Loving the past, living the now

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks

My friend and I were talking the other day, and I told her how foolish I felt for loving things/people/movies/whatever from the past so much. I mean, why can't I be like a "normal" girl who loves stuff from this time period? It seems like it would be so much easier. But, then I think, I don't want to be that "normal" person because then I wouldn't be me. I love the glamour and the beauty and emotions in silent film. And I love the history behind them, love how old they are.

I love Buster Keaton. Duh. But, sadly, I was born at least 20 years after he died. Not after he was born, but died. Yeah, wayyyyy before my time. But, he still had an impact on my life. When I visited his grave the last time in May, sat there and talked to him (like I had done before) and told him how much he inspired me. Inspired me how? I mean, I don't want to be a slapstick comedian who never smiles. But, he inspires me not to give up on what I love. I want to be a star, and I want him to look down at me and be proud. I wanna make him proud by being a wonderful actress and be able to join the ranks of my favorite stars of the past. I think he would be proud that I am not gonna let anything stand in front of my dreams and just keep on going forward. I don't talk about my dreams with, well, anyone really but it does feel good to write about it and get it out of my head. And this is why blogging about silent films helps because I don't have anyone in my life that I can gush about them too and have a conversation about them with. I can let people know I love them by them asking about the silent film title card tattoo on my arm though :) But, I must say, thanks again guys for reading my blog. Means a lot.

And here is some more insight that I told my friend Val I would write about. We were having discussions about perfect guys and again I brought up how I felt stupid for loving Peter Tork and The Monkees and how I would get mad at myself for getting upset for not being around during the 1960s when they were younger. I grew up loving them, but it was 20 or 30 years after their heyday. I see them now and love them still, but it doesn't feel the same because they look so much different than they do when I would watch them on tv. But, then I had a thought about the situation while driving in the car. And I am sure this may sound stupid and that's fine, because I don't really give a shit anymore. But, even if I never had the chance to meet the guys when they were younger, I can live my life fully like they did and like I saw them do. Peter inspires me to do whatever it is I want to do and be proud of who I am. I am very smart, I love singing, I love acting, I love thinking like a flapper from the 1920s or a flower child hippie from the 1960s and just loving who I am. I am unique and that is pretty damn groovy. I hope I get a chance to tell him that one day if I can get the words out because when I have met him, I was in shock.

Dorothy Janis and Ramon Novarro

So, there you have it. Thanks again for reading. Love everyone who reads and comments on my page. :) You really make my day.

Miss Evelyn Brent

It has always puzzled me how certain movie stars who I think are just drop dead gorgeous, never really reached the stardom that I think they deserved. Or more recognition rather. But, who I am to say? Just a lil blogger. Carole Landis. Olive Borden. My beloved Sharon Tate. These women were just perfection and they aren't really remembered today (except of course for Sharon who is more remembered for her murder). And, of course, case in point...Evelyn Brent. She has that smoldering look in her eye, and just the face of perfection. But, aside from us silent movie loving fans, she is all but forgotten. She was a beautiful, hard working lady who should be admired by all actors and actresses who follow after her.

Evelyn Brent was born Mary Elizabeth Riggs on October 20, 1899 in Tampa, Florida. She was known as Betty for most of her life, which is kinda hard to picture because we know her as sexy Evelyn Brent...not "Betty." But, there ya have it.

Her mother died when she was a child, so she was left in the care of her father up until she became a teenager. When she was old enough, she moved to New York City and found work as a model and eventually making her way into the movies. It's always the same ole story isn't it?

When she began working as an extra in movies, she was only making $3.00 a day! But, she enjoyed it, and kept at it, making films for a studio in New Jersey. She final made her big debut in 1915. It was after this film that she began going by her stage name of Evelyn Brent.

In 1922, she moved to Hollywood and the next year got nominated for a big honor at the time...WAMPAS Baby Star! She was in good company with Eleanor Boardman, Jobyna Ralston, and Kathleen Key (one of Buster's ladies who trashed his dressing room after he dumped her).  It was after she became a Baby Star that she was signed by Douglas Fairbanks. Unfortunately, no good roles came up, so she left and joined another studio.

