Odds and Ends

About six months ago I bumped into an Australian newspaper advertisement for a set of Warner Brothers Star Stamps issued by Lipton's. I'd said I never bumped into them and joked that maybe there weren't any left since you could redeem them for tickets to the movies.

But they exist all right:

I received an email from the Hoboken Historical Museum the other day offering to share images of several recently acquired examples of the Lipton's Star Stamps.

I replied immediately. Yes, please!

In case you were wondering about the origin of that email my contact informed me that Lipton's had their American headquarters in Hoboken, NJ during this period. Thus the Museum's interest and acquisition.

They sent along images of each of the 20 stamps that they acquired and I've included them all in a gallery on our Lipton's page.

... in case you wanted a little bit more to read ...

Watched two early talkies starring George Bancroft this week, Blood Money (1933), which features Frances Dee in a very strange role, and Ladies Love Brutes (1930), which includes Mary Astor and Fredric March in the cast but is overall a bit of a mess. Blood Money is worth checking out, especially for Dee's bad girl, but Ladies Love Brutes just felt sort of incomplete.

Also watched They Drive by Night (1940) again earlier this week (the night I was writing about Ann Sheridan). Does anybody else wish Bogie and Raft had switched roles? I was actually thinking the same about Ann Sheridan and Ida Lupino--until Ida really loses it and steals the entire movie right at the end. Wow, that was a welcome refresher!

For the shopper--Over 450 vintage movie still photos are on sale 50% off in my eBay store through midnight Monday (Feb. 25).

I expected to have a new biography posted to the site Friday morning but this latest subject has proved both frustrating and fascinating. That subject is Fannie Ward, who appeared opposite Sessue Hayakawa in The Cheat (1915).

Fannie Ward in The Cheat

She was active on stage from at least as early as 1890 and spent significant time living in England between 1895-1907, which I believe is adding to some of the confusion. Facts and dates seem to change with every bit of info I dig up. You'll see a post from me about her within the next day or two that at least touches upon several intriguing incidents. Somebody needs to write a book about this woman!

A nice surprise coming to the site soon for fans of Mae Murray. And yes, it has everything to do with Michael G. Ankerich's recently published biography!

When I was digging for info about The Racket (1928) earlier this week I was once again tantalized by The Barker (1928). Following are two ads from a series of four appearing in Film Daily. Supposedly each of the four ads accentuates one of The Barker's main elements. First National was offering cash prizes for the best 250-word essay explaining which approach was best and why.

Click either image to enlarge, though you'll still likely have to squint to make out the details: