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MARCH 2022: Silent Vignettes- Stars, Studios and Stories from the Silent Movie Era by Tim Lussier
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In order:
1. Keaton, Lloyd, Reginald Denny
2. John Bunny and the team of Karl Dane & George K. Arthur and one very arcane question: How did actors, well-known for their voices (not just Cantor and Fields, but also Roscoe Karns, William Demarest, Ned Sparks, Edward Everett Horton and even El Brendel,) make it in the silent era?
3. It's been a very long time (50+ years), but I think THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927).
4. THE BIG PARADE, THE GENERAL, STEAMBOAT BILL, JR.
1. Keaton, Lloyd, Reginald Denny
2. John Bunny and the team of Karl Dane & George K. Arthur and one very arcane question: How did actors, well-known for their voices (not just Cantor and Fields, but also Roscoe Karns, William Demarest, Ned Sparks, Edward Everett Horton and even El Brendel,) make it in the silent era?
3. It's been a very long time (50+ years), but I think THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927).
4. THE BIG PARADE, THE GENERAL, STEAMBOAT BILL, JR.
Mod
I was excited to see Viola Dana is included in this book (with her sisters) because I've been on a kick trying to find as many of her movies as I can. Not many have been released on home video. Ed Lorusso has done a few through his Kickstarter projects, but I want more.
The first silent feature I ever saw was Daddy Long Legs (1919). The first short I can recall seeing is Mary Queen of Tots (1925).
I've watched My Best Girl and Wings many times. Sparrows, The Godless Girl, The Red Lily, Laugh Clown Laugh, Lucky Star, and City Lights are all moving films that made a lasting impression on me.
Samantha wrote: "I absolutely adore Mary Pickford and hope more of her films that haven't been released on home video will get that treatment (without the awful scores that the Mary Pickford Foundation is hellbent ..."
Ah, SPARROWS! My copy arrived yesterday and I was delighted to see chapters on Reginald Denny & Raymond Griffith.
Ah, SPARROWS! My copy arrived yesterday and I was delighted to see chapters on Reginald Denny & Raymond Griffith.
Mod
I wish more information was included on Viola Dana and her sisters but I'm glad they were included. What other sister acts can you name from the early days of Hollywood? I thought of the Lane sisters (Rosemary Priscilla, Lola and Leota) and the Young sister (Loretta, Polla Ann, Georgiana and Sally Blane).
Speaking of Raymond Griffith, it sounds like the next Ben Model kickstarter project will be to release one of his films.
Samantha wrote: "I wasn't familiar with Francelia Billington until reading this book and I added Blind Husbands to the list of movies to propose to watch together in conjunction with this book.
I wish more inform..."
I remember the "sister acts" in the 1929 SHOW OF SHOWS
(from Wikipedia)
"Meet My Sister" — Introduced by a deliberately nervous Richard Barthelmess followed by Hollywood sisters, including Dolores and Helene Costello, singing "My Sister", along with Loretta Young and Sally Blane, Sally O'Neil and Molly O'Day, Alice Day and Marceline Day, Marion Byron and Harriette Lake (later known as Ann Sothern), Viola Dana and Shirley Mason, Lola and Armida Vendrell, and Alberta and Adamae Vaughn. All of the pairs were sisters in real life except for Marion Byron and Harriette Lake, who were not related.
I wish more inform..."
I remember the "sister acts" in the 1929 SHOW OF SHOWS
(from Wikipedia)
"Meet My Sister" — Introduced by a deliberately nervous Richard Barthelmess followed by Hollywood sisters, including Dolores and Helene Costello, singing "My Sister", along with Loretta Young and Sally Blane, Sally O'Neil and Molly O'Day, Alice Day and Marceline Day, Marion Byron and Harriette Lake (later known as Ann Sothern), Viola Dana and Shirley Mason, Lola and Armida Vendrell, and Alberta and Adamae Vaughn. All of the pairs were sisters in real life except for Marion Byron and Harriette Lake, who were not related.
Mod
The Raymond Griffith kickstarter is already fully funded, but the more backers, the more extras the disk will have. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
Mod
Also, Ben Model talks about the Raymond Griffith Kickstarter project on the newest episode of Nitrateville Radio: https://nitrateville.com/viewtopic.ph...
Mod
The options are:
Blind Husbands (1919) [for Francelia Billington]
Three Word Brand (1921) [for Jane Novak]
Let's Go (1923) [for Richard Talmadge]
The Garden of Eden (1928) [for Corinne Griffith]
Wild Orchids (1929) [for Garbo and Nils Asther]
All but Wild Orchids is available on Youtube.
You have a lot on your plate just now...
I just finished reading "A Girl's Gotta Breathe" by Donald Spoto. Bio of screen and TV/stage great Teresa Wright. If u remember she won Oscar for best supporting in 1943 for "Mrs. Miniver". The only actress to be nominated 3 times for her first 3 pictures (The Little Foxes, The Pride of the Yankees, Mrs. Miniver). She worked for Goldwyn the they had falling unfortunately because Teresa refused to go on publicity tour. Loved her in "The Best Years of Our Lives" & Hitcocks "Shadow of a Doubt".
Has anybody in this group read "A Girl's Gotta Breathe"? Jsut wondering as it was not in my library as the Dana Andrew bio was.
Mod
Who are some of your favorite silent film stars?
Which stars from this period do you wish you knew more about?
What is the first silent movie you ever saw?
Which silent film is your favorite?