Lost movie: Emil Jannings in The Way of All Flesh.
Oscar Winner Emil Jannings & Theda Bara + Lon Chaney & Clara Bow in Color: ‘Fragments’ on TCM
The final reel of John Ford’s The Village Blacksmith (1922), featuring Virginia Valli; Best Actor Oscar winner Emil Jannings in The Way of All Flesh (1927); screen legends Douglas Fairbanks in He Comes Up Smiling (1918), Theda Bara in Cleopatra (1917), and Lon Chaney in The Miracle Man (1919); the early sound, Technicolor musical Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929); and the only color footage of Clara Bow – in Red Hair (1928). All that and more in the Flicker Alley-produced Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films, a two-hour documentary featuring remaining bits and pieces from “lost films” that will be shown on Turner Classic Movies at 5 p.m. PT.
That’s a great chance to look at some rare footage that until quite recently had been available only at places such as the UCLA Film & Television Archives, the Library of Congress, or the George Eastman House. If there’s a television presentation not to be missed this spring, that’s it.
I’ve previously seen only two of those: the final reel of The Village Blacksmith, which looks mighty impressive, and the Clara Bow color footage. Emil Jannings’ The Way of All Flesh fragment is particularly intriguing as it’s the only Oscar-winning performance in a lost film. Not only that, but Jannings was the first Best Actor winner as well. Victor Fleming, of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz fame, directed The Way of All Flesh.
Also featured in Fragments are interviews with film preservationists, and a new interview with Diana Serra Cary, known as Baby Peggy during the silent era. In the film, Serra Cary discusses one of the featured fragments, Darling of New York (1923).
Also tonight on TCM: Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant Garde Film 1894-1941, a 2½-hour collection of 16 experimental works, featuring, among others, a teenage Charlton Heston in Peer Gynt (1941).
Colleen Moore in Alfred E. Green’s Ella Cinders (top); Mabel Normand (bottom)
Viola Dana & Mabel Normand + Norma Talmadge & Constance Talmadge: Silent Society Movie Marathon
The Silent Society of Hollywood Heritage will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in the company of silent era superstars Norma Talmadge, Constance Talmadge, Colleen Moore, Viola Dana, and Mabel Normand. Never heard of them? Never seen them? Well, that’s your loss. A loss that can be rectified on Saturday, April 2, at the Hollywood Heritage Museum, 2100 N. Highland Avenue, right across from the Hollywood Bowl.
The day-long rare-movie marathon will feature 16mm prints of the following: Viola Dana’s melodrama The Innocence of Ruth (1916); Constance Talmadge’s comedy of errors The Veiled Adventure (1919); Norma Talmadge’s slice of exotica The Forbidden City (1918), costarring future superstar Thomas Meighan and directed by The Good Earth’s Sidney Franklin; the Mabel Normand short A Dash Through the Clouds (1912); and the Colleen Moore comedy Ella Cinders (1926), in which starstruck Ella wants to go Hollywood.
Now, who were those five actresses? In the early 1920s, Viola Dana was Metro’s highest-paid female star. Norma Talmadge was the Queen of Hollywood Melodrama, while her sister Constance Talmadge was a delightful – and incredibly modern-looking and -acting – light comedienne.
Colleen Moore was the biggest female star at First National (later acquired by Warner Bros.) and one of the top three or four female Hollywood stars of the 1920s, along with Norma Talmadge and Mary Pickford. Moore also helped to launch the “flapper look.” Mabel Normand, for her part, was the foremost comedienne of the silent screen.
All films will feature live musical accompaniment by Michael Mortilla.
1:30 pm – THE INNOCENCE OF RUTH (1916) – starring Viola Dana and Edward Earle, directed by John H. Collins and produced for the Edison Company. Dana stars as an orphan who ends up torn between the man she loves and an unscrupulous businessman. Print courtesy of the Library of Congress.
2:30 pm – THE VEILED ADVENTURE (1919) – starring Constance Talmadge and Harrison Ford, directed by Walter Edwards and produced for the Select Pictures Corp. Talmadge and Ford star as a young couple whose attempts to get married are thwarted when she finds a gray veil in his overcoat setting off a series of misadventures.
4:00 pm – THE FORBIDDEN CITY (1918) – starring Norma Talmadge and Thomas Meighan, directed by Sidney Franklin and produced for Select Pictures Corp. Talmadge stars in a duel role, as the daughter of a Chinese Mandarin who secretly marries an American and their daughter who is later raised in the Emperor’s harem.
