CAROLE LOMBARD AT RKO (1940) Studio portrait

[Los Angeles: RKO, 1940]. Vintage original 8 1/4 x 10″ (21 x 25 cm.) black-and-white double weight glossy silver gelatin photo. About fine.

Carole Lombard did a few films at RKO during the 1939-41 period. In 1940 she played a nurse in the drama Vigil in the Night and a mail-order bride in Garson Kanin’s comedy/drama They Knew What They Wanted. This portrait was to publicize those films as well as her just finished film Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which would be released in Jan. 1941. The only screwball comedy directed by Alfred Hitchcock, he asked Carole to direct his cameo; she asked him to do multiple takes. And it was she who talked him into doing a kind of film that was not typical for his work.

Her gown, still contemporary, is likely made by her favorite designer, Irene. Jewels by Joseff of Hollywood. RKO ink stamp dated 1940 on verso.