In this detail from a one sheet for HONEYMOON BLUES (1946) are Jacqueline Dalya, Christine, Gino Corrado, and star Hugh Herbert (with a lipstick print on his cheek added by a Columbia artist). Chris plays Hugh's sleepwalking bride in this one -- she was cast as Hugh's wife in several shorts:

Here's another ad cut from the pressbook for 1951's COLORADO AMBUSH, where Christine plays "Mae Star," a genuine villainess. In fact, the Monogram publicist refers to Chris' character as "The Killer-Queen of Badman's Land." Also featured on this ad are Johnny Mack Brown punching out the lights of Lee Roberts (I'd love to have seen them posing for this picture) and, lower down, villain (and the film's screenwriter) Myron Healey making a hostage of model-turned-actress Lois Hall:

This is a black and white photo of a theatrical one-sheet for 1954's SCOTCHED IN SCOTLAND. The Howard, Fine, and (Shemp) Howard short was a remake of 1948's THE HOT SCOTS. Christine played (see details below the one sheet) "Lorna Doone" in both, contributing to one of my favorite movie puns (delivered by Shemp Howard) -- come on, say it with me -- "Hi, Lorna, howya doin'?":

Here's a shot from 1949's WHO DONE IT? in which we can see, L to R, Larry Fine having just had the drop put on him by Ralph Dunn, Christine, and Charles Knight. In this Columbia short, Howard, Fine, and (Shemp) Howard come to the aid of a millionaire (Emil Sitka, not pictured) who thinks someone is trying to kill him...and he's right. Christine plays Emil's treacherous niece. This two-reeler was a more successful remake of the Schilling & Lane short PARDON MY TERROR (1946). Character actor Ralph Dunn made about 250 movies in his career, playing a policeman in a huge percentage of them. Here is one of his turns as a movie heavy, however:

(Courtesy of Monica Leeson)

In this publicity still from 1948's THE SHEEPISH WOLF, we have, L to R, Harry Von Zell (playing his movie radio personality alter-ego, escaping out an apartment building bathroom window), Christine (as a prospective client of Harry's), and Vernon Dent (as a cop). This particular plot has Harry being asked by his boss to entertain Christine in the hopes of landing an account with her -- and of course the situation is misconstrued by Harry's wife (Lynne Lyons, not pictured) and by Christine's sword-weilding husband (George Lewis, also not pictured). Poor Harry ends up out on a ledge teetering through a riotous series of what was called "high and dizzy" comedic moments. This is a very funny Von Zell two-reeler:
(Courtesy of Bill Cappello)

Christine (as "Spangles Calhoun") and John "Fuzzy" Knight (as "Texas") [not to be confused with Al "Fuzzy" St. John featured further down this page] from the 1951 western feature WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE:
(Courtesy of Bill Cappello)

From MICRO-PHONIES (1945), Christine makes her soon-to-be-swiped recording of "Voices of Spring" next to, L to R, Lynton Brent (as "Mr. Allen"), an unidentified player (as the "flautist") -- and John Tyrrell (as a "recording engineer") back in the booth:
(Courtesy of Bill Cappello)

Below is a lobby card for the rarely seen 1946 Columbia short GET ALONG, LITTLE ZOMBIE. Pictured, we see former-boxer Jack Roper (as the "zombie" of the title) choking star Hugh Herbert, with Christine inset in the lower left and Dudley Dickerson holding the sledge hammer on the right. This was one of a small but highly entertaining series of two-reel comedies pairing Messrs. Herbert and Dickerson. In this one, Hugh plays a real estate agent showing some property to a client and his wife (Dick Curtis, not pictured, and Christine). Of course, Hugh gets into a compromising position with Chris...all the while there is a monster in the house, running around scaring and chasing everyone -- an endearingly familiar formula that works very nicely in this case:
(Courtesy of Bill Cappello)

A one-sheet for the above mentioned GET ALONG, LITTLE ZOMBIE:
(Courtesy of Bill Cappello)

In this great publicity still for THE RANGERS' ROUNDUP (1938), Christine and Al "Fuzzy" St. John (background) look on as baritone/hero Fred Scott exercises that "silvery voice" of his:
(Courtesy of Bill Cappello)

