Dorian Wayne is a drag artist from the 1950s-1960s. In 2008, Rick Colantino created Dorian: A Picture about his years performing as Dorian Wayne; it's available here.
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Sunday, September 26, 2021
Bob Clark's She Man with Dorian Wayne
She Man: A Story of Fixation is a 1967 American film directed by Bob Clark. It's the tale of a soldier (Leslie Marlowe) forced to take estrogen and wear lingerie when he's blackmailed by a violent transvestite (Dorian Wayne). It's very much in the vein of early John Waters; in that I mean it's perfectly lovely.
Dorian Wayne is a drag artist from the 1950s-1960s. In 2008, Rick Colantino created Dorian: A Picture about his years performing as Dorian Wayne; it's available here.
Dorian Wayne is a drag artist from the 1950s-1960s. In 2008, Rick Colantino created Dorian: A Picture about his years performing as Dorian Wayne; it's available here.
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
The Great Victor Herbert starring Mary Martin & Allan Jones
The Great Victor Herbert was directed in 1939 by Andrew L. Stone and is one of the few Hollywood films starring Mary Martin. It's not a Herbert biography (as is made clear by the disclaimer displayed at the END of the film) but an account of the romance of his (fictional) star singers, Martin and Allan Jones. In the film, Walter Connolly (as Herbert) witnesses their life experiences as their friend and creator of their greatest theatrical triumphs.
The movie is a curio. By 1939, operettas had lost their luster to the more accessible musical comedies so audiences weren't clammering for Herbert music. (The composer died in 1924.) And, it seems, Paramount Pictures was trying to make Mary Martin into the next Jeanette McDonald. Martin is fine and the movie watchable but it's kind of a Show Boat knock-off without the latter's complex storyline and diverse musical styles. (Jones is aged to look exactly like Gaylord Ravenal in the later scenes.) Despite all this, I noticed The Great Victor Herbert was not online so now it is. I do not own the copyright to this and have 'placed it here in memory of something that has died'. Enjoy!
Sunday, September 5, 2021
The French Line starring Jane Russell
The year after Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Jane Russell starred in a musical that received the CONDEMNED rating from the Catholic National Legion of Decency. The reason? Her almost-there outfits (especially THAT one in Looking for Trouble) were designed by the film's producer Howard Hughes (and the craftsmen at RKO) to display Russell's physique in the best manner. The film was first released in 3D which offered eye-poping views of Jane's assets and added to its reputation as scandalous.
Sunday, May 23, 2021
Ladies of the Burlesque Dance
Sunny Knight, Mickey 'Ginger' Jones and Shirley Heart are not names that are remembered today but there are filmed records of these burly Q queens dances in the 1949 public domain film Midnight Frolics. Granted by the time this film was made, burlesque had already died and been buried but it is nice to have this record (albeit modified according to the film's title card). For this WORLD INTERNET PREMIERE, I've extracted Sunny's dance (the star spot at the end of the show), Mickey's dance (an act one closer) and Shirley's dance (strip opener starts like a lamb and ends like a lion). Check out these ladies and their energetic, gymnastic and naively salacious dances.
Sunday, April 18, 2021
Julian Eltinge in Madame Behave
Eltinge as groom and bride
Julian Eltinge was internationally renown as a female impersonator in the aughts and teens of the 20th century. He made his name on vaudeville stages and in Broadway theatres - even as he christened the Julian Eltinge Theatre on Broadway, September 11, 1910. In the 1920s as Prohibition was changing the country and vaudeville was dying, Eltinge went to Hollywood and made several films. One of these films is called Madame Behave and I've just posted the film to YouTube with a score made of jazz tunes from the 1920s. (See song titles and artists at the bottom of this post.)
Madame Behave • 1925
I had never seen Eltinge perform on film and by the contemporaneous reviews I'd read of his live performances, I imagine he had a lovely singing voice and his female mimcry was legitimately spot on (and not what we would consider campy). In fact, Eltinge was so popular with the female population for his raiment and makeup that he started a cottage industry with Julian Eltinge's Magazine of Beauty Hints and Tips which promoted his own line of cosmetics, corsets and shoes. One ad has a picture of Eltinge as a woman with the copy "See What the Julian Eltinge Cold Cream Does for a Man. Imagine What It Will Do For a Woman".
No one pronounces Eltinge's name correctly.
Here are instructions from the horse's mouth.
My guess is that Madame Behave was made to capitalize on Eltinge's fame because it doesn't hold up to the imagination after reading reviews of Eltinge's live performances. We (obviously) don't hear a singing voice and we certainly don't see a high standard of female mimicry on screen so it does nothing to capture what Eltinge did on stage. In Madame Behave, Eltinge jokes around and gets in his gowns quickly and without care. There are some scenes in which he is well put together but by 1925 Eltinge was in his forties and more overweight than in his youth so it's difficult to compare the time periods in that respect. Madame Behave is also not funny despite its best attempts. The film co-stars Ann Pennington as Eltinge's girlfriend and there is a minute or so of Pennington dancing the Charleston; she was a very famous dancer of the day known for her Black Bottom and others so this is something of a see.
