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| Motion Picture News, 25-September-1920 |
The Penalty starred Lon Chaney as a criminal who seeks revenge for the loss of his legs. It was based on a novel by Gourverneur Morris. The movie was set and partially shot in San Francisco.
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| Tulsa Daily World, September 26, 1920 |
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| Motion Picture World, 25-September-1920 |
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Actor William Conrad had a long career in radio, movies and television. I probably first heard of him when he narrated episodes of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Later when I listened to old radio shows on KSFO, I heard him in Gunsmoke, where he played the original Marshall Matt Dillon, and in anthology shows like Suspense and Escape. Later I saw him in films noir like The Killers. I don't think I watched any of his television shows, even though Cannon was set in San Francisco. I enjoyed the Mad Magazine satire, "Cannonball."
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| Motion Picture World, 25-September-1920 |
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Extraordinary actor Paul Muni was born 125 years ago today, on 22-September-1895. He started acting in the Yiddish theater at 12. His performances were usually intense. He was an actor, not a personality. Many eople remember him most for his strong performances in Scarface and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. Other people remember him for the biopics he starred in: The Story of Louis Pasteur, The Life of Emile Zola and Juarez.
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| International Motion Picture Almanac - 1937-1938 |
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Actor Michael Lonsdale has died. He appeared in French- and English-language movies. The first movie I remember in was The Day of the Jackal.
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| Motion Picture News, 25-September-1920 |
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| Moscow, Idaho Daily Star-Mirror, 17-September-1920 |
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| Motion Picture News, 25-September-1920 |
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| Washburn, Wisconsin Times, 16-September-1920 |
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| Motion Picture News, 04-September-1920 |
100 years ago this month, Tom Mix was appearing in The Untamed. "This is the man -- This is the horse -- This is the dog -- This is the girl admitted to the friendship of the strange trio -- And This Is the Greatest Western Ever Filmed."
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| Motion Picture News -- 07-August-1920 |
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| Motion Picture News, 04-September-1920 |
Babe Ruth was a great left-handed pitcher who became an even better power hitter. He held the season and lifetime home run records for a long time. The ad for this short subject also mentions Babe's teammate "Pitcher Carl Mays/His Underhand Delivery Shown in Every Movement." This was added because the month before, Mays hit Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indian in the head. Chapman became the only major leaguer to die from being hit by a pitched ball.
More about Carl Mays and Ray Chapman:
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com/2020/08/killed-by-pitched-ball-august-17-2020.html
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I was sad to learn that beauteous actress Dame Diana Rigg has died. Some San Francisco television station played The Avengers on Sunday (?) afternoons. I admired Patrick Macnee, who played John Steed as an old-fashioned gentleman. I also admired his costar, Diana Rigg. I got confused when Diana Rigg was replaced by Linda Thorson. Later I learned about Honor Blackman. I didn't see any black and white episodes till many years later. In later years, I saw Diana Rigg in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Rebecca, Mother Love and Mrs Bradley.
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| Indiana Times, 10-September-1920 |
100 years ago today, on 10-September-1920, beautiful actress Olive Thomas died in a Paris hospital, five days after she accidentally drank her husband's medication for syphilis. She was married to Mary Pickford's ne'er-do-well brother Jack. Some people did not believe that her poisoning was an accident. Some people lean towards attributing her suffering and death to murder or suicide.
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| Evening Capital and Maryland Gazette, 30-September-1920 |
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| Motion Picture News, 18-September-1920 |
Larry Semon was a big comedy star for Vitagraph, but the studio felt that he was spending too much time and money on his short comedies.
Vitagraph Sues Semon for Heavy Damages
ONE of the largest cases in the history of the United States District Court of Southern California has just been filed by President Albert E. Smith, of the Vitagraph Company of America, who has sued Larry Semon, the famous screen comedian, for a total of $407,338,22. It is alleged the defendant deliberately increased the costs of his productions through delays, carelessness and waste to an unreasonable figure, with the aim of forcing the Vitagraph Company to release him from his contract. Semon, it is said, had a Vitagraph contract for $2,500 weekly when a competing company offered him $5,000.
