What follows is the second dozen signatures that can be found in the autograph book that belonged to Our Gang member Mildred Kornman (seen at right) when she was a child (began here). This middle portion is the least exciting to me, although there are a couple gems mixed in there. Only the first two signatures here had a film actually noted in the book. The rest of the signatures are subject to my speculation as to what film’s set they were signed on (if they were in fact signed on a movie set at all) – based on films being made at the time that starred these particular actors.
As mentioned, only the first two autographs shown here had the film indicated during the filming of which the signatures were obtained. This film was the 1935 opus Dr. Socrates. The autographs were from the two leads Ann Dvorak and Paul Muni.
My guess is that the next two signatures of James Dunn and Dorothy Wilson came from the set of the film Bad Boy, as they were the two leads in this film during this exact time period.
The autograph of Will Rogers is by far the biggest and most rare in this section of the book. Some of Rogers’ early work took place at the Hal Roach Studios, and he became one of the best-known and best-paid movie stars in the industry during the early 1930’s. He died in August of 1935 so this was certainly signed late in his short life. Along with Jean Harlow, this pushes the value of the book into a new level. I can’t even speculate how this signture was obtained, or if it was on a movie set.
The next signature is that of songwriter Pinky Tomlin. Again, it is unknown if this was signed on a movie set or elsewhere. It has an interesting inscription that makes reference to his most popular song The Object of My Affection, which Our Gang fans will surely recognize as the song Alfalfa sings in Our Gang Follies of 1936.
The next five signatures belong to Sidney Toler, Chic Sale, Sally Blane, Russell Simpson, and Ricardo Cortez – specifically in that order. It is odd that Toler and Blane were starring together in This is the Life, whicle Sale, Simpson, and Cortez were working together in Man Hunt. It is unknown why the signatures were jumbled. Perhaps Sally Blane skipped a page and Chic Sale filled it in. Perhaps they were all together in the studio commisary. Who knows?
Incidentally, Sidney Toler was best known of his portrayal of Charlie Chan in the series of films – and he starred with Laurel and Hardy in Our Relations. Also – one can only assume that Sally Blane’s comment was in reference to popular actress of the day Loretta Young.
The final signature in this installment is a biggie and belongs to Janet Gaynor. She was the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in three films (a practice that was later discontinued), including Sunrise. She also had notable success in A Star is Born. This signature was doubtless signed on the set of Small Town Girl – as were the next three that we will see in the next and final installment…
To be completed in the next posting…
Wow! You have some really nice signatures there!
Dave Chasteen
February 24th, 2010
I know this was written ages ago, but the Sally Blane autograph just popped up in a google search. Yes, the Loretta she references is Loretta Young. Sally is Loretta’s older sister.
Kayla
November 14th, 2015