Cast of Madame Behave: Jack Duffy, Evelyn Francisco, Lionel Belmore
Ann Pennington kissing Eltinge (in drag) and David Jones
Other than Pennington and the fact that it is a surviving Eltinge film, Madame Behave is similar to movies like Charley's Aunt, Tootsie and Some Like It Hot in its use of drag is a pretext that a straight man must do to get out of whatever situation he finds himself. Unfortunately, it's just not as good as the aforementioned titles but it is 95 years old! Music used to score Madame Behave includes the following tracks in order of aural appearance.
- Chant of the Weed Don Redman and his Orchestra
- Four O’Clock Blues The Original Memphis Five
- The Minor Drag Fats Waller
- Viper’s Dream Django Reinhardt
- Bull Frog Blues Six Brown Brothers
- Do-Doodle-Om Piron’s New Orleans Orchestra
- Forgetful Blues The Original Memphis Five
- New Orleans Wiggle Piron’s New Orleans Orchestra
- Pianoflage Fate Marable’s Society Syncopators
- Red Man Blues Piron’s New Orleans Orchestra
- Red Onion Drag Louis Dumaine’s Jazzola Eight
- Sad New Blues The Original Memphis Five
- Pillow Fight SFX
- All Muggled Up Blue Steele And his Orchestra
- Astoria Strut Jones and Collins Astoria Hot Eight
- Dear Almanzoer Celestin’s Original Tuxedo Jazz Orchestra
- Henpecked Blues The Original Memphis Five
- Mobile Stomp Sam Morgan’s Jazz Band
- New Orleans Blues Johnny de Droit and His New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
- West Indies Blues Piron's New Orleans Orchestra
More pictures from (and an article or two regarding) Julian Eltinge's life and career are available on my Julian Eltinge Pinterest board.
Monday, March 15, 2021
Blithe Spirit 1956 TV Production
Blithe Spirit is a play by Noël Coward about novelist Charles Condomine who invites eccentric medium/clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his home to conduct a séance which brings to life the ghost of his annoying and temperamental first wife, Elvira. In 1956, Coward directed a LIVE ON AIR American television adaptation for Ford Star Jubilee.
Coward stars with Claudette Colbert as his second wife Ruth, Lauren Bacall as Elvira and Emmy nominee for Best Supporting Performance by an Actress, Mildred Natwick as Madame Arcati. The endlessly-rushing maid is played by Marion Ross who most viewers will remember as the mother on the television series Happy Days. Fred de Cordova, longtime producer of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, is listed as having staged the production for television. Based on the thumbnail image there seems to have been a tour and record associated with this production as well although a quick search garnered no other information. Originally broadcast in color, only black and white kinescopes survive. I believe this is also a WORLD INTERNET PREMIERE! Enjoy!
Coward stars with Claudette Colbert as his second wife Ruth, Lauren Bacall as Elvira and Emmy nominee for Best Supporting Performance by an Actress, Mildred Natwick as Madame Arcati. The endlessly-rushing maid is played by Marion Ross who most viewers will remember as the mother on the television series Happy Days. Fred de Cordova, longtime producer of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, is listed as having staged the production for television. Based on the thumbnail image there seems to have been a tour and record associated with this production as well although a quick search garnered no other information. Originally broadcast in color, only black and white kinescopes survive. I believe this is also a WORLD INTERNET PREMIERE! Enjoy!
Thursday, December 31, 2015
How Gloria Swanson Broke Into The Movies
The first time I took notice of Gloria Swanson she was playing a version of herself in Airport '75. I recognized her as the actress that Carol Burnett lampooned on her eponymous television variety show. A few years later when I became vegan I read how Ms. Swanson had been a vegetarian since 1928 and helped to promote her husband's book Sugar Blues (William Dufty). But it wasn't until I moved to Los Angeles that I became familiar with her career as an actress - first in silent films and then in her iconic role as Norma Desmond in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard.
How Gloria Swanson Broke Into The Movies continues after the
WORLD INTERNET PREMIERE of How I Broke Into The Movies by Gloria Swanson.
How I Broke Into The Movies Gloria Swanson picture
Right click to open the image in a new tab.
How I Broke Into The Movies by Gloria Swanson
Right click to open the image in a new tab.
Aside from the WORLD INTERNET PREMIERE of Gloria Swanson's essay, I've also uploaded Killer Bees, a 1974 ABC Movie Of The Week considered her last true acting role. (Despite being touted as her television debut, Ms. Swanson had been working in the medium since 1948 when she hosted The Gloria Swanson Hour.) She stars in Killer Bees (produced by Aaron Spelling) with a pre-Charlie's Angels Kate Jackson and Edward Albert.
Killer Bees is considered in the public domain.
In 1957, Swanson performed Those Wonderful People In The Dark written
for a musical version of Sunset Boulevard she was shopping around.
Swanson held numerous backer auditions and performed the numbers
at cocktail parties, but the show didn't progress any further than that.
