AMAZING MR. WILLIAMS

Original 1940 British 17 inch x 22 inch Trade Advertisement removed from a British Film Trade Journal for the 1939 Alexander Hall Mystery Comedy THE AMAZING MR. WILLIAMS, from a story by Sy Bartlett and starring Melvyn Douglas, Joan Blondell, Clarence Kolb, Ruth Donnelly, Edward Brophy, Donald MacBride, Don Beddoe, Jonathan Hale and John Wray.

Kenny Williams, a lieutenant on the homicide squad, is engaged to Maxine Carroll, the Mayor’s secretary. Or isn’t he rather married to his job? For each time he has a date with his longtime fiancée, he is prevented from keeping it by his devotion to duty. Maxine, in desperation, decides to take action and bring Kenny to the altar. Who will win, Maxine’s curves or the glorious fight against crime?

The advert is in very good condition with one vertical centre fold from where it was removed from the journal, and one horizontal fold. There is minor corner creasing and a couple of edge nicks.

Trade advertisements are colourful posters aimed at cinema managers, which were either slipped in, or part of, the weekly film trade journals which were available to them by subscription but were not sold to the general public. The large size Trade advertisements are about the size of US half sheet posters and have a centre fold which is usually hard to discern when flat. Most were designed to be pulled out, and some were attached by staples. Most have the date in tiny letters in one of the top corners.
The publishers own copies from the 1930’s were destroyed by fire and water damage during the Blitz and Wartime paper drives decimated those held by cinemas making them quite rare.