Set of three lobby cards for the film “Espionage Agent" (1939)
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)
Creator(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures (Production Company)
- Ken Sutak (Compiler)
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
Lobby cards for the American feature film “Espionage Agent” released by Warner Bros. Pictures in September 1939. Lobby cards are promotional materials placed in theater lobby windows to highlight specific movie scenes, rather than the broader themes often depicted on posters. In “Espionage Agent,” Barry Corvall is a rookie diplomat who discovers that his new bride has been serving as an undercover agent for the Germans. He resigns from the diplomatic service, and the couple travels to Europe to expose a German spy ring. This was the first American film to utilize the premise of compromised or divided family loyalties. “Espionage Agent” makes an argument for a foreign intelligence service, more than three years before the establishment of the Office of Strategic Services (the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency). It was also the first to portray Germany as intent on destroying the American military, and was released weeks after the German invasion of Poland. 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 cardstock, from the film “Espionage Agent.” The image depicts one character sitting and three characters standing in an office setting. In the upper left corner is a striped blue, circular frame with an inset image of a movie poster in the center. The paper has a margin that ranges from half to three quarter inch and is yellowed. The back of the card is discolored and stained, and there is a small number handwritten in the upper left corner. Left to right: Jeffrey Lynn as Lowell Warrington, Howard C. Hickman as Walter Forbes, Joel McCrea as Barry Corvall, Brenda Marshall as Brenda Ballard .2 Lobby card with a large photographic image of a scene still printed on rectangular off-white cardstock, from the film “Espionage Agent.” The image shows two men in color; one sitting and one standing in an office setting ,on a grayscale background. In the lower left corner is a striped blue circular frame with an inset image of a movie poster in the center. The paper has a margin that ranges from half to five-eighths inch and is yellowed. The back of the card is discolored and stained. A small number handwritten in pencil is in the upper left corner, and a large number is written upside-down in black in the center. Left to right: George Bancroft as Dudley Garrett, Joel McCrea as Barry Corvall .3 Lobby card with a large photographic image of a scene still printed on a rectangle of off-white cardstock, from the film “Espionage Agent.” The image shows two men and a woman in color, standing over a grayscale background. In the lower left corner is a striped blue circular frame with an inset image of a movie poster in the center. The paper has a margin that ranges from half to five-eighths of an inch and is yellowed. The upper left corner is torn off, and the back is discolored and stained. A small number handwritten in pencil is in the upper left corner, and several large numbers are written in ink in near the top of the page. Left to right: Jeffrey Lynn as Lowell Warrington, Brenda Marshall as Brenda Ballard, Howard C. Hickman as Walter Forbes
.1 back, top left corner, handwritten, pencil: 35- .2 back, top left corner, handwritten, pencil: 20- .2 back, center, handwritten upside-down, black ink: 1231 .3 back, top left corner, handwritten, pencil: 10- .3 back, top, handwritten, black ink: 261 / 56 / 221 / 317
People
- Marshall, Brenda, 1915-1992.
- McCrea, Joel, 1905-1990.
- Lynn, Jeffrey, 1909-1995.
- Bancroft, George, 1882-1956.
Corporate Bodies
- Warner Bros. Pictures (1923-1967)
Subjects
- World War (1939-1945)
- Espionage, German--United States.
- Motion pictures--History--20th century.
- Nazis--United States--Drama.
- Spy films.
- Historical films.
- United States.
- Spies--Drama.
- Geneva (Switzerland)
- Germany.
Genre
- Object
- Display cards.
- Posters