Movie Profiles & Premiums Volume 3, Number 4.  January 15, 2005
Brought to you by things-and-other-stuff

FIRST REEL: 
Welcome back to our first regular issue in a month, and boy did I try to pack it full for you!   Lots of new features and Photo ID Guides, but we'll get to that in a moment or two. 

But before we get to that,  I wanted to mention that one of my favorite sites, the Motion Picture Hall of Fame, has undergone a facelift and streamlined it's appearance.  I also mention this excellent site because they recently announced their second group of inductees which include Errol Flynn, Spencer Tracy, Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Capra and films including 1935's Captain Blood and 1939's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.  Another reason to visit is the voting is now open for 2005.  Please visit the Motion Picture Hall of Fame and cast your vote today!

Opening credits... 

1. January Babies, A Crossword Puzzle by Carly Svamvour
2. Photo ID Guide: Revised & Extended 1917 Kromo Gravure Cards 3 Types
3. Claudette Colbert by Jan Richardson
4. Photo ID Guide: 1936 Watkins Mulsified Shampoo 4" X 5" Promotional Photos
5. Hollywood Stories: Masters of Disguise by Stephen Schochet
6. Photo ID Guide: 1950's Colorful Playing Cards (Printed in Holland)
7. The Silent Collection featuring Constance Talmadge by Tammy Stone

I'm very excited about the first item, a Crossword Puzzle by Carly Svamvour.  You need to print out the puzzle to actually work on it, however if you don't have a printer you can e-mail me and I will shoot you off a Word file, containing the puzzle grid, that be completed on your computer.  The solution to the puzzle will be available next issue, along with a brand new puzzle!  Next up, and I'd say I'm excited about this too but I guess I'm really excited about the entire issue in general, is a new writer to this newsletter, Jan Richardson, who profiles Claudette Colbert.  I'm surprised we've been up and running this long without taking care of Colbert!  Stephen Schochet returns with Masters of Disguise in his Hollywood Stories entry and The Silent Collection by Tammy Stone features Constance Talmadge.  Tammy put Norma Talmadge in the Collection a while back, so Constance puts a little closure on this first family's place on this site.

I had an excellent week of sales last week, but then again I think I offered some excellent items for sale.  This week there's plenty of new stuff available on eBay as well, including amid-grade deck of 1916 MJ Moriarty Playing Cards, a grouping of 1917 Kromo Gravure No Borders (see ID Guide below), more Harold Lloyd Publicity Shots, a few Jane Withers photos, a half dozen original stills from 1960's Psycho, and three beautiful 8x10 double-weight Katharine Hepburn photos.  Also I listed the first small batch of Mar-Va Theatre Programs (those from 1946-7)--there will be several lots of these available over the next couple of weeks as I have over 450 programs to sell.  So hopefully this week brings some excellent sales as well.  Here are my up to the minute active auctions:

All eBay Auctions

If you do any selling on eBay yourself I hope you noticed the note from them regarding the new increase in fees beginning in February.  Not much to do here but grin and bear it, nowhere else to go anyway.  It does make it tough to start the bidding on items at under $9.99, guess I'll have to try and make it up in volume though.

I also wanted to let you know that I've worked on the Prices Realized pages a little more and have them completed through December 23rd as of this writing.  I'll get caught up on that eventually, I promise!  The problem is that there are always more auctions ending, so the work load piles higher every time I go to take a break.  

As usual, the Catalog  carries many additions, please have a look at your convenience. 

