Spanish title: Rasputin y la Zarina (Rasputin and the Czarina)
Stars: Lionel Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Ralph Morgan, Diana Wynara
Directed by: Richard Boleslavsky
Distributor: MGM

"King of crime, hatred and evil… bringing about the fall of an empire"

You know how, when you watch the end credits on a film, it’ll say "the characters and story in this film are fictional, any resemblance with any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental"? This film is why that happens.

The story goes that, after MGM made this film, the real life Czarina of Russia, Princess Irina Romanoff Youssoupoff, sued MGM for libel and invasion of privacy in both London and New York, extracting settlements of $125,000 and $250,000 respectively from the studio. At the heart of her complaint was that the film portrayed her as having had an affair with Rasputin, which she claimed was a lie. As a result, every studio inserted the fiction disclaimer in their productions, and we see them to this day.

That wasn’t the only lawsuit the film had to deal with – Prince Feliks Yusupov spotted a character in the film that, despite her name being changed, was clearly supposed to be his wife. As the character was shown to have been raped by Rasputin, he too sued for libel, and won. MGM duly cut the scene, thereby rendering the character’s shift from pro to anti-Rasputin decidedly weird to the viewer.

Off-set foibles aside, this is the first and only film in which all three of the famed Barrymore acting clan – Lionel, John and Ethel – appeared together on screen. The three had long been the darlings of the theater world, cementing a reputation as the greatest actors of their time (John’s son John Drew Barrymore, and his granddaughter Drew would carve career success of their own), so a shift to film was inevitable.

What’s a little odd is that John and Ethel’s characters in the film are portrayed as having an affair… creepy.

The lobby card celebrating this release featured original art from an unknown artist, and was printed by Litoarte S. de R.L. The version in our collection features a black and white still image featuring all the Barrymore’s, along with a series of Rasputin’s gal pals.  It’s got a little bent out of shape over the years, likely as a result of moisture, but for a promo card that is 75 years old, it’s in surprisingly good shape, regardless.

Spanish title: La Dama y el Vagabundo
Stars: Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Peggy Lee
Directed by: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson
Distributor: MGM (for Disney)

"She’s from the leash and license set… he’s footloose and collar free!"

With the Walt Disney company not running an office in Mexico, it was left to MGM to distribute this undeniable animation classic south of the border, and more’s the pity. You’d have to think the artistic boffins at Disney would have put together a better lobby card than this collection of cut’n'paste stock imagery.

The film is obviously outstanding, and that’s why it has a place in our collection, but it would be nice to have seen promo art for this film that was as creative as those that made it in the first place.

Spanish title: La Bailarina (The Ballerina)
Stars: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Franchot Tone, May Robson, Winnie Lightner, Robert Benchley
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"The case of a man who loved another… a huge musical romance… a splendid spectacle of wealth in the theater world, with
beautiful women shining in magnificent clothes. A worldwide smash"

Fred Astaire’s feature film debut is a Busby Berkeley-like musical about a burlesque dancer (Joan Crawford) who finds herself in trouble with the law when a patron removes an item of her clothing, just as the cops burst in for a raid. Saved from prison by a besotted playboy benefactor (Franchot Tone), he lines her up for an audition for a Broadway show, only for her to fall for the theater manager (Clark Gable) – love triangles (and song and dance numbers) ensue.

Interesting cameos come from Fred Astaire, singer Nelson Eddy, and a comedy group then known as Ted Healy and his Stooges (which would later become the more widely remembered Three Stooges).

The lobby card isn’t exactly a work of art, as MGM lobby cards of the 30’s tended to be one-color prints and almost entirely made up of still shots, but if only for the stills of Fred Astaire’s chicken legs in lederhosen, a dashing young Clark Gable, and a heavily-eye shadowed youth named Joan Crawford, this is a classic piece of promo art.

In regards to this particular lobby card, it’s in beautiful shape, with no pinholes, a tiny smudge of water staining on one corner, but otherwise it’s absolutely mint. Not bad considering it sat in the basement of a Mexican theater for 75 years before it got to us.

Spanish title: Flama de Traicion (Flame of Treason)
Stars: Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Victor Mature, Louis Calhern
Directed by: Gottfried Reinhardt
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"Is he the betrayed one?"

Lana Turner plays
Carla Van Oven, who, despite being suspected of working with the Nazis, turns into an allied spy during World War II.

