Movieland Mystery Photo

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Dick Powell admires his books, back in the days when all authors smoked pipes.


I caught the 1952 film “The Bad and the Beautiful” the other night and was struck by this window display showing copies of “The Proud Land.”

'The Bad and the Beautiful'
One of the few appearances in film of a Bookstore Kitty!

'The Band Wagon'

Fred Astaire with Cyd Charisse – as a blond – in “The Band Wagon.”



And, as others have noted, a poster for “Proud Land” appears in the “Girl Hunt” sequence of “The Band Wagon.” I recall reading a book on film history (that’s what we did before the Internet) that said “The Proud Land” was sort of art directors’ boilerplate for movie marquees and other signage. I don’t recall any other examples at the moment. Maybe the Brain Trust will have a few ideas.

About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
This entry was posted in 1952, 1953, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Movieland Mystery Photo

  1. Mary Mallory says:

    Can’t think of any proud land references right now, but here is an interesting discussion from Nitrateville. The headline “Chinese in trees” seems to have been employed in a variety of films as well.
    http://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10974&hilit=chinese+in+trees

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  2. Lamar says:

    “The Proud Land” by James Lee Bartlow is also seen on Joan Crawford’s book shelf by her bed in “Torch Song” (1953) and in “The World, the Flesh and the Devil” (1959) on a shelf near where Mel Ferrer is recovering in bed.

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