Commemorative Medals

Plaque Celebrating the Motion Picture Industry's Participation in World War II. By Felix de Weldon. Cast Bronze. Extremely Fine.

Approximately 16 inches x 15 inches. Mostly uniform light chocolate-bronze with just a trace of minor oxidation noted in some of the recesses. The design of the Marine Corps War Memorial, featuring the scene better known as Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, is at the center, with military scenes (including a USO performance) set into incuse medallions around, the entirety being the shape of a film reel. The banner below reads WELL DONE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY with cursive signatures of Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, and Secretary of the Treasury Fred M. Vinson. The signature of Felix de Weldon, followed by the date, 1945 and SCULPT, is appropriately to the lower right of the central motif. The actual War Memorial, completed in 1954 and sited near Arlington, Virginia, is probably Weldon's best known sculptural work. It appears that this plaque was done in 1945, shortly after the scene depicted in the central motif took place and was recorded live by a motion picture cameraman, Bill Genaust. His images were instrumental in proving that the famous scene was not staged in any way, giving it much greater significance. A related but little known fact is that one of the six marines who raised the flag, Ira H. Hayes, was a member of the Pima and, stateside, a resident of the Gila River Indian Reservation. Shortly after Iwo Jima, he, along with the other surviving flag raisers were requested to come to Washington, D.C. by the President to participate in an effort to market War Bonds. This plaque, referencing a "War Bond Premier" in the upper right medallion, might be related to the May through July Seventh War Loan drive effort. Ira Hayes later played himself in the John Wayne film, Sands of Iwo Jima.

Estimate: 750