Set of four re-release lobby cards for the film “They Won’t Forget” (1937)
Extent and Medium
.1: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
.2: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
.3: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
.4: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
Creator(s)
- Ken Sutak (Compiler)
- Warner Bros. Pictures (Production Company)
- Dominant Pictures Corporation (Distributor)
Biographical History
The Cinema Judaica Collection consists of more than 1,200 objects relating to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical subjects, from 1923 to 2000, from the United States, Europe, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. The collection was amassed by film memorabilia collector Ken Sutak, to document Holocaust-and Jewish-themed movies of the World War II era and the postwar years. The collection includes posters, lobby and photo cards, scene stills, pressbooks, trade ads, programs, magazines, books, VHS tapes, DVDS, and 78 rpm records. Sutak organized these materials into two groups, “Cinema Judaica: The War Years, 1939–1949” and “Cinema Judaica: The Epic Cycle, 1950–1972” and, in conjunction with the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum (now the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum in New York), organized exhibitions on these two themes in 2007 and 2008. Sutak subsequently authored companion books with the same titles.
Archival History
The lobby cards were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur
Scope and Content
Set of four re-release lobby cards for the American feature film, “They Won’t Forget,” released in the United States in 1937, and re-released in 1957. Lena Turner only appeared briefly on screen, but when the film was re-released 20 years later, she had become a big enough star that she was given top billing and featured on the marketing materials. “They Won’t Forget” was adapted from the 1936 novel, “Death in the Deep South,” which author Ward Greene based on the 1913 trial of Leo Frank. Frank was a Jewish man wrongly convicted of murdering a 13-year-old girl who worked at the factory he managed. Frank was sentenced to death, but after being commuted to a life sentence by Georgia’s governor in 1915, he was lynched by an angry mob. Rather than directly referencing the only Jewish lynching victim in American history, the creators of “They Won’t Forget” changed the defendant to a professor from the North who works in a small Southern town that is resentful of Northerners and proud of its Confederate history. While both Frank and his fictional counterparts were framed as a result of discrimination, it remains unknown who actually committed the murders. The re-release of the film was set against worsening racial tensions and the Civil Rights movement. In the South, the conflict over integration spawned increased violence towards Jews. This object is one of more than 1,200 objects in the Cinema Judaica Collection of materials related to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical themes.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Restrictions on use. Copyright status is unknown.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
.1 Lobby card with a large photographic image of a scene still printed on rectangular, off-white paper, with a white margin on all four sides. The image depicts a scene inside a courtroom, with a dark-haired man wearing a light gray suit and black tie standing in the center. His right hand is clenched in a fist and resting on his hip, while he looks sideways toward the left side of the image. His other arm is outstretched and pointing towards the right side of the image, where an older man is sitting between two younger men at a long, black wooden table. In the background, indistinct members of the audience are in a seating area that rises towards the back of the room, with others standing in the side aisle and in the back. Out of focus in the foreground, in the bottom left corner of the image, is the corner of a black courtroom stand. Inset into the lower right corner is a light blue rectangle, outlined in black and shaded with thin, dark blue hatched lines. Within the rectangle is a portrait of a light-haired woman, and a sketch of a lynching scene, printed in dark blue. To the left of the sketch are the names of leading cast members and the film title, printed in dark blue and red ink. Printing information is in blue ink in the bottom left margin. Depicted: Claude Rains as Andy Griffin, Donald Briggs as Harmon, Edward Norris as Robert Hale, Lana Turner as Mary Clay, others unidentified .2 Lobby card with a large photographic image of a scene still printed on rectangular, off-white paper, with a white margin on all four sides. The image depicts a crowd outside of a business college building. The building is constructed of red brick and gray stone with an ornately decorated, arched entrance flanked by signs advertising classes. Standing on the steps of the building are several uniformed police officers and men wearing brown suits and brimmed hats. On either side of the steps in front of the building are two groups of men and women, parted in the center by several uniformed police officers. Inset into the lower left corner is a light blue rectangle, outlined in black and shaded with thin, dark blue hatched lines. Within the rectangle is a portrait of a light-haired woman, and a sketch of a lynching scene, printed in dark blue. To the left of the sketch are the names of leading cast members and the film title, printed in dark blue and red ink. Printing information is in blue ink in the bottom left margin. The lower right corner is creased. Depicted: Claude Rains as Andy Griffin, Donald Briggs as Harmon, Lana Turner as Mary Clay, others unidentified .3 Lobby card with a large photographic image of a scene still printed on rectangular, off-white paper, with a white margin on all four sides. The image depicts a partially colorized behind-the-scenes image of four people posing on the street in front of a large building, decorated with bunting and a large awning on the right side. The four people are depicted in color, and include: a man in a brown suit, a dark-haired young woman wearing a red blouse and black skirt, an older man with a cane, dressed in a Confederate soldier’s uniform, and a shorter man wearing a white shirt and khaki trousers with a cigar in his mouth. In the background is a street front depicted in black-and-white with bystanders walking on the sidewalk, one of whom is holding a small Confederate flag. The awning above them is colored in red, but the rest of the building is in black-and-white. Inset into the lower left corner is a light blue rectangle, outlined in black and shaded with thin, dark blue hatched lines. Within the rectangle is a portrait of a light-haired woman, and a sketch of a lynching scene, printed in dark blue. To the left of the sketch are the names of leading cast members and the film title, printed in dark blue and red ink. Printing information is in blue ink in the bottom left margin. On the back, an inscription is handwritten in pencil. Depicted: Edward Norris as Robert Hale, Lana Turner as Mary Clay, others unidentified .4 Lobby card with a large photographic image of a scene still printed on rectangular, off-white paper, with a white margin on all four sides. The image depicts a partially colorized scene inside an office. On the left, a middle-aged man in a dark gray suit is standing behind a large desk, holding a cigar in his hand. He is looking towards three taller, younger men on the right, who are staring back at him. The man on the far right has longer hair and is wearing a gray suit. The man in the center is wearing a striped brown suit and leaning with both hands on the end of the desk. The third man is wearing a brown suit, holding a hat in his hand and pointing at the man behind the desk. Set into the lower right corner is a light blue rectangle, outlined in black and shaded with thin, dark blue hatched lines. Within the rectangle is a portrait of a light-haired woman, and a sketch of a lynching scene, printed in dark blue. To the left of the sketch are the names of leading cast members and the film title, printed in dark blue and red ink. Printing information is in blue ink in the bottom left margin. On the back, an inscription is handwritten in pencil. Depicted: Claude Rains as Andy Griffin, Elliott Sullivan as Luther Clay, Wilmer Hines as Ransom Clay, Trevor Bardette as Shattuck Clay
.3 back, center, handwritten, pencil : L. Turner .4 back, center, handwritten, pencil : C Raines [sic]
People
- Rains, Claude, 1889-1967.
- Sullivan, Elliott, 1907-1974.
- Briggs, Donald, 1911-1986.
- Turner, Lana, 1921-1995.
- Bardette, Trevor, 1902-1977.
- Hines, Wilmer, 1912-1960.
- Norris, Edward, 1911-2002.
Corporate Bodies
- Warner Bros. Pictures (1923-1967)
Subjects
- Film adaptations.
- Black and white films.
- Murder in motion pictures.
- Discrimination in motion pictures.
- United States.
- Actors and actresses.
Genre
- Object
- Posters
- Display cards.