*The Struggle (1931) Hal Skelly & Zita and 32 similar items

This is a vintage original 22x28 in. US half-sheet poster from the 1930's urban drama, THE STRUGGLE, released in 1931 by United Artists and directed by D.W. Griffith. Featuring a screen story by the husband-and-wife team of Anita Loos and John Emerson, a young couple's (Hal Skelly, Zita Johann) marriage is jeopardized by the husband's descent into alcoholism. The cast includes Charlotte Wynters, Evelyn Baldwin, Jackson Halliday, Edna Hagan, Claude Cooper, Arthur Lipson, Charles Richman, and Helen Mack. The Struggle marks an extremely important milestone in the career of director D.W. Griffith, as it was the final film that he directed. The image features beautiful artwork depicting Jimmy Wilson (Hal Skelly) in the arms of another woman as he gazes away from her while thinking about his wife (Zita Johann) and child (Edna Hagan) at waiting for him at home. Of note are their two glasses of alcohol with a looming shadow of a bottle of alcohol in the lower foreground. This simple design is very effective at conveying the film's central message. This half-sheet poster is unrestored in good- condition only with paper loss across the top border and into the background area in the top left section; paper loss in the right and bottom borders; creases of various sizes along the left edge; and small areas of paper loss and a water stain in the left border (which goes into the background area). The color tints are fresh and vibrant without any signs of fading since 1931 and this half-sheet can easily be restored to replace the missing paper. The poster has been stored inside a large half-sheet plastic sleeve with cardboard backing and we did not remove it to photograph it, so you may see areas of glare which are not on the actual poster itself. This poster will be shipped flat, as it should not be rolled due to the thicker paper stock it was printed on. The Struggle marked the first film appearance of stage actress Zita Johann, who is perhaps best remembered today for her portrayal of "Helen Grosvenor" in the classic 1932 Universal horror film, The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff and directed by Karl Freund. Throughout the film's production, there was great tension between Johann and Freund, who disliked each other immensely. According to Johann, on the first day of filming, Freund attempted to portray her to the producers as a temperamental actress who was very hard to work with. On March 2, 1936, D.W. Griffith married cast-member Evelyn Baldwin and they remained married until 1947. David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Widely considered as the most important filmmaker of his generation, he pioneered financing of the feature-length movie. His film The Birth of a Nation (1915) made investors a profit, but also attracted much controversy, as it depicted African-Americans in a negative light and glorified the Ku Klux Klan. Intolerance (1916) was made as an answer to his critics, but not as an apology for the negative images of African-Americans in film. Several of Griffith's later films were also successful, including Hearts of the World (1918), Broken Blossoms (1919), Way Down East (1920), and Orphans of the Storm (1921), but the high costs he incurred for production and roadshow promotions often led to commercial failure. He had made roughly 500 films by the time of his final feature, The Struggle (1931). Together with Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, he founded United Artists, enabling them to control their own interests, rather than depending on commercial studios.