City Streets (Paramount, 1931). One Sheet (26 X 39.5") Style A.. ...

Based on a story by renowned hard-boiled crime author Dashiell Hammett and directed by Rouben Mamoulian (in his second turn in the director's chair), this is the story of The Kid (Gary Cooper ), a shooting gallery showman, who falls in love with Nan (Sylvia Sidney), the daughter of mob boss Pop Cooley (Guy Kibbee). When Nan takes the rap for a murder committed by her father, The Kid joins Pop's gang in order to help gain Nan's freedom, and things go downhill from there, ending with a thrilling high-speed car chase.
The role of Nan was originally intended for Clara Bow, and, indeed, represented the last of five pictures she was contractually obligated to make for Paramount. However, a major nervous breakdown brought on by the pressures of fame, overwork, numerous public scandals, and an intense and very hurtful lawsuit against her former secretary and confidante Daisy DeBoe, led Bow to check herself into a sanatorium. Mercifully, Paramount released her from the final picture of her contract, giving the role to up-and-comer Sylvia Sidney instead in one of her earliest screen roles. As such, Bow's career was all but over, while Sidney's would continue to grow, coming to an end only with her death in 1999. The stunning stone litho one sheet offered here, which features portraits of Cooper and Sidney, is rendered in a full-bleed style that Paramount experimented with in the very early 1930s. For another example, see the Style B one sheet for Dishonored (1931), also offered in this auction. This particular gem had tears in the borders, image area, and background, as well as a chip in the top right corner, and one over Cooper's left eye. These minor flaws have all been addressed by expert professional restoration, returning this highly desirable beauty to a like-new appearance. From the Berwick Discovery. Fine+ on Linen.