A cross-dressing Gloria Swanson in
Mack Sennett's The Danger Girl 1916
These musical tracks are recordings Swanson made for her films
The Trespasser (1929), Indiscreet (1931) and Perfect Understanding (1933)
A short film in which Swanson dispenses advice to the lovelorn.
Credits imply it was the first of a series that never materialized. Follow Michael,'s board Gloria Swanson on Pinterest.
The CBS Radio Network broadcast Sunset Boulevard on September 17, 1951
with the film's stars recreating their roles.
WORLD INTERNET PREMIERE of How I Broke Into The Movies by Gloria Swanson.
How I Broke Into The Movies Gloria Swanson picture
Right click to open the image in a new tab.
How I Broke Into The Movies by Gloria Swanson
Right click to open the image in a new tab.
Aside from the WORLD INTERNET PREMIERE of Gloria Swanson's essay, I've also uploaded Killer Bees, a 1974 ABC Movie Of The Week considered her last true acting role. (Despite being touted as her television debut, Ms. Swanson had been working in the medium since 1948 when she hosted The Gloria Swanson Hour.) She stars in Killer Bees (produced by Aaron Spelling) with a pre-Charlie's Angels Kate Jackson and Edward Albert.
Killer Bees is considered in the public domain.
In 1957, Swanson performed Those Wonderful People In The Dark written
for a musical version of Sunset Boulevard she was shopping around.
Swanson held numerous backer auditions and performed the numbers
at cocktail parties, but the show didn't progress any further than that.
A cross-dressing Gloria Swanson in
Mack Sennett's The Danger Girl 1916
These musical tracks are recordings Swanson made for her films
The Trespasser (1929), Indiscreet (1931) and Perfect Understanding (1933)
How I Broke Into The Movies was published in 1930 and contains articles on the title theme written by movie stars of the day like John Gilbert, Al Jolson, Greta Nissen, Will Rogers, and 55 other notable actors. The previously published articles are:
- How Marion Davies Broke Into The Movies
- How Colleen Moore Broke Into The Movies (also announced the WORLD INTERNET PREMIERE of the Moore's 1925 silent film Ella Cinders newly scored with jazz music of the 1920s)
- How Clara Bow Broke Into The Movies
A short film in which Swanson dispenses advice to the lovelorn.
Credits imply it was the first of a series that never materialized.
The CBS Radio Network broadcast Sunset Boulevard on September 17, 1951
with the film's stars recreating their roles.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
From Tallulah Bankhead to Mary Martin
All Tallulah's scenes in a badly digitized TV rip
See below if you want a good version
of the Mary Martin Sings There's Music In You video compilation.
Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Mary Martin in
There's Music In You. Note the spelling of 'Rogers' name in the call board.
Main Street To Broadway also has the following scenes and attributes.
- Helen Hayes instructs a young actress how to focus before introducing the film and discussing the soon-to-be-demolished Empire Theatre. She returns to narrate the play's opening and list the luminaries attending.
- Shirley Booth talks with, and signs autographs for, fans and demonstrates why she is so beloved. (See Hazel: The Maid With The Most and See Miss Shirley Booth for more information.
- Cornel Wilde acts in a workshop reading of the playwright's somewhat misogynistic first play with ingenue Mary.
- Rex Harrison and then-wife actress Lilli Palmer discuss what's in their refrigerator; Rex wants a bagel and salami.
- Radio and television's Molly Goldberg, Gertrude Berg, plays Tony's motherly landlady.
- Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore and Louis Calhern bail the despondent playwright out of jail and offer him hope after Bankhead rejects the new play.
- John Van Druten works with Constance Carpenter (as Anna) and the cast of the still running The King And I which he had directed the year before.
- Al Hirschfeld draws one of his trademark caricatures.
- New York Giants manager Leo Durocher gets a dugout scolding from Tallulah.
- After having testified for the House Un-American Activities Committee, Jack Gilford was hired to play behind the bars of the theatre box office as treasurer.
- Humorist Herb Shriner, father of director Wil (Frasier) and actor Kin (General Hospital), sympathetically plays Mary's hometown boyfriend.
- Academy Award winner James Wong Howe was cinematographer for Main Street To Broadway.
Mary Martin's studio version of There's Music In You
Whitney Houston's version of There's Music In You 1997
Sunday, November 9, 2014
A Brief History of Plastic Surgery in Hollywood
1927
See Mabel Normand in the two reeler on archive.org.
1973
In 1973, Elizabeth Taylor has a face lift in the hopes of saving her marriage (to Henry Fonda in a small, yet pivotal role). The film was considered quite controversial back in the day for its interpolation of graphic footage of a face lift procedure.See Elizabeth Taylor in Ash Wednesday on YouTube
or email me for a link to download a VHS rip.
