It has been awhile since I did a simple little photo post, but I thought you might enjoy this group of Dolores Costello shots from a 1942 RKO campaign.
Costello is presented in a striking series of photos with poses alternating between matronly and distinguished with a few tossed in that might even be called sultry. She is shown reading, sewing, lounging and arranging flowers. Her children, DeeDee and John Drew Barrymore, even pop up in couple of shots to listen to Mom read and sit at the piano where they presumably rehearse for her.
1942 was the most newsworthy year for Dolores Costello in awhile. In October the previous year she signed a contract with Orson Welles at RKO to play in what turned out to be a masterpiece, The Magnificent Ambersons. It released to theaters in July of 1942. Just prior to that, John Barrymore, her ex-husband and father of DeeDee and John Drew, died on May 29, 1942.
The fan magazines welcomed back Costello to the screen and she is even the (credited) author of a gushing article about boy genius Orson Welles.
While I couldn’t locate any of these shots in fan magazines or even newspapers of the period, I would assume they were snapped with the dual purpose of A) promoting and reintroducing the public to Miss Costello after a few years absent from the screen, and B) doing so in a way that both linked her to the late Barrymore and showed that the legendary actor’s children were being well looked after.
I just remember The Magnificent Embersons but cannot remember Dolores Costello at all. Weird that since I really am an avid 40’s fan.
I do wish they’d revive that movie here in England.
Hi Pearl, there do appear to be a few Region 2 DVD releases — in fact, I think you guys had this one on DVD before we did here in the States! I do hope you get to see it, it’s still wonderful no matter what Orson Welles himself may have thought!