Set of three scene stills for the film “The Last Chance” (1945)
Extent and Medium
.1: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
.2: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
.3: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
Creator(s)
- Praesens-Film (Production Company)
- Praesens-Film (Distributor)
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Distributor)
- 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 scene stills 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
Set of three scene stills for the film, “The Last Chance,” released in the United States in February 1945. Scene stills are photographs taken on or off the set of a motion picture and are then used as marketing and advertising tools. The film was originally released in Switzerland under the German title, “Die Letzte Chance,” in May 1945, and won the Grand Prize and the International Peace Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1946. The film is set in German-occupied Italy in 1943, and focuses on three Allied soldiers who escape a prisoner-of-war camp and join a group of 14 refugees making a perilous journey to the Swiss border. In reality, the refugees would probably not have been allowed to stay in Switzerland as the government had instituted very strict refugee laws. The lead actors playing the American and British soldiers were actual members of their respective militaries who escaped to Switzerland after being captured. Ray Reagan was in the U.S. Air Force, when his plane was shot down over enemy territory. John Hoy was a British Lieutenant who escaped from an Italian prison camp. E.G. Morrison was also a British soldier, who had been captured by the Germans in North Africa and sent to a camp in Italy, from which he escaped. In addition to the stars, the majority of the cast were also amateur actors. 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 Sepia-toned photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a scene inside a sparsely furnished room with vaulted ceilings. On the left side of the image, a woman and girl are sitting on a wooden bench, wearing ragged coats and scarves, and embracing one another. To the right of them are a small wooden desk and chair. On the other side of the desk are two men standing and watching them. The man on the left is shorter, and wearing a brimmed hat and cloak with buttons down the front. The man on the right is taller, wearing a military uniform, and holding a paper in one hand. In the bottom right corner of the image is white text, and in the bottom margin are three columns of small, black text. There is a small hole in the center of the bottom margin and staple holes in the corners. The paper is discolored overall, and the corners are worn from handling. Depicted: Therese Giehse as Frau Wittels, Leopold Biberti as Lt. Brunner, others unidentified .2 Sepia-toned photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts two men in military uniform sitting on a hillside surrounded by tall grass and trees. The man on the left is sitting with his arms propped on his knees, grasping one wrist with his other hand. The man on the right is looking at the first man, with his mouth open and hand resting on the other man’s arm. In the bottom right corner of the image is white text, and in the bottom margin are three columns of small, black text. The back of the photograph has many lines of large handwritten text in pencil, with the top line circled in red crayon, and a partial, red handstamp in the top left corner. Depicted: John Hoy as Lt. John Halliday, Ray Reagan as Sgt. James Braddock .3 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a solitary woman from the shoulders up, wearing a ragged coat and scarf. Her hair is pulled back, slightly mussed, and she is looking off to the right. The background is blurred. In the bottom left corner of the image is white text, and in the bottom margin are three columns of small, black text. In the corners and top margin are staple holes. Depicted: Therese Giehse as Frau Wittels
.2 back, top left corner, inverted, stamped, red ink : JUN 18 1946 TEL .2 back, top right corner, handwritten, pencil : 57 .2 back, center, sideways, handwritten, pencil: John Hay / and / Ray Reagan / in / “The Last Chance” / at / Loew [?] Elm St. theater / starts Wed / = = / [?] Tues Tel / 2802Y / 7033 / 2x4
Subjects
- United States.
- Foreign films.
- Italy.
- Cannes Film Festival.
- Liberty in motion pictures.
- Prisoners of war in motion pictures.
- Switzerland.
- Refugees in motion pictures.
- Soldiers in motion pictures.
- Heroes in motion pictures.
Genre
- Photographs
- Object
- Film stills.