The Flying Deuces, starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and some others.

I found this recently, I don't often search for publicity photos from this well known L&H movie, but sometimes you get lucky. It's a big photo, not the standard 8x10, so it did not fit on the scanner that well. Something had to give in order to keep the French caption intact (I bought it from a French vendor).  I think one of "Georgettes Girlfriends" as they are credited got a little taken off the top. While it is a great photo, I must have missed something in the translation. It is not over 70 years old, and looked to be on pretty new paper. It is likely a screen pull, that someone thought they could make a buck (or Euro) on.

Bonnie Bannon, far right. Jean Shepard, third from left. The other two?  Beats me.

             I am somewhat proud of Bonnie in this movie, as she is the only "girlfriend" in the movie that has any dialog, scant as it may be. As I had only known Nana after she turned 50 or so, her voice was much different than this, but not as deep as her former roommate, Lucille Ball's. It is my understanding that this particular L&H is not only popular because it is pretty good, but because T.V. stations across the nation got to broadcast it for free, from the early 1950's onward. The exact reasoning of which, I don't completely understand, or wish to bore you with.

Happy Easter, 2013.

Hard to recall when I picked this one up, but I thought as it is Easter Sunday (still) in my part of the world (Southern California) that I would put up this somewhat whimsical pic. I think the back-side has one of those descriptions (captions?) of what you are looking at. Sadly, I do not have the time right now to look through my extensive collection of her scanned photos to find it and add it. I am pretty sure that Mary Lange is on the far right. I put this on my Facebook page today as well, and one of Bonnie's nieces remarked that Bonnie appears to be the only one of the three gals that is holding the rabbit with any sort of technique. Could it be because Bonnie was raised on a ranch in Fresno, California? To be fair, Ms. Lange and the other gal are made to hold two of the squirmy things apiece.... Which makes me wonder how Nana got out of that one?  :)

Bonnie Bannon left, Mary Lange, still there.... Just Kidding!

              Again, Happy Easter to all of you that took the time to read this. I have made some changes so that, if you make a comment, or ask a question, it should go straight to my email that is tasked to this Blog. That way I can get back to you in a timely fashion.

Sorry, no real back-story here.

Bonnie Bannon, center.

Bonnie Bannon.... smiling

Nope, don't have any idea... I just thought they were pleasant enough to upload. Perhaps you feel the same way?  :)

Pauline Francis Bannon.... the really early years.

Bonnie Bannon

Bonnie Bannon

I am pretty sure that "Nana" was already known as "Bonnie" by friends and family long before she came to Hollywood, or long before these were taken. She looks so impossibly young to me in these photos (she would have been 100 in June of this year) that I am going to speculate that these could have been taken shortly after her arrival in Hollywood, from Fresno, Ca.
           She was not without a plan, as she did win some sort of Starlet search in her region by one of the major studios. I wonder how often she must have heard things  growing up like "You are so pretty" and "You sure are beautiful" as well as others along those lines. She came a long way from being a rancher's daughter being raised in Central California...... and not all of it so great, as the proven fact of 4 marriages will attest.

Bonnie Bannon.... this is getting old.

"The Great Ziegfeld".... at least, I am pretty sure.

This particular photo was found floating on the web somewhere. As stated in the header, I am pretty sure it is from "The Great Ziegfeld". It is a bit hard to tell, but I believe this to be the same rock as the one seen in the "Hollywood Cavalcade" that I posted awhile back. If so, then it could have been one of those "go to" spots that they like to use back then. Bonnie (if you did not already know) is fourth from the right, or is it left? I am pretty sure that that is Mary Lange on the far left, and Wanda Perry, third from the right..... the others I just don't know.

Gold Digger's of 1933..... We are a few gals short.

The credit for finding this one goes to Richard Smits, of the Netherlands. Before corresponding with him by email, Bonnie had maybe 16 IMDB.com credits. Because of Richard's tireless efforts (for Bonnie and others in the same Starlet System) I believe her credit count has just surpassed 30. I have plenty of newspaper articles that she kept that I should "mine" so that she can get the credit(s) that she deserves. Just one more thing I hope to get around to this year.

Somewhere between those acting jobs, aka, a girl's gotta eat.

 These 3 are from Bonnie's personal collection. I think they are self-explanatory. What I do not know at the time of this posting is whether or not she ever really pursued commercial work like this. I have intentionally left her note as to what one of them is. I could have easily cropped it out before uploading it, but I thought it was better to leave it in, to tell the story, so to speak, and that it is in her own hand from probably more that 75 years ago. On a different note, I am flattered that this Blog has gotten the visits that it has (over one thousand as of today's date). This tells me that there must be an interest in this sort of thing. I will try not to disappoint.