A 1930 issue of Exhibitors Hearld dedicated a large section to promotion for upcoming films for MGM. Here is part of that section, which is dedicated to the short subjects that MGM would be making a distributing (including the films from Hal Roach Studios) in 1930 and 1931. It states, "The Greatest Short Product Line Up MGM Has Ever Offered." While this is obviously just publicity, it is hard to argue with a lineup that includes Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang (AKA The Little Rascals), The Boy Friends, Charley Chase and Ub Iwerks' bizarre Flip the Frog cartoons.
Now enjoy some shorts from 1930 and 1931.
You have seen Burton Holmes in the article. This is a name that you may not be familiar with. So here is a short video about him and his films.
There are names that anyone familiar with silent comedy knows. Along with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, this definitely includes Mack Sennett. The legendary comedy producer not only brought us the likes of the Keystone Kops and the Mack Sennett Bathing Beauties, but he also produced the earliest films of Charlie Chaplin, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Mabel Normand and Harry Langdon. If it wasn't for him, film comedy probably would have never evolved thew way it did.
The following is a 1916 article about Mack Sennett from Moving Picture Classic. If you have any trouble reading it click on the pages below and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.
The following comedy short, The Feathered Nest (1916), was produced by Mack Sennett and released the same year that article above was published.
Now for a true masterpiece. This is a wonderful talkie short produced by Mack Sennett and starring the comedy legend W.C. Fields. Enjoy The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933).
Conway Tearle is one of the many actors of Hollywood's golden age who had a massive career, yet whose name is well forgotten today even by many cinephiles. Yet during the silent era and the early talkie era, he had quite a career. It is believed that he appeared in 96 films and was once considered the highest paid movie actor. His movie career began with The Nightingale (1914) starring Ethel Barrymore (also in her film debut) and ended with Romeo and Juliet (1936) starring Leslie Howard, Norma Shearer and John Barrymore. In between this he appeared in such movies as Stella Maris (1918) (starring Mary Pickford), Atonement (1919), Lilies of the Field (1924), The Great Divide (1925), Dancing Mothers (1926) (featuring Clara Bow's screen debut), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), Vanity Fair (1932), Stingaree (1934), Klondike Annie (1936) (starring Mae West) and The Preview Murder Mystery (1936).
Like many film actors of the era, Tearle also starred in many plays. Here is a list of just some Broadway productions he was in.
Abigail (Feb 21, 1905 - Apr 1905)
A Marriage of Reason (Apr 01, 1907 - Apr 1907)
The Smoldering Flame (Sep 23, 1913 - Sep 1913)
The Fugitive (Mar 19, 1917 - May 1917)
The Mad Dog (Nov 08, 1921 - Nov 1921)
Dinner at Eight (Oct 22, 1932 - May 1933)
Living Dangerously (Jan 12, 1935 - Jan 19, 1935)
Antony and Cleopatra (Nov 10, 1937 - Nov 13, 1937)
Here is an article from a 1918 issue of Photoplay magazine about Conway Tearle. If you have any trouble reading these pages, click on them and you your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.
Now enjoy a feature length movie featuring Conway Tearle, Sing Sing Nights (1934).
Though it may not include the average person you pass on the street, Pre-code Hollywood has a surprisingly large and dedicated following. This era from 1930 to 1934, features many pure Hollywood classics that hold up massively well today. Some of these movies include such masterpieces as The Divorcee (1930), All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Frankenstein (1931), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Three on a Match (1932), Grand Hotel (1932), Golddiggers of 1933 (1933), King Kong (1933) and Baby Face (1933). In this book historians Kim Luperi and Danny Reid picked out 50 classic Hollywood films (including those previously listed) from this era and take a close look at them. Their critical looks at these movies help bring great insight that allows us to enjoy these films on a greater level.
The research into these films is even more incredible. One of the most prevalent myths about Pre-Code Hollywood is that there was no censorship whatsoever. While the production code was not strictly enforced at this time, filmmakers still had to answer to local and state censor boards. This book takes a very close and eye-opening look at the interactions between studios and censor boards. This is an area of film history I was aware of, but it turns out I only knew the surface of. You may go into this book thinking you know a lot about Pre-code Hollywood, but you will soon learn just how wrong this assumption is.
