The Greatest Silent Film Actress

Continuing the new poll feature May's question was "Who was the Greatest Actress in Silent Film?" Sure some choices like Greta Garbo were left off (she was much better in talkies) or Louise Brooks (who probably should have been on there...despite a smaller body of work). These were the results:

#1 Mary Pickford: 39%
#2 Lillian Gish: 36%
#3 Gloria Swanson: 18%
#4 Norma Talmadge: 3%

It was a tight race with Lillian and Mary tied to about the last few days. On the last day Mary won by ONE vote. Norma didn't get much love, only 2 votes. Personally my own choices are hard to pick...mainly because shockingly I think GLORIA is the one who gave Mary a run for her money. These are my picks:


#1: Mary Pickford

Mary just never ever gets her due. Everyone thinks she was Shirley Temple and had no range beyond little girls. I disagree. Her range was there, though I think she did get static in it with time (and thus the horror that is Kiki occurred). However a great actress is usually judged by her dead baby scenes (the over dramatic sentimental goop) and Mary just excelled at those.

However bits of comedic timing are there too. Little Annie Rooney, My Best Girl, and so forth. Mary was a great actress, with a wonderfully expressive face for silents. For the die hard Gish fans, and even my own Swanson opinion, there is particularly one good reason Mary should be declare 'the greatest silent film actress'...because though she did act and act well in talkies (Secrets for example) she barely made any. By and large she was the greatest silent film actress ever.


#2: Gloria Swanson

I think had I put Louise in there I'd put her just below Gloria. Its very odd to me that many do not recognize Gloria Swanson as one of the acting greats. Her DeMille films (like most DeMille films) were absurd and silly, but her acting in them was enjoyable (especially opposite Thomas Meighan). As the 20s passed by her acting grew more and more wonderful, her performances to me always seem quite real, very sincere. I cant recall a Swanson dead baby moment, but I almost wonder if I am just forgetting something...surely she tried to outdo Mary at least once that way!

She said she hated comedy (and could not see the genius in his lord and savior Charlie Chaplin...praise be his name) but she could be wonderfully funny when she wanted to...usually with DeMille. I particularly love "Why Change Your Wife?" with Gloria pretending to be a stuffy old housewife who all of a sudden becomes glamorous and ends up in a catfight after husband swapping. Seriously the words "Gloria Swanson and Bebe Daniels catfight" just makes life worth living. Mary's catfights were usually little girl pulling hair affairs...Gloria was throwing vases!

Gloria reached her greatness at the end of the 20s once she had not only become independent (United Artists), but found someone to be her partner in crime as well (Walsh, then Kennedy). Her performance in Sadie Thompson gives me chills its so wonderful. You should have heard my audible yell when it abruptly ended (I hadn't read the case before watching it, the last reel is missing). The way she goes from jazz baby to deeply frightened and disturbed Christian is just...perfection. That performance alone almost makes me put her above Mary.

THAT being said most of Gloria's greatness was in her varied talkies. Sunset Blvd is right up there with Sadie Thompson. Seeing that loony ending scene on the big screen is just as chilling as the end of Sadie. I've heard a few complaints saying she overacted in that film, but I think the majority of people would agree its one of the best films ever. Gloria was just fantastic...I think more people need to realize that.


#3 Louise Brooks

What the hell I'm putting her in here though I forgot her in the original poll. Louise was stunningly gorgeous like Greta Garbo, however she just excelled in silents. Not only that but much like the other ladies on this list she fought hard for good roles and was quite an intelligent woman. She really didn't do much comedy, but I don't think she would have been out of place in one (The Old Army Game comes to mind).

Louise was one of those rare flapper/vamps where she was doing some seriously heavy acting, and after awhile wasn't even the character purposely causing the trouble (thus giving her more range to act). She even had the equivalent of a dead baby scene in Diary of a Lost Girl! I think she was a wonderfully serious actress, and praise of her much like Mary and Swanson will never be enough.


