Original Black & White Photograph of Film Director William Wellman in His WWI Pilot Uniform Signed and Inscribed by Him to Film Director Alfred Green

9 1/2 inches by 7 1/2 inches, n.d. (c. 1917). Original black & white photograph of film director William Wellman in his WWI pilot uniform signed and inscribed by him to fellow film director Alfred Green. Inscribed: “To Al, One of the finest; may he always have continued success. Bill Wellman”. In the photo, Wellman is in military uniform, with his hands clasped behind his back, standing next to a fighter plane with the number 4 and a graphic image of a cat painted on its side. Very good condition with a tiny nick to the top edge not affecting the image and a bit of handling. In World War I, Wellman enlisted to serve as a driver in an ambulance corps and, while in Paris, he joined the French Foreign Legion and was assigned on December 3, 1917 as a fighter pilot, becoming the first American to join the Lafayette Flying Corps, where he earned the nickname ‘Wild Bill’ and was awarded the Croix de Guerre with two palms. His wartime experience as part of the Chats Noir (Black Cat Group) culminated in three recorded ‘kills’, although he was ultimately shot down by German anti-aircraft fire on March 21, 1918. He survived the crash, but he walked with a limp for the rest of his life. William Wellman is the director of such film classics as Wings, The Public Enemy, Call of the Wild, A Star Is Born, Beau Geste, The Ox-Bow Incident, Lady of Burlesque, The Story of G.I. Joe, Battleground, and The High and the Mighty. Alfred E. Green (1889 - 1960) directed some of the brightest stars of his time, including Mary Pickford, Wallace Reid, Colleen Moore, and Bette Davis who won a Best Actress Oscar for her role in his 1935 film Dangerous. He is otherwise best known for his films Baby Face (1933) with Barbara Stanwyk and George Brent, The Jolson Story (1946) with Larry Parks, Evelyn Keyes, and William Demarest, and The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) with Jackie Robinson, Ruby Dee, and Minor Robinson. He made his last feature, Top Banana, with Phil Silvers in 1954 and spent the remainder of his career directing episodic TV series.