Cavanders Set of 30 Cinema Stars 1934

Our set of the month for Decemberis one which is puzzling in many respects. The Godfrey Phillipsgroup of companies issued seven different series of cinema starscards between 1924 and 1934. Our set, known as "Set 6"comprises thirty hand-coloured pictures issued with Cavanders"Army Club" cigarettes in 1934, according to thecatalogue. We suspect it was issued slightly earlier. There areclues - Vilma Banky is noted as having been voted most popularactress in 1927. Early talkies such as "The Jazz Singer"and "The Ghost Train" (1928) are mentioned. Dolores DelRio was born in 1904 and we are told she married for the second timeat the age of 26 - which takes us to 1930. (Incidentally, anotherDolores, Dolores Costello was married to John Barrymore). But therethe date clues run out, except by omission - for instance BebeDaniels' prominent role in "42nd Street" is not includedin her list, so we're going to stick our necks out and suggest thisset dates from around 1932, and certainly pre-October 1933 becauseno review ever appeared in Card Collectors News, which beganpublication that month. Strangely, Esther Ralston appears twice inthe set - at numbers 10 and 29 - both with exactly the same textsbut different portraits. Why? This set leaves many questionsunanswered and could provide film buffs with a lot of researchopportunities!

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