The murder of William Desmond Taylor has fascinating silent film fans for years.  King Vidor (who was way above any fan) wrote a book on it which he had originally intended to be a movie.   While the Fatty Arbuckle injustice gets some vigorous debate, I find the Taylor murder to be the one people can debate for DAYS.

When I was new to silent film I went over Taylorology as it by chance had articles on Olive Thomas (he directed some of her films).  It was thorough, but after hours of reading I couldn’t hit on anything.  If you were going to blame anyone in the trifecta of the butler, Mary Miles Minter/her mother, Mabel Normand I AT BEST,  might say Charlotte Shelby (Minter’s mother) but I felt it was flimsy.  Some people like to blame Mabel ‘cuz’ but I always found that insane, like blaming Kato Kelin for the OJ Simpson murders.  She was in proximity, but her alibi was pretty solid (people saw her leaving and Taylor alive when she left).

For the unfamiliar: Mabel is a Goddess, Taylor was a Pickford favorite director (thus why he’d direct Ollie), and Mary Miles Minter was a child star trained to usurp Mary.  I think she could barely care, but her stage mother Charlotte Shelby was hellbent on it.  And for awhile it seemed like MMM (Mary Miles Minter) was poised to get a leg up….but then this happened.  From most appearances the two were carrying on an affair, and the story goes Charlotte was not pleased and would do anything to stop her meal ticket from getting out and knocked up.  Never mind the drastic age difference….

William Desmond Taylor was found dead, the crime scene was barely kept together even by 1920s standards, it was lurid and sensational (OOO PANTIES THAT MIGHT BE MMM’S) and nothing was ever proven.  He was dead, someone murdered him, the end.

Years ago as I was discussing silent film topics with a new friend and fellow blogger, he mentioned he had seen a copy of a book written by Charlotte Shelby that as he put it was “Basically her If I did it…here’s the how and how I got out…etc.”  He said it was owned by a couple obsessed with the case and he had seen it in the 70s or 80s but had no further information, let alone contact, to these people.  He said the writing was terrible and it was a carbon copy of typing, if I remember correctly, ‘Like a little kid’ (for the record while I have the jist in mind I am by no means quoting this gent; just paraphrasing).

How could I ever mention this?  I have no proof, no names, no clue on locating this.  As best it stood it was 2nd hand gossip coming from me.  But it FASCINATED ME.  I get a little urge (I’ve mentioned before) that if something is ‘unfindable’ I demand it be found RIGHT NOW.  With this new find, maybe Cleopatra WILL be found because my wishes are on a roll of fulfillment.

Douglas Bell has apparently researched this topic for years, and stumbled upon a copy of what is called “Twisted by Knaves” by an alias that is Charlotte Shelby.  As Bell writes, the copy found at the Herrick (told you that’s the place to go!) is clearly not the original.  He believes it was formulated with notes and support from Charlotte Shelby, and that there was an earlier copy that is currently missing.

What makes this fascinating is whoever had this copy and donated it, tore out the ‘murdered’ page….when Taylor is murdered.  One page.  Much like the Valentino will.  This makes what I was told all the more fascinating, because not only did it confirm the original, but in the original Shelby admitted to killing him.  We don’t have that right now, but the fact this was found in 2013 means anything is possible.  I understand people won’t take second hand gossip as fact, but I hope this wets whistles to go out and find this copy/couple/whatever.  It would be huge news film history wise.

I deeply look foreword to Bell’s posting of this find!  He’s on chapter one and he’s adding supplements SO GO READ HERE!

(and PS: Baby Peggy still needs you so come help!)

With a new movie and a new book, Mary Pickford is (finally) Queen of the moment.  She’s got a new film (by a meh director), a new biography/filmography (by a great writer), and today it seemed everyone remembered her.  On the other hand Theda Bara has nothing….at least nothing new.

Her films are still lost, we still only have 3 full ones, the long awaited bio by her almost daughter Joan Craig isn’t yet out.  There’s no new documentaries or other books.  THERE SHOULD BE.  Need a movie on Theda Bara?  Take a cue from Christopher DiGrazia.  God that’s a good book (I may be biased BUT IT IS!)

Why is Theda Bara even worth talking about?  Olive Thomas was thought to only have one film left for years (not true) but she never reached the heights of La Bara.  This short is full of big stars of their time, a few of them I haven’t even heard of.  Vamps?  Valeska Surrat isn’t known to have any surviving films, but few people care.  You could thumb through a magazine from 1913-1914 (on archive.org) and find dozens of ‘stars’ who may or may not have films surviving, and again its no big deal.

Personally I love Barbara LaMarr, Nita Naldi, Mae Murray and Renee Adoree.  None of their films (minus a few of Adoree’s films) are widely available, you get one or two big ones and go ‘Oh I like them’ but again there’s no big legend around Barbara LaMarr, even though she hid her son and died ala Valentino.  If there was ever a woman begging for immortality it would be Barbara LaMarr.

Theda Bara’s career on screen lasted (we’ll leave out The Stain argument) basically 4 years.  It’s like if Marilyn Monroe debuted with Seven Year Itch and ended with Bus Stop.  The argument of Marilyn Monroe is actually an apt one in relation to Theda.  Not in a sex symbol way (that’s more Clara Bow) but in a sheer pop icon way.  Imagine if we only had 3 films of Marilyn’s (I’d say….Seven Year Itch, A Chorus Line, Bus Stop) but we had a few more of Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren.  People like to say Marilyn was just sex on a stick, but in reality that’s Jayne.  You look at a picture of Jayne and you go ‘damn!’  But you don’t think there’s much more going on, unlike Marilyn.  And in film that’s just how it worked: Jayne was pretty, but that was it.  Marilyn was an AMAZING actress who was also sexy as hell.  If Marilyn was in Theda’s shoes, we’d still be talking about her as well.

