Insert poster for the film “Sword in the Desert” (1949)
Extent and Medium
Overall: Height: 36.000 inches (91.44 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
Creator(s)
- Universal-International (Distributor)
- Universal-International (Production Company)
- 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 poster was 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
U.S. insert poster for the film, “Sword in the Desert,” released in the United States in August 1949. Insert posters were a popular size of film posters, often framed and used in special, small displays within a theater lobby. The film follows an American cargo ship captain who finds himself stranded in a Jewish settlement after smuggling a group of illegal Jewish immigrants to British-controlled Palestine. Initially self-interested and unsympathetic to the refugees, the captain has a change in heart after he is captured, imprisoned, and later escapes with them. “Sword in the Desert” was the first film made in Hollywood that depicted the Jewish struggle to establish the state of Israel in May 1948. Britain was given control of Palestine following World War I, and severely restricted the immigration of Jewish refugees who wanted to establish a new Jewish State. This led many refugees to enter the country via “illegal” or “clandestine” immigration on ships. The mass immigration of refugees also led to bitter clashes between the Arab locals and the Jewish paramilitary organization, the Haganah. The film received some criticism for portraying the British as villains, and not showing any of the conflict with the Arab population. In England, the film was perceived as anti-British and sparked outrage and several violent incidents. “Sword in the Desert” also established a new archetype of a rough-and-tumble female character that can hold her own with the Haganah fighters. 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
Poster printed on rectangular off-white paper, with illustrated images and a narrow, white border on all four sides. The poster depicts a yellow-and-orange desert landscape, with a dark blue sky covering the upper two-thirds of the image. In the sky on the left side, the production company and names of the leading actors are printed in large, white text. Below the names is a small-scale illustration depicting a man in a brown suit, who has just swung and hit another man wearing a green jumpsuit. The injured man is on his knees and falling backward, a raised pistol in one hand. To the right of the names is an oversized sword, the tip stuck in the top of the sandy ground and leaves emerging from near the guard. The sword breaks the upper two-thirds of the poster into two parts, the text to the left. To the right, overlaid on a yellow background are illustrations of five characters, decreasing in scale from top to bottom. The characters include a man wearing a captain’s hat, a woman with a rifle slung over her shoulder, a man holding up a submachine gun, a younger man looking up, and a man in a hat pulling the pin out of a grenade with his teeth. Below the characters is a smaller-scale scene of unidentifiable people engaging in a gunfight, with an orange explosion in the background. In the bottom third of the poster, the film title is printed in large, black text, creating shadows on the sand in the background. The film credits are printed in black along the bottom edge of the poster, and the bottom margin contains copyright and printing information in blue ink. The poster has several horizontal creases, and small tears along the edges. The poster is worn from use, and the edges are soiled. Depicted: Dana Andrews as Captain Mike Dillon, Märta Torén as Sabra, Stephen McNally as David Vogel, Jeff Chandler as Asvan Kurta, Liam Redmond as Jerry McCarthy
back, top right, handwritten and circled, black colored pencil : 1075 back, upper center, stamped, red ink : THEATRE POSTER EXCHANGE, INC. / 184 E. CALHOUN ST. / MEMPHIS, TENN. back, lower center, stamped and handwritten, red ink and pencil : SWORD IN THE DESERT / 1949 / THEATRE POSTER EXCHANGE, INC. / 184 E. CALHOUN ST. / MEMPHIS, TENN. back, bottom left, handwritten and stamped, black colored pencil over red ink : 3363 / 49 423
People
- McNally, Stephen, 1913-1994.
- Chandler, Jeff, 1918-1961.
- Toren, Marta, 1926-1957.
- Gilmore, Lowell, 1907-1960.
- Redmond, Liam, 1913-1989.
- Friend, Philip, 1915-1987.
- Rorke, Hayden, 1910-1987.
- Andrews, Dana, 1909-1992.
- French, Hugh, 1910-1976.
- Logan, Stanley, 1885-1953.
Subjects
- United States.
- Holocaust survivors in motion pictures.
- Palestine.
- Captivity in motion pictures.
- Action and adventure films.
- Armed Forces in motion pictures.
- Refugees in motion pictures.
- Nationalism in motion pictures.
- Zionism in motion pictures.
- Emigration and immigration in motion pictures.
Genre
- Posters
- Object
- Posters.