Pre-Code Corner: Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum

Posted on March 3, 2018 by Kim Luperi

Warner Brothers Horror, In Living (Two) Color:
Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum

As part of their career retrospective Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film, the UCLA Film and Television Archive recently screened a superb pre-Code triple feature: Doctor X (1932), Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), and The Kennel Murder Case (1933). If playing “which of these two is not like the other?” the last title would be the odd ball out, as Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum share so many similarities that I almost thought I was watching two adaptations in a row.

Warner Bros Horror - Doctor X (1932)

Warner Bros Horror - Mystery of the Wax Museum poster

These posters are too great, making it impossible to choose just one.

Warner Bros Horror - mystery of trhe wax museum ad

Well, I kind of was. According to Scott MacQueen’s April 1990 American Cinematographer article on Mystery of the Wax Museum, that picture was indeed intended as a follow-up to Doctor X upon the latter’s lucrative debut in August 1932. In the early 1930s, Warner Brothers hopped on the horror train when musicals began to wane in popularity, and the results in these two cases were rather curious entries combining the now-faded tinges of early two-color Technicolor, gruesome thrills, wild stories, and… wisecracking reporters?! Doctor X features a suspicious research scientist and his equally dubious team, all being investigated in connection with mysterious killings. Naturally, the reveal occurs during a murder re-enactment gone horribly wrong – and, spoiler alert – fake skin is involved. In Mystery of the Wax Museum, the madman is a wheelchair-bound sculptor who turns to a sinister solution to recreate his masterpieces after his wax gallery is torched and his hands are burned: stealing corpses and targeting people whose appearance match his vision to enshrine in wax. Yes, both stories are that bizarre.

All that said, below are select parallels Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum share – and how they differ in the details.

Warner Bros Horror Wray, posing as a Marie Antoinette wax figure in Mystery of the Wax Museum

No, this isn’t the movie in which Fay Wray plays Lionel Atwill’s daughter – that would be creepy. But that’s really Wray, posing as a Marie Antoinette wax figure in Mystery of the Wax Museum.

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Twinkle Twinkle Frequent Co-Stars

Besides Curtiz, many of the same names pop up in Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum, including cinematographer Ray Rennahan, art director Anton Grot, and leads Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray, playing slightly sketchy scientist father and daughter in the former and deranged artist and almost-victim in the latter. Atwill characterized men of varying degrees of insanity in each movie, a type of dark role he excelled at during this period, while Wray perfected her shrieking damsel in distress just before the public witnessed her most famous screaming lass in 1933’s King Kong. Fun fact: Atwill and Wray appeared together in another film cut from a similar horror cloth, 1933’s The Vampire Bat, released in between Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum.

Warner Bros Horror - fire Mystery of the Wax MuseumFire appears much more threatening in color, don’t you think?

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“All in Technicolor!”

Two-color Technicolor produced an array of faded pistachios, dull peaches, and murky tans in both films, a palette that pairs well with the grim plots, though we do occasionally witness some more vibrant tones, which help inject life into the pictures. In my opinion, the color was most effective during Mystery of the Wax Museum’s early wax fire scene, in which the camera remained trained upon various figures slowly singeing, their peculiar likeness and hues melting away into pallid, viscous liquid during what felt like a purposefully protracted sequence. As Technicolor’s tepid tints amplified the wax figures’ realistic features (some were indeed living, breathing actors – not the burning ones, though!), the two-tone process also created a heightened sense of discomfort as the figures burned.

Warner Bros Horror - Lee Tracy and Fay Wray Doctor XThere’s something slightly foreboding about this otherwise romantic shot of Lee Tracy and Wray, but I can’t put my finger on it…
Warner Bros Horror - Glenda Farrell Mystery of the Wax MuseumYou don’t want to know, Glenda Farrell.

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Reporters Save the Day!

Because both films were produced by Warner Brothers, you can count on the studio incorporating their standard gritty, urban house style somewhere. Enter: wisecracking reporters. Warners cast two  sharp-witted contract players for both roles: Lee Tracy in Doctor X and Glenda Farrell, who would go on to play Torchy Blane in the late 1930s, in Mystery of the Wax Museum. As much as I enjoy Tracy’s mile-a-minute quips, I prefer Farrell’s unruffled ingenuity and slick witticisms.

Warner Bros Horror - Doctor X 1932 synthetic skinWill this mask make my skin softer, or just regenerate it?

