[Film & Theatre] Crawford, Joan. (1905–1977) [George Hurrell (1904–1992)]
Signed Photograph to MGM make-up artist, Sybil Jones
Gorgeous 1933 vintage matte-finish 11 x 14 original Hurrell photograph of the young actress in a moody profile image, signed and inscribed in fountain pen “Syb / from a Sad missey.” In very fine condition.Crawford and Sybil Jones were close friends. In the same year as the present photograph was taken, Jones testified in the trial of Crawford's divorce from Douglas Fairbanks. While Crawford is here depicted in the film "Today We Live," the intimate inscription may also reference her tumultuous divorce then underway. "Sybil Jones...testified that Joan had frequently burst into tears when recalling the way Douglas had 'grilled' her about her movements. Joan herself blinked back crocodile tears while explaining to the judge how her husband had monitored her activities, how he had sulked for hours on end and made unflattering - in other words, homophobic - comments about some of her male friends." (David Bret "Joan Crawford: Hollywood Martyr," p. 82)
The photographer George Hurrell made a significant contribution to the image of glamour presented by Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. Throughout the decade of the 1930s, Hurrell photographed every star contracted to MGM, and his striking black-and-white images were used extensively in the marketing of these stars. He is known as the "Grand Seigneur of the Hollywood Portrait." (10945)
Signed Photograph Film