Thursday, July 28, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Coming Around the Bend
Friday, January 7, 2011
The End of an Era
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Garden of Girls: 1925
Jazz Age / Art Deco Era photos taken by Ziegfeld Follies photographer Edwin Bower Hesser at his Hotel des Artistes studio in New York City.
Edwin Bower Hesser (1893-1962) was a prominent photographer who worked in New York and Los Angeles during the golden age of Hollywood. Hesser belonged to the generation of photographers who saw the marriage of image and performance as the future of the art. He was drawn to the world of movies and worked as a contract photographer for numbers of silent stars based in New York. He began to make regular trips to the west coast for photographic sessions with Hollywood stars, and finally moved his base of operations to the West Coast.
A fire in 1922 destroyed all of his negatives. In starting over, Hesser realized that the real money in photography lay in periodical publication, not in the service of film publicity offices or stage PR men. He saw a particular opportunity in the subject which the 1920s stage explored with great daring, but the screen, even in pre-code days, could not pursue: female nudity.
Throughout the late 1920s, he published EDWIN BOWER HESSER'S ARTS MONTHLY, exploiting the association betweens art and nudity, and sold it to an anonymous readership of 'art students.' The magazine also featured the work of Ziegfeld Follies photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston, along with John De Mirjian, George DeBarron and Strand Studios.
Interestingly, the famous beauties of the day eagerly flocked to his studios to be artistically photographed in various stages of undress, and these included a number of famous actresses: Marion Davies, Anna Wong, Louise Brooks, Corrine Griffith, Bessie Love, and Alice Calhoun, were among the many who willingly posed for ‘artistic’ photos by Hesser.
Hesser also developed his own color photography system known as Hessercolor, that intrigued magazine publishers, but did not prevail in the marketplace . But his experiments with color photographic processes and his experience with mass reproduction of imagery made him attractive in the eyes of the New York Times, who hired him as a technician.
(c) Susann Disbro Gilbert
References:
Dr. David S. Shields, McClintock Professor at the University of South Carolina;
UCLA Special Collections;
Trouble in Paradise: Edwin Bower Hesser precodecinemablogspot.com
Friday, October 22, 2010
Pampered Youth (1925)
Based on the Pulitzer-prize winning novel The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Takington, the screenplay for Pampered Youth was written by Jay Pilcher and also co-starred Cullen Landis, Allan Forrest, Wallace MacDonald, young Ben Alexander (who grew up to be Jack Webb’s sidekick in television’s Dragnet), and the lovely Charlotte Merriam, who had also been featured prominently in the prior Code of the Wilderness with Alice.
The Los Angeles Times described Alice as:
…A girl who has played a dope fiend with true realism – who has both murdered and been murdered, called by Sir James Barrie “the ideal Babbie of the screen” in The Little Minister …
Thus, it served as no surprise to anyone that she could convincingly age almost an entire lifetime in her role as Isabel Minafer in Pampered Youth.
Released on February 1, 1925, Pampered Youth is the earliest known example of Alice’s work that exists today, and copies are still available for public resale from various sources, although the film is markedly inferior to the original shown in theatres. A condensed version was released in 1927 and re-titled Two to One, and both are in the archives of the Library of Congress Moving Images Collection. A nitrate version is also preserved at the University of California in Los Angeles library archives.
Two major alterations of Pampered Youth from the novel on which it is based are the title itself; and the family name, from the “Ambersons” of the book to the “Minafers” in the film. While the reviews from the time Pampered Youth was released were kind, comparison to other films made at the same period cannot be avoided, especially concerning the camera work, which was credited to David Smith and Stephen Smith, Jr. The photography of Pampered Youth is primitive, featuring fixed, distant camera views which don’t allow for any nuances or subtleties by the actors. Considering some of the cutting-edge film technique that was already in regular use by 1925, this deficiency of skill was undoubtedly due to either lack of imagination or laziness on the part of the director. The result is a glaring flaw in the interpretation of the sweeping saga of Tarkington’s original novel, for which he was awarded the 1919 Pulitzer prize for literature. The core theme of the story is the rejection of modernity by the protagonist, George Minafer (portrayed by Cullen Landis), a spoiled, selfish scion who must eventually lose his family’s fortune, suffer poverty and social shame, and then be redeemed by the story’s end.
But the surviving, snipped versions of Pampered Youth that are commercially available are missing almost one hour of the original film, having been reduced to only 24 minutes, as compared to the original 7 reels of film that was released in 1925. Almost ten full minutes of the surviving, chopped film is taken up by the climatic fire scene, thus eliminating much of the prior plot explanation and making little sense. This makes comparisons to the acclaimed re-make in 1942 by Orson Welles (titled as the novel The Magnificent Ambersons) very difficult to justly contrast or compare. But from the perspective of film preservation and the performances of Alice Calhoun, Cullen Landis, Charlotte Merriam, Wallace McDonald and a very young Ben Alexander, the surviving copies of Pampered Youth are precious, indeed.
