Hal Roach Publicity Photo

Publicity picture of Thelma Todd taken by Stax at the Hal Roach studio.

The name "Stax" is visible on the lower right above the serial number.




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Thelma Todd Photo By Stax

This is actually a positive view of an original camera negative that has been offered for sale on ebay. The date of 1936 is evidently given because it was the release date of THE BOHEMIAN GIRL, which Thelma Todd had been working on in late 1935.

PROVENANCE: The item offered in this listing comes directly from the WATSON FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE spanning four generations of professional photographers and representing more than a century of Los Angeles news and cultural photography. This historic archive houses a collection of nearly one million images including Hollywood studio portraits and candid celebrities, cultural life of the city of Los Angeles, crime and famous murder trials, sports, automobiles, aviation, politics, and many more subjects.

DESCRIPTION: Original vintage 8" X 10" camera negative on Eastman Kodak safety film of THELMA TODD flashing a big smile as she poses for the photographer STAX GRAVES in a fantastic portrait for the film The Bohemian Girl (M-G-M, 1936). This film was Ms. Todd's last before her tragic death.
This is the original negative that was in the camera at the time the portrait was taken and is therefore the only one of its kind in existence. (Please note this listing is for a camera negative, the scan is of its positive view.)



- SIZE: 8" X 10"
- TONE: B&W
- CONDITION: Fine, with light scuffs.

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CATCH AS CATCH CAN

CATCH AS CATCH CAN was the second film in the Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd series at the Hal Roach studio. Here we see Thelma Todd in a picture from that movie, with the original caption.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CATCH AS CATCH CAN Photo

Here is a publicity photo for CATCH AS CATCH CAN, with the original caption and a watermark that was contributed by an ebay seller.

 

 

 

 

Photo was by Stax, as is noted on the back.











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Grapefruit

A bigger copy of one of the grapefruit pictures we've had on this blog before.

 

 

 

 

Information from the seller:

Circa 1934 8x10 single weight glossy photo of Thelma Todd. This is an original vintage mid 1930s Hal Roach Studios print, not a copy. Stamped on verso by Hal Roach Studios and photographer "Stax" (Clarence Graves). Print is in beautiful, near like new condition.


A magazine cover with a similar picture had a 1931 date on it, so it's likely that this picture was also from 1931.


Grapefruit:
http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2013/10/grapefruit.html



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HOT DOGS

Occasionally we see pictures of Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts which say they are from the movie HOT DOGS. This film was actually released as ON THE LOOSE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

circa 1933: A scantily clad foursome, comprising John Loder (1898 - 1988), the British leading man, Thelma Todd (1905 - 1935), Zasu Pitts (1898 - 1963), the American actress and Claude McAllister, are drinking warm refreshments while filming the Hal Roach comedy 'Hot Dogs'. (Photo by Stax/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

ON THE LOOSE was the one where Laurel and Hardy made a cameo appearance at the end.






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Photo Autographed By Thelma Todd, Zasu Pitts, And Stax

Something that turned up on ebay.

 "This photograph was taken by Bug "Stax" Graves, the renowned stills photographer who worked at the Hal Roach Studios and features his rubber stamp credit on the verso (PLEASE CREDIT - Photo By - STAX). This photograph has been inscribed by both Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd to film editor JACK OGILVIE, who left his employ at the Roach Studio after the making of THE BARGAIN OF THE CENTURY (1933), co-starring Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd.  Miss Pitts' inscription is written in blue ink and reads: "To Jack - Success in your new venture - Sincerely - Zasu Pitts."  Miss Todd's inscription is written in a slightly darker blue ink and reads: "To Jack, One real cutter - Good luck to you - Sincerely, Thelma Todd."  In addition, this photograph has also been signed by the photographer, Bud "Stax" Graves, in the lower right corner in pencil (Stax). 


Being a still photographer, Stax Graves was apparently never given onscreen credit, and indeed, this filmography is limited to the few films for which he's given 'uncredited' credit in the Internet Movie Database. Exactly when Graves started with Hal Roach Studios and when he departed is not entirely clear. Very little is mentioned about him in the various books written about the Roach comedians. But we do know that Graves was working with the Roach studio by the beginning of August 1922, the point in time when the studio payroll summaries begin to name names. It's clearly possible that Graves was taking Our Gang photos from the very start of the series. Graves also shot still photos for all of the various other series at Roach, and IMDb lists his involvement with four of the Laurel & Hardy features made in the late thirties. He presumably stayed with Roach as Our Gang moved on to MGM, so his association with that series would have lasted from 1922 until 1938. It's more than apparent that he shot still photos for scores of Our Gang films, since his name appears on the backs of quite a few press photos, where he's identified simply as "Stax" (from Wikipedia)."

 

 

 

 

 

 Thelma Todd's autograph is not as rare as some people think it is, but I don't know how often you'd turn up something that was autographed by not only Thelma Todd, but Zasu Pitts and Stax as well.






 Stax:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336352/

 http://theluckycorner.com/crew/graves.html





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