She ended up making quite a few films before she made her first talkie in 1928, starring alongside William Powell. The film didn't do very well, but Evelyn was a strong willed woman because it did not slow her down. She kept on making films! She just kept working, whether or not it was in small, secondary roles or on the vaudeville stage. Eventually she ended up making poverty row pictures.

She finally retired from acting in films in 1950, but stayed in the business working as an agent for up and coming actors. She came out of her retirement in the 1960s to appear in an episode of Wagon Train.

Evelyn Brent passed away on June 4, 1975 of a heart attack in Los Angeles.

She was cremated and interred at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.

Evelyn was married three times. Her first husband was Bernard Fineman in 1922. They divorced in 1927. Her second husband was producer Harry Edwards. They were married from 1928 until 1948. Her last husband was actor Harry Fox, who she stayed married to until he died in 1959. She never had children.

Was Evelyn gay? Was she bi? Who knows? She never came out (pun intended) and confirmed anything but she was a frequent visitor of the Hollywood lesbian scene. It wasn't the most ideal time to come out as gay, so hey, if she was...she was! And she was in great company with other supposed lesbians Garbo, Nazimova...

She also supposedly had a fling with Gary Cooper. Who can blame her?

Her most memorable role was as Feathers McCoy in the 1927 gangster film, Underworld alongside Clive Brook and Larry Semon. Apparently the film was thought to be a flop, and was shelved for a few years before being released. It did way better than expected and actually won an Academy Award.

Interesting note, one of Evelyn's hobbies was creating hand carved furniture.

The Monkees

This has nothing to do with silent film, but it is way to amazing/awesome/incredible for me not to share. I saw The Monkees in Detroit on Friday and in Columbus on Saturday. The shows were amazing!! The best thing about it...I got to sing part of a song with them, and I am posting the video someone shot. Someone I am not indebted to all my life!

The Monkees are my all time favorite band. The Monkees + Silent films = Jessica. They came into my life when I was younger and was first diagnosed with my heart condition and had my first pacemaker implanted. They were the light in the dark times of my life, as stupid as that sounds, its the truth. I love them so much and it finally hit me what I did when I got home because I was watching them on tv and broke down crying because it really occured to me that I sang with them. They acknowledged me, the 26 year old blonde, and let me sing a song with them. My favorite band :)

Miss Betty Bronson

I don't know who out of you all have seen the 1924 version of Peter Pan, but it is great. And what was one reason why it was so great? The star, Betty Bronson. She was so playful and fun that you really believed she was a young boy full of life. Pair that with Mary Brian as a beautiful little Wendy and Anna May Wong as Tiger Lily, win all around! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Even if you aren't a silent film fan (which why are you reading this if you aren't?) it is still a wonderful film.

Betty Bronson was born Elizabeth Ada Bronson on November 17, 1906 in Trenton, New Jersey. Her parents were Frank and Nellie Bronson.

She got the acting bug early, but didn't begin to pursue a career until she was around 16 or 17 when she used her connections at Paramount Studios to get an interview with author J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan. She heard they were casting for the movie and she wanted to be part of it bad! Her perseverance paid off because she was personally selected by the author to star in the film adaptation of his book.

Betty did what many think is impossible, landed a starring role in a film which shot her to fame. She followed with an appearance in another big silent hit, 1925's Ben Hur.

Although she did make a smooth transition to the talkies, she didn't have quite the booming career that she used to in her silent days. She made great film choices though, appearing alongside big names like Al Jolson and Jack Benny.

She appeared off and on in films and tv for years after the 30s, and her last film appearance was in the 1970s in an uncredited role.

Sadly, Betty Bronson passed away at age 64 on October 19, 1971. She had gotten sick and she just gradually got worse.