Joan Craig pointed out Theda was insistent on her photos as well as her films.  She had a particular way one was to pose, and a certain look was to be achieved.  Many write Theda off was a Victorian chubby Jayne, when in reality she was more a Marilyn.  On Nitrateville “A Fool There Was” was brought up in relation to creakier silent films (1915 and earlier generally).  It was widely agreed the film itself is downright snoozeworthy and confounding plot wise to a modern viewer, but we kept watching for Theda.

I’ll never forget the first time I sat in a film of Mary Pickford.  I had read all about her and was madly in love, but what if she was terrible?  Some people liked to say she was a Shirley Temple burlesque act.  I literally had butterflies in my stomach because I admired her as a businesswoman so much that if her acting was bad I’d be devastated.  Mary didn’t let me down, even though it was an insipid movie she and Francis Marion ‘cordially hated’.

There were no butterflies for Theda.  I’d heard about her, her photo was interesting, but I knew very little about her…even after Eve Golden’s passable biography (as Joan was unknown how much can be found on someone dead so long with most of their films lost?)  I sat and I watched…the film dragged on and on….and then Theda appeared.  Even though its fiction “The Director’s Cut” conveys what’s so appealing about Theda in such a film: she looks out of place,  but menacing.  BUT you know she’s not that in real life, in real life she’s a fun, smart, Jewish girl.

On the face of it, even in 1915, Theda wasn’t primed to be a sex symbol.  She was almost 30 in her DEBUT, she was chubby even for the era that worshiped Edna Purviance and Blanche Sweet and with no strong movie to go off what’s left to be appealing?  Its something hard to convey in words, if you watch it, you’ll get it: Theda is MESMERIZING.  She’s trouble!  She’s hot!  She’s up to no good!

Theda lures you in, in her films and her pictures and stills, by being one amazing actress.  As Marilyn was put through sexpot dribble, Theda was put through homewrecking vamp dribble.  But there’s a reason this woman still draws people in after being dead for almost 60 years.  And unlike Mary Pickford or even Nita Naldi, there are very few films of hers to draw us in to her acting and her talent.  The films left are stiff and not very good (I wouldn’t screen most of them for no0bs because of the creaking) but THEDA IS.

What we lost, when we lost the films of Theda Bara, is access to a great star and pop icon.  I mourn the loss of Marilyn Miller’s talents, but I know that’s how she had it setup as a Broadway star (and we have a little left!)  Even Sarah Bernhardt has a few films left to show what made her so great.  Those who were lucky enough to see her films before they were destroyed said she was a great actor, good at comedy as well as the vamping drama.  I honestly think if we had even Salome alone we’d go ‘this woman, she was one of the top silent actors ever….srsly.’

I would like to know why some major university hasn’t begun a fund/collecting funds to offer as a reward for any of her films found in any repairable condition.  It was said the 10 seconds of Cleopatra cost an absurd amount to license from the Eastman house.  TEN SECONDS.  And I don’t think that’s just because its so rare by a rare actress (ala Lon Chaney’s “London After Midnight”.)  I think its because film history is lost without having something more of Theda Bara.

If I am ever a wealthy woman I will begot such a fund, though I am angry no one has set up an initiative already.  In 1999 Olive Thomas was thought to have ONE surviving film.  When Timeline Film did a documentary on her and sent out feelers, 10 more films were found.  Film archives, around the world, are so poorly funded that they can’t always save their films (that’s supposedly what happened to Mary’s Esmeralda and Colleen Moore’s Flaming Youth) and/or they don’t even know what films they have because of no or wrong labels.  I wish we had a number on how many unknown films are in archives over the world, but just remember a few years ago how a lost Mabel Normand and Clara Bow were found in New Zealand.  Mabel Normand films are being found about 2 per year at this rate in different archives.  So….Theda may just be out there.

And if she’s not, if she’s irretrievably lost for good (minus time traveling) I will be beyond devastated.  But until our archives are properly funded and cataloged, I will hold out that hope.

Imagine if Salome or Cleopatra was found!  Silent film would be the talk of everyone!  And I really do think, if either were found…OMG…it’d be a big day for film history, for pop history and for Theda…because I just know she’d be amazing in it.

Until then, an icon of silent film and film history will be regulated to enchanting us in pictures and her few films.

There is another bug I get: when I want to find something rare.  Until its scratched, I am basically a blood hound.  One night I was ranting how I wanted to see Poor Little Peppina, next day someone had it on Archive.org.  Until I know whether we have Theda films left or not, I will go crazy every time I think of this subject.  I may be a little old lady before we find one of her blockbusters, but I am hellbent it WILL happen.

Baby Peggy is still going on!  I am very upset we have got nowhere near our goal.  The current plan is this: we will keep making indiegogos when one runs out until we hit the amount we need.  The current one is here: http://t.co/aQtjht9CNS .  Diana Serra Cary is the nicest lady, and as Baby Peggy she was such a talented little star.  WE WILL GET THIS WOMAN A STAR.  Think you need to donate a bunch of money to make it work?  NOPE.  Give $1, even $1 helps.  You surely know people and family right?  Get them to give $1s as well and slowly but surely this amount will build up.

