I've been teasing Norma Talmadge a lot lately, as I found it interesting that she may have been the inspiration for Lina Lamont (and the bad Brooklyn accent) in "Singin in the Rain" instead of Clara Bow. However I had never heard her talk...or seen a silent of hers. I feel the Talmadges are bit boring and overrated but a lot of people would disagree with me.
That 'Lina Lamont' that 'silly silent stars with the bad talkie voices' myth just...wont die. In all the stars I've ever read about or seen there was ONE I would agree had too heavy an accent for English talkies (Vilma Banky...and even that could have been fixed). I've never seen an all American turn out to be a Lina...someone with a high pitch silly voice and really bad regional accent. Hell I've never seen a foreign star turn that way either! So let's KILL IT ONCE AND FOR ALL!
Clara Bow
Clara is possibly the one star to get more hell than anyone. "Oh she was a stupid girl from Brooklyn who was a slut and had a bad accent!" No. She was actually a very fascinating and sad character in film history and anyone who has seen her on screen can attest she definitely had 'it' (and I mean 'it' beyond just sexuality).
Clara was one of the transitioners. She came in the middle of the Silents game and didn't become a superstar till the end of it. Paramount enjoyed fucking with her head (not hard to do to a schizophrenic) and gave her all of 2 weeks to film her first talkie. Her only trouble with talkies was she had terrible mic fright (much like Miss Pickford). Her first talkie was in 1928 with "The Wild Party" and was actually a success. In fact her fame peaked in 1930 and didn't fall till 1931 when her mental and personal issues became too much. Ironically the clip above is from one of her 'comeback' films: 1932's "Call her Savage". Clara always had her popularity well into talkies, it was her mental state that did not allow her to continue.
She had a strong voice, but not a major accent. She wasn't rejected by the public for her voice, and she definitely was no Lina Lamont. Lina couldn't have gotten away with that many talkies and still been popular like Clara was. Add to that Clara could SING!
Clara's Talkie Career
Film:
*The Wild Party (1929)
*Dangerous Curves (1929)
*The Saturday Night Kid (1929)
*Paramount on Parade (1930)
*True to the Navy (1930)
*Love Among the Millionaires (1930)
*Her Wedding Night (1930)
*No Limit (1931)
*Kick In (1931)
*Call Her Savage (1932)
*Hoop-La (1933)
Radio:
*Truth or Consequences (1947)
Norma Talmadge
Norma Talmadge Talks to Mother Jessel - Talmadge, Norma
While Norma had nothing but respect during the Silent era, her and her sisters were old news by the arrival of talkies. Her pending divorce from PR specialist Joseph Schenck probably wasn't helping either. The only way to describe the Talmadges is like the Pickfords who thought they were the Barrymores but were really as working class as Lasky and Goldfish. They were wildly popular in their own day thought.
Norma was the 'Mary' while Constance was the 'Jack' and Natalie was the 'Lottie'. Norma did drama, Constance did comedy. Norma was wildly regarded as a good dramatic actress, but she had never acted before joining up with flickers. She was extremely popular till the mid 20s when by 28 her last two films had been failures. This didn't bode well for the impending talkies.
Her first talkie did fine, but it was a dull film. Her second talkie Du Barry, Woman of Passion was a resounding flop that killed her career. She eventually took her sister's advice to enjoy their trust funds and never acted again. I think there is some physical resemblance between her Dubarry film and the Lamont clip at the top.
However listening to it Norma's voice was fine, not too Brooklyn or anything out of the ordinary. In fact in the clip above ripped from a 1938 episode of Thirty Minutes from Hollywood. Thanks to Greta de Groat for ripping the clip. Click here to see her wonderful Norma site.
Norma's Talkie Career
Films:
*New York Nights (1929)
*Du Barry, a Woman of Passion (1930)
John Gilbert
John Gilbert was obviously not the inspiration for Lina Lamont. However in the above clip Gene Kelly's character asks if he can do the 'I love you I love you' thing which is a reference to one of Gilbert's disastrous first talkies.
Gilbert did have a higher toned voice than say Valentino, but it wasn't again anything out of the ordinary. People have proven time and time again that it was bad recording technology + Mayer's want to ruin Gilbert. Gilbert actually made a few talkies, including "Downstairs" which received critical acclaim (but sadly failed to revive his career).
John Gilbert's Talkie Career
Films:
*His Glorious Night (1929)
*The Masks of Satan (1930)
*Redemption (1930)
*Way for a Sailor (1930)
*Gentleman's Fate (1931)
*The Phantom of Paris (1931)
*West of Broadway (1931)
*Downstairs (1932)
*Fast Workers (1933)
*Queen Christina (1933)
*The Captain Hates the Sea (1934)
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3 comments:
Hey, very interesting (as usual!) but let me ask, what's you take on Pola Negri? Seems like you never mention her at all. Why I bring her up is that she's one of those silent stars of whom is often said they didn't transition because of their bad accents. Those who are more familiar with her insist that it was because of her personal problems. Maybe it's both. I never heard her talk, so I wonder how much it had to do with her voice/accent, whether it was similar to Vilma Banky's.
oh, and my 2 cents about that Lina Lamont thing - I think it was just an exaggeration (after all it's a comedy), and it probably wasn't really based on one particular actress. Not on Clara anyway, her voice was normal, I'd even say, powerful & sexy. Norma T is also okay. I dunno why some smart-ass critic called her voice "tenement"....
You know I have not seen a Pola movie. I think I might like her, though some of her actions I dont care for (I associate her with the Valentino death parade). Everyone said she was a lot of fun though.
For any Pola questions Id definitly direct you to http://www.polanegri.com/polanegri.htm
I dont think she failed because of her accent necessarily...from what I remember she had been having studio and personal troubles (the notorious Mdivanis!) She did go on to make quite a few talkies in Germany though...so she got by.
It's hard to judge Pola's talkies because so few are in circulation- plus there's a language problem. I couldn't finish watching A Woman Commands because it's such a stiff picture, though the scene where she sings "Paradise" is great and can be seen on Youtube. I've seen her German film Mazurka (which Kan Francis remade as Confession) and it's quite a picture. I can't understand German but Pola obviously spoke it like a native and she's quite effective. I wish someone would put out both pictures on DVD, it would be a nifty set. It's a crying shame Pola's version of The Cheat has been lost.
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