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WTF Special Effects

Watching Dr. Wells (Preston Foster) apply synthetic flesh in Doctor X is akin to Fredric March’s transformation in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) but somehow more menacing CAUSE THIS GUY JUST CREATED A NEW, WORKING HAND FOR HIMSELF.

Warner Bros Horror - lionel Atwill mystery of the wax museumWow, that Atwill mask was really a work of art.

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In a similar vein, Ivan’s (Lionel Atwill) 3rd act scorched face reveal in Mystery of the Wax Museum, which apparently horrified Fay Wray in real life, could have served as a precursor to Freddy Krueger’s hideous scalded mug.

Warner Bros Horror - Arthur Edmund Carewe and Robert Homans in Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) Looks like Sparrow (Arthur Edmund Carewe) has had a rough night – or life.

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Arson and Dope and Dead Bodies, Oh My!

As far as pre-Code moments go, it’s hard to beat Farrell’s casual aside, “How’s your sex life?” to a cop taking peeks at a dirty magazine in Mystery of the Wax Museum. While the crowd in the theater expected some lascivious pre-Code quips, this one elicited audible gasps. Other honorable mentions in this picture include: Farrell jacking bottles from a coffin full of booze as the police turn a blind eye and Sparrow (Arthur Edmund Carewe), clearly addicted to some kind of substance, crumbling under police interrogation. Besides Tracy’s frisky flirtations in Doctor X, one line in particular, “Were the murdered women… attacked?” is strongly suggestive, so you can bet it met the wrath of several censor boards. Speaking of…

Warners vs. the Production Code Administration (PCA)

With comparable plot lines featuring murder, shocking effects, and immorality, it would be reasonable to expect the industry and state censors to react similarly to both pictures, right? Sure, and they did – for a while. (Just a head’s up, I’m going to start with Mystery of the Wax Museum below, which was released after Doctor X, and the dates will bounce around a bit, so bear with me.)

Warner Bros Horror - Mystery of the Wax MuseumI don’t recall actually seeing any of the corpses’ faces in Mystery of the Wax Museum, but sliding a body out the window was a sore spot for some censor boards.

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Mystery of the Wax Museum’s gruesomeness initially concerned the Studio Relations Committee (SRC), but they ultimately found the movie “very acceptable entertainment… and pretty well devoid of censorship difficulties” in December 1932. Tell that to B.O. Skinner, Ohio’s Director of Education, who wrote Warners a perturbed note upon his review in February 1933:

We are, as you know, approving this film with eliminations. I wish, however, to register a formal protest against the film. It contains so many elements we find objectionable, as setting fire to the museum to obtain insurance, naming a poison and telling how it could be taken to produce death, using of dope and also the general theme of horror. I feel it would be much better for all of us if the production of this type of film would be discontinued.

New York, Quebec, and British Columbia cut scenes largely in tune with Ohio’s complaints, but all in all, the edits weren’t staggering, and the picture passed without eliminations in Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Chicago (given an “Adult Permit” in the latter). Despite Ohio’s opposition, the PCA approved Mystery of the Wax Museum in 1936 when Warners requested a Code certificate for re-release.

One year later, the studio inquired about a reissue for Doctor X, but this time Warners was flat out denied. Looking back during the movie’s pre-production in March 1932, the SRC’s Jason Joy remarked that Doctor X’s script, handled more as a murder mystery, would be satisfactory “in ordinary circumstances,” but recently boards were excising scenes involving operations, morgues, and other frightening imagery. Despite the disclaimer, Joy felt “there is little cause for concern on our part that we will have another Frankenstein on our hands.”

Warner Bros Horror - doctor x Can we agree that those fingernails alone are more terrifying than Frankenstein?

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The SRC offered no suggestions on the horror front after reviewing the finished picture in May 1932, and Doctor X was approved without eliminations in Ohio, New York, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Quebec, while recording only minor changes in Chicago, Australia, and Ontario; on the whole, the picture notched fewer concerns than Mystery of the Wax Museum would about six months later.

With this in mind, it’s quite curious that in 1937 the PCA’s Vincent Hart deemed Doctor X “un-Codeable” due to its “gruesome theme,” and thus requested that Warners withdraw their request as the film wouldn’t be approved for re-release. So what made Mystery of the Wax Museum, originally more harshly judged by state boards, satisfactory to the PCA in 1936 and the similarly themed Doctor X, which more easily passed censor entities, unacceptable just one year later? We’re talking the PCA here, so your guess is as good as mine; I got relatively equal cases of the creeps watching both.

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–Kim Luperi for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Kim’s Pre-Code Corner articles here.

