There are 2 murals, and I shit you not this is what they really represent: 'The Good Mural' shows the UA board as angels protecting movie people, and 'The Evil Mural' shows competing studios as demons, trying to swoop in and steal their stars. Take a good guess at who the angel is.
Don Solosan took photos and numbered them, trying to find some names. This is what we know (click pic to make bigger):
"The Good Mural"
R2: Gloria Swanson
R3: Supposedly Wallace Beery. Gloria had a fit when the painter did that so he was changed into 'generic guy with a beard' (srsly Mr. Painter...they'd been divorced several years. Gloria had to be on marriage 3 by this time...)
R4: Mary Pickford
R8: Billy Bitzer
R9: Douglas Fairbanks
R10: D.W. Griffith (in what could be called a very generous portrait on their hair and nose)
When it comes to the 'saviors' LAHTF isn't quite sure beyond Mary, but I believe this is the representation:
Angel: Mary Pickford
4 naked men on horses: Chaplin, Griffith, Fairbanks, Schenck
Now who's who is well, undecided at least for me.
Now this is what we don't know:
R1: I am unsure (a clearer photo can be found here). Jack Pickford maybe?
R5: Believed to be either Ronald Coleman or Gilbert Roland. Whoever it is would likely be with UA by 1927.
R6: Unknown
R7: Unknown (I'd swear it was Gloria but she's already here. Garbo maybe?)
"The Evil Mural"
As for the 'Evil Mural' this is what we got:
L3: Billy Bitzer
L4: Rudolph Valentino in Sheik garb
L5: Douglas Fairbanks
L9: the lord and savior Charlie Chaplin
Now for the 'evil forces' that cover L10 to L17. These all look quite specific, but the only clue is they are 'rival studios'. That's 7 representations including a demon woman (L16).
And this we don't know:
L1: I think he looks like a Chaplin villain, but whoever he is no one is certain. Emil Jannings is another guess.
L2: Unknown
L6: Unknown. I think it looks like Doug in Robin Hood, but that would be redundant.
L7: Now they tell me this is Clara Bow. I swear to God its Gloria Swanson. Closer inspection (here) kinda makes me wonder if both are wrong. Clara was essentially freelance, and again the odds of all the stars being UA related are high. Clara would be a mighty MIGHTY new star when these murals were painted. Could it possibly be a Talmadge? Schenck was new to the company, and Norma was his wife and a major star. You know what I change my vote. I think its Norma Talmadge.
L8: Unknown
So this is the things to keep in mind when guessing: this was for the UA Theatre in Downtown LA which opened I believe at the very tail end of 1927 (literally December.) If Coquette wasn't the first film it was one of the first films. The murals were obviously planned between 1926 and 1927, as Rudy is included and he died in late 1926. The stars are more likely than not somehow affiliated with UA, or the stars of UA. Also remember that Chaplin wanted nothing to do with the theatre, and in the end not only refused to invest in it, but would not promote it (ironically he went on to fund the Los Angeles Theatre a few years later.) So Chaplin input would be limited. The evil studios would be anything powerful at the time. These aren't hard set rules, but they are good clues.
So throw your guesses in the ring! And more photos here.
12 comments:
I believe L6 is John Barrymore in "The Beloved Rogue"
L1 looks like Jannings to me. Probably as Henry VIII from "Anna Boleyn"
R5 is probably Ronald Colman in "The Night of Love"
You're right. L7 is Norma Talmadge in "The Dove."
R6 is apparently Moses. That suggests Theodore Roberts in "The Ten Commandments" although it is not a very good likeness of him.
This info comes from Theatres in Los Angeles by Suzanne Tarbell Coooper, et al.
"UA MURALS, 1929. The murals depicting 'Englightenment' and 'The Motion Picture Industry Encircling the Globe' were lavishly praised and scolded by both stars and the press. Gloria Swanson objected to her first husband looking over her shoulder, so Wallace Beery was repainted into anonymity with a haircut, beard, and nose job. Sam Goldwyn was put out that Vilma Banky was omitted. A. B. Heinsberger, V. Ulianoff, and A. W. Parsons, with Jose Rivas, relegated Charlie Chaplin to a dark, inconspicuous corner, while Douglas Fairbanks was represented prominently twice, once as Robin Hood, and again as The Thief of Bagdad. Perhaps that is why one critic, while conceding that the murals were in good taste, wondered whether the motion picture industry was in its infancy or its second childhood." -- I don't know if this helps?
The pics I'm finding for the 1922 Robin Hood all have Fairbanks with some face hair so far.
Clara Bow, doesn't look like her, I do agree it looks like Norma.
here's Norma in a similar pose as to the one she's painted in
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iNLtcc6dW9Q/StPVUsvktTI/AAAAAAAADc0/vHv3xyRljEY/s1600-h/Norma+Talmadge+040832.jpg
that shawl she's wearing in the painting, makes me think of this dress she's wearing in the second pic on this page.
http://www.altfg.com/blog/actors/norma-talmadge-constance-talmadge-donnell/
Are there photos posted anywhere where a closer look can be had, to get a better look at the facial features?
Thanks guys I've been passing on all comments. Can't See Sheep the link at the bottom is the very long http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30997962&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=125430125723&aid=-1&id=1129341292#%21/photo_search.php?oid=125430125723&view=all
If that doesn't work search Facebook for Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation and check out their photo album. There are several closer photos.
Thanks! :)
I know that L7 looks like norma talmadge (in the evil mural) but it also looks suspiciously like pola negri espesially the pose... Just a thought... i know she was signed with famous players lousky at the time
This is just a random thought, but could R7 be Mary Pickford's mother looking over her shoulder behind the scenes
Apollo: Solid thought, but considering Norma was married to Joseph Schneck it'd be almost criminal for her not be represented. Does the costume look like anything Pola wore? She just doesn't look like Pola to me...too 'not European'.
DaveMc I considered that...but if it is her mother it's a very 'interpretative' representation (of course Mary is an angel and Griffith has hair so...) Her mother was a pudgy little woman, and I wouldn't count her facial features as similar. But it could be meant that way. Her mother would have passed right before this theatre was made.
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