She was buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale. (Sour note. I went to Glendale, but since I spent time sitting and "chatting" with Buster and Clara Bow, I didn't have a lot of time and the park was closing while looking for a few people's graves...Betty was one of them. Next time!)

Mary Pickford was up for the role of Peter Pan, which I can see and is understandable since she played younger roles. But Gloria Swanson also wanted the lead role. Now that I cannot imagine. I know Gloria was a Bathing Beauty and appeared in light comedies for Sennett for awhile, but I cannot picture her playing a young boy like Peter Pan. She is Norma Desmond for goodness sake!

Betty and her Peter Pan co-stars Mary Brian and Esther Ralston became close during filming, and continued to be their whole lives.

Betty only married once, in 1933 to Ludwig Lauerhass. They had one son, Ludwig Jr. No idea when or if they ever divorced. Betty wasn't too big on giving interviews.

Although much isn't known about her marriage to Ludwig, what is known is her relationship with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. They briefly dated, and she kept all the letters he wrote her and both had nothing but kind words to say about each other. She was his first crush! Too cute!

Miss Barbara Kent

Let's start with the fact that this woman is still alive. Seriously. Barbara Kent is the last surviving star of the silent era. How cool is that? The sad/kinda understandable part is that she does not talk about her film past and doesn't grant interviews. It is sad because she has so much history in her to speak about, but the woman is 104, so we can grant her some peace.

Thinking of Barbara makes me sad that I never had a chance to meet Doris Eaton. She lives in Michigan, where I live, and she only just died a year ago. I didn't even realize that I could have gone to her funeral until I went to the cemetery to visit her and the woman working in the office told me about the beautiful memorial service. Grrr! Oh well. I tell you what, when I get to heaven, I will be talking to every one of my idols....if I can pull myself off Buster that is.

Barbara Kent was born Barbara Cloutman on December 16, 1906 in Gadsby, Alberta, Canada. Her parents were Jullion and Lily Cloutman.

She won a Miss Hollywood contest when she was 21, and made her film debut that same year (1925) in a small role. She got her first billing in 1926's The Flesh and the Devil.

Because of her small height (she was shorter than 5 feet), she was mainly cast in light comedy roles, but could hold her own against screen dynamos like Greta Garbo.

She stirred some scandal when she appeared in the 1927 film No Man's Law because it contained a "nude" scene. In fact, Barbara was wearing a flesh colored bathing suit to simulate nudity. But even the simulation that she was naked caused quite a stir. It worked out in her favor though because later that year she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star.

Unlike some of her screen co-stars, Barbara made a smooth transition to the talkies, appearing with another silent film veteran, Harold Lloyd.

She made her last film in 1935. She had previously taken a break from working and it caused the public to pretty much forget about her and move on to new talking stars. She tried to jump start her career again, but it sadly did not work out.

Barbara has only been married once, to agent and producer Harry Edington in 1932. The marriage lasted until his death in 1949. It was after his death that she faded completely from the public eye and chose to live a quiet life in Idaho (I thought I heard a rumor that she married again, but I don't have any information on that).

Barbara and Gloria Swanson

Her fellow 1927 WAMPAS Baby Stars included Helene Costello, Ada Mae Vaughn, Sally Rand, Martha Sleeper, Natalie Kingston, and Gladys McConnell.

We all still love you Barbara. You are a beautiful lil lady and I hope you are enjoying your 104 years. Quite the accomplishment! You will live forever in the hearts and minds of the silent movie lovers out there.

Mr. Douglas Fairbanks

Another great example of "They don't make them like this anymore." Nowadays the action heroes are huge muscle heads who bash people's heads in or shoot them or stab them, set them on fire, whatever (Don't get me wrong, I love me some Jason Statham). But, Doug was an action hero without the explosions and blood and gore, and without words! He was so dashing and dreamy, and had the most amazing smile. He always looked like he was having the time of his life when he was on film. Another great/funny thing about him was his "healthy" tan. That man was DARK!! But, he was good looking, so oh well. And he has one of the coolest graves ever. In my mind, all the silent film stars should have huge memorials like his, because to me, they were/are larger than life.