#''4'' Lillian Gish

Mr. Griffith must be mad at me right now. I love Lillian in my own way...she will always be 'goat eyes' to me. She was a good actress, and wonderfully beautiful if filmed right. She made her last film in her 90s and still was wonderful. However that right there slightly bumps her down the list: Lillian acted from flickers to 1989 which means some of her best pieces aren't silents.

I'm about to commit hearsay here but I think she's overrated. She lived long enough to guarantee she would receive acclaim (bless her soul I'd do the same thing) and her name is synonymous with a great serious dramatic actress. I think those who say she never quit acting (her personal life seemed just as guarded) were dead on. She wanted to be a serious actress and she was. She'd play all the dead baby and waify roles until the title was hers!

I'm not even fully sure she's my favorite Griffith actress. Miriam Cooper was a lot more fun. Hearsay aside, I do enjoy her work especially "Way Down East" which was fun (and had a dead baby and even a life risking scene in the river!) I just don't think she was the best actress, let alone best silent actress. Send your hate mails...I stand by it!


#''5'': Norma Talmadge

When I did the Silent Comedian poll I knew I was missing out on Fatty Arbuckle, he was alongside Raymond Griffith a choice I was not very familiar with. A friend gave me a copy of some Buster and Fatty shorts and I just loved him! Honestly I'd probably put him ahead of Lloyd...and pending further viewing MAYBE even Buster (who learned a great deal from him).

I mention this now because despite my best journalistic intentions I have not seen a Norma film, even though I wanted to before the poll was up. During the 10s and 20s the Talmadges were seen as a great acting family: Norma on drama, Constance on comedy, and Natalie on making Buster Keaton go crazy. Now they are mostly forgotten, heck they barely made it to the end of the silents! But much like Mary, Norma would be an almost complete silent star, she only made 2 talkies (half of Mary's output).

One thing to give consideration to is Mary remade 2 of her films for talkies: Kiki, and Secrets. I hear Norma's silent versions are fantastic, but have yet to see them. I am sure she was a competent actress, but I just do not know enough to rank her higher at this time.

Complete Filmography: Olive Thomas

There is hopefully going to be some exciting Ollie news soon. Sadly not a new biography, Mabel is claiming my time for the moment. I would love to though, not only does Olive Thomas need a ya know REAL biography but a picture book too! She was just too gorgeous. Surprisingly enough with a (subpar, overpriced, and useless) biography, a (wonderful) documentary, and a (not to well updated but still wonderful) site this is literally the first time all these bits of information have been put in one place. Some of that is due to new discoveries, but in most cases a lot of information and locating was missing even online.

Some of these films (especially a block of Triangle comedies) are said to exist but nothing further can be found about them. It is assumed they are in private collections. If you have any further information about those or other Ollie films please email me.

Surviving Films:

Beatrice Fairfax:
1916. Olive made her debut in episode 10 titled Play Ball! which still exists. Bits of it are used as an extra in the Everybody's Sweetheart DVD but it appears the entire episode has not been released on DVD (despite oddly the first 5 episodes being released). It is on youtube, who knows when they'll pull it but for now click here to watch.

An Even Break:
1917. According to the PSFL a partially decomposed print was found with 500 other films in Alaska. A mostly complete copy exists at the Library of Congress. Clips of the film were used in the Everybody's Sweetheart documentary

Broadway Arizona:
1917. Likely exists in the George Eastman house in a mostly complete state.

Madcape Madge:
1917. One of Olive's most popular films, would set her into baby vamp stardom (a precursor to the flapper). Surprisingly despite the usually phony review on IMDB (that man should be shot) this film DOES exist. A print is owned by the Eastman House.

Betty Takes a Hand:
1918. A nitrate print was held by the Getty archive until the documentary was made. At which time a group of film buffs seen to it the film would be preserved and after some donations and letter writing the film was preserved by the AFI and Library of Congress. Exists in mostly decent quality. The film has been shown at Cinecon but not released.

