*Cecil B. DeMille's MALE AND FEMALE (1919) and 50 similar items

Vintage original 8x10 in. US single-weight glossy photograph from the classic teens silent film drama, MALE AND FEMALE, released in 1919 by Paramount Pictures and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Based upon the Broadway play, The Admirable Crichton, by James M Barrie, Lady Mary Lasenby (Gloria Swanson) is a spoiled maiden who always gets her way until shipwrecked with her butler (Thomas Meighan), then learns which qualities are really admirable in a person. The cast includes Theodore Roberts, Raymond Hatton, Robert Cain, Lila Lee, Bebe Daniels, Julia Faye, and Mamie Kelso. The image features an interior shot inside the Library of the Lasenby mansion as William Crichton, the Butler (Thomas Meighan), gives cleaning instructions to Tweeny, the scullery maid (Lila Lee). Printed with a beautiful matte finish, it is in fine- condition with light waviness, some small creases, and random signs of wear in the borders and a 6 in. diagonal mark (which is not a crease) starting from the bookcase and running downwards through Lila Lee's face and ending in the open space in the top of the library ladder (which is mostly visible when viewing the photo at an angle). There are no pinholes, tears, stains, or other flaws and the image quality is very sharp with fine detail and great contrast. Male and Female was the biggest hit during 1919 for Paramount Pictures. Star Gloria Swanson insisted on doing the film's famous sequence with the lions herself, even after director Cecil B. DeMille had scrapped the idea for safety reasons. According to Swanson in her 1980 autobiography, there were two trainers on the set, along with Swanson's father.