DINNER BREAK
7:30 pm – A DASH THROUGH THE CLOUDS (1912) – starring Mabel Normand and directed by Mack Sennett, this one-reel Biograph film served as a blue print for the films they would later make at Keystone. Mabel is an aviation enthusiast who rescues her suitor from an angry mob with the help of an airplane.
7:45 pm – ELLA CINDERS (1926) – starring Colleen Moore and Lloyd Hughes, directed by Alfred E. Green and produced for First National Pictures. Moore stars as a young Hollywood hopeful who tries to become a movie star in an attempt to win her boyfriends attention in this comedy based on the comic strip, “Ella Cinders.”
ALL DAY PASS – $15 for the general public and $10 for members. INDIVIDUAL FILMS – $10 for the general public and $5 for members.
For further information call Hollywood Heritage at (323) 874-4005, or visit www.hollywoodheritage.org.
Photos: Courtesy of The Silent Society.
George Stevens’ A Place in the Sun, Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor & Montgomery Clift + Jane Withers & Jeanette MacDonald: Packard Campus in April
If the more rabid elements within the Republican party don’t succeed in their attempts to shut down the US government, the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation, located in Culpeper, VA, will have a number of goodies to offer in the next few weeks.
The Packard Campus April schedule includes a wide range of movies. Those range from Jane Withers in the B flick The Affairs of Geraldine to Steven Spielberg’s big-budget Close Encounters of the Third Kind; from John Ford’s Oscar-winning family drama How Green Was My Valley to Howard Hawks’ iconic Western Red River; from the Elizabeth Taylor-Montgomery Clift pairing in A Place in the Sun to the Peter Sellers-Mai Zetterling pairing in Only Two Can Play.
My suggestion: if the Packard Campus’ doors remain open throughout April, go check out everything. That also includes Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Victor Fleming’s Gone with the Wind, and two Ernst Lubitsch efforts: The Merry Widow (1934), with Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier, and The Shop Around the Corner (1940), with Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart.
Note: The Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation is currently operating under the authority of a Congressional funding authorization that expires at midnight on April 8. If legislation funding for the operation of the Library of Congress for fiscal year 2011 is not signed into law, or if a short term continuing funding resolution is not enacted by that date, then the public film programs scheduled at the Packard Campus after April 8 will be cancelled until further notice. Please consult the Packard Campus website or call the theater information/reservation phone number listed below for the latest information.
All shows are free, but children twelve and under must be accompanied by an adult. The theater is at the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation located at 19053 Mt. Pony Rd. in Culpeper, VA. Reservations are encouraged and can be made one week in advance (for Saturday shows the previous Friday.) Call the information line at (540) 827-1079 ext. 79994 or (202) 707-9994 Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 p.m. Reservations are held until ten minutes before show time.
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or [email protected].
The theater lobby will open 45 minutes before show time. Most programs are preceded by an informative slide presentation about the film and music selected by the Recorded Sound Section of the Library of Congress. Short subjects will be presented before select programs. Titles are subject to change without notice.
Packard Campus April 2011 Schedule
Friday, April 1 (7:30 p.m.)
DOUBLE HARNESS(RKO, 1933)
Directed by John Cromwell. With Ann Harding and William Powell.
Comedy, drama. Black & White, 69 min.
Saturday, April 2 (7:30 p.m.)
LEGEND (20th Century Fox, 1985)
Directed by Ridley Scott. With Tom Cruise and Mia Sara.
Fantasy, adventure. Color. 114 min.
Thursday, April 7 (7:30 p.m.)
“B” COMEDY DOUBLE FEATURE:
LEAVE IT TO BLONDIE (Columbia, 1945)
Dagwood and Blondie have each written checks for charity unaware the other has done so. To cover the amounts they enter a song-writing contest. Directed by Abby Berlin. With Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton. Comedy. Black & White, 75 min.
AFFAIRS OF GERALDINE (Republic, 1946)
When the wealthy Mrs. Cooper dies, she leaves instructions in her will for her two sons to find a suitable husband for their younger, tomboyish sister Geraldine. Directed by George Blair. With Jane Withers and Jimmy Lydon. Comedy. Black & White, 68 min.
Friday, April 8 (7:30 p.m.)
RED RIVER (United Artists, 1948)
A young cowhand rebels against his rancher stepfather during a perilous cattle drive. Directed by Howard Hawks. With John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Coleen Gray, John Ireland. Western adventure. Black & White, 133 min. Selected for the National Film Registry in 1990.
Saturday, April 9 (7:30 p.m.)
SILENT COMEDY SHORTS (1920s)
With Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy and Charlie Chase. Musical accompaniment by The Snark Ensemble.
