1937 Studio Gathering Image- Who Was There?

JFK · Post by **JFK** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 11:09 pm

Here is a fascinating current auction item I won't be bidding upon.
The seller- see quote below- lists some folks correctly (in blue fonts) and others, wrongly (in red fonts).

"Seated at the 3rd table from the right; Cary Grant, Leo G. Brown, {sic- Joe E Brown} Orson Wells{sic} (4 seats up from Cary on the same side of the table) I think Sydney Greenstreet is there (two seats up from Orson Wells) Seated at the 4th table from the right, about half way up the table is Lucille Ball. At that same table, but across from Miss Ball is a bald Fred Astaire (without his toupee) Seated at the 2nd table from the right, several seats up is John Boles. I recognize several other stars, but just can't remember there {sic} names (see scanned images)"

I think I've been able to pick out Leon Errol, Andrea Leeds, Billy Gilbert, Ginger Rogers, perhaps Bob Burns and Vince Barnett, plus Ira Gershwin, and an ill-looking George......Can anyone identify any others ?
Click on the photos, and then, the resulting images, for larger versions.

Brooksie · Post by **Brooksie** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 1:03 am

The partially hidden fellow sitting on John Boles' left is Phil Reisman, RKO's VP in charge of foreign sales.

JFK · Post by **JFK** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 2:29 am

The partially hidden fellow sitting on John Boles' left is Phil Reisman, RKO's VP in charge of foreign sales.

Amazing!
It seems the event hosted relatively few stars. I think I've also spotted Louis Hayward & Gene Raymond, but that's about it.
Joe E. Brown- seated up front- wasn't even signed to RKO - I think they were only his distributor.

bobfells · Post by **bobfells** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 12:28 pm

Following Joe E. Brown up about four seats and the man in the dark suit is Cary Grant.

Post by **silentfilm** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 12:31 pm

bobfells wrote:Following Joe E. Brown up about four seats and the man in the dark suit is Cary Grant.

That looks like Billy Gilbert behind Cary. I'm guessing that the salesmen are the one wearing the white suits.

Jim Reid · Post by **Jim Reid** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 12:46 pm

On the far right, second table the first person on the right is George Stevens.

stairstars · Post by **stairstars** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 6:20 pm

On the second blow up, in the center toward the rear, is Fred Astaire and to the left, a few rows over, is Lucille Ball.

Brooksie · Post by **Brooksie** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 3:17 pm

Very hard to say for certain, but I believe that the woman in the black hat on the far right of the final enlargement is Constance Worth, the actress known in Australia as Jocelyn Howarth.

It would make sense if she was there, as she had just made her first film with RKO, China Passage (1937), and they were building up her profile.