The Children's Hour (Original double weight photograph for the 1961 film)

Beverly Hills, CA: United Artists, 1961. Vintage oversize, double weight, borderless still photograph from the 1961 film. Shot, struck, and mounted by the film's still photographer, Bob Willoughby, with his ASMP rubber stamp on the verso. Full provenance available.

Based on Lillian Hellman's 1934 play, about two teachers at an all-girls boarding school accused of being in a lesbian relationship by one of the students, ruining the careers and personal lives of both. The play was previously adapted by William Wyler in 1936 as "These Three," though the Production Code forced Hellman to change the substance of the rumor from homosexuality to infidelity. The 1961 version restores the content of the child's lie, and is overall incredibly faithful to the stage play. Nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Fay Bainter.

After studying with Saul Bass at the Kann Institute of Art in Los Angeles, photographer Robert Willoughby began working for magazines such as "Life," "Look," and "Harper's Bazaar" in the late 1940s. He spent the next 20-plus years as a set photographer for every major studio and magazine, with his images seen in print literally every week of his career. Willoughby's photographs are in the permanent collections of ten museums, including The National Portrait Galleries in Washington, DC and London, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, The Museum of Modern Art, and The Tate Modern.

13.5 x 9.25 inches. Near Fine.