us-005578-irn614181-irn692997
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn614181-irn692997/alternateIDs/4
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn614181-irn692997/alternateIDs/3
scope and content: Set of eight lobby cards for the film, “Sword in the Desert,” released in the United States in August 1949. Lobby cards are promotional materials placed in theater lobby windows to highlight specific movie scenes, rather than the broader themes often depicted on posters. The film follows an American cargo ship captain who finds himself stranded in a Jewish settlement after smuggling a group of illegal Jewish immigrants to British-controlled Palestine. Initially self-interested and unsympathetic to the refugees, the captain has a change in heart after he is captured, imprisoned, and later escapes with them. “Sword in the Desert” was the first film made in Hollywood that depicted the Jewish struggle to establish the state of Israel in May 1948. Britain was given control of Palestine following World War I, and severely restricted the immigration of Jewish refugees who wanted to establish a new Jewish State. This led many refugees to enter the country via “illegal” or “clandestine” immigration on ships. The mass immigration of refugees also led to bitter clashes between the Arab locals and the Jewish paramilitary organization, the Haganah. The film received some criticism for portraying the British as villains, and not showing any of the conflict with the Arab population. In England, the film was perceived as anti-British and sparked outrage and several violent incidents. “Sword in the Desert” also established a new archetype of a rough-and-tumble female character that can hold her own with the Haganah fighters. 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.
is or was included in: us-005578-irn614181
identifier: irn692997
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn614181-irn692997/alternateIDs/2
has or had some members with language: eng
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
title: Set of eight lobby cards for the film “Sword in the Desert” (1949)
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn614181-irn692997/acquisitions/1
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: .1 Lobby card printed on rectangular, off-white cardstock, with a narrow white margin on all four sides, and illustrations in the center. Across the top of the card are two lines of red advertising copy over a white background below. The center of the card has a large, rectangular, orange background. Across the top are the names of the principal cast members, printed in large, black text. Below is the film title in red-and-white block text. Behind the title are faint shadows cast by the letters and a small sword entwined in a leafy vine. On the left side of the card is an illustration of four people: a kneeling man and woman armed with guns, a man lying face-down with a gun below his hand, and a man crouched down wearing a captain’s hat and holding a flashlight. At the bottom of the card is a night scene of people engaged in a gunfight in a camp. On the left, a group of fighters are shown with a tank, in front of an exploding barracks and a tower with a searchlight. On the right, people are emerging from a fence topped with razor wire. The film credits are printed in black along the bottom edge of the poster, and the bottom margin contains copyright and printing information in blue ink. The edges are dirty and worn, and on the left and right sides are small rectangles of tape residue. There is faint ink transfer from another image on the back. Depicted: Dana Andrews as Captain Mike Dillon, Märta Torén as Sabra, Stephen McNally as David Vogel, others unidentified .2 Lobby card printed on rectangular off-white cardstock, with a narrow white margin on all four sides and a photographic image in the center. The image depicts a woman with dark, curly hair and wearing a brown jacket and pants, standing in a room surrounded by four men in dark blue military uniforms. Her head is turned toward the uniformed man wearing a beret, on the left side of the image. Overlaid on the left side of the image is a large red-and-white wedge. In the top, narrower section is an illustration…
history: The lobby cards were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur.
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn614181-irn692997/alternateIDs/1
has record set type: Item
type: RecordSet
conditions of use: Restrictions on use. Copyright status is unknown.
date: 1949 August 24
record resource extent: .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) .5: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm) .6: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm) .7: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm) .8: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
history: 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.
has or had holder: us-005578