To the time tunnel we go!
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January Babies, A Crossword Puzzle
By Carly Svamvour
Carly's first submission and our first puzzle, January Babies has Classic Movie Stars born in the month of January as a theme.  Click the link above to print out the puzzle and complete at your leisure.
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Carly Svamvour is a writer who makes her home in the west end of Toronto, Canada. She has published her poems, short prose pieces and puzzles in many places throughout Canada and the U. S. A. She is currently working on her photo-journals with an eye to success at being a travel writer. See more of Carly at Wild City Times - click here for the magazine and online writing workshop.
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Photo ID Guide #1:
Revised & Extended 1917 Kromo Gravure Cards 3 Types
Click the link above for images & details!
I recently purchased a lot of Kromo Gravure cards which turned out to be different from all of the previous cards I had handled.  They had no borders.  This added to the confusion between the square-bordered set and the rounded-border set.  To try and clarify all of this I updated the Kromo Gravure ID Page and included several examples of images from all three sets, side by side.
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CLAUDETTE COLBERT
By Jan Richardson
Known for her savvy business sense and a sterling film, television and stage career that spanned more than half a century, Claudette Colbert was born in Paris, France under the name Lily Claudette Chauchoin in 1903. At the age of 3 she immigrated to the United States, settling with her family in New York City three years later. Her education was attained in New York City public schools and the young Claudette had originally planned a career in fashion design.
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This is just a teaser--check out Jan's entire column with pictures!
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Jan Richardson is a freelance writer from Texas.  This is her first submission to The Movie Profiles & Premiums Newsletter.
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Photo ID Guide #2:
1936 Watkins Mulsified Shampoo 4" X 5" Promotional Photos
Click the link above for images & details!
When I received these I noticed that they looked a lot like the popular 8x10 Promotional Photos that MGM had put out in the 1930's.  In fact several of the poses looked familiar to me.  However these photos were neatly mounted in a notebook which carried a disclaimer on the title page: "All Pictures in this book came from M + G - M Program by Watkins Mulsified Shampoo Co., W-J-Z 8:00-9:00."
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Hollywood Stories: Masters of Disguise
By Stephen Schochet
Gene Hackman once lamented that the worst thing about becoming a famous actor is that you lose the ability to observe people without being noticed yourself.  But some performers are so good at disguises that notoriety is no obstacle.  A case in point was John Barrymore trying to buy his first house in Beverly Hills in 1926.  Frustrated by rising real estate prices due to stars like Tom Mix and Charlie Chaplin moving into the neighborhood, Barrymore went to look at a lot dressed as his most famous movie role,  Mr. Hyde. 
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This is just a teaser--check out Stephen's entire column with pictures!
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Stephen Schochet is the author and narrator of the audiobooks Fascinating Walt Disney and Tales Of Hollywood. The Saint Louis Post Dispatch says,” these two elaborate productions are exceptionally entertaining.” Hear RealAudio samples of these great, unique gifts at http://www.hollywoodstories.com.
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Photo ID Guide #3:
1950's Colorful Playing Cards (Printed in Holland)
Click the link above for images & details!
The colors were so bright and sharp on these that I had to buy them.  The deck included cards of stars that are tough to find cards of: Orson Welles, Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, etc.  Several are still available, but this ID Guide depicts ten of the bigger stars as well as identifying the entire deck.
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The Silent Collection by Tammy Stone
Constance Talmadge
There aren’t many family clans in the movie business. Which isn’t to say that some attempt to become as famous as their superstar family members – Casey Affleck and Eric Roberts are good examples today – it’s just that it’s not so easy to succeed. The Barrymores were legends, but in different generations. But in the silent era, there were perhaps two famous sibling pairings: the Gish sisters, and Norma and Constance Talmadge.

This is just a teaser--check out Tammy's entire column with pictures!
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Tammy Stone is a freelance writer and journalist based in Toronto. Watch for her regular column on the greats of the Silent Screen here in each and every issue of ASTOS.  Tammy invites you to write her at tammystone444@yahoo.ca with any questions or comments on her column.
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End Credits:
It's really great to work on this at four in the afternoon rather than four in the morning, my head's pretty clear for a change.  Just a couple of weeks until the next issue, January 31 which will have more from Tammy Stone, Stephen Schochet, the solution to the January Babies Crossword as well as a new puzzle.  Take care until then!

As always feel free to e-mail any thoughts or ideas to us at things@things-and-other-stuff.com, we're always willing to listen. 
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