Detail View: Movie Posters: Venus of the South Seas

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Venus of the South Seas

Romance

Decade 1920

1924

Lee-Bradford

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015457

�Annette Kellerman,�Roland Purdie,�Robert Ramsey

James R. Sullivan

Annette Kellerman Sullivan's life story was made into the 1952 film�Million Dollar Mermaid�(1952) starring�Esther Williams. An important scene in the film shows Annette being the scandal at a Boston beach for wearing a one-piece bathing suit in public. This act helped change the attitude of female beach-goers, who in the past wore billowy dress-like swimwear instead of more-revealing, less-dangerous swimsuits. She was married to director James R. Sullivan

Venus of the South Seas (Lee-Bradford, 1924). One Sheet (27 X 41). , Annette Kellerman was the swimming sensation of Australia in the first decade of the 20th Century but is most well known for advocating womens right to wear a one piece bathing suit. The popularity of the Kellerman suit was very controversial at the time and she was arrested for indecency in Boston in 1907 for wearing the suit. The scandal attracted the attention of Harvard Universitys Professor Dudley Sargent, who had been researching the female body for 25 years. Annette Kellerman allowed the professor to measure every centimeter of her superbly fit body and was thrilled as she was the first woman in 10,000 who closely mirrored the measurements of the Venus de Milo. Dragging her onto the stage at Harvard in her bathing suit and parading her before his gaping young male students, the professor declared her the Perfect Woman. The modern-day Venus was worshipped around the world for her beautiful body and boldness. Kellerman was a distance swimmer, diver, theatrical performer, mermaid, feminist, fitness advocate and an internationally acclaimed silent movie star. The release of the 1952 film The Million Dollar Mermaid, based on Kellermans life, put her back in the spotlight. But she took a dim view of Esther Williams, the actress chosen to play her. Esther is more beautiful, she said, but from the neck down, I concede nothing. This beautiful and rare poster is for Kellermans last film and the only film of her career to have survived intact. There was fold wear and some crossfold wear, small holes in the borders, and a tear in the right border, all of which has been beautifully restored. Very Fine- on Linen.

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2015-09-05

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