As you may have noticed Forget The Talkies has changed its look!  I liked the Theodosia site so much I decided that would work out well here.  I am keeping FTT up, I consider it the homing page.  I am pleased to announce in May I will be releasing a book based on my writings here!  I will update when there’s more to update.

And finally there’s my new little project: a tumblr for Mary Pickford.  Inspired by Chaplin for the Ages I thought this would be a nice way to honor Mary, without making my umpteenth site.

Working on some posts, let’s see if they can get up in the next week or so!

One of Miriam Cooper‘s few post Griffith performances, “Kindred of the Dust” will be screened November 24th, 2012 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.  For more info click here.  This is the  first time its been screened since 2004 and its STILL not on DVD.  Never aired on TCM as far as I can tell.

God I would sell my soul to see this movie.  Its the one where she ruined her eye sight for life.  Miriam is a Goddess.

While Baby Peggy’s Star Campaign is a go!  For all you need to know I present you the following links:

A Star for Baby Peggy Site

A Star for Baby Peggy Social Media (facebook, twitter, etc)

A Star for Baby Peggy on Indiegogo (PLACE TO GIVE MONEY AND GET  PRIZES!)

Our video will be up by tomorrow.  I’m really pleased with the merch…these people who volunteered for us are amazing.  You can find who did what with their respective work here.  People have been so generous and kind.  Many were film fans who were not aware of Baby Peggy, but instantly fell in love with her and donated their prizes for free or at cost.

So please…buy, donate, spread the word!  Diana Serra Cary’s (aka Baby Peggy) birthday is next Friday…let’s make her proud!

I am speaking my own mind and opinions here, which are not eligible to be sued over.  And as I have representation I don’t think it’d be wise of anyone to waste money (OR Mary’s money) SLAPPing me.  Considering SLAPPing me to shut me up hasn’t worked before, it won’t work now.  I am not authorized to speak on anyone’s behalf but my own, I have not ran this by anyone, and this is strictly me doing what I do best: standing up for what I believe in.

Since the shakeup the regime has hired an overpriced feminist blogger, stolen content from other researchers without credit (and then when called on it gave credit but did not get permission), and sued what they have somehow deemed the enemy: the Mary Pickford Institution.

Its a bit of a confusing story but basically last winter MPF decided it wanted to do away with MPI.  MPI had existed since 1999 (I believe, might be off a year or two), was created by MPF, was funded and approved by MPF.  MPI was given the domain marypickford.com with MPF’s blessing.

The foundation was created in the 50s by Mary Pickford for her charitable works (and boy would she call me a commie Chaplin for my statement above on Republicans).  Towards her death she had various people employed to help set up the Foundation as her legacy, with the caveat that none of the money was allotted to restoring or preserving or screening or releasing her films.  Now 3 men sit on the MPF board, I believe 2 out of the 3 are sons of these original men (so nepotism) and if I’m wrong then its all 3.  Some of this drama was covered here.

MPF never did much publicly in the ensuing time.  Mary died in 1979 with about $10 million, and today they still have $10 million after 30 some years which is quite impressive given inflation and money has been spent.

MPI was created to do various public things (or so my understanding) including the charitable work of the Mobile Film Classroom which taught underprivileged kids how to make films.  That strikes me as something Mary would want.

Other than that MPI seemed to lose a lot of money blessings in the late 00s (post recession).  They had the mobile film classroom, but anything from releasing Mary’s movies to restoration was something they weren’t given money for.  They continued doing screenings and running the literal Institute for anyone interested in Mary Pickford (think a very small museum/screening room).

Then one day after one of the board members was ousted from MPI, all of sudden MPF wanted to bring the hair of the Gods down on MPI.  They were told to relinquish the domain, all rights to using Mary’s name or image (which the foundation owned rights to but had obviously given permission for before), and stop all things including the Mobile Film Classroom.  They were literally given about two weeks and told if they didn’t comply they wouldn’t get their paychecks or rent covered for the month (or any time after).

Things got messy, this apparently dragged out all summer, MPF got a site marypickford.org with said gaffed content.  They also decided to sue Timeline Films, run by MPI employee Hugh Neely for the domain.  Problem: Timeline films had no control over that…MPI still had a board and it was MPI’s decision to make, not Timelines.

Eventually an offer was made with the board’s approval to basically give in to all demands.  MPF said ‘umm no forget it’ and promptly sued Neely personally as well.  As his site states for…?  No good reason.  Thus why I am in the opinion that the term SLAPP is appropriate (i.e. senseless lawsuits to so there someone into submission)

Now mind you Neely and the other employees have had no paychecks in the ensuing times, this was their literal way to make a living.  And now he needs to pay a lawyer who says he should win, but it will cost so many expensive lawyer filled hours to make that happen.

I am sick and tired of seeing silent film people, in my opinion, act so crazy.  These are the kind of people who would Da Vinci code you for a copy of Cleopatra, kiss your ass for a film print of A Sainted Devil, or be your buddy to rub Valentino’s shirt.  These people, I personally find, to be creepy.

The American legal system is so full of holes it might as well be swiss cheese.  The fact SLAPP is even a thing tells you that.  I could sue a book reviewer in Colorado for a bad review, and pending they were served in person and had no money and never had a lawyer, I could win large sums.  That’s what happened to me, I was unable to get a lawyer and even the filing clerks told me my filings and evidence was moot, the Judge wouldn’t read anything not legally formatted.

