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Walter Huston was born Walter Houghston in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1884. His parents were of Scottish descent, and he grew up to become an engineer, but he also acted on the stage. In 1909, he quit engineering and devoted all his energies to acting. But it wasn't until 1924 that he made his Broadway debut, and his film debut five years later. In his sixth movie (still in 1929), he got the important part of Trampas in The Virginian (opposite Gary Cooper and Richard Arlen), which was made in both a silent and sound version. The following year Huston played the title role in D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln, and he was a major star, at the age of 46! He was much in demand, and made 17 movies between 1931 and 1933 alone! I have sought out and seen many of these movies, and highly recommend them, especially Gabriel Over the White House, a most unusual fantasy that has the President of the U.S. possessed by a heavenly spirit, who uses radical methods to fight the Great Depression. In 1936, Huston played my favorite role of his, that of Sam Dodsworth in Dodsworth (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film). I am a major fan of Sinclair Lewis' books, but I feel William Wyler improved on the source novel, and Huston, Ruth Chatterton, and Mary Astor were perfect in their portrayals ("Love has to stop somewhere short of suicide")! He later received praise for his work in Yankee Doodle Dandy (nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for this film). Another great later Huston portrayal was as "Mr. Scratch" in William Dieterle's All That Money Can Buy, and it is another film I highly recommend! Huston was married three times, and his first marriage (from 1904 to 1912) produced a child, John, who had begun acting and screenwriting in 1930, but it was not until 1941 that John could get hired as a director, and it was on Warner Bros third try at adapting The Maltese Falcon (John also wrote the screenplay). His dad Walter played the part of Capt. Jacobi unbilled as a favor to his son. In 1948, John directed The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and dad Walter superbly played one of the three lead roles (opposite equally superb Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt) and John deservedly won the Best Director and Screenplay Oscars, and Walter won the Best Supporting Oscar, saying, "Many years ago.... Many, MANY years ago, I brought up a boy, and I said to him, 'Son, if you ever become a writer, try to write a good part for your old man sometime.' Well, by cracky, that's what he did!" Walter Huston died the following year, but in the movie September Affair, they re-used Huston's old recording of September Song (from the 1938 play, Knickerbocker Holiday) and it was released as a single and went to #1! Walter Huston was a superlative actor, able to play both hero and villain, and I highly recommend all of his movies, especially those specifically noted above! Huston passed away in 1950 at the age of 67 AND Barbara Stanwyck (born Ruby Catherine Stevens) was a major female star from the 1920s to the 1980s. She was an immediate hit in sexy "bad girl" parts in the very early 1930s, and in 1931, she was described as "the girl with the Mona Lisa smile". Some of her movies include: Stella Dallas (nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for this film), Double Indemnity (nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for this film), The Lady Eve, Meet John Doe, Ball Of Fire (nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for this film), Sorry, Wrong Number (nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for this film), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, and scores of others! In her later years, she took a starring role on TV's "The Big Valley", and "The Colbys" (as spin-off of "Dynasty"). She passed away in 1990 at the age of 82 AND Hal B. Wallis was a legendary producer from the 1930s to the 1970s. He made many great crime and film noir movies, and just a few of his many successes include: I Walk Alone, Sorry Wrong Number, True Grit, and The Sons of Katie Elder. He was first married to actress Louise Fazenda, and then later to actress Martha Hyer. He passed away in 1986 at the age of 87.

Important Added Info: Note that this still was consigned to us by legendary collector/dealer Marty Davis! Marty was hired in 1972 to evaluate the entire collection of W. Ward Marsh (1893-1971), who was the film critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper from 1919, until his retirement in 1970. In 1919 Marsh wrote his first of 23,000 movie reviews for the Plain Dealer. Marsh died less than a year after his retirement in 1970. His library, and photographic and memorabilia archives were given to the proprietor of Cleveland's finest bookstore. Marty Davis was the first person with a background in film history and collectibles to examine the archives. He worked for three to four hours a day, for six months, and his compensation was his pick of the archives. This still is from the W. Ward Marsh archives, and it was stamped on the back by Marty Davis to indicate that it came from this legendary collection. Also note that this still measures 7 1/2" x 9 1/4" [19 x 23 cm], but it has not been trimmed.

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