2014
In 2014, Renée Zellweger walks the red carpet after years out of the spotlight.Bonus: Totie Fields Talks Plastic Surgery
In what looks to be the late 1960s Merv Griffin had discussions with plastic surgeon Dr. Kurt Wagner on his eponymously titled talk show. Guests included Victor Borge and Totie Fields. Totie Fields is a big supporter of plastic surgery. Interestingly many believe that it was the plastic surgery she had on her eyes which initiated the health issues that lead to her death. For more information on the life and career of comedian Totie Fields, see Totie Fields: A Blography.Sunday, April 13, 2014
The Popular Photoplayers of 1914
According to the December 1914 issue of Photoplay Magazine, these are the most Popular Photoplayers. Right click on an image and open it in a new tab if there be a need to enlarge the gossip text.
- Frank Borzage
- Andy Clark
- Sallie Crute
- Mabel Forrest
- William Garwood
- Douglas Gerrard
- Louise Glaum
- Lillian Herbert
- Ethel Lloyd
- Hughie Mack
- Gertrude McCoy
- Wheeler Oakman
- George Periolot
- Byrdine Zuber
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Lizzie Borden: Dances (& Books & Operas) of Death
With the recent release of Lizzie Borden Took An Ax starring Christina Ricci (and it's spin-off fictional series The Lizzie Borden Chronicles), I thought it time to gather additional (digital) Lizzie ephemera to peruse. If you're interested in (one of) the most famous, unsolved murder(s) of all time here are some places to start, chronologically.
This article was updated to reflect the DVD release on October 6, 2014.
- At the time of the murder, Edwin H. Porter worked as police reporter for the Fall River Globe newspaper and published a book (in 1893) that many Borden aficionados consider definitive. A non-illustrated text version of the Fall River Tragedy by Edwin H. Porter is available. This link opens a PDF in a new window.
- This 1936 radio play is called Unsolved Mysteries: The Borden Case but manages to solve the Lizzie mystery by adding a tramp who makes his escape in the dark of night to the mix of people on 92 Second Street that fateful day. There is a narrator but no credits; the voice of Lizzie sounds strangely familiar.
-
The Fall River Legend dance was choreographed by Agnes De Mille in 1945 and purports to tell the story of Lizzie Borden although De Mille has played with the facts by adding a minister boyfriend, subtracting Emma (the other dancer in the piece is young Lizzie, not Emma), and arriving at a verdict of guilty. Still and all, this Canadian production is a lively work with excellent performances and solid characterizations by the dancers.
Unfortunately, this performance (starring Sally Wilson) is not complete; thus I took the partial Fall River Legend 3/3 and River 2/2 (a different company and performance) and edited them together so the complete Agnes De Mille ballet is easily viewable by watching Fall River Legend 1/3, Fall River Legend 2/3 and then the following two mashups (Mashup 1/2 then 2/2). River 1/2 is the first half of this other performance which was shot from a balcony. River 2/2 had some wonky editing that I fixed in the mashup. Props to the original posters of these videos. In 1968, Agnes De Mille published a book called Lizzie Borden: A Dance Of Death. This tome tells the story of how the ballet was created - with the first two chapters dedicated to Ms. De Mille's research on the murder and its aftermath. It is a fascinating book and, though out-of-print, should be readily available at your local library. The book also discusses The Case of Lizzie Borden, De Mille's 1957 television program in which the crime is reenacted. An excellent recap of the ballet and its accompanying Morton Gould score is available on DRAM Online.
- Agnes Moorehead starred as Lizzie in the 1952 episode of the CBS radio show Suspense called Fall River Tragedy. The radio play starts after the trial when Agnes (as Lizzie) reminisces about what happened. Flashbacks begin, the doctor testifies, Lizzie accuses Bridget of the murder (claiming not to have laughed), and Agnes does lip service to the sponsor as the telephone operator in the embedded commercials of the audio on YouTube. They also make liberal use of the infamous Lizzie Borden rhyme. The radio play is in two parts.
- Verdict In Dispute seems to have been published in 1950-51. It examines the verdicts of six infamous murder trials. The chapter on Lizzie starts on page 206 and is an interesting account of the trial with a final sentence that asks the reader to decide if the verdict was a correct one. At 50 pages of the facts, just the facts, ma'am, this text is much shorter than the more detailed Porter book referenced above.
- In 1965, Jack Beeson and librettist Kenward Elmslie premiered their opera Lizzie Borden: A Family Portrait in Three Acts. In the opera, Lizzie is the eldest of two children, her younger sister Margret (not older Emma) has a fiancé, and Abby Borden is portrayed as a servant in the Borden house before the first Mrs. Borden's death. None of this is true but the writers have used these extractions to fashion a tale to explain the violence of the act (and to create a good female goes mad scene). The New York City Opera performance captured by PBS is somewhat engrossing; it also seems more like a play with musical dialogue than an opera - not that I know anything about opera. Phyllis Pancella is very good as Lizzie, really emoting her (fictional) descent into madness. Lauren Flanigan as Abby is the perfect foil. Host Beverly Sills introduces the performance and even throws in a few bon mot about the historic murder. The original cast recording made in 1965 is available on YouTube and a DVD of the original cast's 1965 television production is available for purchase.
- For now anyway, you can view the pièce de résistance of Lizzie-philia on YouTube: Elizabeth Montgomery in the 1975 TV movie The Legend Of Lizzie Borden.
