eMoviePoster.comAuction History Result 4d105 MORTAL STORM 8x10.25 still '40 portrait of worried Margaret Sullavan standing by swastika! Date Sold 1/17/2016Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Original Vintage Theatrical 8" x 10 1/4" [20 x 26 cm] Movie Still (Learn More) The Mortal Storm, the 1940 Frank Borzage pre-war World War II (WWII) anti-Nazi thriller ("The most exciting picture!"; "The Novel by Phyllis Bottome"; about a professor, his daughter, and her boyfriend in an unnamed European country that is seeing the rise of a fascist group that is taking over the country, and their courageous attempts to both speak out against it and to escape) starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart (Jimmy Stewart), Robert Young, Frank Morgan, Robert Stack, Bonita Granville, Irene Rich, Maria Ouspenskaya, William T. Orr, and Gene Reynolds. Note that MGM somewhat courageously made this anti-Nazi movie before the U.S. entered World War II, but they were successfully exporting all of their movies to Germany, and so they attempted to appease Adolf Hitler by not mentioning the Nazis by name, and not identifying the persecuted families in the movie as being Jewish, but that attempt failed, and after this movie was released, Hitler banned MGM movies from Germany! This episode is especially ironic, because in the movie, James Stewart's and Frank Morgan's characters courageously stand up against the Nazis and speak out, even though it means almost certain death, and yet, MGM could not find the same courage as their fictional characters (and meanwhile, over at Warner Bros., they were courageously making anti-Nazi movies like Confessions of a Nazi Spy, made a year earlier!). NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography. Important Added Info: Note that, as noted above, the Nazi party was not mentioned by name anywhere in this movie (no doubt attempting to appease Hitler). However, either this still shows a cut (or re-shot) scene, or the filmmakers did sneak in a swastika into this scene, so that viewers would have no doubt that they were referring to Nazis! Also note that this still measures 8" x 10 1/4" [20 x 26 cm]. Note that this still is part of an amazing collection of 204 scene stills we are auctioning in this set of auctions. All of them were collected by David Mallery, a noted Philadelphia film critic/college professor of the 1960s to the 1990s. He had a great love of movies, and he would go to memorabilia shows and shops in the 1960s and 1970s and he assembled a collection of great original stills from films he loved! He put them into scrapbooks using double-stick tape on the back of each still, and sometimes he would type a paragraph about that movie and put that in the scrapbook as well. After his passing, his scrapbooks were obtained from his estate, and the stills were carefully removed from the scrapbook pages, but the double-stick tape was left on the back of the stills, although the "sticky" part on the face of the tape was removed. In almost all cases, the tape did not affect the front of the still. It can be removed by a professional or talented amateur, but it has not harmed the still in the many decades since it was first placed in the scrapbook, so I really don't see a reason to do so, but that will be the choice of the new owner of each still! Mr. Mallery naturally had excellent taste in movies, and he was collecting at a time when you could find great original scene stills from the very best movies (but even in the 1960s and 1970s, it took some work to find them!). This is a rare opportunity to acquire truly great and rare original vintage stills, and they have a wonderful "provenance" as well! Here is more information about David Mallery. He was a professor of cinematography at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, from the 1960s into the 1990s. He was a founding member of AFI (American Film Institute), and a member of the Motion Picture Academy. He was a film critic who wrote many reviews for many publications, and hosted a TV show where he interviewed directors, actors, and others involved in the film industry. Over the years, he developed both working and personal relationships with many actors, actresses, and directors, including Frank Capra and his wife, Charlton Heston and others. eMoviePoster.com will be auctioning letters from these celebrities and others to Mr. Mallery in their next auction of signed items! Condition: good to very good. The still was once mounted to an album page (see above). It has glue stains on the back of two borders (see our images). There are three pairs of staple holes in the borders and some darkening and light brown staining in parts of the borders. Learn More about condition grades
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