“Oh well just use those free places…” I took 3 hours of busing to the ghetto of Inglewood, where meth addicts shit in the streets (literally) to attend the only clinic that would even help me.  None of those clinics you hear about will help you for a civil case, because civil means for every filing you have to write up 30 pages of legalese and basically be a lawyer or law school graduate.  Even the ghetto one didn’t help.  4 lawyers sat around listening to me, “Sounds like he’ll have to do something…like harm her physically…before the court will even help her.”  That’s real reassuring to hear.  One gave me their number to call in 2 weeks while they mulled my case.  When I called they’d forgotten and said they’d come up with nothing to help me.

So you can see why I take this Pickford Foundation Debacle so personally.  I’ve known Hugh for years and he is a kind man always helping someone out.  He is not malevolent or even chaos minded.  They sued him and his company for something MPI had control over.  That’s ridiculous.

Now Hugh has a few weeks to raise the money and he’s taking a course of action I long considered: asking for help.  This is his site: http://hughneelydefensefund.com/

You got $5?  Help him out.  I know its silly in a week to ask for help for a charity endeavor and now this but its the right thing to do.  We have to drive the bullies out of silent film, because if they had their way silent film would die with them (Cinecon aficionados have said this).  Well if we let them run around like a bunch of crazed dictators then yes IT WILL.

And may I say for what I hope is the final time, how ashamed I am by the Mary Pickford Foundation.  They have so much money, and their using it for stupid things like this while stealing content from authors who would have gladly given permission for free.  SHAMEFUL.  I hope all sane silent film fans know its best to never deal with and avoid them like Cinecon or them or zealous organizations, less you end up railroaded like Hugh.

Last year I began work with Hugh Neely and Andi Hicks on a campaign to get Baby Peggy a star on the Walk of Fame.  We did quite a bit of work…then several things happened.  Mary Pickford Institute had a falling out with the Mary Pickford Foundation, which took my partners time as they scrambled to sort out the mess.  Meanwhile I began work with two other partners on a campaign to Save the Pickfair Studios.  While we weren’t very successful with our goal (most of what we wanted to save was torn down) we raised a lot of hell and made a lot of people realize how freewheeling West Hollywood was with its heritage.  I was very proud of the endeavor.

Then other things happened…sites got updated, the Rudy Society was reactivated….stuff, stuff, stuff.  After reading an interview with Diana in the Wall Street Journal I decided this campaign needs to happen…and happen now.

The original idea was to raise $34,000….$30,000 for the star (MY GOD how expensive can they get?!) and $4,000 to cover costs for materials and indiegogo rewards and fees.  Fees or not I still need some help…due to the interruptions we were never able to raise many donations for rewards and they are still needed before we can begin.  If I can get enough people to donate materials for free then I’ll drop the $4,000.

So…what the heck am I talking about here?  Let me explain.

A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

A rendering obviously…one day!

In the 1950s Hollywood decided to put stars in the sidewalk to honor film actors.  Eventually this expanded to musicians, radio personalities and even television.  Hilariously the council recently turned Kim Kardashian down for a star because they don’t consider reality TV ‘a thing‘.

At various points different nomination processes and fees have been a requirement to get a star.  Currently the committee accepts up to 20 nominations a year for living celebrities, and 1-2 for celebrities that have been deceased for at least 5 years.  The current fee is $30,000 for creation and upkeep.  The nomination process for a year ends May 30th.  If this campaign is successful to any degree we’d nominate Baby Peggy before the 2013 deadline.

Why Baby Peggy?  This explains a lot of it.  This woman you guys…srsly.  She’s amazing, she’s a huge inspiration to me.  She was an adorable child and she’s a resilient and talented adult.  If you haven’t read her books you just…have to.  NOW.

A documentary on her was created by Milestone films called “Baby Peggy: The Elephant in the Room”.  It is set to be released and air on TCM in December.  In addition 3 of her films will also be aired and I believe released.  Milestone very graciously let us use some of the clips of her mostly lost films which you can see here.

So….Indiegogo what’s that stuff?  You makin money on this?

Indiegogo is a ‘crowdsourcing’ site in the vein of many popular sites, including Kickstarter.  These sites run a ‘campaign’ where people can donate a desire amount and generally receive a gift for donating.  A very popular one for a Tesla Museum by the Oatmeal will be wrapping up soon…it kinda shows the deal.  Kickstarter was used successfully to fund an Anna May Wong documentary release.  My Pickfair partner in crime, noted director Allison Anders, funded a film through Kickstarter called “Strutter”.  In fact Kickstarter has been used for a lot of projects in that vein.

To our knowledge this will still be the first star funding project on any type site.  Indiegogo is more generous with time and they don’t take all the money away if you don’t fund in time (they do however raise the fee).

I get no money in this, and anyone who helps me will not either.  Currently my plan, as explained here, is to pay the wholesale cost of items given away…but if I can get enough donated I will just raze that and do the $30,000.

SO I NEED YOU GUYS….HELP BABY PEGGY GET A STAR ON THE WALK OF FAME!

We were asked this a few times to begin with, you can not get a star without the star’s permission, and Diana is aware of the campaign and has approved of it.

I’m currently putting this call out: I want to start the Indiegogo campaign on October 15th.  I will start earlier if I get like an awesome influx of donations.  I know there are really cool people out in the blogosphere so to any reader, to any classic or silent film fan this is my request to you.  I need to make sure all my starfor emails still work but just in case you can either comment here or email me at misspickford @ forgetthetalkies.com if you wish to participate.

1) Support.  I need volunteers to help spread the word, do promotion, make the public aware of this campaign. 