For decades, there has been talk that the European theatrical version of The Legend Of Lizzie Borden contained nudity cut from the American television version. I have seen both versions: the European version (from VHS) is about three minutes SHORTER (which could be frame rate differences) but the murder scenes are exactly the same - ie: neither of Elizabeth's breasts are visible.
But with the release (on October 7, 2014) of the The Legend Of Lizzie Borden DVD, we finally have an answer to the 'European cut' question. The DVD is a full frame 1:37 transfer. But the film was shown on television and released on VHS in the more common (for the day) 1:33 aspect ratio. This cropped out top, bottom and sides of the original film. When I discovered this, I played Andrew Borden's murder (using my digital rip of the VHS tape) vee-r-rry slowly. Low and behold, at 1:24:20 and 1:24:26 you can make out the very top of Lizzie's areola. When you watch the DVD, nipples are clearly evident. Another Lizzie Borden mystery solved! - Lizzie Borden Quarterly was a subscription 'zine published quarterly in the mid 1990s. It included articles on the house, surrounding area, new developments, books, and anything Lizzie related. All issues are available on archive.org.
- An 80 page comic book with a fancy name (graphic novel) called The Borden Tragedy: A Memoir of the Infamous Double Murder at Fall River, Massachusetts, 1892 was published in 1997. The story is told from the point-of-view of a fictional Fall River resident and acquaintance of the Bordens. The artwork is good and it tells a fairly-detailed version of the story but breaks no new ground.
- Lizzie Borden: The Musical by Christopher McGovern (book, music and lyrics) and Amy Powers (lyrics) premiered at New Jersey's American Stage Company in 1998 with Alison Fraser in the title role. (There is a cast recording available.) The musical then played a sold out run at the Norma Terris Theatre in 2001 with Christiane Noll as Lizzie.
- The Biography Channel series Haunted Encounters: Face To Face aired an episode on the present day haunting of the Borden house. In addition to confirming the presence of ghosts through electronic voice phenomena (EVP), the episode addresses (and affirms) the rumors of molestation that have encircled the family.
- Lizzie Borden: A Rock Musical (now referred to as Lizzie: The Musical) is a rock-show retelling of the bloody legend of America’s first and favorite axe-wielding double-murderess and Victorian hometown girl, Lizzie Borden. The team of Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Alan Stevens Hewitt and Tim Maner began writing the show as far back as 1990 but it was premiered in its current (and recorded) form in 2009.
- Lastly (although certainly not leastly) there's this Vine offering up the infamous Lizzie Borden rhyme with a modern twist.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
The Intimate Lives & Loves of Violet and Daisy Hilton³
Daisy and Violet Hilton are conjoined twins and talented musicians who became successful vaudevillians before going off to Hollywood where they made several films. In the tradition of Helen Morgan Cubed, the ladies' lives have been represented in an autobiography (a WORLD INTERNET PREMIERE* downloadable from this blog in PDF format), a movie and a musical.
Aped 47 years later by the creators of Side Show
Best public copy; Amazon Prime version is good too
Pretty fuckin' incredible
Every Hour of Every Day
Never Fall In Love
Love Thief
*In England, the sisters' home was above the Queens Head pub; their manager chose this location for its proximity to the Brighton Train Station. They were born in a house on Riley Road on the outskirts of Brighton.
- Movie: Chained For Life
- Book: The Intimate Lives and Loves of the Hilton Sisters
- Musical: Side Show
- Freaks and Facts
- Music Clips from Chained For Life
Film: Chained For Life
Chained For Life is a vanity project designed as film noir that was released in 1951. I hesitate to call it exploitation because people exploit themselves. (Isn't that what we do?) It's not a very easy movie to watch as the sisters are ... um ... exploited with many of the plot points fictionalized from experiences in their real lives including a sham marriage and private paeans for love.Aped 47 years later by the creators of Side Show
Best public copy; Amazon Prime version is good too
Book: The Intimate Lives and Loves of the Hilton Sisters
The Intimate Lives and Loves of the Hilton Sisters is also a vanity project - a slight autobiography written by Daisy and Violet Hilton to coincide with the release of Chained for Life. The first seventeen pages of the $2 trade-sized paperback are devoted to the Hilton's story with both sisters taking the pen; the concluding 33 pages are a novelization of the tale told in Chained For Life. Takeaways from the autobiographical section include:- The sisters were born in Brighton, England.* No birth year is mentioned but there is a sentence that reads In 1929 we became legally of age. If this means 21, they were born in 1908. The twins early years were also documented in a medical journal article published in 1911 called The Brighton United Twins (PDF will download.). It discusses the medical details of the infant twins (they shared an anus, separation would cause death). Again, no birth year is given but a photo of the toddlers captioned Present day confirms their birth year as 1908.
- At two weeks old, the sisters were given to Mary Williams (Auntie) who raised (and beat) them. They lived above the Queens Head Pub in Brighton before moving to San Antonio, Texas. Auntie had five husbands and daughter Edith.
