A one-sheet poster for the film modified to include a photograph of Nancy Sinatra captioned “...and introducing Nancy Stevens as the Nurse”. Framed.The Proud and the Profane (1956), based on Lucy Herndon Crockett’s 1953 novel Magnificent Bastards, was made for Paramount Pictures by William Perlberg-George Seaton Productions, with Seaton as director and Perlberg as producer. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards including Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Costume Design (Edith Head). Starring William Holden and Deborah Kerr, the story takes place in New Caledonia during 1943 against the backdrop of military and the American Red Cross activities in the Pacific theater of World War II. To replicate the exotic South Pacific setting, the movie was shot in part in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. As of this writing, the American Film Institute Catalog website notes ‘Hollywood Reporter production charts also include Nancy Sinatra in the cast, but her appearance in the film is highly doubtful; it is more likely that her name was confused with that of actress Nancy Stevens, who appeared in the film as Red Cross worker “Evvie.”‘ However, the Sinatra family has confirmed that Nancy Barbato Sinatra did indeed appear in the film as an extra in the uncredited role of ‘Evvie’ using the stage name ‘Nancy Stevens.’ The film’s producer, Bill Perlberg, who was a good friend of Mrs. Sinatra’s, included her in the picture so that she could travel with the production as they filmed on location. Years later, Mrs. Sinatra’s friend, singer Michael Allen, had this poster made with the inset photograph of her and its caption “...and introducing Nancy Stevens as the Nurse” as a tongue-in-cheek gift for Nancy Sinatra, memorializing her first, and only, movie role.

40 by 26 inches

PROVENANCE From the Estate of Mrs. Nancy Sinatra


Frank Sinatra