TEX RITTER - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH CO-SIGNED BY: JOHNNY MACK BROWN, OLIVER DRAKE, ELMER CLIFTON - HFSID 260220

TEX RITTER, JOHNNY MACK BROWN, OLIVER DRAKE and ELMER CLIFTON
Rare oversized 13¼x10½ b/w cast photo of a western movie, signed by western actors Tex Ritter and Johnny Mack Brown and directors Oliver Drake and Elmer Clifton, mounted on a sheet of black cardstock
Photograph signed: "Tex/Ritter", "Elmer/Clifton", "John/Mack/Brown" and "Oliver/Drake". B/w, 13¼x10½ mounted to 13¾x10½ sheet of black cardstock. We're not sure which film this photo is from. All four men made several movies together, including The Old Chisholm Trail (1942), Deep in the Heart of Texas (1942), Cheyenne Roundup (1943) and Raiders of San Joaquin (1943). These four films were westerns with Universal Pictures starring Ritter and Brown and with Drake and Clifton swapping directing duties. The actors mentioned in the notations on verso, however, don't match up to any of these movies. TEX RITTER (1905-1974) was a country music star who also was successful in Westerns, appearing in 85 films. Rivaling Gene Autry in popularity at the beginning of his career, Ritter curtailed his filmmaking in the late 1940s, opting to tour in live shows with his horse, White Flash. As a singer, he became a weekly fixture at the Grand Ole Opry. The father of actor John Ritter, he is the only entertainer elected to both the Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. An All American football halfback at Alabama, JOHNNY MACK BROWN (1904-1974) was cast opposite stars such as Greta Garbo and Mary Pickford in films of the late silent era. He found stardom, however, in the "B" Westerns of the 1930s-1950s, appearing in over 200 of them. Brown came out of retirement to play supporting roles in three Westerns of the mid-1960s. OLIVER DRAKE (1903-1991), wrote, directed and produced a long list of Westerns in the 1930s and 1940s. He also acted in one film, Red Blood and Blue (1925) and composed songs for a number of films. Drake's songs include Moon Over Montana, Sweetheart of the Rio Grande, Stardust Trail, Rose of the Prairie and Guns and Guitars. In the 1950s and 1960s, Drake directed TV's Sky King (1951-1962) and Colt .45 (1957-1960) as well as feature films. ELMER CLIFTON (1892-1949) was a stage actor before making the move to films during the silent era. He started out as a production assistant to D. W. Griffith and as an actor, with 42 films to his credit between 1912 and 1919, before moving on screenwriting and acting. Among his better directorial efforts are Dorothy Gish's 1919 films Nugget Nell and I'll Get Him Yet , Clara Bow's film debut in the whaling epic Down to the Sea in Ships (1922) and the urban melodrama Let 'Er Go, Gallegher (1926). His pictures during the talkie era were decidedly more low profile - mostly programmers, oaters and serials. Lightly toned and rippled. Small torn hole near bottom edge, which touches Brown's signature. Pinhead and tack head-sized areas of paper loss and light scratches on image. Top edge is dented. Light tears in left, right and bottom edge. Right and left edges of cardstock are lightly scuffed. Otherwise, fine condition.