Program-menu, 6.5 x 8 folded, both sides of both pages, for a “Testimonial Dinner Tendered by Jack L. Warner” to honor D.C. Dobie and J.W. Brown, sales managers for Warners. The dinner was held at the Vendome in Hollywood, on Monday, August 15, 1938. This piece is signed by seventy Hollywood luminaries, including: Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Reagan, Spencer Tracy, George Brent, Paul Muni, John Garfield, Basil Rathbone, Gabriel Dell, Jack Warner (who adds the inscription “To a real hot bird”), Allen Jenkins, Billy Halop, Hal Wallis (who adds “Best wishes”), Walter MacEwen, Max Siegel, Bennie Williams, Frank McHugh, Huntz Hall, Anthony Eddy, Dick Powell, Bobby Jordan, Pat O’Brien, Sam Bischoff, Leo B. Gorcey, Leo F. Forbstein, Donald Crisp, Bernard Punsly, Busby Berkeley, Edward Selzer, Janice Stephenson, John Payne, Johnnie Davis, John Farrow, Wayne Morris, Terry Wright, Blake McVeigh, Bryan Foy, Wm. McGann, Henry O’Neill, Michael Curtiz, David Niven, and George Brent and more than sixty others. In very good condition, with scattered areas of trivial soiling, toning, one rough edge with tape repair touching a couple of signatures. During the 1930s, the Warner Bros. Studio became known for producing gritty, dark crime films that were accused of glorifying the gangster lifestyle. Movie stars such as James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart rose to fame at WB portraying gangster and other tough guys. WB also produced a number of action-adventure movies, practically monopolizing the genre of the swashbuckler, and forever identifying the name of Errol Flynn with Robin Hood. Jezebel, Angels With Dirty Faces, The Adventures of Robin Hood and A Christmas Carol were released in 1938. Dark Victory was released in 1939, and over the next couple of years, Knute Rockne, All-American, The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca would be released. Angels with Dirty Faces starred Humphrey Bogart, Bobby Jordan, Pat O’Brien, Gabriel Dell, Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey and Bernard Punsly (all of whose signatures can be found in this lot). PSA/DNA COA and R&R COA.
