This picture, an 8x10 glossy, fell into my posession a couple of years ago. An art student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville found it while cleaning out a store room, and he though I would like it. I’m interested to know what street corner this is, though I have nothing to go on. I don’t think it’s in Huntsville. I’d also like to know when the picture was taken. I assume it was in the thirties or fourties because of 1) the image of what appears to be an old style of car,
the old style of clock post which, incidentally, is identical to one which appears in the movie They Live by Night 1949, 3) the number, the last two digits of which might be the year.
A couple of curious points about this photo:
There is no street sign on the corner, or markings on the street.
The clock post is sitting on a pallate. My best guess for a reason here is that perhaps it’s a movie studio. But why leave the pallate in the picture?
There are clearly two light sources, but they don’t seem high up enough to be street lamps.
Maybe the guy is a movie star, and I just don’t recognize him. Do you?
My eyes have started going bad and I haven’t sen any AMC in a couple of years, but it looks like a movie still (promotional photo) with Dick Powell as a tough-guy detective.
Yeah, I say movie still – that would account for the lighting too, wouldn’t it? (and the very clean streets and no signs) don’t think it’s Dick Powell, but he seems familiar. Doubt if a promotional pic would include the pallet. Maybe they were setting up for filming (rehearsal?), and someone on the set just took the pic for himself. How about those numbers in the lower left corner?Maybe they’re a clue - is 38 the year? If they’re a code, someone in the film industry might be able to help. There must a film museum, archives, association or some kind of organization that could help.
This looks like a production still rather than a publicity shot , probably taken by that Smith character,it doesn’t have the “action”, drama, or closeup character of a pub shot. . It is not a print made from a frame of the movie or a personal grabshot. The pallet is probably attached to that clock,for ease in moving and storing it. It would not have been included in the scene, except in a long shot, then the pallet would not have ben noticed or would have been taken as a concrete platform, or it could have been removed before filming. Production shots are used to test lighting, camera angles, makeup,etc. maybe in this case testing the rain look.
Smith was either a studio photographer or an archivest , the code on the back makes me think archivest, though nost codes I have seen use the year somewhere. The code on the front looks like the ones a photographer would use. Those numbers could be anything from studio production ,Scene number, take number, photog’s picture number, to film roll number frame number, the 38 may be the year or a coincedence .Tracking down that Smith guy would help.Tracking down an Eisenhammerlichstien who might have a connection with Hollywood photography would be a lot easier. If it is a production still , the guy could be a stand in. It is not Dick Powell, though the LS hat angle is real similar, and similarity of eyes in CS. I had a flash of Wells in the long shot, but not the blow up. Stronger flash of Ray Miland in the long shot, slightly in the blowup. I also have that sense of " It’s that guy, you know he was in that movie with whatsername." He is familiar but I can’t quite get it .I get a monthly newsletter from a character actor website, dedicated to just that feeling… I haven’t bookmarked that site, but will do so for this thread, when I get my next newsletter i will send them the photo and get back to you. I am almost positive that this IS a production still.
“Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx
