Paramount lobby cards for YOU BELONG TO ME (1934) starring Lee Tracy, Helen
Mack, Helen Morgan and David Holt.
David Holt, also known as David Jack Holt. One of a group of child actors from
the thirties, he had an interesting career, appearing as Sid Sawyer in the 1938
film THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER and in WILD WEED aka MARIJUANA,
THE DEVIL'S WEED.
So you can see his career has run the entire gamut of Americana.
These are pretty Paramount cards and while Lee Tracy was a big star for
Paramount at that time, the more interesting of the adult performers in the
film is Helen Morgan. I am going to copy an imdb entry for her for those
interested:
Biography
Before the tragic legacies of songbird icons Édith Piaf, Billie Holiday and
Judy Garland took hold, there was the one...the original...lady who sang the
blues and started the whole "bawl" rolling. Like her successors, Helen Morgan
lived the sad songs she sang...and more.
She started her life fittingly enough on August 2, 1900 in very humble
surroundings. Her father was an Illinois dirt farmer and school master. She
moved to Chicago while young and worked a number of menial blue-collar jobs --
manicurist, cracker-packager, counter clerk. But her passion was music and at
the age of 18 decided to leave and pursue her dream as a cabaret singer. Within
a few years she was working under the Broadway lights with the George White
Scandals. In between she studied music at the Metropolitan Opera and performed
in vaudeville shows.
Helen was the antithesis of the freewheeling "Jazz Age" baby as her deep, dusky
voice seemed born to weave tales of sadness and lament rather than focusing on
fun and frolic. The Chicago mobsters and underground bootleggers bawled like
burly babies and really took to Helen's "torch song" renditions while
glamorously propped on a piano with trademark scarf in hand (originally used to
disguise nerves). Prohibition-era gangsters even bankrolled her clubs which
became very popular...and frequently raided.
Helen conquered Broadway in the late 1920s with her quintessential role as the
tragic mulatto Julie in the landmark smash musical "Show Boat" in 1927.
Introducing the standards "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" and "Bill", Helen earned
more success with the musical "Sweet Adeline" in 1929 in which she introduced
another favorite "Why Was I Born?" Her fragile mind and heart, however,
couldn't handle the problems that started surfacing in the 1930s.
A broken marriage, emotional instability and a deep passion for the demon drink
quickly did her in. She couldn't hold jobs and her health worsened by the year.
After spiraling badly for a half decade, she tried sobering up and made a huge
splash in 1936 with the screen version of Show Boat starring Irene Dunne, Allan
Jones and Paul Robeson. She also began to redeem herself in clubs again but it
was ultimately too late. Years of abuse did its damage and she died of liver
cirrhosis in 1941 at age 41. In 1957, a glossy, somewhat fictitious movie was
made chronicling her life and troubled times. The Helen Morgan Story (1957)
starred a game Ann Blyth as the sultry, ill-fated songstress, with Gogi Grant a
spectacular choice for dubbing in the vocals to all of Helen's best known
standards.
Yes, before there was a Garland, there was Morgan, and although Garland seems
to have her beat these days as THE musical icon of despair, Helen was the
original tear-stained blueprint.
Set, mint. $550.00
Kirby McDaniel
MovieArt Original Film Posters
P.O. Box 4419
Austin TX 78765-4419
512 479 6680 www.movieart.net
mobile 512 589 5112
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: [email protected]
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