You could be a blogger, a writer, a media head of some sort…I will take any help offered.

2) I need THINGS to donate.  This could be…ANYTHING.  Books, drawings, posters, DVDs, clothing items, knick knacks…whatever.

Now I don’t mean like send me your garage sale marked items.  I mean if you are an author/publisher, you have your own comics/art designs, you design clothing/totes/jewelry….creative stuff.   A silent film bent is preferred but not required.  A Baby Peggy bent is even more encouraged but not required.  Examples: Baby Peggy necklaces, Silent film slogan tees, silent film books, silent DVDs…anything you have a legal right to give away (like…don’t buy DVDs off Amazon and offer them, I need some ownership approval here LOL!)

AGAIN: If you can do either or above please contact me immediately (before October 10th) at misspickford @ forgetthetalkies.com

NOW LET’S GET BABY PEGGY A STAR!

Nitrateville, home of the ‘we’d rather see silent film die out than have dames and youngins like it’ crowd, has recently taken to bashing not just silent film accompaniment, but one of the only women in the genre: Maria Newman.  Newman is not only just some daring woman, she’s the daughter of famed movie scorer Alfred Newman, part of the musically inclined Newman family (Randy Newman is one…and frankly I think the worst.  He might be nice but GOD his Disney scores make me want to go on a rampage.)

While Lottie Pickford proved just having the name doesn’t equal having the talent, Maria has scored several Pickford related films and I’ve found her scores to be engaging and fun…not a traditional means of scoring, but successful in its method none the less.

For starters we should discuss what silent film accompaniment is.  Up until Birth of a Nation it was anything from an unrelated record playing, whatever pianist would do for the moment (regardless of quality) or…that was it.  After Birth of a Nation, many movies sent out ‘cue sheets’ that either had original music, or had been created by a composer to fit the entire film.  Some fancy theatres used full orchestras…while some rural theatres maintained using any piano or organ player that would take the job.  Harold Lloyd was notorious of his hate for the piano accompaniment to silent films….but its just as legitimate as anything else.

Sometimes this let local talent shine, while other times as rural viewers later reminisced, it could involve one old woman on a creaky piano playing the same carnival themed loop….even if it was a mellerdrama.

With the invention of sound film you would think this problem has decreased, but it has not.  You’re given one shot to score on one release, and it can be some competent but green fellow doing his best, or it can be a cheap ass pirate company looping carnie music through Little Annie Rooney’s father’s death scene.

If you think hiring somebody who counts as a composer or player will help matters, it does not.  Robert Israel is well regarded by the anti vagina crowd for his scores, and he has scored many films.  I’ve got a confession to make: any time I see his name, I sigh in disappointment much like seeing Randy Newman as the composer for The Frog Princess.

Randy and Robert both have a loyal legion of fans.  Both are talented men with musical skills and taste I will never personally possess and most people in our population will never possess.  They’ve won words, acclaims and jobs.  But I can’t stand their ‘technique’…their ‘sound’.

Robert Israel to me, ruined any Mary Pickford release he touched.  “My Best Girl” is my key piece of evidence.  The whole score is a dreamy sleeper of ‘la…la la la….la…” while the actual film is very comedic and has its dramatic moments.  The music never ceases from its intended: Mary’s character is either calling Buddy’s an idiot or crying in the rain…but the music stays sweet, barely there, and dreamy.  MPI, who was in charge of releases at the time, disagreed with my take so much they released his score on a CD…they loved it that much!  But to me Israel’s biggest offense was during the ‘jazz baby’ scene.

In the scene Mary is trying to convince Buddy’s character she’s no good, she loves Jazz, lipstick, drinkin….and she puts on “Red Hot Mama” for effect.  When I originally seen this film, the song was played along with the scene.  Israel completely ignores it…’la…la….la…’ best moment enhanced by music in the film: ruined.

Who did I originally see it with?  Bob Mitchell.  94 at the time, he had accompanied films in 1925 Pasadena…he knew all the old songs, he had played with silents ‘for realz’ before talkies…he knew what he was doing.  To see so many films accompanied by Bob…I was spoiled…anyone who seen him was.  He flipped between the organ and piano, he knew what kind of pauses to make, he knew the musical cues like “Red Hot Mama” and he said in interviews by his own choice, he never played a song that existed after the film was made.  It was what might have been played when the film was originally released.

Bob was a master at this.  In fact…you may never convince me there will be/or is another accompanist as great as Bob.  He was apparently good in his own day (I say apparently cuz I wasn’t born in 1925) and he was a master by the time he was playing at the Silent Movie Theatre.

Basically what I’m trying to say is once you get past the vagina shaming, it breaks down to a matter of taste (The Beatles vs Elvis kinda thing) and despite itself, accompaniment is much like it was in 1920: people can be just a loop, a quiet organist, an orchestra leader….they can do as Bob Mitchell did and play only music either relevant to the time or period, they can do as many have and followed known cue sheets, or they can do as Maria has done and take a style of scoring that mimics the Golden Age of film…bringing a bit of sophistication to something most people couldn’t be arsed to watch.

There will be people who don’t care for Maria for legitimate reasons, and there will be people who can’t care for others like Robert Israel for their own reasons.  But it should not be presented as there type of styling is impossible to enjoy a silent film to…or even worse…that they are bad musicians.  I don’t think there is as many bad musicians out there (strictly on the known/DVD release circuit) as some would like to make it out.  I’ve enjoyed faceless or forgettable Grapevine scores.  I’d enjoyed scores to TCM and DVD releases I couldn’t tell you who wrote them or why I liked them.  Most musicians are in the least competent, as is that most silent film biographers can at least read and do research.  The only exception to both would be Cliff Ratalick…who is to silent film accompaniment as David Bret is to factual research.  The only difference I’d assume is Ratalick is probably a nice guy who tries his best.

