British Comedy, Including Britannia Billingsgate and Orders is Orders ...

Description

British Comedy, Including Britannia Billingsgate and Orders is Orders (Ideal Films, 1933), Sidney Field in The Cardboard Cavalier (Rank Films, 1949), Max Bygraves Archive, Including Charley Moon and Spare the Rod (British Lion, 1956/1961) 8" x 10" Key Book and Studio Release Photographs (775+). Vintage gelatin silver glossy borderless (on cardboard stock with facing linen) 10.75" x 7.75" key book (35+), glossy 8.25" x 10" (2), and borderless 7.5" x 9.75" (1) key book photographs of Sidney Field and Margaret Lockwood in The Cardboard Cavalier, 3.5" x 5" key book photographs (tipped to 8" x 11" linen card stock pages in blue cloth album with string binding) of Violet Loraine, Gordon Harker, Kay Hammond and John Mills in Britannia of Billingsgate (235+), and Charlotte Greenwood, James Gleason, and Cedric Harwicke in Orders is Orders (195+ and 220+, two versions), Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen in glossy 8" x 10" (2) and 4" x 5" (25+) key book photographs (tipped to 8" x 11" linen card stock pages in They're Off (Ideal Films, 1933, short), Wild Boy (Gaumont, 1934) (1), Here Comes the Sun (GFD, 1945) (2), glossy (1-double-weight) (4-matte double-weight) 11.75" x 9.75", 8" x 10", 8.75" x 8", 8.5" x 6.5", 7.75" x 8", 7.5" x 5.5", 6.5" x 5" (1-card-backed), 3.25" x 5.5", and 4.5" x 2.5"key set and studio photographs and contact prints (2-full 8" x 10" sheets and 7-loose partial sheets), of Max Bygraves in Bless ‘Em All (film debut) (Adelphi Films, 1949) (1), Charley Moon (3) and Spare the Rod (1) by John Jay, singing hit song "I Wish I Could Sing Like Jolson", 1953, by Leslie Rowson for Triad Studios, signed by Rowson on the recto margin in black felt (1), at the London Palladium, March 1952 (2), at various events (10), wife Gladys "Blossom" (1), war-time snapshots, in uniform (3), with family (15+), youthful 5.5" x 3.5" (1) snapshot with inscription to sister, "To my darling sister / Kathleen / "This is the only time / I have had the BIRD" in ink, holding cup in tuxedo with inscription on verso for " u Best Act /u in the whole of RAF Fighter Command", 1942 (1), RAF wedding photo, September 12, 1942 with full inscription "Very Happy with his "Blossom" in ink on verso (1), hand-written letter by Lillian Bygraves on 8" x 7.75 stationary sheet (1), with paper caption on the verso. Fair (1) to Very Fine, with heavily creased, with tears and staining (1), edge chipping and creases (1), handling, and light scuffing. Comes with a COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: Field was one of the most beloved comedic geniuses in Britain, known for his improvised stage routines. The Cardboard Cavalier was the last of only three completed films by Field, who died of a heart attack at the age of 45 in 1950.

"Of all people I have ever watched with the greatest delight, I think, was in another field entirely, was Sid Field ... I still borrow from him, freely and unashamedly." (Laurence Olivier, 1966 interview with Kenneth Tynan)

This extraordinary photographic and ephemera collection traces the trajectory of British entertainer Max Bygraves from his wartime beginnings to early stardom. Included are rare studio portraits from his 1949 screen debut Bless 'Em All and later features like Charley Moon and Spare the Rod, publicity images by renowned photographers John Jay and Leslie Rowson—a large gallery print is hand-signed, of Bygraves performing his breakout hit "I Wish I Could Sing Like Jolson," gracing the stage of the London Palladium, and relaxing with wife Gladys "Blossom" and family. Particularly poignant are wartime snapshots, including a youthful RAF portrait inscribed to his sister and a spirited photograph celebrating his "Best Act in the whole of RAF Fighter Command" in 1942. Together with a handwritten letter from his mother, Lillian, the archive paints a vivid portrait of a beloved postwar entertainer whose humor and heart made him a household name in mid-century Britain.


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