From the 1947 Bowery Boys' feature NEWS HOUNDS, Chris (as newspaper publisher "Jane Ann Connelly") and Bill Kennedy (as "Mark Morgan" her star sports writer -- and her boyfriend) passionately ham it up for Monogram's press photographer as Huntz Hall (as "Sach Jones") and Leo Gorcey (as "Slip Mahoney") look on:

Here is a glimpse of Christine's first screen appearance ever in SWING FEVER, an RKO Billy Gilbert short from 1937 (which more than likely predated SEA RACKETEERS, her first feature, filmed the same year). Jack Norton, famous for playing comedic tipplers in filmdom, is cast here as a poor fellow whose girlfriend broke it off with him because he doesn't like music. Jack eventually checks into Dr. Van Loon's Melody Clinic for treatment. The doctor (played by Billy), who treats all maladies with music instead of medicine, gives Jack a dose of "Opus 42, Suite 16" which is sung by one of the nurses (played by Christine). And, what do you know, she just happens to turn out to be Jack's girlfriend as well. The cure takes, and the two are re-united. Christine is merely seen as a photograph through most of this short, and she only comes on in person at the very end. She has no spoken dialogue, but, instead, (at the age of 26) sings her little heart out in her screen debut:
(Courtesy of Monica Leeson)

Below is another of those fanciful (i.e., the scene depicted does not appear in the actual film) publicity photos for the Bowery Boys movie NEWS HOUNDS (1947). This nifty shot features, from L to R, Anthony Caruso (as sports-fixing thug "Dapper Dan Green"), Leo Gorcey (as aspiring reporter "Slip Mahoney"), and Christine (again as "Jane Ann Connelly"). I am told that Gorcey stood about 5'1" -- and we can see from a photo like this (and others with Christine next to actors like Moe Howard and Larry Fine, also about 5'1") that Chris, not counting her heels and upswept hair, probably stood at a similar height (maybe slightly taller), putting her somewhere between 5'1" and 5'2". I am still in the process of hunting down records that can confirm this one way or the other. Height is an intersting thing in the movies. While filming, the camera is usually set at the head level of the principles onscreen, making whoever is the focus of attention appear to be "average" height (this is why so many fans are surprised when a favorite screen hero seems "so much shorter" in real life). It is funny to compare Chris in comedies like this (and the Stooge films) with her roles in Westerns. In some of those early oaters, surrounded by tall, swaggering cowboy stars, she seems almost tiny (in the 1943 Johnny Mack Brown film STRANGER FROM PECOS, Chris is referred to as "that little girl"). When she is surrounded by shorter film comedians onscreen her height doesn't stick out at all:

I'm not saying that I think this is Christine for sure, but I couldn't resist posting this old ad for Noxzema that jumped out at me from the microfilm reader (I'd been researching Chris' years spent in Chicago). She would've been 23 in 1934, and beginning actresses then, as now, supplemented their incomes by doing print ad work. I've included a couple of shots of her from 1939 for comparison... and I invite you to participate in the poll located below the ad:

This is a detail from a theatrical half-sheet for 1949's FUELIN' AROUND. Featured here are Emil Sitka (as "Professor Snead") and Christine (as Snead's daughter), and, vertically from the bottom, the heads of Shemp Howard, Moe Howard -- and Larry Fine who gets mis-identified as the Professor:
(Courtesy of Monica Leeson)

Another detail from a theatrical half-sheet for FUELIN' AROUND. L to R we see Harold Brauer, Chris, Emil Sitka, Larry Fine, Vernon Dent, Moe Howard, Andre Pola, Shemp Howard, and Phil Van Zandt:
(Courtesy of Monica Leeson)

In this fanciful publicity shot for THE HOT SCOTS (1948) -- fanciful insofar as there was no such scene in the film -- Larry Fine and Christine (as "Lorna Doone") watch with concern as Moe and Shemp Howard cross Columbia Prop Department swords:
(Courtesy of Monica Leeson)

Christine Photo-Ads, P.6

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