It is true a bad score can ruin, or lower the enjoyment, of a  good film.  Happened for me to My Best Girl.  But the biggest example I’ve seen is Pandora’s Box.  Seen it was Bob Mitchell: stunning, on the edge of my seat!  Seen it at the Orpheum with some well known player (may very well have been Israel)…still good!  Seen it with a shitty new age band that tried to play as if it was a horror movie with long pauses…left half way through.  Too many extended pauses is probably the biggest no0b complaint I have with scores.

I enjoyed Maria’s score to Daddy Long Legs, which I’ve seen on DVD and live.  One naysayer on Nitrateville threw her down for the set up of her orchestra, ‘block 3/4s of the screen.’  To me that is a venue problem, not the performer.  When I saw her play, she was nowhere near the screen due to the set up, and the score had a delightful impish quality that was dreadfully missing from My Best Girl.

While I’m on the subject, I’d just like to fit in a small rant about how cruel these old timers, mostly men and bitchy women…are to women in this genre.  There are women archivists and film restorers, but you never hear of them.  Unless anyone can show me another silent film composer than Maria, I know of no other women composers in the genre.  Positions of importance that lead to film screening decisions or ‘ambassador’ jobs…?  None.  Head of Institutes and Foundations?  None, unless you count the rare daughter in the lineup (Chaplin would be a major exception).  Just a long line of old, crochity, out of touch, well off men…who could care less about anything than exerting their power in ways that would make Dictators feel under appreciated.

The can sniff and snort, bitch how places like Cinecon should keep women out (less they be wives of the attendees) and put down and harass any woman they see in sight (less she knows her place)….but I know….I just know…that they’re time is up.  Someday they’ll be dead and we women will still be here, and if we’re not too disenchanted, we’ll be the ones in those positions.  Sorry little boys, ain’t gonna disenchant me.  And I’m not going to let you disenchant anymore women….

Now go on, make fun of my weight and appearance (and supposed relationship status) as that’s your only response to such things.  We’re waiting after all!

It looks like despite my best efforts the links in posts are broken.  So expect that to be fixed by the end of the week as well.

Updates will be whenever the hell I feel like it; as it has been for years now.  So check in every now and then!

Update: All links should be fixed, if you find a broken one please leave it in the comments.

This blog is essentially ‘whenever the hell I feel like it’ these days, but when I was asked by Classic Movie Blogs to partake in their very dear ‘Mary Pickford Blogathon’….how could I say no? I decided to whip out all the stops and I even found a surprise along the way. As I could talk about Mary for hours (poor Classic Movie Blogs can attest to this) and write many a post. Luckily I already have so its easier to condense. Below are some essential Mary things for the new Mary fans or merely curious:

My Previous Mary Pickford Posts: 

*What’s a Mary Pickford For?

*Mary Pickford at the Oscars 

*Mary Pickford Oscar Lawsuit: Pickford Wasn’t That Important Anyways…

*Save the Motion Picture Home

*Mary Pickford Cocktail

*The Talkie Myth: Why Some Transitioned and Others Didn’t

*Silents Talk: Mary Pickford

*Mary Pickford in Technicolor!

*The Underrated Coquette

*The Horror That is Kiki

*The Demi Widow

*Pickfair Auction Pictures

*United Artist Theatre Pictures

Essential Mary Pickford Reading: 

*Mary Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood by Eileen Whitfield

*Mary Pickford Rediscovered by Kevin Brownlow

Mary at Internet Archive 
 (and the surprise I found was Rosita is on there…God bless whoever did that! Note none of these films have soundtracks to accommodate copyright laws. So turn on something trippy and watch away. Better than nothing!) 

*Sealed in the Room (1909)

*The Country Doctor (1909)

*As it is In Life (1910)

*Ramona (1910)

*An Arcadian Maid (1910)

*The Unchanging Sea (1910)

*Beast at the Bay (1912)

*New York Hat (1912) 

*Mender of the Nets (1912) 

*The Narrow Road (1912)

*Cinderella (1914)

*Tess of the Storm Country (1914 version)

*Poor Little Rich Girl (1917, first little girl movie)  

*A Romance of the Redwoods (1917, with DeMille directing)

*Little American (1917)

*Pride of the Clan (1917)

*Amarilly of the Clothes-Line Alley (1918)

*Stella Maris (1918) 

*Johanna Enlists (1918)

*M’Liss (1918)

*Hoodlum (1919)

*The Love Light (1919)

*Heart O The Hills (1919)

*Daddy Long Legs (1919)

*Pollyanna (1920)

*Suds (1920)

*Through the Backdoor (1921)

*Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921)

*Tess of the Storm Country (1922 version)

*Rosita (1923) 

*Little Annie Rooney (1925)

*A Kiss for Mary Pickford (1927) 

* Taming of the Shrew (1929 with Doug)

*Kiki (1930, the sound is terrible but there it is)

*One Rainy Afternoon (1936, Mary produced this, she is not an actor in it)

And finally, what has been going on in Mary Pickford-land so I don’t have to rehash it: 

*Pickfair Studios Is ‘In the Way of Progress’ (2008)

*Fighting the Good Fight: A Bad Month for Mary Pickford

Since I last wrote a few more things have gone down.  Namely the Mary Pickford Foundation started trying to save face by hiring Elaina Archer and Cari Beauchamp for Pickford research and outreach. While I am deeply unhappy with what happened and how it happened; there is no finer man or woman for any silent film job than Elaina Archer.  She served as the Mary Pickford librarian in the late 90s and made several documentaries in those years (including one on Jack Pickford).  I’m glad to see Elaina back on the job and I hope they give her the money and freedom to do some mind blowing Pickford projects.

