Lobby card for the film “Mad Men of Europe" (1940)
Extent and Medium
Overall: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
Creator(s)
- Aldwych Films (Production Company)
- Columbia Pictures Corporation (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 lobby card 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
Lobby card for the feature film, “Mad Men of Europe,” originally released as “An Englishman's Home” in Great Britain. It was released in the United States on June 26, 1940, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. Lobby cards were promotional materials placed in theater lobby windows to highlight specific movie scenes, rather than the broader themes often depicted on posters. Based on a 1909 English play, and first made into a silent film in 1914, the movie depicts the German invasion of England, months before the actual assault on Western Europe began in May. Although Germany never occupied Britain, the film seemed prophetic. Britain’s neighbor and ally, France, was invaded by Germany and was forced to sign an armistice agreement with on June 22, just days before the film’s release in the United States. 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
Lobby card with a large photographic image of a scene still printed on rectangular, off-white paper, from the film “Mad Men of Europe. The photo depicts a group of soldiers in brown uniforms with helmets and rifles, standing inside the living room of a home. The image is outlined by a white border and sits within a rectangular frame with a curved left edge, layered over a large, red, rectangular background. Overlapping the curved edge of the image, on the left side, is a black-and-white illustration of a soldier in uniform, carrying a rifle with the bayonet angled down while striding forward. The names of the principal actors are printed in white at the top, while the film title and production company are printed in yellow and white text across the bottom. The production company logo is printed in the lower right corner. The copyright information is printed in blue ink within the bottom margin. The upper left corner is torn and now missing. On the back, there is faint ink transfer on the left side, and a residue on the lower right.
back, top right corner, handwritten, black ink : B
People
- Gwenn, Edmund, 1875-1959.
- Maguire, Mary, 1919-1974.
- Henreid, Paul.
Subjects
- War films.
- United States.
- Soldiers in motion pictures.
- Film remakes.
- Foreign films.
- Film adaptations.
- Great Britain.
- Motion pictures--Distribution.
- Armed Forces in motion pictures.
Genre
- Display Cards.
- Object
- Posters