This book also works because of the two authors' writing style. This book is very well written and articulate but at the same time breezy and unpretentious. This writing style can full engage film scholars while still being readable and fun for causal readers.
This is a truly essential book for fans of classic movies.
Though not as well remembered today as he should be, Will Rogers was a major celebrity in the 1920's and 30's. He wrote humorous newspaper columns, appeared on stage as part of the Ziegfield Follies, spoke on radio and appeared in movies. However, it was his homespun personality and his down-to-earth commentary that made him so beloved. I am personally quite a fan of his movies from the 1930's (he appeared in some good silent films, but he was better suited for talkies), which are always quite a bit of unpretentious fun. During the 1930's he even appeared in some films by one of the greatest directors the movies ever had, John Ford. Not shockingly those movies (Doctor Bull (1933), Judge Priest (1934), Steamboat Round the Bend (1935)) remain the highlight of his screen career.
Here is an article from an issue of The New Movie Magazine (dated December 1933) where another movie great, Spencer Tracy, talks about his good friend Will Rogers. If you have trouble reading it click on the following pages and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.
If you are like me then October means time to rewatch old black and white Univeral horror movies. Of course (besides Lon Chaney Jr.), the main actors who come to your mind with these movies are Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
Here is a 1932 article from Modern Screen magazine talking about these two horror icons. If you can't read the following pages, click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.
Whenever I mention The Mummy to people around me, they automatically think of the Brendan Fraiser movies. While I enjoy those movies, I do wish that the old black and white Universal mummy movies got the same attention. The first of these films is a pure horror classic and one of the best Universal monster movies. While the mummy pictures that followed never quite reached the height of the original, they were often times fun for what they were.
That is why I am so glad to own this 2017 Blu-Ray featuring all the classic black and white Universal Mummy movies. Each of these films has been restored and each of the restorations looks absolutely wonderful. I have never seen any of these films look anywhere near as good as they do here. Based on what I have seen in similar sets, I expected the first film to look great while the others would have a lesser quality to them. This was happily not the case here. I was also happy to see that the makers of this Blu-Ray set included Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) along with the more typical mummy films. That movie marked the end of an era in multiple ways as not only the last entry in the Mummy series but also the last film Abbott and Costello made for Universal, the studio where they made their best and most popular movies. Though it does not have the best reputation among either comedy or horror fans, I have always had a real fondness for that movie.
Most of the bonus features for this set are simply attached to the original movie (though the set includes the trailers for all the movies). While I wish there were bonus features relating to the other films on the set, the bonus features for the first film are truly excellent. They include two information filled and fun audio commentaries and various documentary shorts about the making of this movie and the Universal monster films in general. All of these bonus features are excellent and a real treat for any old movie or Universal monster fan.
Now for my thoughts on the induvial movies themselves.
The Mummy (1932): A horror masterpiece and one of the best Universal monster movies. Though this movie may not be actually scary by today's standards, it has a wonderful eerie atmosphere that is still incredibly effective today. Plus, Boris Karloff is incredible as the main character.
The Mummy's Hand (1940): The second movie in this series is a delightful mixture of comedy and horror with the main heroes almost feeling like a straight man and comic comedy team. While they may not be Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello, they are still quite a bit of fun and got a few laughs out of me. The mummy here is also delightfully creepy.
The Mummy's Tomb (1942): A darker, more sinister follow-up to The Mummy's Hand has a delightfully creepy feel to it. The large time jump feels completely unnecessary though.
The Mummy's Ghost (1944): This is an enjoyable little horror movie but the previous entries in the series have done everything here before and done it better.
The Mummy's Curse (1944): This fifth entry simply rehashes plot points from the previous films. This is true to the point that watching the movie for the first time, you still feel like you have seen the film before. The climax is quite atmospheric and creepy though.
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955): A delightful finale for both Abbott and Costello's great run at Universal and this series of Mummy movies. Though it may not contain as many laughs as earlier Abbott and Costello films, the comedy duo is delightful here. And even if there are less laughs than earlier A&C outings, there are still some pretty funny moments there. The movie also moves at a fast and fun pace. As with all this Abbott and Costello meet the monster movies, the storyline is quite good and could have even been a pretty good monster movie if played straight. A delight for both comedy and horror fans.