Love's Prisoner:
1919. One of Ollie's more grown up roles and one of her last films for Triangle. Grapevine Video released it on video but no longer has it or any Olive film listed on its site (combined with the outrage of not putting "Is Money Everything?" on DVD I am currently pouting at them). In hopes of currying a future release I wont include a link, but if you google creatively you can find the film online. Everything but the final reel exists. And even without that reel its a pretty cool movie...nice plot twist for 1919!

The Spite Bride:
1919. Second release for Selznick. Was found in France a few years ago.

The Glorious Lady:
1919. Was refound in 2006 by the Netherlands Film Institute. They said it wasn't in bad condition, and hoped to premiere it in 2009...which by the way we are still waiting for.

Out Yonder:
1919. Same deal as The Glorious Lady only it has already been restored.

The Flapper:
1920. The second to last Olive film, the only one on DVD, and possibly her most famous. Olive was the first flapper though many forget that. This film has been released on DVD along with the Everybody's Sweetheart documentary. Click here to purchase.

Everybody's Sweetheart:
1920. Ironic story: the publicity man who gave Mary Pickford the name "America's Sweetheart" heard an old couple discussing the little girl with the curls one day. The old man claimed she was his sweetheart, his wife said she was "Everybody's Sweetheart" and somehow said publicity man turned that into "America's Sweetheart". Just one of those odd things that ended up attached to Olive after her death (this film was released shortly after she died). Yes it exists, just recently being screened at Cinefest 2009 in New York. No DVD yet...which is very odd.

Surviving Fragments:

Indiscreet Corinne:
1917. Along with the handful of other unknown films this one likely does exist, but where or how much is unknown.

Lost Films:

A Girl Like That:
1917. Ollie's lone mysterious Famous Players film. I still think Mary was behind it...

Upstairs and Down:
1919. Olive's first film for Selznick. Was well promoted and the sheet music is still easy to find on Ebay to this day.

Other Films:

Olive Thomas: Everybody's Sweetheart
2005. A documentary with terrific views though I still have to see it. Has been released on DVD along with The Flapper. Click here to purchase.

Tom Sawyer:
1917. A Jack Pickford film. Olive makes a cameo in the church choir. Unknown Video has it on DVD (they do a great job!). Click here to purchase.

The Complete Filmography of Olive Thomas


Purple means fully exists
Blue means partially exists or a clip exists
Pink means lost
* means released on VHS or DVD

1916:
*Beatrice Fairfax: Episode 10

1917:
A Girl Like that
Madcap Madge
*Tom Sawyer
*An Even Break
Broadway Arizona
Indiscreet Corinne

1918:
Betty Takes a Hand
Limousine Life
Heiress for a Day

1919:
Toton
The Follies Girl
*Love's Prisoner
Prudence on Broadway
Upstairs and Down
The Spite Bride
The Glorious Lady
Out Yonder

1920:
Footlights and Shadows
Youthful Folly
*The Flapper
Darling Mine
Everybody's Sweetheart

Documentary:
*Olive Thomas: Everybody's Sweetheart (2005)


Why the Survival Rate?

In the great silent film survival race Ollie ranks surprisingly high. Since we originally posted this the total has actually gone WAY higher...its just shocking that in the 90s only one Olive film was thought to exist, and now she has such a high rate. Out of 23 films 16 of hers survive (and many of those are complete). That gives her a 61% survival rate, which is impressive for not only dying so young but so early in the silent era at that. In fact when it comes to film survival she with a fellow short lived God: Rudolph Valentino.

Frankly I bet more Olive films exist then we realize. Much like the case of Nita Naldi there has to be more Olive films, out hidden in foreign archives or private collections. None of the companies she was with had massive film lost incidents (unlike FOX) and she came and went during a time in silent film where they didn't quite know what to do with her...the war was over but the threat of talkies was not yet on the horizon. On the other hand through the 20s Olive is referred to like we will someday refer to Heath Ledger, a curious sad case in our past that we should respect, but we don't glorify ala Valentino or Marilyn Monroe...despite how infamously well Ollie flamed out.