- During their youth, Daisy and Violet were trained to read and play music, recite, dance, and sing. Auntie (and Edith when the former died) managed their performing career which took off internationally and in the United States. They were headliners and played vaudeville with luminaries of the day like Harry Houdini, Sophie Tucker and Jimmy Durante.
- In 1927, unbeknownst to the sisters, Edith and her husband enslaved them in a guardianship. The Hiltons went to court in 1930 to get their freedom and dissolve any business arrangements that had been (illegally) put into place. This is when they found out about their birth home in the UK.
- The case was decided in the sisters' favor. All existing contracts were dissolved and they were given $67,000 in bonds, $12,000 in cash and $20,000 in personal effects.
- They crafted a revue in which they played violin, piano, and saxophone, did ballet and adagio dancing, and performed in sketches.
- Violet married as a publicity stunt in Texas (after 21 other states denied request for a marriage license). They were still married (at the time of publication) although Violet acquiesced that the marriage had no meaning and Jim could have a divorce anytime he asked.
- Daisy married a few years later for love. The sisters awoke on the tenth day and found the groom was no longer there. Daisy initiated divorce proceedings and they never saw him again.
Musical: Side Show
In 1997, Side Show opened on Broadway with Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley starring as Daisy and Violet (respectively). This musical version of the sisters' story has book and lyrics by Bill Russell and music by Henry Krieger, played 91 performances, and was nominated for five Tony awards (Best Musical, Book, Score and actresses). The New York Library for the Performing Arts Theatre on Film Archives has an archival video recording of the show.- A scene in which the musical Daisy dreams of being separated from her sister, dancing and cavorting with her lover in a garden. (Did they really just ape that scene from Chained For Life?)
Norm Lewis played Porgy on Broadway in 2012 - A scene in which the phenomenally talented Norm Lewis electrifies (us and) the musical Violet with You Should Be Loved (soaring ballad), a juxtaposition which not too subtly equates the Hilton's struggle with the African-American struggle.
Pretty fuckin' incredible
Freaks and Facts
Interestingly, the sisters' autobiography has only one sentence that refers to the performance for which they are most remembered. As Terry figured, the [marriage] stunt paid off. We went to Hollywood and made several films. One of those films was Tod Browning's film Freaks.Daisy: I'm Daisy
Violet: I'm Violet
Daisy & Violet: We're nothing alike
Violet: I'm to your right as you watch our show
Daisy: She thinks she's always right. Not so. I'm Daisy
Violet: I'm Violet
Music Clips from Chained For Life
Every Hour of Every Day
Never Fall In Love
Love Thief
*In England, the sisters' home was above the Queens Head pub; their manager chose this location for its proximity to the Brighton Train Station. They were born in a house on Riley Road on the outskirts of Brighton.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Boxing Barbra ... and Fanny!
An Examination of the Streisand/Brice Boxing Film Coincidences
Be Yourself (streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime) is a 1930 comedy about a woman who becomes manager of a prizefighter; it stars Fannie (née Fanny) Brice. The Main Event is a 1976 comedy about a woman who becomes manager of a prizefighter; it stars Barbra Streisand. Of course, Streisand famously plays Brice in the 1968 film Funny Girl which then begs the question: is The Main Event a remake of Be Yourself?
Robert Armstrong, Fanny Brice, Harry Green, Whitman Mayo, Ryan O'Neal, Barbra Streisand
This version contains a few barbs aimed at Brice’s ethnicity
Single version of The Main Event b/w Fight
The arm and the foot
The iconic proboscises (proboscisi?)
Ballad version of The Main Event (not b/w Fight)
Robert Armstrong, Fanny Brice, Harry Green, Whitman Mayo, Ryan O'Neal, Barbra Streisand
This version contains a few barbs aimed at Brice’s ethnicity
- When A Woman Loves a Man - first as a charming uptempo number with chorus girls and then as a torch song à la My Man
- Cooking Breakfast For The One I Love - first as a duet with Robert Armstrong (in an apartment home) and as a solo by a bellhop (in the nightclub)
- Is There Something the Matter with Otto Kahn? - an operatic parody referencing the infamous financier)
- Kicking a Hole in the Sky - production reminiscent of the gospel-like Great Day from Streisand’s Funny Lady
- It’s Gorgeous To Be Graceful - a comedic ballet reminiscent of Swan Lake from Streisand’s Funny Girl
Single version of The Main Event b/w Fight
The arm and the foot
The iconic proboscises (proboscisi?)
Ballad version of The Main Event (not b/w Fight)
Monday, December 16, 2013
Anna Lucasta Redefines Race in Hollywood
This racial history started innocently enough when a still from the 1949 movie Anna Lucasta was posted to a Facebook thread about character actress Mary Wickes (who co-stars). Philip Yordan, a white playwright and screenwriter (Johnny Guitar), wrote Anna Lukaska in 1936. The story of this Anna (a Polish American prostitute seeking redemption from her family) takes important plot points and characterizations from a play about another literary Anna who turned to prostitution some twenty years before: Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill. Possibly because of its similarities, Anna Lukaska never made it to Broadway in the 30s but almost ten years later, it was discovered by Abram Hill, one of the founders of the American Negro Theatre Company.
