TINTYPE TUESDAY: When Hollywood Publicity Shots… Go Wrong! (But Feel So Right)
Welcome to another edition of TINTYPE TUESDAY!
In today’s episode, we salute those relentlessly cheery classic-era flacks, who churned out whimsical publicity pix that gave you no clue what the movie was actually about. These are some of my faves; please feel free to drop your own pix in Comments and I’ll fold them in (with credit, of course)!
Who can forget that wacky rom-com The Set-Up, where Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter are set up for fun! Watch it, Bob, you may have been a champion boxer at Dartmouth, but Audrey’s got a mean uppercut! Maybe stick to jumping rope instead. Whatever the sport, these two are fit… for laughs!
Running from shadowy figures in fedoras gives Burt Lancaster quite a workout in The Killers! Gamely keeping pace is his wholesome, faithful gal Ava Gardner. Looks like he’s got a lot of fun on his hands—literally!
Billy Wilder turns his hand to musicals with Sunset Boulevard! Here Nancy Olson pops open a brolly and twirls around a lamppost as she sings in the rain—leave it to Billy to come up with an idea too daring to copy! No doubt our plucky songbird will soon find fair weather, clad in that adorable wrapper. I see a man in her future—and a mansion! Maybe even a swimming pool!
Who’s got time for medical gobbledygook when Bogie and his occasional brogue pop by? Surely there are nothing but magically delicious days ahead for Bette and Geraldine!
“Shhh, don’t tell her what I got her!” pleads Gene Kelly as he and Deanna Durbin plan for a soothing, romantic Christmas Holiday. Nothing but merriment under the tree for this fun-loving pair!
You can just tell from their glowing faces that these lucky lovebirds are sailing smoothly through their “court” ship! Their biggest problem? Too much sun in their eyes!
Uh-oh, Jimmy has double trouble with the Novak twins! Looks like the brunette has her eyes (and eyebrows!) on him! Luckily his steady girl is standing by, and surely he’ll appreciate her wit, charm and brains. Either way, any girl who meets our hero will come out the better for it. He’s not at all creepy!
How will Jack “palance” these two lovely ladies? Fasten your seatbelts for a fun romantic tussle between Ida Lupino and Jean Hagen! The Big Knife will cut the wedding cake for one lucky gal!
Alfred Hitchcock insists that no one be admitted to Psycho after the start of the film… because he doesn’t want them to miss the splashy opening number! So which spunky, oddly kerchiefed maiden will reach the top of the ladder for Tony? Only his mother knows for sure!
Some publicity shots weren’t so much misleading as just… odd. Here’s Joan Crawford grooming Roland Young like a gibbon between scenes of They All Kissed the Bride (watch the full movie here).
Actually the best shots from this film were of Allen Jenkins and Joan (who started as a dancer) jitterbugging. Never as sure of her comic chops as she should have been, Joan reluctantly stepped into the lead of a screwball vehicle tailored for Carole Lombard, who had been killed in a plane crash just two months earlier while on a war bond drive. Joan donated her entire $125,000 salary to the Red Cross, and fired her agent when he refused to kick in his ten percent. (PS: Louis B. Mayer also felt no need to part with any of the fee MGM collected from Columbia for loaning Joan out.)
But when it comes to dancing, Joan has nothing on… Jimmy Stewart and Lew Ayres? Here’s a pub shot for the ages from The Ice Follies of 1939, where our two heroes gamely fight (and skate!) to see who has less chemistry with Crawford. You might think the movie couldn’t be as bad as the photo, but an excruciating hour and a half later you’d change your mind.
Think that photo is the strangest in the lot? Colin Clive, seen here jauntily strolling out of a random field, says “Hold my beer!” Nothing screams “farm life” like an ascot and double-breasted suit. I’ve seen every one of Colin’s films and have no idea what this photo was connected to. But it seems an appropriate note to end on. At least for now…
TINTYPE TUESDAY is a semi-regular feature on Sister Celluloid, with fabulous classic movie pix (and backstory!) to help you make it to Hump Day! For previous editions, just click here—and why not bookmark the page, to make sure you never miss one?
- Posted in: classic film ♦ classic film stars ♦ Tintype Tuesdays!
- Tagged: alfred hitchcock, allen jenkins, anthony perkins, audrey totter, ava gardner, barbara bel geddes, bette davis, burt lancaster, christmas holiday, classic film, colin clive, dark vistory, deanna durbin, farley granger, gene kelly, geraldine fitzgerald, humphrey bogart, ida lupino, jack palance, james stewart, jean hagen, joan crawford, kim noak, lew ayres, louis b. mayer, psycho, pubicity shots, robert ryan, roland young, ruth roman, singin' in the rain, strangers on a train, sunset boulevard, the big knife, the ice follies of 1939, the killers, the set-up, they all kissed the bride, vertigo
Sister Celluloid 
Fabulous, Sister Celluloid. I’ve often wondered what an Audrey Totter thought when forced into a still session in, say, a boxing ring. Did she think it was fun? Or sigh and go, “It’s a living.” Your still selection runs the gamut from uncomfortable to … more uncomfortable, but what a theme!
Thank you! I’ve long been obsessed with weird/inappropriate pub stills so I thought, why not share?
So many fab photos here. Love the ones of Ava and Burt on the beach.