Languorous Pre-Code Seductress Mary Duncan in Kismet 1930 Original Photograph

Description

ITEM: This is a vintage and original Warner Bros. production still photograph featuring a languorous and seductive view of actress Mary Duncan as a pre-Code temptress in the 1930 adventure fantasy film "Kismet". The film is now considered lost.
Mary Duncan started her career playing Broadway leads during the 1920s. In 1927 she turned to films where she was typically cast as evil seductresses through the early sound period. She left films in 1933 to marry wealthy polo star Stephen 'Laddie' Sanford. She devoted her remaining years to philanthropic work.
Photograph measures 10" x 8" on a glossy single weight paper stock. Ink stamps on verso.
Guaranteed to be 100% vintage and original from Grapefruit Moon Gallery.
More about Mary Duncan:
Virginia-born Mary Duncan went to Hollywood after critics praised her acting in the lead in "The Shanghai Gesture" on Broadway. While making Five and Ten (1931), she became friends with the film's lead, Marion Davies. The two women attended a polo match, where Davies introduced Duncan to Stephen "Laddie" Sanford, an international polo star and director of the Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company. She and Sanford married in 1933, after which she retired from films and moved with him to Palm Beach, Florida. They also maintained three homes in the New York area.
In retirement, she devoted herself to philanthropic works, doing in major fund-raising for several charities. In addition, the Sanfords were socially very prominent, and for many years the former Mary Duncan reigned as the grande dame of Palm Beach society. A neighbor who became a close friend was Rose Kennedy, mother of President John F. Kennedy. Those whom the Sanfords entertained at their mansion included the King and Queen of Jordan and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. She continued her charity work until very late in life, and died quietly in her sleep, aged 98.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Don Marion