Eddie Cantor -- See Him Dance and Hear Him Sing in the "Phonofilms" -- December 21, 2024

Minneapolis Journal, 19-December-1924

Eddie Cantor was a wildly talented performer on stage, screen, records, radio and television. He appeared in a one-reel De Forest Phonofilm reel. He often appeared in blackface. Please excuse the racism. 

Langdon, as Usual, Does Highly Amusing Work -- December 14, 2024

Moving Picture World, 27-December-1924

Harry Langdon played a street sweeper in "Feet of Mud." The film includes some racist stereotypes in Chinatown.

Moving Picture World, 06-December-1924

They Are Subtly Teaching Us That They Are Superior -- May 30, 2024

Baltimore Afro-American, 02-May-1924

The author of this article hopes that Oscar Micheaux will succeed so that "we may have more colored films." The author says that white-made films "are subtly teaching us that they are superior." "The influence of the devilishly conceived 'Birth of a Nation' will not soon be counteracted." 

I like the 3-D effect in this ad for Micheaux's Symbold of the Unconquered. 

Kentucky Post, 24-May-1924

This may be the first reference I have seen to The Flaming Circle, a western directed by William H Grimes and Leo C Popkin. I don't know anything about William H Grimes but Leo C Popkin directed other race films like The Duke is Tops and later directed the original version of D.O.A. 

The lines are out of order, but the item states that "This is said to be the first film drama ever produced with an all-colored cast." We know that is not true. 

I will keep digging for information about Monarch Productions.

Century Comedies -- Consistently Good -- February 29, 2024

Motion Picture News, 02-February-1924

Baby Peggy Montgomery had been Century's biggest comedy star. She moved on to starring in features for Universal and Sol Lesser's Principal Pictures. Captain January was based on a book by Laura E Richards. Shirley Temple starred in another adaption. 

Motion Picture News, 02-February-1924

Motion Picture News, 02-February-1924

I hope the kids at New York's Hebrew Orphan Asylum enjoyed Baby Peggy's first feature, The Darling of New York. 

Motion Picture News, 23-February-1924

Century carried on with other comedy series. "A Barrel of Real Fun!"

Motion Picture News, 23-February-1924

Al Herman had just finished directing his thirtieth Century comedy for the Stern Brothers. 

Motion Picture News, 16-February-1924

Giant Jack Earle starred with Harry McCoy in Century's "Keep Going." Robert Kerr directed. 

Motion Picture News, 23-February-1924

Young Buddy Messinger starred in "Quit Kidding," directed by Al Herman.

Motion Picture News, 09-February-1924

Century Studio was at 6100 Sunset Boulevard, which is now a parking lot. At the corner of North Gower, it was near what is now Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles. 

Film Daily, 11-February-1924

I know almost nothing about Sherwood MacDonald and I know even less about Butterfly Comedies. I think this is the only time I have seen the word "filmbrand."

Motion Picture News, 23-February-1924

Christie Comedies: "Fast and Funny." "The Best Bet for a Balanced Program." "In the Front Line of Laughmakers." Lots of tag lines. 

Motion Picture News, 16-February-1924

Please excuse the racism. Jimmie Adams seems to have done a lot of blackface. William Beaudine directed "Aggravating Papa." 

Motion Picture News, 02-February-1924

Christie Comedies are "Crammed With Laughs and Action." Dorothy Devore was a popular Christie star. Scott Sidney directed "Stay Single." 

Film Daily, 25-February-1924

Film Daily, 08-February-1924

Al Christie was planning to make feature-length comedies."  

Film Daily, 25-February-1924

Dorothy Devore and Walter Hiers were going to star in the first Christie feature, Hold Your Breath. 

Motion Picture News, 23-February-1924

Film Daily, 08-February-1924

Camera, 02-February-1924

The Christie Studio was at 6101 Sunset at Gower. There is nothing remarkable there now. 

Lloyd Hamilton Was Never Funnier -- January 28, 2024

Motion Picture News, 19-January-1924

Lloyd Hamilton starred in a series of two-reel comedies released by Educational. Many are lost.

Motion Picture News, 26-January-1924

Note the dogs in the top center photo. 

Film Daily, 28-January-1924

Film Daily, 31-January-1924

Some of us will remember that in 1923, Al Jolson signed a contract to star in a movie produced by DW Griffith. Jolson got cold feet and broke the contract. Albert L Grey was DW Griffith's brother, who worked on many of his films. Lloyd Hamilton replaced Jolson in the movie that was made, "His Darker Self." I love Lloyd Hamilton, but the movie is revolting. I will write more about it in the coming months.

Film Daily, 28-January-1924

Film Daily, 09-January-1924

Juvenile Comedies must have been Educational's response to Roach's Our Gang. Jack White produced and Earl Montgomery directed "About Face."

Film Daily, 07-January-1924

Film Daily, 31-January-1924

Educational offered free ad mats for their short subjects. These could be run as stand-alone newspaper ads or inserted into larger ads. Brian Foy directed Harry Tighe, Ned Sparks and Doris Deane in "One Night it Rained."