Rumored to have hired an out-of-work black dramatist to provide
Negro dialect Philip Yordan is Anna Lucasta's sole author
The Mansfield Theater was renamed The Brooks Atkinson
Click the pic to see the 1944 Playbill
Watch Anna Lucasta with Paulette Goddard
Alice Childress wrote A Hero Ain't Nothin' But A Sandwich
Trouble in Mind has been revived as recently as 2011
Rumored to have hired an out-of-work black dramatist to provide
Negro dialect Philip Yordan is Anna Lucasta's sole author
The Mansfield Theater was renamed The Brooks Atkinson
Click the pic to see the 1944 Playbill
Watch Anna Lucasta with Paulette Goddard
Alice Childress wrote A Hero Ain't Nothin' But A Sandwich
Trouble in Mind has been revived as recently as 2011
- AFI Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the Unted States Volume 1
- Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960
- The Regal Theater and Black Culture by Clovis E Semmes
- Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s edited by Patrick McGilligan
- The Merchant Prince of Poverty Row: Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Dorothy McNulty IS Good News 1930 Style
Until Good News, the 1930 musical film version of the 1927 Broadway musical, is released on DVD (or available to download as an out-of-print movie), all we have are clips, advertisements and posters.
*Dorothy McNulty photo attribution
*Dorothy McNulty photo attribution
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
The Myth³ of Helen Morgan
Helen Morgan is the flame who gave the term torch singer a light. Her voice can be described as a perfectly pitched, small, quivering soprano and fortunately, all of Morgan's recorded tracks (including classic interpretations of Bill and Can't Help Lovin' That Man from Show Boat) can be downloaded for free and added to iTunes. Unfortunately, there is not much verifiable information about Morgan's life itself - which began on August 2, 1900 and ended on October 9, 1941. There have been three attempts to define a history for Helen Morgan and these three all tell a different story.
Helen Morgan sings Bill - Show Boat 1936
Helen Morgan, Irene Dunne, Hattie McDaniel, Paul Robeson
Show Boat 1936
Helen speaking with, and singing about, first husband Maurice Mashke, Jr.
Married in 1933, it lasted two years
Helen singing It Can't Go On Like This from Roadhouse Nights 1930
Jimmy Durante is the waiter Follow Michael,'s board The Myth³ of Helen Morgan on Pinterest.
- Television: Helen Morgan
- Film: The Helen Morgan Story
- Book: Helen Morgan Her Life and Times
- The Myths and the Facts
Helen Morgan sings Bill - Show Boat 1936
Television: Helen Morgan
Playhouse 90 was a late Fifties-era anthology that produced weekly 90 minute plays and broadcast them on (the somewhat new medium of) television. Helen Morgan, an episode of this series, was directed by George Roy Hill (who achieved great fame when he directed Paul Newman and Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting) and the drama told its story from the perspective of Helen's mother, Lulu Lang Riggins Morgan. It is unfortunate that this drama has never been available for purchase because it is the best of the lot. Polly Bergen is a phenom as Helen, acting the woman from a naive teen with long hair to a bobbed, soused entertainer dying on screen. Her takes on Helen's classic songs are spot on; not imitations of the beloved recordings but intimate interpretations in a not dissimilar voice. Ms. Bergen rightfully won an Emmy award for her performance. It is riveting in spite of the kinetoscopic quality of the print. (If you're interested in a digital file of this historic program email me for a link.)Film: The Helen Morgan Story
The Helen Morgan Story was released to movie theatres a few months after the telecast of Helen Morgan. Ann Blyth plays Helen and lip syncs to vocal tracks provided by Gogi Grant, a pop singer of the 1950s. Ms. Grant's tracks are a major problem with the film because she sounds like a pop singer of the 1950s - and a not very emotive one at that. Ann Blyth is fine during the earlier dramatic moments but her final moments are hysterically campy. The script is fictionalized (romantic lead/bootlegger/hottie Paul Newman, for example) and is more a remake of Love Me Or Leave Me (the Ruth Etting film biography with Doris Day and James Cagney) than an original. The film also glosses over Morgan's shining professional accomplishment: her performances as Julie LaVerne in Show Boat and, in fact, ends happily with a (fictional) testimonial dinner in her honor notwithstanding the fact that she died at 41 from cirrhosis of the liver brought about by her alcoholism. It's Hollywood claptrap.Book: Helen Morgan Her Life and Times
Helen Morgan Her Life and Times was written by Gilbert Maxwell and published in 1974. A literary biography can tell a great tale of its subject but this is no literary biography. Maxwell details Morgan's affairs and marriages (seemingly) based on newspaper accounts and the book reads as such. It feels light - presumably because even forty years ago the myths around Helen had taken hold and information was scarce. The book does collate the facts on Helen's performing career, including whole chapters on all versions of Show Boat, her 1929 film debut Applause (directed by Rouben Mamoulian), the musical Jermone Kern and Oscar Hammerstein wrote specifically for Morgan Sweet Adeline (with hits Why Was I Born? and Don't Ever Leave Me), and the legal troubles stemming from her performances in the speakeasies of the Prohibition era. It's a factual read but full of holes.Helen Morgan, Irene Dunne, Hattie McDaniel, Paul Robeson
Show Boat 1936
The Myths and the Facts
There are some common threads that can be found in all of these biographies. Helen was generous to a fault, spending all of her money on friends and acquaintances and ending up with nothing for herself. (Sure you'll make a million dollars and throw it all away says her mother, Lulu, in the television drama.) Helen was also revered by the underworld; once she started opening her eponymous nightclubs, many men of this ilk were enamored by her. Helen had a decade long affair with a married man although each biography identifies a different man. And according to Wikipedia, Helen had three marriages - the book documents two, the movie mentions one, the drama none.Helen speaking with, and singing about, first husband Maurice Mashke, Jr.