Possibly the Pickford bit helped too though I'm sure Mary would not be pleased. The fact that at least 3 or 4 Olive films have resurfaced in the last 5 years hopefully proves my point. Personally what I find more tragic is that so few of these films have been released on DVD. I sincerely suggest writing Grapevine Video to release Love's Prisoner, and the Serial Squadron to release the rest of Beatrice Fairfax. I'd especially love to see the new found films released. A proper Olive biography and DVD box set are waaaay overdue. She entered film in 1916...we got a few years to the centennial.

More Nita Naldi: La Femme Nue exists!

On a hunch I decided to search the Centre national de la cinématographie for La Femme Nue...and it appears to exist (see for yourself!) I am very hesitant to declare something when I speak no French, but I see no other reason they would list it in their archives. How much of it exists, in what condition, is unknown. It does not appear to have been released on DVD or screened lately. If anyone with better language skills than myself can find more information you shall be greatly rewarded with cupcakes. What we can say is it was released in 1926, and was likely a French production. It went by "The Model from Montemartre" for its English title and reportedly "The Nude Woman" as well (that one may or may not be an internet add on).

This alongside the discovery of Die Pratermizzi confirms not only do more Nita films exist then we tend to realize but her later work is mostly intact as well. In fact that leaves one final film, the Italian "La Maschera d'Oro" which went by the English title "The Golden Mask". That one seems rarest of all, as some aren't sure she was in it and apparently Italian Film Archives are out of my googling range (and yet all the love I have for Rudy!)

With this discovery Nita finally has a higher survival rate then Theda. Click here to see Nita Naldi's Complete Filmography.

Nita Naldi Great Success: Pratermizzi Exists!

Sorry for the slow dribble of posts this month. Rudy and Griffith are taking up my time as well as a top secret project. I may be quiet but I sure as hell am working hard! It'll all be postable here within time I promise.

Of my treasured vamps Nita Naldi is one of my favorites. Every scene she looks like shes taking the piss out of it while being incredibly hot and amazing. A Follies girl who became Valentino's most frequent costar she is just amazing. But once 1925 hits it seems she disappears...at least that's what most books and the internet would have you believe. Valentino wasn't even dead yet!



Nita was said to go abroad to Europe (true this could have been a publicity ploy) AND she married at some point! 1925's "Clothes Make the Pirate" seems to be her last big budget film. She made a few more American films eventually working on Hitchcocks's "Mountain Eagle" in 1926.

Lord knows why she went abroad. She was said to still be making films in Europe, the first of which was the French film "La Femme Nue" which went under the English title "The Model from Montemartre" (some people think these are separate films). Whether it exists or not no one knows. So far there is no evidence it does exist but someone pointed out it was made by Pathé-Natan and many of their films do still exist...but all information is in French. FRENCHIES I NEED YOU!

This is where Nita's ''last film'' gets sketchy. Its either the German/Polish film "Die Pratermizzi" in 1928 or Italy's 1929 "La Maschera d'Oro" (The Golden Mask (English title)). The Italian one is unconfirmed and if it exists we also do not know. However there has been some new news on Nita: PRATERMIZZI LIVES!

I think I hate nothing more in the world than Wikipedia but they pointed me this way. And indeed the source checks out. A print of Pratermizzi was found and saved by the Centre national de la cinématographie. Search their site and see for yourself! Interestingly enough they list the film was 1926, not 1928. Possibly that was the American release date or just plain wrong as usual. And get this: bits of the film were released on DVD! The site is in German, and why its all clips I have no clue, the indication is the entire film still exists. This German site seems to verify that, but lists the date as 1927. Are you confused yet? Me too.


This is amazing news, especially as it shows there is a ton out there we English speakers are probably missing. If anyone can confirm or find information on La Femme Nue or La Maschera d'Oro you will be handsomely rewarded in Valentino Fest passes and cupcakes.

And if anyone has any further information on Nita and her life, especially the post 1925 part I'd love to hear it. I've been mulling around something for her and even if I never get to ''biographer'' status I'd love to write an article about her life.