Motion Picture News, 12-January-1924

Baby Peggy Montgomery had been Century's biggest comedy star. She moved on to starring in features for Universal. 

Motion Picture News, 12-January-1924

Giant Jack Earle starred with Harry McCoy in Century's "Obey the Law." Robert Kerr directed. 

Motion Picture News, 05-January-1924

Fox Sunshine's "The Income Tax Collector" starred Lew Brice as a man hated by everyone. Erle C Kenton directed. Lew was Fanny Brice's brother. 

Motion Picture News, 05-January-1924

Archie Mayo directed Al St John in Fox Sunshine's "Spring Fever."

Film Daily, 10-January-1924

I know precisely nothing about Jazz Comedies, but "jazz" was a very popular word in 1924. 

"America" Will Open in N.Y. Feb. 21 -- January 9, 2024

Motion Picture News, 19-January-1924

DW Griffith's epic of the American Revolutionary War, America, was scheduled to open in New York City on 21-February-1924. The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) were strong supporters of the movie. 

Film Daily, 28-January-1924

Some of us will remember that in 1923, Al Jolson signed a contract to star in a movie produced by DW Griffith. Jolson got cold feet and broke the contract. Albert L Grey was DW Griffith's brother, who worked on many of his films.

Comic Lloyd Hamilton replaced Jolson in the movie that was made, "His Darker Self." I love Lloyd Hamilton, but the movie is revolting. I will write more about it in the coming months.

The Duncan Sisters -- July 30, 2023

San Francisco Examiner, 01-August-1923

Rosetta and Vivian Duncan were experienced vaudeville performers. In 1923 they started to tour in a musical comedy, Topsy and Eva, based on the characters from Uncle Tom's Cabin. Rosetta played Topsy in blackface. Vivian, playing Eva, served as the straight person. In 1927, they starred in a movie adaption. Please excuse the racism.

Written, Acted and Produced by Colored People -- July 20, 2023

Saint Louis Argus, 27-July-1923

Deceit was Evelyn Preer's first starring role. "The Most Beautiful Colored Actress on the screen." This was director Oscar Micheaux's tenth film. Notice that the theater advertised it was the "Coolest Place on Market Street/Ice Cold Water Running Always." Saint Louis gets hot during the summer. 

 

Pittsburgh Courier, 10-July-1948

25 years later, Micheaux's last movie, The Betrayal, was receiving bad reviews. JA Rogers used his column in the Pittsburgh Courier, and African American-owned newspaper, to defend the picture. Roger said it was better and truer-to-life than Gentleman's Agreement, a successful Hollywood movie. 

Film Daily, 05-July-1923

Back in 1923, a rumor that Kansas censors might life the ban on DW Griffith's famously racist Birth of a Nation led to protests from exhibitors. "Fear of racial differences is the reason for the ban."

DW Griffith -- Jolson's Desertion -- July 8, 2023

Film Daily, 09-July-1923

Last month we saw that director DW Griffith wanted to make a movie with Al Jolson who was well-known for performing in blackface. Jolson jumped ship after work started on Black Magic. There was talk of a lawsuit. I have also seen the film referred to as Mammy's Boy. 

Sources say that the same script was eventually produced by someone else as "His Darker Self" with Lloyd Hamilton. I have seen that movie and cannot picture it as a Griffith film. 

Motion Picture Magazine, July, 1923

I have never seen The White Rose, which was shot on locations in the south. Mae Marsh had worked with Griffith since the Biograph. Ivor Novello was born in Wales. He was a playwright, a composer and singer. Someone called him "a minor league Noel Coward." Carol Dempster, Griffith's protégé, also played a leading role. 

Film Daily, 08-July-1923

After Jolson bailed out, Griffith was working on his historical epic, America. I suspect I will be writing quite a lot about that movie.

Anna May Wong -- Ivory Skinned and Almond Eyed -- July 6, 2023

Motion Picture Magazine, July, 1923

Anna May Wong was breathtakingly beautiful. The caption implies that she was born in China, but she was a native of Los Angeles. Racism hurt her career.

100-Years-Lost Film Found at Cinémathèque Française -- April 1, 2023

New York Evening World, 27-February-1915

In 1915, pioneer director D. W. Griffith released an epic film entitled The Birth of a Nation. It was a US Civil War film based on two novels by white supremacist clergyman Thomas Dixon. Audiences were impressed by the dynamism of the battle scenes in the first half of the motion picture but were disgusted by the overt racism of the depiction of Reconstruction and African Americans during the second half. 

Social justice organizations like the NAACP and the United Daughters of the Confederacy pushed for the film to be banned. They succeeded in most jurisdictions, and all prints and negatives of the vile film were thought to have been destroyed by 1918 or 1919. 

The financial and moral failure of the film led to the early end of Griffith's once-promising career.

Finding an intact print of the thought-to-be-lost film in 2023 in the Cinémathèque Française has caused mixed feelings for film historians and civil rights activists. The only public showing of the film so far led to large scale, peaceful protests in New York City.