Extremely rare bronze Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor, just under 3″ in diameter, engraved on the reverse: “Presented to Paramount-Famous-Lasky Corp. by Photoplay Magazine for the Production Beau Geste, the Best Photoplay of the Year 1926.” The front of the medal features the traditional symbolic dramatic masks raised in high relief. In very good condition, with overall tarnishing, a few light dings and scratches, and the initials “JE” etched to the left of the presentation engraving. Beginning in 1920, Photoplay gave out what is considered the first significant annual movie award, the Photoplay Medal of Honor. The award was voted on by readers of the magazine and the producer of the winning film was presented with a gold medallion struck by Tiffany, which was generally kept by the studio; bronze copies such as this were created in very limited amounts as individual keepsakes for some of the film’s important participants. Though Photoplay only gave the single award for best film, its intentions and standards were influential on the Academy Awards founded later in the decade.