Douglas Fairbanks was born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman on May 23, 1883 in Denver, Colorado. His father, Hezekiah, was a lawyer and his mother, Ella. He had an older brother, Robert and a half brother and a half brother (through his mother) named John. Because their father abandoned the family when Doug was only 5, his mother gave them the last name of Fairbanks, after her first husband.

Doug began acting early and was in stage productions all through his high school years, but he left school during his senior year. He moved to New York City in 1900 and appeared on small stages until he made his Broadway debut two years later.

In 1915, he signed with D.W. Griffith and appeared in his first film called The Lamb. Already he was showing great panache as an athletic actor, but Griffith wasn't too happy about this persona, so he had Doug appear in more romantic comedy type roles. This lead to Doug opening his own production company before being signed to Paramount studios. He was one of a handful of stars who also had good business sense, so he was able to make bank while making movies.

A few years later, Doug joined fellow actors Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford (his lil girlfriend at the time, but we shall get to that) on a war bond drive. They traveled by train all over the country and sold thousands. The pictures of them on tour are amazing. You see Doug or Mary or Charlie standing up over a crowd of thousands, just incredible.

Since these three were the highest paid stars at the time, you can guess that they weren't getting paid just peanuts. Oh no, they were making major bank, which was not making the studios very happy. So, in 1919 the big three along with D.W. Griffith formed their own production company called United Artists which gave the performers control over their films and the profits. For a few years after, the company was held afloat mostly by the profits of Doug's pictures.

Doug decided to get out of the comedy and genre and start making swashbuckling, action films. The most popular titles included The Mark of Zorro (1920), The Three Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1922), and The Thief of Baghdad (1924). My favorite is The Gaucho (1927). I just love him and Lupe. Just lovely :)

Now, Doug would have been fine in talkies, but he just didn't like them. In early talkies the microphone was placed in one spot and people kinda had to talk around it and it didn't pick up very well. He thought they were too restricting to the type of films he liked to be in, so he just bowed out. Not to mention ole Dougie wasn't the athletic young man he used to be. Years of chain smoking were catching up to him and he wasn't as in shape as he used to be. He made his last film, The Private Life of Don Juan in 1934.

Although retired, he continued to be involved in the picture industry in one form of another, but his passion for film had diminished a lot.

Douglas Fairbanks passed away on December 12, 1939 of a heart attack in his home. He was only 56 years old.

Doug was buried at first at Forest Lawn - Glendale in the Great Mausoleum. Two years later, he was moved to his current location at Hollywood Forever in his awesome tomb (His son, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was placed there also when he died in 2000).

The first real suave, adventure hero was married three times. Not surprising since he was a babe. His first marriage was to Anna Sully in 1907. Their son, Doug Jr. was born two years later. Anna and Doug divorced in 1919 because of his affair with Miss Mary Pickford. Mary and Doug actually met three years earlier and continued their affair until they were both divorced from their spouses and able to wed each other in 1920. They were worried that this "sordid" affair would cause their fans to turn their backs on the couple, but the public loved them! They were the King and Queen of Hollywood and they set up their own palace, known as Pickfair. But this perfection did not last...because Doug again began to get the wandering eye, and it wandering right over to Miss Sylvia Ashley. Mary and Doug divorced in 1936, and he married Sylvia later that year. They remained married until his death.

Even though Doug and Doug Jr. shared the same name, the two were not close. He was also an accomplished actor and his father was proud of his talents. He was not just famous for being the son of a famous silent film star, but also for his first marriage to a young Joan Crawford. They were married from 1929 to 1933.

Like my greatest love, Buster Keaton, Doug performed all his own stunts in his movies. With the exception of a few in The Gaucho.

Unlike many of his fellow stars, Doug liked his name to be listed LAST in film credits. He didn't need it to be in big, bold letters above the title (ahem, Bette Davis).

The creators of the Superman comic book used Doug as a model for the physical attributes they wanted Superman to look like.