(c) Susann Disbro Gilbert
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Turner Classic Movies
July 4 Sunday 6:00 AM
Short Film: "The Flag: A Story Inspired By the Tradition of Betsy Ross" (1927). A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Picture.
In this silent film, George Washington appeals to Betsy Ross to help create a flag for the new United States. Cast: Alice Calhoun, Francis X. Bushman, Doris Kenyon, Enid Bennett. Director: Arthur Maude. Filmed in 2-strip Technicolor. Film score by Vivek Maddala. C-20 mins, TV-G.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Web Site is Back Up!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Out With the Old, In With the New?
Random thought:
This week’s topic includes two points of views regarding the change from “silent” to “sound” film. The first is from a TCM feature Cecil B. DeMille - American Epic directed by Kevin Brownlow
“…The moment sound came in, everyone threw the technique of silent pictures away…swept the stage clean, swept everybody who had been working in silent pictures away and brought in from the stage people who were used to reading lines.
“And they put the camera in a little glass box. You couldn’t pan it, you couldn’t move it, it was in glass…
“And I took the camera out of the glass room, and put it on the stage to try and bring [the art] back…and the sound engineer walked off.”
- Cecil B. DeMille
I love this quote; Mr. DeMille explains so much about what I often disliked about the first sound films. Much of the cinematic strides that had been made in the previous two decades were tossed off the sets and largely forgotten in the novelty of talkies. Even in early television, dialogue only took place when everyone was sitting around a table, for example (“speak into the flower pot, my dear; that’s where the microphone is”). In that media form, it wasn’t until Desi Arnez came along and insisted on utilizing three cameras. It also helped that Lucille Ball was a gifted comedienne, surrounded by a great supporting cast, but “I Love Lucy” reruns would not still be airing somewhere right now, if the camera work hadn’t been so good.
The second example is what I am focusing on this week, the last of ‘09. I’m writing about the frustration that Alice Calhoun felt toward the last few years of her career. She had already proven her acting chops with diversified roles in a number of very good films. But when Warner Brothers bought out Vitagraph Studios and included her contract with the sale , she was treated with disregard by the new production company and given mediocre roles in second-rate films. A number of notable directors wanted her in their films, but Warner Bros. refused to loan her out. Little wonder that she decided to walk away and give up her acting career. It certainly must have been a real heartache. Especially since she was only thirty-three years old when she came to that decision.
People come and go so fast in the revolving door of
Certainly some food for thought to reflect on during the last week of the year. ~ SDG
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Searching for America's past on the silver screen
Mount Pleasant residents keeping memories of movies, S.C. single-screen theaters alive through their Web sites
The Post and Courier
Susann Gilbert created this collage to inspire her research into a cousin, 1920s movie star Alice Calhoun.
The Post and Courier
Calhoun, a silent-screen star, will be the subject of a book by the Mount Pleasant resident.
The Post and Courier
Mark Tiedje (left) and John Coles started www.scmovietheatres.com, which features a history of single-screen movie theaters in the state, primarily to collect people's memories. The doors came from a former Charleston single-screen theater, the Gloria, now the Sottile Theatre, at King and George streets.
The Post and Courier
John Coles of Mount Pleasant stands in the Paradise Theatre, a former mother-in-law suite he and Tiedje converted into a small, eight-seat movie theater complete with a cafe. The movie poster frame next to Coles was taken from the former single-screen theater on Sullivan's Island.
The Post and Courier
Ken Robichaux, Picture Show Man Web site director of operations, plays 'The Sneeze,' the first movie ever copyrighted.
What if you could watch a 1920s video of your grandmother or other relative and see the way she was, but at 25?
Susann Gilbert can, almost. One of her relatives lives on in silent films, and her voice is in some clips.
Tracing her family roots, Gilbert found some interesting sparks in hunks of tedious research. But a member of her family tree who especially caught her attention was a first cousin of her grandfather: actress Alice Calhoun. Naturally, Gilbert, a former performer, was interested in learning more about the silent star born in 1900. But she couldn't find much. "In Hollywood, people come and go. People get very forgotten," Gilbert said.
When the Mount Pleasant resident searched for information on the Web, she kept finding the same biography repeated on different sites and with mistakes, including eight different birth dates.
To set the story straight, Gilbert launched her own Web site to tell her relative's story.
The site is part of a larger movement to preserve America's 20th-century film and theater history here in the Lowcountry. Gilbert and three other Mount Pleasant residents maintain Web sites dedicated to the history of motion pictures and the state's single-screen theaters.
If our family trees tell us who we are, then maybe films tell us what America was. You can see how people dressed, how they lived and what they thought was funny, Gilbert said.
"If you want to understand the 20th century, study the movie theater," said John Coles, who maintains www.scmovietheatres.com with Mark Tiedje.
What the railroad was to the 19th century, the movie theater was to the 20th century. The railroad, the men said, united the country physically. The movie theater unified the country culturally and socially. A trip to the movie theater in the early days included news reels, cartoons and coming attractions in addition to the feature-length film.
After the movie, you grabbed a soda and talked about what you saw, Tiedje said.
