RAY BOLGER - MENU SIGNED CIRCA 1929 CO-SIGNED BY: KATHRYN CARVER MENJOU, ADOLPHE MENJOU, GWEN BOLGER, MARCO DE GASTYNE, ALEXANDRA DE GASTYNE, ALFONSO CANZIANI - HFSID 218006

RAY and GWEN BOLGER, ADOLPHE MENJOU, MARCO DE GASTYNE and others
Signed menu from a banquet aboard the luxury liner SS Paris in 1929. Ray and Gwen Bolger were on their honeymoon!
Menu signed: "Ray Bolger", "Adolphe Menjou", "Kathryn Carver Menjou", "Marco de Gastyne", "Alexandra de Gastyne", "A. Canziani","R Pugnet/Commandant/SS Paris", "Y de Prieur", "L. Trubert", "A. Case", 4 pages (front and verso), integral leaf. 9x6½, Also signed on verso "Gwen Bolger". Ink note (unknown hand): SS Paris July 1929. French-language menu for a special dinner served aboard the French luxury liner SS Paris, July 17, 1929. Guests of honor were Mr. and Mrs. De Gastyne, Mr. and Mrs. Menjou, Mr. and Mrs. Bolger, Mr. Canziani and "Miss A. Case". Printed on outside cover is the coat of arms of the French General Transatlantic Company. Three ship's commandants, R. Pugnet, L. Trubert and Y. de Prieur, were also present. Dancer and actor RAY BOLGER (1904-1987) began his dancing career on vaudeville and then moved to Broadway in the late 1920s, starring in musicals such as On Your Toes. His best-remembered stage role was a starring one in Where's Charley (1948), a role he reprised in the film version (1952). Bolger will always be remembered and loved as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939). After hosting his own TV variety show in the early 1950s, he was a frequent and popular guest on TV shows through the 1970s. He married GWENDOLYN BOLGER on July 9, 1929, so they were undoubtedly on their honeymoon! The Bolgers were married for nearly sixty years, parted only by his passing. Stage, screen and television actor ADOLPHE MENJOU (1890-1963) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Front Page (1930-1931 Academy). Known for his waxed black mustache and stylish wardrobe, he usually appeared as a dapper man-of-the world in more than 100 films, including A Woman of Paris (1923), Morocco (1930), Little Miss Marker (1934), Stage Door (1937), A Star is Born (1937) and Paths of Glory (1957). His other films include A Farewell to Arms (1932) and Pollyanna (1960), and Menjou also hosted several TV series, including My Favorite Story (1953-1954) and Target. He was nine times voted the Best Dressed Man in America; his 1948 autobiography was appropriately titled, It Took Nine Tailors. Actress KATHRYN CARVER (MENJOU) (1899-1947), who was sometimes billed as Kathryn Hill, was married to actor Adolphe Menjou from 1928 until their divorce in 1934. She had made her film debut in 1925, and the actress would appear in films until 1929. Her film credits include The Wanderer (1925, as Kathryn Hill, the last name of her first husband), Beware of Widows (1927), Serenade (1927), His Private Life (1928) and No Defense (1929). MARCO DE GASTYNE (1889-1982) was a French painter and film director, most active in silent films but continuing in the 1930s, with one film made as late as 1964. In the year he signed this menu, he directed The Marvelous Life of Joan of Arc. ALFONSO CANZIANI was a widely published Italian film critic. The luxury liner SS Paris, construction delayed by World War I, was launched in 1921. It was one of the world's most lavish liners, renowned for its cuisine and service. When the Great Depression cut into luxury travel, the Paris was converted to a cruise liner. It caught fire in the port of Le Havre in 1939, capsized and sank in its berth. Multiple folds. Lightly creased and toned. Corners lightly worn. Ink marks (unknown hand) on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.