SITTING PRETTY Photo

SITTING PRETTY costarred Thelma Todd, Jack Oakie, Jack Haley, and Ginger Rogers. Here is a picture of Thelma Todd and Jack Haley from the movie.

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Park Drive Cigarette Cards

Here is a Complete set of 48 Park Drive cigarette cards in their special album. These British cards were issued in 1935 and include Thelma Todd, Laurel and Hardy, Wheeler and Woolsey, Bebe Daniels, Ginger Rogers, Ronald Colman, Nancy Carroll, Gary Cooper, Ann Harding, and Maureen O'Sullivan, among others.

The Thelma Todd card depicts her as she appeared in THE DEVIL'S BROTHER. She went to England to promote that movie, and got a lot of publicity for it there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SITTING PRETTY Flyer

SITTING PRETTY was a musical starring Ginger Rogers right before she started working with Fred
Astaire and became a big star. Thelma Todd was the "Other Woman" again.

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Thelma Todd Sheet Music

This is a story about sheet music with Thelma Todd on the cover, as sometimes happened in the thirties.










SMILE WHEN THE RAINDROPS FALL has Charley Chase, Laurel and Hardy, Harry Langdon, and the Our Gang Kids as well as Thelma Todd on the cover.

EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU was the song the Marx Brothers all sang to Thelma Todd in the movie HORSE FEATHERS. So not surprisingly, her picture is on the cover of this sheet music.

 

 

 

 

 

This version doesn't have Thelma Todd's picture on it.

 

 

Incidentally, Paramount's use of the name "Famous" for the "Famous Studios" animation studio  is related to their use of the name for their sheet music division.

 

 

 

 

 SITTING PRETTY

 

 

That of course is Ginger Rogers on the cover, although you can see Thelma Todd's name listed at the lower left.

 

 

 

BOTTOMS UP

 

 

Pat Patterson on the cover, Thelma Todd's name also appears at lower right. "Movietone" was Fox, they also had "Movietone news".

 

 

 

 

 Some sheet music for COCKEYED CAVALIERS.

 

 With Wheeler and Woolsey on the cover, and Thelma Todd's name listed at lower right.

 

 

 

 

 

Then there was some sheet music Thelma Todd had in CHICKENS COME HOME.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girl on the cover of this version could be Thelma Todd,

 

 which might seem to be appropriate since it's her sheet music. Although I think this version was made for the film.









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Blondes And The Redheads

After George Stevens left the Roach studio, he went to RKO and started a new series of two-reel comedies called "The Blondes And The Redheads". This series may be obscure today, but it is linked to some of the most famous classic movies of all time.

 

 

 

 

The Blondes and the Redheads had some similarities to "The Boy Friends" series Stevens had at the Roach studio, but the emphasis was on the girls in the series rather than the boys. To begin with, the blonde was baby-voiced Carol Tevis and the redhead was June Brewster. Eventually June Brewster was replaced by Dorothy Granger. She had been part of the Boy Friends series, as had Grady Sutton, another regular in the series. Others who took part in both series include David Sharpe and Charlie Hall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The series began in 1933 and ended in 1935, after George Stevens had graduated to features.

The other people involved in the series were involved in features as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both June Brewster and Carol Tevis appeared in FLYING DOWN TO RIO, a film which featured many of the glamour girls in an airborne sequence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carol Tevis was the little blonde who was blindfolded because she was scared to take part in the air show. Here she can be seen at center without a blindfold.

 

 

 

 

 If these dames weren't dizzy to start with, they soon will be.

 

Air shows were popular in real life during this period, although this movie tended to exaggerate the number of people who acually would have been involved in such a spectacle.

 

 

 

This was the first movie to team Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. They went on to great success in a series of movies afterwards, and George Stevens worked with them again in this period.

 

 

Ginger Rogers is wearing a somewhat fancier version of a what the aviatrixes used to wear at the time.