The suit is unique in that Vitagraph does not ask that it be released from its contract, but insists the star make good the damages and continue his employment.
According to the terms of the contract, filed with the suit, Larry Semon was to make twelve two-reel comedies a year for three years, it is stated. Five pictures have been released, another has just been completed, and Vitagraph declares it is practically impossible for Semon to deliver more than a total of seven pictures during the first year. Semon's latest picture, "The Suitor," figures prominently in the suit inasmuch as it is charged that, aside from the usual studio expenses, more than $80,000 was spent, or approximately $42,000 in excess of what would constitute a reasonable outlay, it is reported. The suit was filed by Attorneys William M. Seabury of New York, General Counsel for Vitagraph, and George W. Fenimore of Los Angeles, resident counsel for the California Company. The legal point involved is said by the attorneys to be whether or not motion picture stars and directors can deliberately and willfully increase the cost of their productions to a prohibitive figure in the hope that the producers will cancel their contracts.
President Smith of Vitagraph, whose arrival from New York was simultaneous with his filing the suit, declares that Larry Semon has been placed in the position he holds as a motion picture star through the opportunities, advantages, and exploitation given him at an approximate expense of $500,000 by the company. It is charged that Semon, when refused his demands for a new contract at more than double the salary of his existing contract, notified his employer that he would do his utmost to avoid further performance of his obligations under the current agreement, and would strive to procure its termination and cancellation prior to the agreed date.
Semon's latest comedy, "The Suitor," not yet on the market, is mentioned frequently. It is alleged Larry Semon employed a company of stock and extra players and caused them to remain idle for a long period. It is further stated that for the short flashes of the dancing girls in the pictures, twenty of them were kept on the payroll for 33 days. Many other alleged wasteful instances are cited and the loss given as $12,338.22. The plaintiff holds that the picture, with reasonable diligence and care on the part of Semon, the director, could have been completed in thirty days, and Semon is said to have occupied eighty-three days.
Mr. Smith bases his greatest demand for damages, $365,000, on the alleged loss sustained because he will receive five less pictures the first year than called for by the contract.
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In honor of Labor Day, here is Bound for Glory, a 1976 biopic about Woody Guthrie. Hal Ashby directed and David Carradine played Woody. Most of the events in the movie are fictional but they reflect his real interest in social justice and helping migrant workers, who were mostly fellow Okies. Of course, the music is the best part.
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| Photoplay, October, 1920. |
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| Photoplay, November, 1920. |
On 01-September-1920, Bobby Harron checked into the Hotel Seymour in New York. The next morning, he called the desk and said he had been shot. When the manager came to his room, Harron explained that a loaded pistol had fallen out of his luggage while he was unpacking. The gun fell to the floor and fired, hitting him in the chest. He refused an ambulance, asking for a doctor. A doctor was not available, so he allowed an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He died on 05-September-1920. While he was in the hospital, rumors started that he had shot himself on purpose because of losing roles and perhaps because Dorothy Gish had spurned him. We will never know, but I think it was an accident.
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| Motion Picture News, 04-September-1920 |
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| Motion Picture News, 04-September-1920 |
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| Washington Times, 02-September-1920 |
On 01-September-1920, actor Robert Harron, who had starred in several movies directed or produced by DW Griffith, checked into a hotel in New York. After attending the premiere of Griffith's Way Down East, he returned to his room. The next morning Harron called the manager to his room. Harron was sitting in a chair. He told the manager that he was taking clothes out of a his trunk when a pistol fell out and fired when it hit the floor. The bullet struck Harron in the chest. He argued against calling an ambulance, but eventually went to a hospital. The police arrested him for having a firearm without a permit.
Some people thought Harron may have been trying to commit suicide, having lost some leads in Griffith movies and having broken up with Dorothy Gish, but most people who knew him believed it was an accident.
BOBBY HARRON SHOT
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Actor Richard Farnsworth was born 100 years ago today, on 01-September-1920. He started working as a stuntman in 1937, and moved to acting in 1963. I enjoyed just about every movie in which I saw him.
He played a coach in The Natural. He played Matthew in a television adaption of Anne of Green Gables. I loved David Lynch's The Straight Story.
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