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The lobby cards were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur.
.1: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm) .2: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm) .3: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm) .4: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
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The Cinema Judaica Collection consists of more than 1,200 objects relating to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical subjects, from 1923 to 2000, from the United States, Europe, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. The collection was amassed by film memorabilia collector Ken Sutak, to document Holocaust-and Jewish-themed movies of the World War II era and the postwar years. The collection includes posters, lobby and photo cards, scene stills, pressbooks, trade ads, programs, magazines, books, VHS tapes, DVDS, and 78 rpm records. Sutak organized these materials into two groups, “Cinema Judaica: The War Years, 1939–1949” and “Cinema Judaica: The Epic Cycle, 1950–1972” and, in conjunction with the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum (now the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum in New York), organized exhibitions on these two themes in 2007 and 2008. Sutak subsequently authored companion books with the same titles.
Set of four lobby cards for the American feature film, “Women in Bondage,” released by Monogram Pictures in January 1944. Lobby cards were promotional materials placed in theater lobby windows to highlight specific movie scenes, rather than the broader themes often depicted on posters. The film depicts the degradation in status that women experienced in Nazi-controlled Germany. The protagonist, Margot Bracken, returns to Germany after years away, and has difficulties conforming to her new role in the Third Reich. To create their new Aryan Germany, throughout the 1930s, the Nazi government glorified Aryan German women who focused on the domestic sphere and raising children. From the age of 10, girls were compelled to join the Nazi League of German Girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel; BDM) and attended summer labor camps, where they were indoctrinated with gender appropriate Nazi ideology. The Nazis encouraged “racially pure” women to have multiple children, but banned those with handicaps or certain diseases from marrying. The government offered public support for families, and awarded the Cross of Honor of the German Mother to women who bore four or more children. Both the director and producer of “Women in Bondage” observed this culture first hand, as German Jews who fled Berlin after Hitler came to power in 1933. The writer of the original story also left Germany after his production company was seized and nationalized to make Nazi propaganda. This object is one of more than 1,200 objects in the Cinema Judaica Collection of materials related to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical themes.
Set of four lobby cards for the film “Women in Bondage” (1944)
.1 Lobby card with a large photographic image of a scene still printed on rectangular off-white cardstock, with a white margin on all four sides. The image depicts an officer with black-and-yellow striped epaulettes. He is kneeling next to a woman, grabbing her wrist with his right hand and the back of her head with his left. The woman is laying on the floor, wearing a yellow blouse, with her lower half obscured by a wall, and is looking upwards at the man. Inset in the bottom right corner of the image is the production company’s logo, printed in red. Above the image is a wide, faded, red banner containing the production company and film title in large, white text. Below the image is a black banner containing the cast names, printed in yellow, and separated by white stars. The printing information is in the bottom right corner, in blue. There are pinholes in the corners, and tears along the edges. There is a small loss along the left edge, and the bottom edge has several small holes and tears. There is heavy red paint, ink, and paper transfer adhered to the back of the card. Depicted: Nancy Kelly as Toni Hall, other unidentified .2 Lobby card with a large photographic image of a scene still printed on rectangular off-white cardstock, with a white margin on all four sides. The image depicts two Nazi officers, dressed in black military uniforms, and holding rifles at the ready. They are standing on a small wooden bridge over a creek and looking off in opposite directions. A woman in a yellow blouse is hanging by one arm below the bridge. The end of the bridge is partially covered with green vines, and there is a motorcycle with a sidecar sitting behind it. In the background is a wooded area with several small trees with green foliage. Inset in the bottom right corner of the image is the production company’s logo, printed in red. Above the image is a wide, red banner containing the production company and film title in large, white text. Below the image is a black banner containing the cast names, printed in yellow, and separated by white stars. The printing information is in the bottom right corner, in blue. There are pinholes in the corners and along the edges, and ink transfer from another image on the back. Depicted: Nancy Kelly as Toni Hall, others unidentified .3 Lobby card with a large photographic image of a scene still printed on rectangular off-white cardstock, with a white margin on all four sides. The image depicts two women and two uniformed Nazi officers on a landing in front of a building. One of the women, wearing a yellow dress and a blue headscarf, appears unconscious. Her head is in the lap of the other woman, who is wearing a blue shirt under a pink dress. To their right, one of the Nazi officers is kneeling while the other is standing, holding a pistol in his right hand. Inset in the bottom right corner of the image is the production company’s logo, printed in red. Above the image is a wide, faded, red banner containing the production company and film title in large, white text. Below the image is a black banner containing the cast names, printed in yellow, and separated by white stars. The printing information is in the bottom right corner, in blue. Distribution information is stamped and pressed on the back. There are pinholes in the corners, a large tear in the lower right edge, and the edges are stained and discolored. The cardstock is heavily discolored and worn with tape along the back, left edge Depicted: Nancy Kelly as Toni Hall, others unidentified .4 Lobby card with a large photographic image of a scene still printed on rectangular off-white cardstock, with a white margin on all four sides. The image depicts two women and a pastor inside of a church. The woman on the left is wearing a brown coat and netted covering over her head, and is holding a baby wrapped in a blue blanket. The woman on the right has blonde hair, and is wearing a ruffled pink blouse and black coat as she holds up her right hand. The pastor is standing between them, and they are all staring off into the distance. On the wall in the background are the shadows of an angel and a large candelabra. Inset in the bottom right corner of the image is the production company’s logo, printed in red and yellow. Above the image is a wide, red banner containing the production company and film title in large, white text. Below the image is a black banner containing the cast names, printed in yellow, and separated by white stars. The printing information is in the bottom right corner, in blue. There are many pinholes and tears in the corners and along the edges with losses in the upper left and lower right corners. The edges of the card are heavily stained and discolored, and there is ink transfer on the back. Left to Right: Gail Patrick as Margot Bracken, H.B. Warner as Pastor Renz, Maris Wrixon as Grete Ziegler .3 back, right end, stamped sideways, black ink : Independent Poster Exch. / 1323 Vine St. – Phila., Pa. .3 back, lower right corner, pressed and stamped, blue, ink : PROPERTY OF [illegible] CORP / [three lines of illegible text] / 9