Theda to Louise: What Happened when the Vamp finally merged with the Flapper?

I finally had the chance to see Pandora's Box last week and it is just by far one of the most amazing movies ever. Of course I enjoy any movie plot that lets me use the words "prostitute, pimp, lesbian lover, and Jack the Ripper" (that's how I interpreted it anyways).

What was really amazing to me was the contrast between the traditional vamp and this final gasp of vamp. Many claim the vamp never died, she just morphed into the flapper and later the femme fatale. To a point that may be true but the pure vamp existed right up the late silent generation...Louise Brooks, Clara Bow, and Greta Garbo could all receive the vamp stamp to some degree. However the first two are usually considered flappers.

Yes there was a difference. I wrote this article on Perpetual Flapper about the evolution of the vamp into the flapper. To summarize the vamp entered pop culture through film in 1914 with Theda Bara's "A Fool There Was". She evolved into the Baby Vamp through Olive Thomas who would play cute little girls that had vampy ways. The Baby Vamp evolved through Olive into the flapper with her 1920 film "The Flapper". Pure vamping lived on through Nita Naldi and the like, but Pandora's Box is one of the first late silents I've seen where it seems the Vamp and the Flapper finally collide...probably to make the femme fatale. Through this collision and evolution we can see not only changing pop culture tastes, but the change towards sexuality and women's roles in society as well.

In 1914 swimsuits that resembled burkas were scandalous. Outfits covered legs and usually arms, a hint of ankle was what a hint of cleavage is now. Good women were expected to keep home (or watch the servants, whatever), raise the kids, and be all proper. Sexuality did not figure in this equation anywhere. As Eve Golden explores in her wonderful Theda Bara biography, not only were women not supposed to be sexual, men weren't either! Sex was seen as draining their 'essence', their life form, to certain schools of thought at the time. Thus a sexually available woman was not only scandalous...she was DANGEROUS!

A Fool There Was had been a popular play before it reached the screen. Theda's character is literally called a "Vampire" which eventually shortened into vamp. The first time she meets her new victim she drops her rose, which he goes to retrieve for her. When he does so she lifts her hem, showing her ankle. The film is extremely tame by our standards, kisses aren't even shown (hints of them are, just not the real thing)! But through the film the message of what a vamp is, is quite clear: shes sexually available and LIKES IT that way, in doing so she destroys the men's she vamps and takes all their money and property and ruins their lives, and in doing so she also destroys the good little families. Theda is basically a more daring version of Marilyn in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes".

The film was a raging hit, and in doing so brought vamping into popular culture. It coincided with a move towards more women's rights (birth control became a little less illegal, women won the vote in 1920, so forth). Everything that is credited to flappers probably more likely started with the vamps.

Olive Thomas entered film in 1916. She did her first baby vamp styled role in 1917 and it became what she was known for. Olive's films made less of a social wave, more so riding the tide than anything. She was the first flapper with the 1920 film of the same name. Unfortunately she also died that year in true wild child fashion at age 25.

By the time flappers and vamps were both running around women continued making more and more waves. Not only were they sexually free but they also found someone to fantasize over: Rudolph Valentino. It started with the tango in Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and just escalated with the release of "The Sheik". The Sheik's story reflects women's sexual liberation of the time. In the original novel Lady Diana falls in love with the Sheik BECAUSE he raped her. Not only were women fainting over the idea of a sexually intense and virile man, but they intended to enjoy it as well! The Sheik was probably the final blow to any remaining Victorian morals. The fascination over this and Valentino's early Latin films is extremely evident in other films of the time (every other 1923 film seemed to have a Spanish theme thanks to Blood and Sand) and the sheet music that sold off the shelves. Women were obsessed with the sexual fantasy of Sheik rape, just one more notch in the feminism belt.