Also sadly Save the Pickfair Studios learned the film vault was quietly bulldozed…so that remains at a hopeless standstill with CIM and West Hollywood scratching each others backs.  West Hollywood’s new Mayor decreed he was making a preservation committee much to our delight…then it was admitted that this thing was no more than a ‘thing to discuss’…the new committee would have no power, say, or even attempt at saving buildings.  So Save the Pickfair is making our own and our first meeting was May 27th at Hollywood Forever Cemetery (a special thanks to Tyler Cassity for not only that but his hard work for this cause.)

Onto the article!

Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin were arguably the biggest ‘greats’ of silent film. While Charlie’s image remains so imprinted on our cultural mind that even people who don’t know what silent film was…know he was something ‘that guy in the hat’. Charlie’s kids (contentiously and sometimes not) were charged with 100% agreeing on any project of his estate before it could go through, his films (and even outtakes…do you get how rare that is for his era?!?!) are lovingly preserved and its very easy to see a Chaplin that is essentially HD and in better condition then some Michael Bay abortion.

You want a Chaplin film? You can buy all of them and pretty much have been able to since the advent of home video.  Want his face on something?  Officially and not that’s pretty easy to find (Etsy has a charming ‘Zombie Chaplin’ tee.)

So what about Mary?  Are you kidding?  Of course not!

Mary Pickford has languished since her death as a ‘what?’ to film buffs and students.  ‘Oh you mean that Shirley Temple weird chick?’  NO.  Mary Pickford’s time should have come…she’s just obscure enough you think the hipsters would have latched onto her like Tesla…but nope.  She got a whiney femme folk song and….that was it.

The…*cough*…Biograph company announced years ago they were working on a Mary Pickford movie. While they still assert it and boldly so, nothing has come of it. Al Pacino’s daughter announced a few weeks ago she had licensed Whitfield’s pretty good bio to make a movie about Mary.  Soon after it was announced some random chick named Lily Rabe would play Mary.

To boot apparently a new Pickford bio on the University Press of Kentucky (who did Whitfield’s before) is coming out in November, just in time to join Kentucky’s likely stunning Mae Murray bio.  So maybe Mary’s ship is coming in?

In terms of a movie it could really shock me…maybe it’ll go all Artist and be something revolutionary.  But I can’t help feeling the lovely Rabe looks nothing like Mary (I know nothing of her work so I can’t judge her as an actress) and casting unknowns just puts Mary back in no man’s land…Charlie’s movie got freakin Robert Downey Jr.!  Although if you asked me I have no clue what popular actress would like Mary or be talented enough to play her (mostly because I ignore all modern movies as much as possible.)  One report (that I’m not really sure is final or accurate) had Jude Law for Doug…so….you get a major male actor to play Doug (who is of course important to the story) but you can’t get a major actress for the MAIN character?  Wow.  Good job slogging off on sex again Hollywood.

Nitrateville was snarking the movie down doubting it would get made. It might…maybe, maybe not.  Either way its just too early to even guess at.  At least its not a Kozlov!

So Mary’s ship has yet to come in…and its just so unfair.  This woman was HUGE…Hugh Neely always equated it with Michael Jackson during Thriller…but 20 years straight instead of a year or two.  I thought of another one: Johnny Carson.  Johnny also became a recluse…he couldn’t even take his kids to the movie or go out without being constantly mobbed.  When you realize Mary, Charlie and Michael Jackson all had very similar reactions…it paints a fascinating portrait of what that level of fame can do to you.

What I find even more fascinating of Mary personally is the fact she was a woman.  I just gave you a list of the few people who have lived that level of fame and in addition I’d probably say The Beatles, Elvis at points and MAYBE Marilyn Monroe…maybe…and she barely made it through 10 years of it (I’m mostly at the belief she accidentally killed herself…though Dorothy Killigian always makes me pause for a moment.)

Mary was the only woman in that group.  Marilyn maybe could have reached Mary’s heights had she lived (she was very close to being in full control when she died, her own company and full power over her movies).  But she may also have floundered like Elvis and never had the straight fame for 20 years.

One person, and I can not remember where, said Mary thought of herself not as a competent woman but as a competent person, sex was moot (though if you tell me Mary was unaware of it I’d laugh in your face.)  Men talked down to her and I’m sure there were a few casting couch attempts (Griffith tried his first day with her) but Mary shot them down and within a week of working with her they knew this was no woman to mess with.  She had more respect and praise (except from Charlie) than any man of her era.  One person said if she had wanted to she could have run Texaco and done it better than the fellows who were running it…she was just that good.

And YET she only had a 3rd grade education.  Much like Charlie, I think that ate at her and she spent a lot of time learning and proving she was as smart as anyone (hell I’d say MORE than anyone.)