It hasn't been until fairly recently that Marion Davies has been truly appreciated for how great of an actress she actually is. She has been too often dismissed as simply someone who succeeded because she was William Randolph Hearst's mistress and some have compared her to Susan Alexander in Citizen Kane (1941), an assumption that Orson Welles himself dismissed. Yet a look at her filmography one can see that she was incredibly talented and brought a warmth and charm to all her roles. For anyone who is not yet convinced of this I recommend that you read Lara Gabrielle's biography of her.
This is one of the best movie star biographies of recent years. It is written from a place of love and there is no doubt that Gabrielle is completely enamored with her subject. While she does not paint Marion as perfect, its portrait of her is loving and deeply sympathetic. After reading this book, it is hard not to care about Marion as a person. This book perfectly shows us Marion's big heart, her loyalty, generosity, love of life and love of animals (including becoming very involved in pushing towards animal rights). We see a warm and loving person that we would all love to have as a friend. This book also illustrates how Marion truly loved Hearst and that he meant much more to her than his money and power. While Hearst was an extremely flawed human being (many of the flaws being glaringly obvious as you read the book), it is also obvious that he loved her back and was not just simply cavorting around with a younger woman.
As well as giving us great insight into the person, this book also gives us a great look at her movies. Garbrielle truly did her research her and even massive film buffs might learn a thing or two about her movies here. The book goes into great depth about each of her major films. While there is little critical insight into many of the movies as a whole, the author does a great job of examining Marion's performances in the film and what made these performances special. The book also gives much information about Marion's work with some truly talented directors (including the great King Vidor) and how she adapted to the change from silents to talkies (not always easy as she had a stuttering problem).
This is a must read for any fan of Marion Davies, classic Hollywood or well-written books in general. Once I started reading it, I hated whenever I had to put it down.
Note: Sorry about no Cowboy Church post this week. Been very busy with both work and school. School work especially took much longer than expected. I promise there will be a Cowboy Church post next week. In the meantime, enjoy this video about actor Dwight Frye.
This 1975 book by Laurel and Hardy biographer, cartoonist Al Kilgore and Hal Roach Studio historian Richard W. Bann is a very fun read. Much of the book consists of stills from most of their films (with the exception of the lost films, the movies where they have cameos and the Fox movies) and text explaining what is happening in each of the scenes and giving a recounting of many of the gags. The result is almost a hybrid of a picture book and a comic book. Luckily many of these films are still quite funny and enjoyable in this format, making this book a blast to read. For the films that don't receive this full treatment, there usually one picture from the film and a story summary.
Though this is a light and fun read, it is not devoid of information either. Each film receives a list of credits as well as working titles and release dates. There are short but informative bios of both members of the comedy team and brief summaries of each major change in their movie careers. However, when it comes to how informative it is, it has obviously been eclipsed by Randy Skretvedt's Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies. Though the same can be said for every Laurel and Hardy book and still for what it is this is surprisingly informative.
If I had any complaint about this book, it is that there is a rating system for each film (a certain number of derbies out of four) but no explanation for why this rating is given. Because of this, if you happen to disagree with the authors' opinions on certain films, no reason is given is to why they felt differently than you. This honestly annoyed me as I became very curious as to why they liked a film less than or I did or more than I did.
Lee Tracy is one of the most definitive actors of Hollywood's pre-code era. With his gift for delivering rapid speed dialogue, he was a perfect fit for the films coming out of Hollywood at that time. Though his acting career would continue until 1965 with the TV movie Steptoe and Son, it was during the early 1930's that he received his greatest popularity and his best screen roles. His movies during this era include John Ford's Born Reckless (1930), Doctor X (1932), Blessed Event (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933), Turn Back the Clock (1933) and Bombshell (1933).
Here is a 1932 article from Modern Screen magazine about Lee Tracy. If you have any trouble reading the following pages, click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen click here.
The transition from silent film to sound film was one of the most turbulent and important parts of movie history. Yet somehow it remains quite underwritten about. Sure, there are plenty of books about directors or actors who worked in both silent and sound pictures that briefly discuss this transition. Despite this there are few books that discuss this transition in great detail. That is what makes this book so important to film buffs.