In some of Louise's earliest films shes playing vampy over flapper. In 1926's "Love em and Leave em" (her first really major role) she vamps her sister's fiance, and then gets herself into a whole mess of trouble. But by 1928 this new merging seemed to be hinted at. In "A Girl in Every Port" she vamps her lover and his friend, but accidentally. This was a newer development: usually if a vamp was vamping she MEANT to...or used it to her advantage. But by the last few years of the silents, by the time the stock market had crashed, the vamp had lost her edge. Even Greta Garbo's films reflect the same change with 1926's "The Temptress" showing the original vamping, and 1929's "Wild Orchids" showing the accidental trouble plagued vamping (someone literally must die for it!)

Pandora's Box, though not an American film, shows the final death knell to everything that had been. France, England, Japan, and Germany all had their own versions of flappers and in most cases vamps (Musidora predated Theda Bara, Pola Negri came from Polish and German films, so forth). But all went into chaos and all took just about as long as the US to give women rights again (unfortunately where most of these countries continued to grow and accelerate, the US just stopped and then backtracked).

Instead of being like Theda where she enjoyed and owned her sexuality, using it to her advantage, Louise's Lulu has the ability, but no benefits. Shes sexual as can be and men love her, but they're all using her for their own gain. The money she gets off of men using her partly goes to the old drunk Schigolch, who if he isn't a pimp hes definitely not looking out for her interests. She was escorting a man who was engaged to the woman who is the daughter of a newspaper mogul that was in love with Lulu at some point. He has a son Alwa, who is naive and the vamps victim if you will. Lulu seems to really love him, and he doesn't seem to want much of her. She meets another man who is to do an act with her. He's in love with her too and wants to use her to promote his own career.

All these men are madly in love with Lulu but she doesn't seem to have any control over their actions. They try to use her to their advantage and end up destroying themselves mostly by their attempts at control. Lulu marries the mogul, but he seems to kill himself after calling her out on her vamping ways. Its about this point in the movie the thought, "The problem with vamps is men. Men are the ones driving themselves crazy, not this woman" popped into my mind. Lulu is accused of his murder and the other horde of men save her. However after going into hiding they all start trying to use her again...and all either threaten to sell her or turn her in if she does not do their bidding.

Meanwhile Lulu had a female lover Geschwitz. Geschwitz is the only one that tries to save her, and in the end the men all use her too to sneak Lulu away from her troubles. They end up in squalor on Xmas Eve and Lulu leaves for a walk, where she runs into prostitute murderer Jack the Ripper. He says he doesn't have money, she says that's okay hes nice, and he tries to resist the urge to kill her but cant. He kills her the end.

Its almost like the literal merging of vamp and flapper happened in this one film. Everything that was right about the movements culminated with the lesbian love story. But everything that would be lost through the 30s-60s is happening at the same time. Its like the woman is being BLAMED for being seen a sexual, though it doesn't seem at most points that she goes out of her way to do so. All these men drive themselves crazy over her, but she doesn't seem to be actively pursuing it. During the court scene Geschwitz screams to the court that its unfair, that they would be as she had they been raised in 'cabarets as well'. The hint would almost seem to be that Lulu was a victim of abuse or a form of child prostitution though its not elaborated on. The men are the ones causing the chaos and commotion while she does not seem to understand she could have walked away from most of this, though how else she would have lived is unknown.

The worst part is seeing the men manipulate her for their own uses, and when it explodes in their face they blame it on her and her sexuality. The courtroom scene has the prosecutor relating her to Pandora of the Pandora's Box myth. As he put it the woman who naively opened the box because of her 'womanly curiosity' and unleashed all the evils on the world. He was right, but for all the wrong reasons. The myth of Pandora's Box just shows where female rights have gone horribly wrong through many generations. It seems by 1929 the sexually liberated and wise vamp died, and in her place came the misguided and misunderstood femme fatale, the one who was seen as sexual and blamed for it even though she couldn't begin to understand or enjoy it.

Maybe one of the most telling bits of what had changed came in the endings. In A Fool There Was Theda's vamp sucks the last ounce of life from her victim, literally killing him after taking all his wealth and love and driving his family away. She then laughs and throws petals over his body and nothing happens to her...we are to assume she lives on and is just a-okay vamping away.