Thursday, April 14 (7:30 p.m.)
THE MERRY WIDOW (MGM, 1934)
A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. With Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. Musical comedy romance. Black & white, 133 min.
Friday, April 15 (7:30 p.m.)
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (Columbia Pictures, 1977)
A blue-collar worker”s encounter with a UFO leaves him a changed man. Directed by Steven Spielberg. With Richard Dreyfuss and Melinda Dillon. Science fiction, drama. Color. 132 min. Selected for the National Film Registry in 2007.
Saturday, April 16 (2:00 p.m.)
GONE WITH THE WIND (MGM, 1939)
Historic epic based on Margaret Mitchell’s novel set in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Directed by Victor Fleming. With Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. Drama, romance. Color. 222 min. Selected for the National Film Registry in 1989.
Thursday, April 21 (7:30 p.m.)
A PLACE IN THE SUN (Paramount Pictures, 1951)
An ambitious young man wins an heiresss’ heart but has to cope with his former girlfriend’s pregnancy. Directed by George Stevens. With Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. Drama, romance, Black & White, 122 min. Selected for the National Film Registry in 1991.
Friday, April 22 (7:30 p.m.)
THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (MGM, 1940)
Feuding coworkers don’t realize they’re secret romantic pen pals. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. With James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. Romance, drama, comedy. Black & White, 99 minutes. Selected for the National Film Registry in 1999.
Saturday, April 23 (2:00 p.m.)
BON VOYAGE, CHARLIE BROWN (Paramount Pictures, 1980)
Based on the “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles Shultz. Animated family comedy. Color. 75 min.
Thursday, April 28 (7:30 p.m.)
BEST OF THE CMA AWARDS SHOWS (ABC-TV, various years)
With Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Brooks & Dunn and more country music stars.
Friday, April 29 (7:30 p.m.)
HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (20th Century Fox, 1941)
A Welsh mining family faces the struggles of life together. Directed by John Ford. With Walter Pidgeon and Maureen O’Hara. Family drama. Black & White, 118 min. Selected for the National Film Registry in 1990.
Saturday, April 30 (7:30 p.m.)
ONLY TWO CAN PLAY (British Lion Pictures, 1962)
A small town librarian, bored with life and his henpecked wife, meets a beautiful woman and tries to strike up an affair. Directed by Sidney Gilliat. With Peter Sellers. Comedy, drama. Black & White, 106 min.
Photo: Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck Commemorative Stamp
The Gregory Peck stamp is the 17th in the USPS’s “Legends of Hollywood” series. It features Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Among Peck’s other vehicles are Spellbound (1945), The Yearling (1946), Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), Twelve O’Clock High (1949), Roman Holiday (1953), The Guns of Navarone (1961), and The Boys from Brazil (1978).
The Gregory Peck stamp ceremony will feature film clips interspersed with remarks from Peck’s family and friends. In addition to his Best Actor Oscar, Peck, well known for his liberal views and support for humanitarian causes, was the recipient of the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1967. Additionally, he served as Academy president from 1967 to 1970 and was a seven-term Governor representing the Actors Branch. He died in 2003.
Tickets for the First Day of Issue ceremony are free but must be obtained in advance. Tickets are available online at www.oscars.org, by mail, or at the Academy box office (8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Doors open at 10 a.m.
Stamps will be available for purchase from the U.S. Postal Service in the Academy’s lobby from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. on April 28. A ticket to the ceremony is not required to buy stamps.
The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at the 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.
Photos: Courtesy of AMPAS; Gregory Peck stamp © 2010 USPS
Vivien Leigh & Deborah Kerr rare photos
Kerr is quoted as saying the following about Vivien Leigh:
My acquaintance with the lovely Vivien Leigh was one of those friendships that endured over the years, sometimes many years passing without our meeting. My most vivid memory of her was when I was in London, and suffering that infuriating affliction of losing your balance. Not serious, but a long bore! I was in bed at the Connaught Hotel, and the phone rang and it was Vivien, who said: ‘Darling, here we are, both of us in bed! Isn’t it ridiculous?’ We shared the same doctor, and it was he who hastened over to me to inform me of her death. He was afraid I would hear it on the tv or radio … She was without a doubt the most exquisitely beautiful woman ever. I wish I had spent more time with her in my life.
1 comment
I am looking for a copy or taping of the copy of the TCM of Fragments, particularly the only known piece of “THE WAY OF ALL FLESH” with Emil Jannings. If anyone could help me acquire a copy to watch that would be outstanding. Many thanks for keeping the Silent Era going.