One Touch of Venus (Three original publicity photographs featuring Ava Gardner from the 1948 film)

Universal City: Universal Pictures, 1948. Three vintage publicity photographs,including one double-weight contact photograph of Ava Gardner, one publicity photograph of Ava Gardner, and one publicity photograph of Gardner and Robert Walker, from the 1948 film. Two photographs with mimeo snipes affixed to the versos.

From the archive of noted Hollywood still photographer Ray Jones. Born in Wisconsin on January 1, 1901, Jones worked for Paramount Pictures in the early 1930s, and went on to be the head of the still photography department at Universal Pictures in 1935, where he worked well into the 1950s.

A modern take on the Pygmalion myth, based on the 1943 Broadway hit musical, with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by poet Ogden Nash, and a book co-written by Nash and S.J. Perelman, which was in turn based on the 1885 novella "The Tinted Venus" by Thomas Anstey Guthrie. An amorous window dresser at a department store kisses a decorative statue of Venus, unwittingly causing the statue to come to life in the form of Ava Gardner.

8 x 10 inches. Double-weight contact photograph, Near Fine. Two publicity photographs, Very Good plus.

Olive Films 654.