Danny Thomas at Chicago’s 5100 Club (1943)

June 22nd, 2008 by Scott Marks

Located at 5100 N. Broadway Avenue, The 5100 Club was a forerunner of contemporary stand-up comedy clubs. When struck by a sentimental pang, my mother would pull out the enormous satchel that housed the Marks/Aaronson Tribe Archives.

This 5 x 8 souvenir photo was taken April 4, 1943. Mom spoke very fondly of the nights she and various family members spent watching Danny Thomas perform at the club. This was before television and the 5100 was not only “Chicago’s Greatest Entertainment Value,” it offered desperately needed relief for families whose brothers, sons and husbands were off fighting Hitler and Tojo.

According to the Daily Catholic’s equivalent of People Magazine’s 100 Sexiest People list, Danny Thomas placed 86 on the Top 100 Catholics of the Century. While failing to mention his coveted recipe for Eggs Danny Thomas Style, the ecumenical electronic tabloid does provide this blessed bio.

As a struggling radio actor, Danny fell to his knees before the Blessed Sacrament and asked: “Help me find my place in life and I will build You a shrine where the poor and the helpless and the hopeless may come for comfort and aid.” The BS put him in touch with the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus who suggested he change his name from Amos Jacob to Danny Thomas. In no time the beak-nosed Thomas was hired by the club as their head funnyman.

Leo Salkin booked him into the Uptown club for $75 a week and within a year Danny was the star attraction raking in $500. Abe Lastfogel, head of the William Morris Agency, took over as his personal manager, brought his star to New York and eventually Hollywood where he became an overnight sensation on ABC-TV’s Make Room For Daddy.

This happy gathering looks like something out of The 3 Stooges Scrapbook, but it’s my family. Back row: Unidentified, my maternal grandparents Benjamin and Elizabeth Aaronson, my aunt Gen and Mom. Front row: PRC bit player, my aunt and uncle Sarah and Jerry Glickman and my beloved Aunt Syl.

Tags: 5100 Club, Aaronson, Chicago, Comedy Club, Danny Thomas, Eggs Danny Thomas Style, Nightclub, Niteclub, Vintage, World War II

Filed Under Image Blog

New Photos Added: Dolly Parton, Cary Grant, Mae West, John Ford, WRITTEN ON THE WIND, Sexy Smokers, Pope John XXXIII, Travis Bickle, etc.

June 21st, 2008 by Scott Marks

Drew Barrymore - 2 Photos from Cat’s Eye (1985)

Howard Hawk’s Bringing Up Baby (1938) - 5 New Photos Added

Celebrity Endorsements

Travis Bickle for Underhill Records
Dolly Parton Wigs

Cary Grant - 10 New Photos Added

Howard Hawks’ Land of the Pharaohs (1955) - 1 New Photo Added

Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin & Harpo Marx

Logos
Shaw Scope Logo

All-Star Myra Breckinridge Lobby Card (1970) - John Huston, Raquel Welch, Mae West, Rex Reed and “director” Michael Sarne

Shine a Light (2008) Berlin Film Festival premiere

Smokey the Bear - “Don’t Play With Matches” bookmark

“Which one of you criminali has a match?”

Smoking is Sexy

Asia Argento, Lauren Bacall, Ana Beatriz Barros, Linda Blair, Cher, Bette Davis, Francoise Dorleac & Catherine Deneuve, Sasha Grey, Rita Hayworth, Grace Jones, Carole Lombard, Virginia Madsen, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Pare, Sarah Jessica Parker, Robin Wright Penn, Michelle Phillips, Nikki Reed, Anna Nicole Smith, Liv Tyler, Evan Rachel Wood, Evan Rachel Wood and Nikki Reed,

John Ford’s The Sun Shines Bright (1953) - 7 Lobby Cards

Taxi Driver Insert Poster

Douglas Sirk’s Written on the Wind (1956) - 8 Lobby Cards

Tags: Ads, Bringing Up Baby, Cary Grant, Celebrity, Dean Martin, Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton wigs, Douglas Sirk, Drew Barrymore, Harpo Marx, Howard Hawks, Jerry Lewis, John Ford, Land of the Pharaohs, Lobby Cards, Mae West, Martin Scorsese, Myra Breckinridge, New Photos, Photo, Raquel Welch, Shaw Scope, SHINE A LIGHT, Smokey the Bear, TAXI DRIVER, The Rolling Stones, THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT, Travis Bickle, Vintage, Written on the Wind

Filed Under Image Blog

New Photos Added: THE BLUES BROTHERS, Cary Grant, MR. HOBBS TAKES A VACATION, Jacqueline Bisset, TAXI DRIVER, Evan Rachel Wood, etc.

May 25th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr in Leo McCarey’s An Affair to Remember - 3 New Photos Added

Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat (1953) - 1 New Photo Added (It needed a little Lee Marvin)

Jacqueline Bisset - Gallery with 10 Vintage Photos Added

Dan Aykroyd & John Belushi in John Landis’ The Blues Brothers (1980) - 16 New Photos Added

Ad for Jan Murray & Toni Arden at The Copacabana

Alfred Hitchcock & Cary Grant on the set of “Notorious” (1946)

Cary Grant - 14 New Photos Added

Barely any thought went into the CinemaScope compositions…

…did you really think they were going to crop the Special Effects guy from a promo still?

A childhood guilty pleasure: James Stewart & Maureen O’Hara in Henry Koster’s Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) - Gallery with 11 Photos Added

British quad from Mel Brooks’ The Producers (1968) *

Nicholas Ray - 3 New Photos Added

Smoking is Sexy
Gloria G-r-r-r-r-ahame

One graven image from Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976)

Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956) - Lobby Card Set Added

Evan Rachel Wood - 14 New Photos Added

Thanks to Lilo, Chaplin & Rob Colonna for their contributions!

Tags: 8 x 10, AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, Cary Grant, Cecil B. DeMille, Copacabana, Dan Aykroyd, Evan Rachel Wood, Gloria Grahame, Images, Jacqueline Bisset, James Stewart, Jan Murray, John Belushi, Lee Marvin, MR. HOBBS TAKES A VACATION, Nicholas Ray, Photos, Pics, Pix, Stills, TAXI DRIVER, THE BIG HEAT, THE BLUES BROTHERS, The Copa, THE PRODUCERS, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, Travis Bickle, Vintage

Filed Under Image Blog, News

New Photos Added: Woodstock Jewelry, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, Mattel Hot Wheels, THE LONG GOODBYE, Godard’s CONTEMPT, Toys, Cindy Crawford and Aurora models

May 10th, 2008 by Scott Marks

The curse of “Adventure Comics”: First Marilyn, then JFK. Will Jerry be next?

Cartoon All-Stars
Let’s Rap With Superman! Take this groovy 2 page survey and see if you and the Man of Steel agree on everything from astrology and pollution to “black people” and “other problems.” Part 1 and Part 2

Celebrity Endorsements
Pat Boone for Pat Boone Magazine, 1959

Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - 5 Lobby Cards & 6 Photo