Married in 1933, it lasted two years
Helen Morgan had a baby girl on June 25th, 1926, and she gave up the baby for adoption. In Springfield, Illinois, in the presence of Rhoda Eisenberg (aunt of the adopting parents) Minnettee Groupe and Harry Hyman Haffner. This baby, named Elaine Haffner, married Norman Danglo (deceased) and they had four children, one of them me - Jeff Danglo. Both my mother and father related the story of how Aunt Rhoda told my mother the truth about her real mother when she was 30. My Dad secretly told me of how she walked around the house singing for a year - she had a pretty good voice. In 1980 or so, I wrote Aunt Rhoda and asked for a written account of what happened. She called my mother quite upset, "Why does your son want to know about that woman!" and I dropped the matter. She died 1985 or so. Anyway, I can't prove it but it's been our family story forever. JD
Helen singing It Can't Go On Like This from Roadhouse Nights 1930
Jimmy Durante is the waiter
Lots more pictures of Helen Morgan on my Pinterest board.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Theda Bara: She's No Bella Swan
In my never ending search through the cobwebs of the Internets for the lost films of Theda Bara, I found a thread on this horror forum to which was published a recently-discovered three second fragment (saved as an animated GIF) from a 1910 nitrate film called The Vampire. The fragment shows the climactic scene from the film: Margarita Fischer as The Vampire holding a wriggling asp and looking at the dead body of Charles Clary.
I am fascinated by the asp
Thanks Doctor Kiss!
Press For The Vampire 1910
Note the production still
Article on Theda from Screenland June 1923 issue
Poster image of the 1922 version of A FOOL THERE WAS
starring Estelle Taylor
The Demure Theda
It seems that forgetthetalkies.com has removed East Lynne
but I downloaded it and will post with a music soundtrack when complete.
A Fool There Was
More on Pinterest
At 4m10s Cher (as only Cher can) interprets the V-A-M-P Theda Bara
At 8m30s Theda appears in 45 Minutes From Hollywood for a (literal) momentSee my Pinterest page for A LOT more pictures of Theda Bara.
↓ one of many silent film t-shirts created for crew d'tees ↓
I am fascinated by the asp
Thanks Doctor Kiss!
Press For The Vampire 1910
Note the production still
Article on Theda from Screenland June 1923 issue
Poster image of the 1922 version of A FOOL THERE WAS
starring Estelle Taylor
The Demure Theda
It seems that forgetthetalkies.com has removed East Lynne
but I downloaded it and will post with a music soundtrack when complete.
A Fool There Was
- Could We Ever Find The Films Of Theda Bara? (excellent essay)
- A Fool There Was (1915) - Essay by Christopher DiGrazia
- Theda Bara: The Vamp Adopts The Troops
- Bara on Bara: 1919 article written by Theda Bara (link opens PDF)
- Theda Bara: Filmography
- The Theda Bara Experience
- Theda Bara (Silent Film Still Archive)
- Theda Bara Lost Films thread on NitrateVille
- Theda Bara: A Nice Jewish Girl
- The Most Wicked Face Of Theda Bara
- Goodbye Theda Bara House (Cincinnati, OH)
More on Pinterest
A fool there was and he made his prayer (Even as you and I!) To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair (We called her the woman who did not care), But the fool he called her his lady fair (Even as you and I!) Oh the years we waste and the tears we waste And the work of our head and hand, Belong to the woman who did not know (And now we know that she never could know) And did not understand. A fool there was and his goods he spent (Even as you and I!) Honor and faith and a sure intent But a fool must follow his natural bent (And it wasn't the least what the lady meant), (Even as you and I!) Oh the toil we lost and the spoil we lost And the excellent things we planned, Belong to the woman who didn't know why (And now we know she never knew why) And did not understand. The fool we stripped to his foolish hide (Even as you and I!) Which she might have seen when she threw him aside -- (But it isn't on record the lady tried) So some of him lived but the most of him died -- (Even as you and I!) And it isn't the shame and it isn't the blame That stings like a white hot brand. It's coming to know that she never knew why (Seeing at last she could never know why) And never could understand.
At 4m10s Cher (as only Cher can) interprets the V-A-M-P Theda Bara
At 8m30s Theda appears in 45 Minutes From Hollywood for a (literal) moment
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