 

 

 

 

FLYING DOWN TO RIO was produced by Meriem C. Cooper, who had a history of involvement with aviation and also produced KING KONG in this period.

 

 

 

 

 

The story in KING KONG also involved aviation.

 

 

 Which could have been Cooper's idea.

 

 

 

One of Carol Tevis' last roles was as the voice of one of the Munchkins in THE WIZARD OF OZ.

 

 

Which is one of the most famous movies of all time.

 

 

 

 

 

And George Stevens went on to make many other famous classic films, including ANNIE OAKLEY, GUNGA DINN, PENNY SERENADE, SHANE, THE DIARY OF ANN FRANK, and THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD.

 

 

 

FLYING DOWN TO RIO: Mary Kornman

 

 

 

FLYING DOWN TO RIO: Sky Dance

 

 

 

 

FLYING DOWN TO RIO At Gingerology ( Ginger Rogers Site ):

http://jwhueyblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/ginger-rogers-film-review-19-flying.html

 

 

Dorothy Granger:

http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_122_Dorothy-Granger

 

 

KING KONG

http://mythicalmonkey.blogspot.com/2010/11/best-picture-of-1932-33-drama-king-kong.html

 

 

 Mary Kornman:

http://marykornman.com/

http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_644_Mary-Kornman

 

 

George Stevens:

http://www.allmovie.com/artist/george-stevens-p118815

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0828419/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stevens

 

 

 

Sam White:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0925423/?ref_=fn_al_nm_2

 

 

 

The Camera Never Lies... But The Retoucher Does

The camera never lies, so they say. But the retouchers say a little fib never hurt anyone.

 

A retoucher painted out part of this picture of Thelma Todd ( as "Alison Loyd", in CORSAIR ), in order to make her stand out from the background for publication. Sometimes they painted out other things, such as blemishes or distracting details. Retouchers could change a photograph's appearence a great deal.

 

 

 

 

 

 Ginger Rogers at Paramount, before she was famous. They wanted her to stand out from the background, too

 

The picture is marked "reverse, so presumably they wanted it reversed when printed for publication.

                                                                                Paulette Goddard

A little off the sides, please.

They're at it again.

 

 

 

Mae West

 

 

They did the same thing with this picture, but it's a little less obvious.

 

 

This famous photo is actually an enlargement from a newsreel. Notice how retouchers were able to separate the Chinese baby from the background.





 

Dale pointed out that they retouched this photo to make Carole Forman's bust smaller. The painted-out area is still visible as white.

 

Here, Dale attempted to restore "The Spider Lady" to her former greatness.

 

 

 

Ann Rutherford 

 

 

This one also looks like there has been retouching in the area of the bust..

 

 

 

 

Carole Landis, sometimes called "The Original Sweater Girl"

 

 

 This one, too.

 

 

 

 

Somebody thought Spock of Star Trek fame looked a little too much like the Devil. Something that didn't really seem to matter on television, but they wanted a different look for their publication.

 

 

 

 Left, Spock as he really looks ( at least on television ). Right, the new improved version.

 

 

 

 

 Finally, we take a look at something a retoucher might have done, but did not.

 

 

The wire suspending the balloon on the left is visible in this picture of Thelma Todd at Paramound in the silent era. A retoucher could have painted the wire out to make it appear as if the balloon were floating in midair, without any type of support.

 

 

 

 

 I've never retouched photos, and I never progressed beyond semi-professional photographer as I never really made any money out of it, but I worked with the old cameras and the old techniques and am familiar with them. The guys that made those old publicity pictures achieved fantastic results without modern equiptment. They are amoung the unsung heroes of their era, and Hollywood owes them much.

SITTING PRETTY

The 1933 movie SITTING PRETTY featured Thelma Todd in a small part.

It also featured one of the Our Gang kids in a bigger role.

