Bessie Love #13 -- January 7, 2014

I have always been fascinated by the career of actress Bessie Love.  She was born in Texas.  Her name was Juanita Horton.  Her family moved to Los Angeles and she went to Los Angeles High School.  Looking for work, she met director  DW Griffith and got a small part in Intolerance.  She appeared in movies with William S Hart and Douglas Fairbanks.  She was a 1922 WAMPAS (Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers) Baby Star.  She played many leading roles, most famously in The Lost World, but never broke through until the talkies came, when she starred in The Broadway Melody.  Her career was hot for a few years, but then tailed off.  She continued to appear in small parts in movies until the early 1980s.

This image is from the April, 1929 Photoplay.  It illustrates her athletic tendencies and mentions that her singing and talking talents brought her back to the movies when the talkie era began. 

I moved this series over from my other blog, The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion.  Here are the entries from this series on that blog. 

Harry Langdon -- January 6, 2014

I saw Harry Langdon's "Saturday Afternoon" in one of the Robert Youngson comedy compilations, but I don't think I had seen any of his other movies before I read Frank Capra's The Name Above the Title.  Capra, who had worked on writing  team for some of Langdon's Mack Sennett comedies and directed his second and third First National features, had a grudge and it colored my view of Langdon.  I learned not to trust many statements in film industry memoirs. 

I still had not seen many Langdon movies before I read Walter Kerr's great book The Silent Clowns.  I managed to see his first three First National features (Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, The Strong Man and Long Pants) and a few of his Sennett shorts at the Avenue and other theaters.  It has only been in the last few years that I saw all of his surviving Sennett shorts, his Sennett feature (His First Flame) and his fourth and fifth First National features (Three's a Crowd and The Chaser) on DVD.  I still have not seen many of his sound shorts, especially the early talkies he made with Hal Roach. 

The image is from the 1929 Motion Picture News Blue Book. Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version.

George Reeves 100 -- January 5, 2014

Actor George Reeves, who was most famous for playing Superman on television, was born 100 years ago, on 05-January-1914.  I grew up watching reruns of Superman. 

His first film was Gone With the Wind, where he played a small part.  He appeared in a variety of shorts and features until he was drafted in 1943.  The US Army Air Forces Broadway show Wings of Liberty earned him attention, but when the war was over and he was discharged, he found things slow in Hollywood.  He appeared in live television shows and had small parts in movies like From Here to Eternity. 

In 1951, he became Superman, first in a movie/television pilot Superman Vs the Mole Men, then in the half-hour series.  The Adventures of Superman premiered on ABC in 1952.  The show became popular, and Reeves was very good with the fans, trying to be a role model, but he became tired and felt restricted. 

In 1959, Reeves died of a gunshot wound.  The coroner ruled it was a suicide, but many people suspect he might have been murdered. 

The photo of George Reeves and Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane after the first season, is from the wonderful site LucyWho (http://www.lucywho.com). 

Harold Lloyd -- January 4, 2014

Harold Lloyd left his hand, foot and glass-prints in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese on 21-November-1927. I don't know what the occasion could have been -- this was between the release dates of The Kid Brother and Speedy.

 

I took the photo on 18-July-2009.  Click on the image to see a larger version. 

My fiancée, who is now my wife and I used to go to San Francisco's Avenue Theater, on San Bruno Avenue, where Bob Vaughn accompanied silent movies on the Mighty Wurlitzer every Friday night.  We saw several Lloyd shorts and features there.  The Kid Brother is my favorite.

I didn't get to read his memoir, An American Comedy, till after I got married. 

Charles Chaplin -- January 3, 2014

A photo of Charlie Chaplin in City Lights from the 1933 World Film Encyclopedia, a British publication edited by Clarence Winchester.  The photo is credited to United Artists.  Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version. 

I think I have always known Charlie Chaplin.  I must have seen many of his movies on Fractured Flickers or other television programs.  KQED Channel 9, the local public television station in San Francisco, showed Paul Killiam's version of The Gold Rush.  I cried when no one showed up for the New Year's party. 

Years later, the Surf Theater in San Francisco's Sunset District had a Charley Chaplin festival.  That was where I first saw many of his features.  My wife, who was then my fiancée, came to most of the shows.  I remember a double bill of City Lights and Limelight.  At the end of City Lights, my she was weeping.  Perhaps that is when I knew she was a keeper. 

One of the first film-related books I read, when I was in grammar school, was My Autobiography.  I didn't understand a lot of it the first time I read it, although I knew something interesting was going on with Pola Negri.  I wondered why he didn't say much about his movies. Years later, I read his 1916 Charlie Chaplin's Own Story, which I think I read from the library at San Francisco State.  I was fascinated that he told a completely fabricated story about his first experience in making a movie.  This was only two years after he made his debut and there were lots of people around who could refute his story. 

Buster Keaton Now With United Artists -- January 2, 2014

An ad from the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook. I wonder who took the photo.  Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version. 

Posing with a bird on his hat while wearing a dark-colored jacket just proves his courage. 

I remember sitting in my grandparents' rumpus room (theirs may have been the only San Francisco home I ever visited that had a rumpus room) when some channel showed an edited version of The General.  I loved the movie and I loved Buster and I loved the way my grandfather said he loved Buster. 

Later I managed to see some of his short films at the public library.  When I was older, I started to visit San Francisco's Avenue Theater, on San Bruno Avenue, where Bob Vaughn accompanied silent movies on the Mighty Wurlitzer every Friday night.  I usually went with my wife, who was then my fiancée.  There we saw every one of his features except Battling Butler, which I have never managed to see. 

I read his My Wonderful World of Slapstick, which I took out from the Main Library. 

Welcome to the Big V Riot Squad -- January 1, 2014

What is the Big V Riot Squad?  Well, back about 100 years ago, the Vitagraph Company was one of the major film producers in the United States.  In the early teens, the Vitagraph was known for refined comedies featuring John Bunny, Flora Finch, Mr and Mrs Sidney Drew and others.  Keystone started producing less-refined comedies in 1912 and John Bunny died in 1915.  The Vitagraph moved away from drawing-room comedy and towards slapstick. 

Featured in some of their short comedies was a gang of roughneck comedians who were billed as the Big V Riot Squad.  You'll see them mentioned above, in an ad from the Bourbon News of 22-February-1918, in "Sleuths and Surprises."  The Vitagraph liked alliterative titles for its comedies.  Among the members of the squad was Joe Rock, an acrobatic comedian who made many films teamed with Earl Montgomery.  Rock later became a producer.  He produced "Lucky Dog," the first film which featured both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. 

I have been working on a blog called The Pneumatic Rolling Sphere Carrier Delusion (http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com/) for about six years now.  I have used it to explore many different areas that interest me: San Francisco history, baseball, railroads, and many other things.  One of my strongest interests has always been in movies and pre-cinema moving picture devices.  I will probably branch off into the stage, early radio and television now and then, but I will mainly concentrate on movies.  I am particularly fond of silent movies and silent comedy. 

I think the time has come to split my movie interests off into another blog, so here we are.  Please find a seat and the show will begin shortly.  Ladies will kindly remove their hats.