confused
This stunning picture of Carole Lombard must have been used to promote "Twentieth Century." After all, just glance at that outfit of hers -- how could it not evoke this?
Well, the pic at the top may evoke that Columbia film thanks to the leopard print, but guess which studio sent it out?
Carole's home studio of Paramount. Her "Twentieth Century" outfits were designed by Paramount's Travis Banton, so if this is where it's from, it's only natural that Paramount wished to promote his work without necessarily promoting the rival studio's film. (That may explain why this lacks a p1202 number.)
As the seller describes this image, from the fabled Lester Glassner collection,
"This has the dramatic light and shadow, and zig zag streamlined design typical of the early 1930s and shows Lombard's unique beauty in a cloche hat and high drama fashion, a rare early example of her Paramount studios portraiture. Measures 8" x 10" with margins on glossy single weight paper stock."
This "lovely rare Hollywood treasure" will be up for auction through 8:30 p.m. (Eastern) on March 24...but it's already making an eBay splash. As of this writing, 16 (count 'em, 16) bids have been made, topping out at $51; bidding on this item may go through the stratosphere. Nevertheless, if you'd like to try for it, go to http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1930s-CAROLE-LOMBARD-RARE-PHOTOGRAPH-ART-DECO-YOUNG-VIXEN-PRE-CODE-FINE/291102371381?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.RVI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20635%26meid%3D5504666753115680380%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D9200%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D251475569305.
Another available Lombard pic isn't quite as pricey -- it's a mere $16.50 under eBay's "buy it now" policy (three copies are left as of this writing). It's printed from a negative, and it's Paramount p1202-478...that we know. What we don't know is whether it was meant to be seen like this...
...or this:
I'm tempted to go with the former, since the p1202 mark is at the bottom of the portrait. Then again, whomever worked on this may have thought that on the horizontal version, placing it in the lower left-hand corner might have made it difficult to read because of the striped background. Works either way for me. Note that Lombard wore the same outfit for p1202-479, probably taken at the same session:
If you like p1202-478 -- whether vertically or horizontally -- visit http://www.ebay.com/itm/8x10-Print-From-Negative-Carole-Lombard-prn039644/191101984006?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.RVI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20635%26meid%3D5506651346703602182%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D9200%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D291102371381 to buy an 8" x 10" copy.