I also feel, much like Charlie, Mary’s films are timeless.  Its funny because ‘the little girl’ puts modern people off of her…but has anyone ever put Charlie’s character in the same terms?  Mary and Charlie both had weird characters if you think of it solely by description: ’30 something woman playing 12 year old…max 19 year old’ and ’30 something man playing 50 something hobo who likes to steal food down his pants and hit on teenage beauties’.  Think about Buster and Harold Lloyd ‘Stonefaced fellow who is quick but sweet’, ‘Glasses guy who is a bit of a douche but ultimately sweet.’  Lillian Gish? ‘Dying 20 something…’

So to me I see no reason Mary’s girl is any weirder than Charlie’s old sex fiend of a tramp (and I say that lovingly…I am a Chaplinite after all.)  Most everyone I know who isn’t big into silents, or even mildly so and sees their first Pickford…their just shocked she looked so young.  My boyfriend seen her in My Best Girl and almost lost it when I told him she was almost 36.  Much like Fannie Ward…whatever Mary’s method was she did look perpetually young.

I think perhaps one of the finest examples of how her little girl character can not only be tolerable but delightful is “Daddy Long Legs” (Mary was almost 30, playing a girl between 10 and 20).  The orphan scenes are fun and she’s downright hilarious when her character is probably 12 or so.  I watched it in an alley in Pasadena.  Two valley girls were sitting behind me talking about mundane things, I think they mostly were there because it was somewhere to sit down and see something free.  15 minutes into the film they were laughing their heads off, “She is great!”

I have yet to see a newbie watch a Mary film and go ‘well…that sucked’ or ‘well…that was weird.’  Everyone is constantly delighted, much like Chaplin her films are still enjoyable.  While she generally didn’t make the social commentary Charlie did, she did tell good stories…stories that while no longer a big deal (baby farms, orphanages, Pollyanna) they aren’t so foreign you’re going ‘WTF’ like Garbo in A Woman of Affairs (no fault of Garbo’s…but the censors.)  Garbo still has a ‘Chaplin’ reputation…not knowing her films you know it means great actress and dramatic.  Yet every Garbo film I’ve seen with an audience you can see the collective snore and question mark above all of us.  Garbo is highly regarded…yet Mary isn’t.  Now that’s a true WTF?

Almost as insulting as forgetting Mary was more than just a weird child burlesque act, is the fact no one remembers her as a comedienne.  You ask me what female comediennes we’ve had up till now and I’d say Mabel Normand, Louise Fazenda (she was magnificent!), Mary, Irene Dunne when she felt like it, Harlow when she felt like it, Gracie Allen, Lucille Ball, Marilyn, Roseanne Barr and there is some social belief that pretty much every woman in Bridesmaids was funny but I vehemently disagree.  I’d probably end the list with Christina Applegate.

The male list would be at least 3 times as long if not 6.  Mary was one of the first female production heads, studio heads, writers (yes back in 1909), producers and even directors (rarely but she did do it).  She wasn’t the only female comedienne of her time but it was a significant part of her work.  And the minute Mary retired?  She became the last woman to do almost any of that (the two women to come close: Lucy and Oprah.  Those three are the only women from Mary onward to own their own studios.)

I find that with both drama and comedy there are two ways for it to go: timeless or dated.  Timeless Drama? Lillian Gish.  Dated?  Garbo.  Timeless Comedy?  Charlie and Mary.  Dated Comedy: the Michael Bay of comedy, Larry Semon.

The fact that Mary’s films remain relatable is a big deal to me because I think if she had the support Charlie did from her own foundation, we’d all be talking a lot more about Mary.

Now in fairness to anything that now holds her rights: Mary was still hellbent her films were no good and should be forgotten.  She had donated them all (except Rosita…she was hellbent on forgetting it for some reason) to the Library of Congress where they promptly pissed away time and several were lost to deterioration.  In her will I was told she made provisions for all sorts of things (I mean this IS Mary after all) except her films…she did not designate any of her money to be used to restoring or releasing her films.  I don’t believe she forbid it, but she wasn’t saying ‘save X million for my films.’

When the Mary Pickford Institute was created in I think 2003, they seen to it 7 of her films were released on DVD restored and with decent enough scores (they tried but I LOATHE My Best Girl’s score…at least it wasn’t a midi.)  Then the Foundation roped them in and they haven’t been able to do anything for years.

I’m going to put this out there because I’m sure the Foundation would never give me any money and its all a lost cause now, but I believe deeply in it.  I think Mary’s films should be restored (they HAVE the money) and released at least, the LEAST, in a Warner’s Archive format so it was print on demand and they could save a lot of money…yet her films would be out there and in good condition to boot.

I also believe there should be a massive image campaign, but it doesn’t matter if they listen to me on that one because it takes someone young and hip to get that to stick…and their all men in their 60s or so.

But unfortunately someone like me will never be in a position to make things like that happen due to all the politics and back stabbing which I just can’t stand.  And its a shame because I could never be happier than knowing Mary finally got her due.

There’s a photo in my many photo folders from some magazine from I think 1923 saying ’100 years from now everyone will still know and love Mary Pickford.’  I’ll do what I can.  Unfortanitly I was unable to find that photo in time for this, but I do have some goodies I wanted to share…I’ve never shown these before and to my knowledge one of them is completely unseen, I must have been the only person on Ebay that day.  So to cap off Classic Movies Mary Pickford Blogathon I present some rare Mary photos:

Mary in color from 1934 “Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove”

Mary in color from some point in the 1960s at Pickfair, photo from Corbis

Mary’s color screentest for Alice in Wonderland about 1933. I don’t remember exactly who found this but they may have been from Garbo Forever

Life with Father Hair and Make up Tests about 1946

Round Two from Life with Father Tests, 1946