Another war movie in which American stars play folks on the non-allied side of the fence, Betrayed features an all-star cast… and one heck of a vivid lobby card.

You’ve got to love the way the still image has Clark Gable (who looks disturbingly like my grandfather) and Turner in a passionate embrace, while Victor Mature (playing ‘The Scarf’) looks on like the ultimate third wheel.

A fantastic combo of original art, still imagery, and blends of the two make this a keeper.

Spanish title: Alas de Aguila
Stars: John Wayne, Dan Dailey, Maureen O’Hara, Ward Bond
Directed by: John Ford
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"John Ford takes to the sky in this exciting plethora of historic adventures inspired by a driven and romantic man."

Sinking destroyers and diving bombers set off the lobby card of this John Ford wartime romantic drama, but John Wayne fans will loathe the fact that the original artwork depiction of The Duke makes him look like Mr Magoo.

The film is a biography of Navy flier-turned-screenwriter Frank W. "Spig" Wead, and unlike many biopics from the 50’s (and especially the wartime era), the director claimed this one was 100% true. "Everything in the picture was true," claimed Ford, adding, "the fight in the club – throwing the cake – actually happened. I can verify that as an eyewitness. I ducked it. And the plane landing in the swimming pool right in the middle of the Admiral’s tea – that really happened."

The film was so accurate, in fact, that in an effort to be as bald as the original Frank Wead was, John Wayne actually took off his toupee for the role. Seriously.

This particular lobby card doesn’t have the usual pinholes on the corners, but it is a bit knocked about on the edges. There’s a lack of resolution on the original art, which indicates either a ‘paint over the still images’ job, or a reproduction of the original was used as the print art.

Either way, it’s The Duke, and thus it is good.

Spanish title: El Fruto Dorado
Stars: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr
Directed by: Jack Conway
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"Romance and action in this exciting history of two adventurers looking for the coveted black gold."

Though this lobby card features perhaps some of the most amateur-looking original art that I’ve seen on a major release,  it’s definitely worth a spot in our collection just for the still image of Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr in a passionate embrace. 

The card has a tiny print company credit of "Litoarte, S. de R. L.", alongside the MGM Mexico distributor credit (apparently the office was at Abraham Gonalez 67, Mexico D. F., in case you were wondering), and features four rather sizable pinholes that might be better described as ‘doornail holes’.

Otherwise, it’s in good shape, especially for a lobby card that would be about 68 years old about now. 

Spanish title: Mogambo
Stars: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly
Directed by: John Ford
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"A battle of the sexes… and a battle against the gorillas!"

This lobby card for the Sam Zimbalist-produced multi-Oscar nominated jungle feature is in incredible shape. No pinholes, no tears, nice thick cardboard; in fact, if not for a couple of slightly dinged corners, you’d call this a mint condition antique lobby card.

The paintwork is incredible in parts, awful in others. For example, the image depicting Gable and Gardner in a deep embrace is done beautifully, but am I the only one who wonders why the fat gorilla is wearing bright red lipstick?

Either way, this is not a bad film. Mogambo was famous for the studio actually having filmed a large part of it in location, leading to get production values, incredible shots, and even a little controversy when Clark Gable took the role out from under Stewart Granger, and then started a romance with his co-star, leading to him walking off the set to protest her treatment by director John Ford.

One interesting piece of trivia – in the spanish language version, censors apparently felt that the Gable/Gardner affair on the screen was too racy, so they changed their dialogue to make them brother and sister… which led to confusion among movie audiences during the scene where they share a bed.

Spanish title: Mi Amor Brasileno (My Brazilian Love)
Stars: Lana Turner, Ricardo Montalban, John Lund, Louis Calhern
Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"A great, ardent, all-consuming passion, living in the land of tropical heat."

This is a beautiful lobby card, rich in color with tremendous paintwork that really sells the Turner/Montalban on-screen chemistry well.

This particular card is in amazing shape, with not even a pinhole damaging the original cardboard, which isn’t bad considering it’s been around for nearly 60 years.

Spanish title: Rapsodia
Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman, John Ericson, Louis Calhern
Director: Charles Vidor
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"A rhapsody of love, with music from the grand maestros!" 

This lobby card is light on original art, due to the use of several cut’n'paste photos, but what original paintwork there is sure didn’t miss Elizabeth Taylor’s cleavage.

Well done, sir.