventures of three money hungry women (The Three Graces?) who simply want permanent sugar daddies to keep them in the lap of luxury. The film was remade in color (and as the first film photographed in CinemaScope) in 1953 as HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE. This original stone lithograph one sheet poster is linen-backed and in very fine condition. A beautiful example of the UA approach to stone lithography. We have known of no other original one sheets on this title, although several one sheets have surfaced of the re-release of the movie, which is called THREE BROADWAY GIRLS.

Original Fox Film Corporation One Sheet Poster (27×41) for the Hamilton MacFadden depression-era musical fantasy, STAND UP AND CHEER! (1934) starring Warner Baxter, Madge Evans, and Shirley Temple. The cast was amplified by a motley group of Fox players: John Boles, Sylvia Froos, Arthur Byron, Ralph Morgan, Nigel Bruce, “Skins” Miller, Lucien LIttlefield, Nick Foran, Mitchell & Durant, as well as the famous black character actor Stepin Fetchit. The premise of this film is that Americans can beat the depression by learning to smile, to laugh, and eventually, to “stand up and cheer.” Baxter has the main role as the Secretary of Amusement, a post that Will Rogers had already suggested at the beginning of the depression. Shirley Temple, easily the most famous and popular child star of all time, was five-years-old at the time of this film was made and had already appeared in a series of features and shorts. But in this film, by singing, dancing and pure charm, she marched her way straight into America’s heart. Indeed, by 1935 she would begin to star in a string of classic family films. This original one sheet poster is in very fine to near mint condition. The great art on this poster is by the illustrator Russell Patterson.