In the end of Pandora's Box Lulu goes out on Xmas eve, annoyed at how men have been treating her (Pimpy had acquired a bottle of booze but no food). Unaware there is a notice about the prostitute serial killer she spots Jack the Ripper and asks to go home with him. They kiss in the stairwell and hes trying to resist the urge to kill her. He almost does and says he has no money, but she says that's okay she likes him, hes nice...once again not understanding how the men were perceiving her or what they were projecting onto her. He comes up stairs and shes all sweet to him, not trying to take a damn thing from him. She lights the Christmas candle and they kiss, and finally he stabs her. She dies because of how the men perceive her and what they project on her, while all the while she was just seeking something sincere.

Tidbits and Updates: May 2009

*The Motion Picture Home is still in peril and there have been a few updates including SAG's plans to step in. For those updates please see http://mptfamily.ning.com/ Please remember they still need our help!

*The Rudolph Valentino Film Festival is going SPLENDIDLY! Lets just say a lot of exciting things are going on there...and if you want to be involved you don't need to live in LA or CA! For information on volunteering please see http://therudolphvalentinofilmfestival.com/

*A wonderful person has been circulating the restore D.W. Griffith's name to the DGA Lifetime Achievement award petition. We're now up double the signatures from last week AND apparently (I say apparently because there is no way to verify) have received Kevin Brownlow's stamp of approval (Kevin if wrong write me!) If you'd like to sign you can do so by clicking http://www.petitiononline.com/dwaward/petition.html

*No interest in poor Kindred of the Dust...meanies. Miriam Cooper is NOT pleased! Can Catholics come back as zombies? We should probably be concerned...

*A little wonderful birdie has contacted me about doing a Silent Film night for a pretty awesomely major film festival (not ours...but good guess) this August. We're thinking Olive Thomas. There will DEFINITELY be updates on that especially as it is the first time I've been ASKED to speak anywhere! Usually I have to beg and wear something low cut...

*I'm madly in love with SilentComedian.com. They put up a biography of Mabel Normand I wrote on a Friday night (confirming I not only have no life but am 82). Their forums are amazing, just shoot them an email and join up!

*Thanks to a dear friend I have discovered how much I love Fatty Arbuckle. Look for future long lengthy articles singing his praise as I definitely think he belongs at #2 or #3...sorry Harold Lloyd. My Grandmother is a true child of the 50s and does not understand silent film (beyond ones that make her cry ala Broken Blossoms). But even SHE loves Fatty. Ironically her mother who is still kicking at 91 also loves and remembers Fatty. There's probably an article somewhere in that story...

*Not only is Louise Brooks a sensation at the Silent Movie Theatre but her damn Orpheum show sold out (July 1st) while my computer was down last week. If anyone needs a date and/or drinking buddy *raises hand* help!

*On May 16th the Los Angeles Historic Theater Foundation is doing another walking tour, this time through The Mayan and the Belasco. Its free and if you can stay up till 10:30am well its amazing. I hear they are trying to plan a really special tour soon...stay tuned!

*I finally had a chance to view my Mabel rarity DVDs. Unknown Video has released in order "What Happened to Rosa?", "Suzanna", and "The Extra Girl". Seriously they are GREAT quality...personally I think a little better than Kino and Milestone. Chris also runs The Silent Movie Blog...blog (as I call it though now its on wordpress). Warning there is a cartoon of Laurel and Hardy you will never forget as their current article.

*I swear to God I will update Perpetual Flapper more this month. It's more labor intensive what with the pictures and what not. They may soon become video tutorials further complicating the matter. On that same note I'm plotting a similar thing for FTT.

*http://www.dwgriffithforever.com is coming this month! I SWEAR!

*Does anyone here speak good French or live in France? You are needed for two projects especially if you have a love of silent film. Email me!

*And finally rumor has it several Anna May Wong books are in the works. A biography (finally a good one?), a picture book, and a children's book. If you are an Anna author please contact me...would love to feature you!