"I've never felt better." ~~ Douglas Fairbanks (his now famous last words)

Rudy/Movie cliches

As some of you may know, I went to California for a week and just came back about a week ago. While I was there, I had a chance to visit some old friends like Buster Keaton, Mabel Normand, Barbara La Marr, Peggy Shannon...and many others. I also had a chance to go visit the Hollywood History Museum (where you are now allowed to take pictures, which made me scream for joy in the lobby) and visit the Jean Harlow exhibit. I will post the pictures on here when I get a chance. Seeing her Packard, dresses, pictures, letters...it was just incredible. Another place I visited was the Hollywood Heritage Museum in the Cecil B. DeMille barn. I had never heard of it until just before I left and was uber excited to visit. And it was the coolest place! It is not very big, but it packs a lot of information and a lot of memorabilia in it's space. Buster Keaton's personal movie camera made me tear up. One of the coolest things was the little Valentino exhibit they had. They were playing a documentary about the Valentino memorial service and had a case of memorabilia, some of them I didn't know were still around! The record and sheet music was so amazing to see because I just thought they were no longer in existence.

The theme of my vacation did seem to be Valentino. I got to visit his grave (per usual), I went to the Silent Movie Theatre to see a showing of The Son of the Sheik starring Rudy, and then seeing and hearing about him at the Hollywood Heritage Museum. I was gonna go visit him again before I left, but I had a huge mix up with my flight and itinerary and just...yeah, nightmare.

So, I was getting all philosophical at the movie theatre watching him on screen. During scenes where the actors were being over the top dramatic and the title cards were saying some strange things, people would laugh and I realized that a lot of what Rudy did and other silent film stars did is considered cliche in movies nowadays. The main cliches are the damsel tied to the train tracks by the evil mustachioed villain and the pie in the face comedy scenes. But there is also the dark, handsome sheik (like Rudy) who is just utterly charming and irresistible. I mean, during the movie, it definitely implies that the sheik rapes Yasmin and she falls in love with him! In the original sheik movie, Diana is implied to have been raped and in the sequel she talks about not being able to resist his charms. So, in that sense it is laughable. Yes, Rudy is a babe but I think I would be kinda pissed if he raped me.

Anyways, people have to understand that silent movies was not about what was being said on the title cards, so they had to "over act" in order to really get their emotions to shine through to the audience. This is also why a lot of actors didn't like the coming of talkies because now they would have to act with words and tone down their physical motions. I mean, can you imagine Nazimova and Valentino acting out Camille as a talkie? It would be laughable! But, as a silent, it works! I was going to use Nazimova's Salome as an example, but her version is just plain weird no matter what. Sorry Madame.

I think these cliches are what makes people hesitant about silent film (also the stupid way of thinking that just because a movie is black and white, it is stupid...I hate people who think that way). I took my mom and sister to see My Best Girl with Mary Pickford for my birthday a year ago and they both admitted that they were not that excited because of preconceived notions about silent film. But at the end, they actually both really liked it! My mom even went to a Charlie Chaplin film with me months later. But, I will say I think the cliche of having the handsome prince come and rescue you will stick around for some time. I don't care so much for Rudy the sheik storming in my house and kidnapping me, but he could come rescue me from villainous gypsies or whatever anytime.

Ah Rudy...I do think the talkies would have ruined him because his mystique would have been gone. On the silent screen, he can sound like whatever we want him to sound like. And we can picture him as a sheik, or a bullfighter, or Armand and he can live in our silent film fantasies (we all have them. I was a jazz baby flapper like Clara Bow who was married to Buster Keaton of course). He is a beautiful legend and it was great to meet some people who love and adore him as much as I do.

On a sour note, I watched the 1977 movie Valentino the other night with Rudolf Nureyev as Rudy. Um, no offense to Nureyev, but what the hell was going on in that movie?! I turned it off after about 10 minutes. It makes no sense, Rudy is portrayed as some weird caricature of the real Rudy (it makes sense, really) and it was a total disappointment. Save your time and don't watch it.