An Album of Film Stars (c. 1934)

[Gerald Lovell]

I recently was lent this by a retired work colleague whose sister had smoked her way to collect the complete set in the early to mid 1930s. Most of the stars are American, but there are a few British faces too and it's a fascinating snapshot of the time:

















More follows . . .

[Gerald Lovell]

[Gerald Lovell]

[penfold]

Evocative, aren't they ??? There were at least two subsequent series of 'Film Stars' card sets issued by Players in the mid '30's....and two 'Radio Personality' sets as well. Not that expensive to collect, either, considering their age.....a complete set, in its album, is only £3-£4.

[didi-5]

They are beautiful aren't they?

[CaptainWaggett]

Quite a few names I don't recognise...whatever happened to Sally Eilers and Tara Birrell?

[wadsy]

A splendid collection. Is there any mention of who the artist could be?

[Gerald Lovell]

Captain: Sally Eilers I can only recall from the early Charlie Chan film The Black Camel which also featured Bela Lugosi and Robert Young as well as Warner Oland. Tala Birell was in Isle of Forgotten Sins/Monsoon with John Carradine and curiously, a later Charlie Chan, Sidney Toler, but I can't say she was particularly memorable in that PRC epic.

wadsy: there's no clue on the album as to who the artist was.

[ShirlGirl]

What a treasure! Fantastic.

[Heinrich]

What a treasure! Fantastic.

Yes, wasn't it nice that smokers got free things with their smokes.

[Brief Encounter]

Great to see Jessie in there

[CaptainWaggett]

Captain: Sally Eilers I can only recall from the early Charlie Chan film The Black Camel which also featured Bela Lugosi and Robert Young as well as Warner Oland. Tala Birell was in Isle of Forgotten Sins/Monsoon with John Carradine and curiously, a later Charlie Chan, Sidney Toler, but I can't say she was particularly memorable in that PRC epic.

wadsy: there's no clue on the album as to who the artist was.

Thanks for that. Presumably they were up-and-coming at the time. Interesting to see William Haines there - I'd have assumed he'd have swopped acting for interior decorating by then.

[cornershop15]

Great stuff, Gerald. The only card collection I have from that era is Film Partners (Gallagher Ltd.). The Virtual History website, a favourite of mine over the years, is one of the best places to find them. Hundreds of forgotten and obscure actors among the more familiar ones but fascinating to look at:

Series of cards of movie stars

There are only five names in your Album of Film Stars that I don't recognise. Here are two of them:


Dorothy Jordan

She was in the 1929 version of The Taming of the Shrew, with Douglas Fairbanks &
Mary Pickford, as Bianca (a role later played by Natasha Pyne and Susan Penhaligon).


Sally Eilers

Films include the 1933 version of State Fair, as Emily Joyce (later played by Vivian Blaine and Ann-Margret!).

[TimR]

I see the beautiful Elissa Landi is one of the actresses included. I believe she was either English or Austrian or both. She is a favorite of mine - it's too bad her film career was brief, but she was an author as well and I don't think she lived to be old.

[Heinrich]

I see the beautiful Elissa Landi is one of the actresses included. I believe she was either English or Austrian or both. She is a favorite of mine - it's too bad her film career was brief, but she was an author as well and I don't think she lived to be old.

Elissa Landi was born in Italy although she was raised in Austria and went to school in England. She died at age 44 having appeared in 34 movies over seventeen years.
Elissa Landi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[TimR]

Elissa Landi was born in Italy although she was raised in Austria and went to school in England. She died at age 44 having appeared in 34 movies over seventeen years.
Elissa Landi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

She was only 44! I always thought she was fascinating and very good looking.