The men have been studying the state's single-screen theaters because it limits the scope of their research to a specific period. The state's first theaters built for movies opened in 1915. In 1930, there were 200 single-screen theaters in South Carolina. Many towns, no matter how small, had one. Tiedje and Coles likened it to bringing the Internet to town. Cottageville, barely a bend in the road, with a gas station and maybe a nursery, opened a single-screen in 1941.
The men have been collecting people's theater memories via the Web site www.scmovietheatres.com. But they also traveled the state and others to gather information. During their travels, Tiedje and Coles often stuck out in the smallest towns. They were met with, "Who are you?" until the men said that they'd come to learn about the town's old theater.
"People open up, they share their personal stories once you ask them about their memories," Coles said.
The most common South Carolina story involves the excitement after hearing that a live Tarzan star would come to the theater. Everyone thought it would be Johnny Weissmuller. Instead, they were greeted by "Cheetah" the chimpanzee. Everyone thought it was the real Cheetah, Tiedje said, but it was a chimpanzee rented out by a Florence man.
By the 1980s, most single-screen theaters had disappeared. Twin and triple screens opened in the 1970s and 1980s, changing the way people saw films.
"Movie theaters in the 20th century are more representative of the American culture," Coles said. "I don't think the movie theaters represent anything today."
Tiedje said, "The movies still do."
Ken Robichaux, The Picture Show Man Web site director of operations, said films of the 20th and 21st centuries are a reflection of society's tastes because they are so commercial.
He limits the information on his Web site to the 20th century from the beginnings of film to the 1960s, about the time Hollywood's studio structure and its golden age had ended.
The history of motion pictures gives a general view of the 20th century. It includes entertainment, dance, technology, patent law, censorship, the rise of unions, social values — Robichaux's list goes on.
"It encompasses everything, and because of that, it's endlessly fascinating," Robichaux said.
Reach Jessica Johnson at 937-5921 or jjohnson@postandcourier.com.
A Brief Bio of Alice Calhoun, Silent Screen Actress
A Brief Biography
Born in Cleveland, Ohio at the dawn of the twentieth century, Alice Beatrice Calhoun (nicknamed “ABC” for her unique initials) was the daughter of Florence F. Payne and Joseph Chester Calhoun. She had one brother, Joseph Jr., who was not only a successful attorney, but also a Danish and Norwegian consul.
In the 1920's, movies were basically an unchallenged mass entertainment form - radio was not yet a part of the culture, and television was years away. Most of Alice's movies were based on literary works, such as Booth Tarkington's Pulitzer-prize winning novel, "The Magnificent Ambersons" (filmed as Pampered Youth), or short stories, such as O. Henry’s final, unfinished The Dream. While she played roles in various genre including slapstick and westerns, most of her movies were script–based dramas.
Alice was a hard-working actress, and regarded as highly professional by her peers. While modern audiences may view the melodramatic acting method of silents as over-the-top or "quaint", it clearly reflected the technique necessary for interpretation. Silent film is an interactive art form. Without sound, an audience must be able to clearly understand the actor's thoughts and emotions. Alice's mastery of that technique was widely admired and considered skillful and believable. Most of her films were successful because of her charm, and that quality made her popular and durable for the period of time she worked in. There was a darling naiveté to her work that was vivid, gutsy, human, and sentimental. She had an active fan club, and always answered all the letters that she received.
This being pre-code Hollywood, many of Alice's films had themes that were considered sophisticated and risqué. In One Stolen Night (which admittedly rode in on the coattails of Valentino's The Sheik), her leading role as Diantha oozes erotica and sexual angst. Sir James M. Barrie called her “the perfect Lady Babbie” when she starred in The Little Minister, which was later remade and became Katherine Hepburn’s break-out role.
While Alice did play her share of the day’s helpless waifs and hopeless romantics, she also starred in mysteries and adventures, playing strong, action-motivated roles. One of her legacies is her modern-themed starring roles, portraying successful, educated women. Feminine assertiveness was a popular theme in films of the mid-1920's, and she was often cast as a headstrong, career woman. She was also a very skilled comedienne. One of my favorite films of hers is the slapstick comedy Hidden Aces (with renowned stuntman Charles Hutchison), in which she is adorable and hilarious.
For her contribution to motion pictures, Alice was awarded a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in the early 1960's. She was also renowned for her patriotic contributions, community service and work on behalf of other aspiring female artists. She was an officer in the American Pen Women Society, and active in the Beverly Hills chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was a regular visitor and volunteer at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, the final resting home for many stars. The women’s diagnostic center at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles has a plaque that bears her name for her contributions to that facility. Likewise, at the City of Hope Hospital, the Alice Calhoun Chotiner Wing is a serene, comfortable waiting area for cancer patient’s families. She was diagnosed with cancer in the early 1960's, eventually succumbing to the ravages of mesothelioma. She passed on June 3, 1966, and eternally rests beside her beloved husband, Max Chotiner, at the Little Garden of Faithfulness, near the statue of Leah at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
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-SDG, 5 December 2009