Scott Eyman is one of the finest writers about movie history and this masterpiece of a book stands as one of his best. It discusses this transition in great detail. The writing and research here are phenomenal creating a book that is a great read for those who are not well versed in films of this era but will still very incredibly informative to longtime old movie buffs. Once I started reading this book, it was hard to put it down. Eyman's writing style makes this an easy and gripping read having as great of a mastery of the English language as any novelist. Because of this despite the sheer amount of information here, it does not read as a textbook. Rather it creates an absorbing portrait of a time and place. It also delves not only into the films of this movement but the people that played an important role in this transition. The biographical information about such important figures as The Brothers Warner, William Fox, F.W. Murnau and Al Jolson among others give us a personal investment in these films and the people making them. Helping this book paint such a vivid picture of the time and place are tons of very open, honest and informative quotes for those who worked in the movie industry at this time. These quotes alone would worth the price of the book.
Eyman also displays an incredible knack for film analysis. When he writes about the quality of these films, he doesn't stop at simply saying if they are good or bad. Instead, he takes a deep delve into not only the acting and writing but the technical aspects as well. The best thing film criticism can do and is to cause you to look at a movie in a new way. I have seen some of the films discussed in this book many times before. However, after reading this book, I now see them in a completely different way with a new understanding of why some of them work and some don't.
This book is essential reading to anyone with even only a passing interest in film history.
Probably no child actress has ever been better known than Shirley Temple. Like Marlyin Monroe, John Wayne or Charlie Chaplin, even those who have never seen one of her movies know of her. They can immediately bring to mind the image of a little girl with curls dancing and singing. Those who do watch her movies can easily understand why her popularity was so great during the heyday of her career. She is simply charming and cute without ever coming across as cloying, the way so many child actors can. Most of her films may not be great masterpieces of cinema but they are still quite entertaining and fun. If you get a chance to watch one of her classic films with an audience, you will discover how much they still delight audiences today. Her career actually lasted beyond her being the little girl who sang about The Good Ship Lollypop and Animal Crackers. She appeared in some truly delightful films as a teenager, which showed her blossoming into a good actress. These later teenage films include The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), I'll Be Seeing You (1944) and the classic John Ford-John Wayne western Fort Apache (1948).
The following is an article from a 1942 issue of Modern Screen magazine. If you can't read the pages below click on the pages and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.
After having talked about the later part of Shirley Temple's career, we turn our attention to an early film of Her's. I really enjoy the Andy Clyde short, Dora's Dunking Doughnuts (1933), which feature Shirley Temple in a prominent role. This film may not be one of Andy Clyde's funniest shorts. However, it is a really cute, sweet and charming little film that is still delightful today.
The following are some exhibitors' reviews of Dora's Dunking Doughnuts from the Motion Picture Herald. "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts: Andy Clyde - The kids and their orchestra saved this for Andy. Whoever told that guy he was funny? - Mayme P. Mussleman, Princess Theatre, Lincoln, Kan. Small Town Patronage." "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts: Andy Clyde - A little odd and very good comedy. That got a few laughs. Running time, two reels. - J.A. Verchot, Opera House, Abbeville, S.C. Small Town Patronage." "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts: Andy Clyde - A funny comedy and the audience laughed. Running time 20 minutes. - A.H. Edwards Orpheum Theatre, Orwigsburg, PA, Small town and rural patronage."
The following is from an issue of The Film Daily dated June 6, 1933. "Alfonse Corelli, musical director, wrote 'Dora's Dunking Doughnuts' for Andy Clyde's comedy, and the number has already shown signs of being in the hit class. Although the song has not been published and the picture is not ready for general release, requests have been received from several radio stations for permission to broadcast; a well-known stage producing organization has bid it for a new production, and an offer for electrical transcriptions and phonograph records has been made."
The following is from an issue of The Film Daily dated June 3, 1933. "Andy Clyde ate so many doughnuts and drank so much coffee during the making of 'Dora's Dunking Doughnuts' that he is going to emulate Ghandi and go on a hunger strike. In one scene the Scotch comic had to eat four doughnuts. This does not sound like much but when it is figured the scene was shot from four angles - and then the retakes - figure it out for yourself."
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