Jerry Tucker, center, between Jack Oakie and Ginger Rogers.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    

Jerry Tucker
Born	Jerome H. Schatz (1925-11-01) November 1, 1925 (age 86) Chicago, Illinois
Occupation	Film actor
Years active	1931-1939

Jerry Tucker (born November 1, 1925) is a former American child actor, most notable for appearing as the "rich kid" in the Our Gang short subjects series semi-regularly from 1931 to 1938. Tucker first appeared in the 1931 Our Gang short Shiver My Timbers. Then, he also appeared in many Our Gang episodes after that and left the series in the 1938 Our Gang short Three Men in a Tub.
In addition to his Our Gang appearances, Tucker appeared in the Marie Dressler film Prosperity, again as a spoiled rich kid. He also appeared as one of Mother Peep's children in the 1934 Laurel & Hardy feature film March of the Wooden Soldiers.

 Later years

Tucker went on to serve in the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War. He later married his wife Myra and had a long successful career with RCA before retiring.
Tucker is one of the few living Our Gangers from the original series. Other surviving members are Mildred Kornman, Marianne Edwards, Jean Darling, Mickey Gubitosi, Sidney Kibrick, and Jackie Lynn Taylor.

 External links

• Jerry Tucker at the Internet Movie Database
• Jerry Tucker at AllRovi
• University of Maryland
• Prosperity (1932) Jerry played the part of Buster.

Marylin Bourne, Spanky McFarland, Jerry Tucker, Scotty Beckett, Stymie Beard

in MAMMA'S LITTLE PIRATE.

Here is a coming attractions slide for SITTING PRETTY, with Thelma Todd on the right.

Jack Oakie is at left, with Ginger Rogers next, and then Jack Haley.

 

 

 

Thelma Todd with Jack Oakie.

You see pictures like this occasionally with a spurious copyright notice.

 

 

Although Ginger Rogers posed for publicity photos that suggest that she was a fan dancer, she didn't actually do a fan dance in the movie. She did have a scene where she walked along holding a fan while being serenaded with the song "Did You Ever See A Dream Walking?"

The fan dance was in the news at the time, because Sally Rand did it at the Chicago World's fair in 1933. Here we see the genuine article with her fans. Compare it with the publicity photo of Ginger Rogers above.

Following Ginger Roger's scene, some other girls do a fan dance.

Helen Splane, Mae Madison and Peaches Jackson. Publicity had it that these three charmers were selected as the most beautiful chorus girls in Hollywood.

And here we have a publicity photo of Thelma Todd in the same costume. Which actually includes a pair of tights as well as the more obvious glittery parts. The things on the wrists help hide where they end at her wrists. You see that in movies in this period, the hula dancers in SONS OF THE DESERT wore tights, too.

I don't think Thelma Todd was actually among the fan dancers at the end of the movie. In SITTING PRETTY, she had about the same part she had in SPEAK EASILY, she was the vamp or other woman character who threatens the romance of the main girl in the story. It was actually the same part Thelma Todd had in a number of movies.

Another element that is related to Buster Keaton is the presence of Lew Cody in the cast.

Lew Cody was one of Buster Keaton's best friends. Here we see him, right, with Buster Keaton, his two sons, and Jimmy Durante with Keaton's "Land Yacht". This was a sort of mobile home that Buster Keaton was living in while he was working for MGM.

Lew Cody used to be married to Mabel Normand, who was famous for being in many comedies in the silent era.

Here's a publicity photo from the silent era of Thelma Todd doing a fan dance.

And here's a leftover picture I hadn't used anywhere else, so I'll just use it at the end. It sort of fits there anyway.

Watch SITTING PRETTY at youtube:

Jerry Tucker:
http://www.lib.umd.edu/LAB/COLLECTIONS/schatz.html

Ginger Rogers:
http://www.gingerrogers.com/

Jack Haley:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0355095/

Sally Rand:
http://www.yodaslair.com/dumboozle/sally/sallydex.html

Download SITTING PRETTY:
http://www.alluc.org/movies/watch-sitting-pretty-1933-online/367105.html