Actor David Manners is shown here in from a film he had acted in just a month away from appearing as John Harker in Universal's DRACULA. The atmospheric photograph is from THE RIGHT TO LOVE and appeared in THE NEW MOVIE magazine (January 1931).
The photographer was Earl Crowley (1902-1983). Crowley was a Hollywood glamour and stills photographer of the 1930's (Note: His work for THE RIGHT TO LOVE is missing from the list of his films on IMDB).
Included here are several shots of the first Chinese-American actress, Anna May Wong (sometimes identified as Anna Mae Wong) by Crowley. Also included is a shot of Miss Wong with a pre-FRANKENSTEIN Colin Clive on the deck of the Aquitania en route to London. Wong created a stir in one of the plays she appeared in when she kissed a white actor.
One wonders what Dr. Gogol might have written had he sent a Valentine's Day card to the lovely Yvonne!
Rivaling Universal's THE BLACK CAT in its litany of perversities, MGM's MAD LOVE (a,k.a. THE HANDS OF ORLAC) reads like a What's What of the unnatural: Obsession, lust, greed, lunacy, fetishism, you name it.
Peter Lorre really got into his role as the sinister surgeon and eschewed the bald head cap for the barber's razor to shave his head. Just a couple of years away from his alcohol-related death, Colin Clive plays his usual hysteric role as a famous pianist who loses both his hands. His wife, Yvonne Orlac, is the hapless victim of the diabolical Dr. Gogol's twisted love. Played by Frances Drake, can you blame him?
Here are a trio of startling studio photograph negatives of Peter Lorre (one shown above) in his role, probably shot by Clarence Sinclair Bull. Following is a little story to read to your Valentine today, the Filmbook of MAD LOVE from FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #63 (March 1970).
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| Gogol by Gogos. |