Vintage M.G.M. 1940s publicity portrait, trimmed to about 7.25 x 9.5 inches for framing purposes, boldly signed in black felt-tip pen, probably in the 1960s or 1970s. In good condition and accompanied by a certificate from the third-party authentication service J.S.A., with its accompanying sticker on the verso of the photo. While working as a model and M.G.M. contract player, gawky, unsophisticated Ava Gardner was completely made over by the studio, transforming her into an impossibly beautiful, glamorous leading lady. After she was lent out to Universal for The Killers (1946), she established a bad girl persona which studio heads struggled to tidy up in wholesome films like The Hucksters (1947), Show Boat (1951), Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951), and The Snow of Kilimanjaro (1952). Fans yawned and M.G.M. got the hint: Gardner was allowed full reign as wicked or emotionally complex sexpots in Mogambo (1953), The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956), Seven Days in May (1964), and Night of the Iguana (1964).

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