Kim Luperi is a New Jersey transplant living in sunny Los Angeles. She counts her weekly research in the Academy’s Production Code Administration files as a hobby and has written for TCM, AFI Fest, the Pre-Code Companion, MovieMaker Magazine and the American Cinematheque. You can read more of Kim’s articles at I See A Dark Theater or by following her on twitter at @Kimbo3200.

 

 

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Classic Movie Travels: Josephine Hutchinson

Posted on March 3, 2018 by Annette Bochenek

 

Classic Movie Travels: Josephine Hutchinson
Seattle Washington and New York City

Josephine HutchinsonJosephine Hutchinson

While the name Josephine Hutchinson may not immediately come to mind when reflecting upon the stars of the 1930s, Josephine showed great promise as a Warner Brothers star. With acting in her blood and a formal education in dramatics, Josephine appeared in a string of films and was poised for success as a film actress.

Josephine D. Hutchinson was born on October 12th, 1903, in Seattle Washington to aspiring actress Leona Celinda Doty or Leona Roberts and Charles James Hutchinson. Her father was a proprietor at a fuel, sand, and goods store and her mother was an actress. On September 20th, 1909, Josephine’s little brother, O’Neil Tom Hutchinson, joined the family. The Hutchinsons remained in Seattle through 1920 until Leona and Charles divorced.

Leona’s ambitions to become an actress led her to debut on Broadway in 1926, causing her to appear in about 40 productions between 1926 and 1945. Most of her roles were supporting ones. In fact, her younger sister, Edith Roberts, was a film actress with experience as a child performer in vaudeville prior to arriving in Hollywood in 1915. Edith would achieve over 150 screen credits before retiring from acting in 1929 and passing away six years later.

At the same time as her Broadway debut, Leona also began a film career as the lead in Poor Mrs. Jones (1926), produced by the United States Department of Agriculture. In 1937, she went to Hollywood and played in over 40 films, again in mostly motherly or supporting roles. She is best known for her portrayal of society gossip Mrs. Meade in Gone with the Wind (1939) alongside Harry Davenport, who played Doctor Meade. She can also be spotted in Bringing Up Baby (1938) with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, Of Human Hearts (1938) with James Stewart, and The Blue Bird (1940) with Shirley Temple.

Josephine Hutchinson long shot with gown

Through her mother’s show business connections, Josephine was able to make her film debut at the age of 13 in alongside Mary Pickford in The Little Princess (1917). Afterwards, Josephine enrolled at the Cornish School of Music and Drama and then relocated to New York City. There, she started to act in live theater. Once the 1920s arrived, Josephine transitioned from working in silent films to talkies.

Around this time, Josephine met stage director Robert W. Bell. While they were married in 1924, she met actress Eva La Gallienne and became involved in an affair with her in 1927. Josephine worked as a member of Le Gallienne’s Civic Repertory Theatre company and garnered much critical praise for her work as Alice in the 1932 production of Alice in Wonderland. Robert and Josephine separated in 1928 and were divorced in 1930. The press became intrigued and wrote about Josephine as Eva’s lover. Despite the scandal, both actresses were able to continue on with their individual careers. While Josephine would marry twice more–next to James F. Townsend in 1935 until their divorce, and then to Staats Jennings Cotsworth Jr. on September 23, 1972, until his death in 1979–Eva did not marry.

Josephine Hutchinson 1932 production of Alice in WonderlandJosephine Hutchinson, 1932 production of Alice in Wonderland

Josephine was soon signed to a contract with Warner Brothers and appeared in her first credited role as Joan Bradford in Happiness Ahead (1934) alongside Dick Powell and Frank McHugh. She plays a society heiress who rebels against her mother’s choice of a future husband and pretends to be working class girl. Along the way, she begins dating a window washer. After portraying Joan Bradford, Josephine went on to fulfill several other film roles. Among her many film roles, she can be seen in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), in Universal’s Son of Frankenstein (1939) as Elsa von Frankenstein, in Love is Better Than Ever (1952), and in North by Northwest (1959) as Mrs. Townsend.

Josephine Hutchinson

Josephine’s career spanned through film, television, and radio, and granted her many opportunities to work as a supporting actress. She made four guest appearances on Perry Mason between 1958 and 1962. Additionally, Josephine appeared in Rawhide, The Twilight Zone, and Gunsmoke.

Josephine Hutchinson OlderAn older Josephine Hutchinson

After carrying out a career that spanned several decades, Josephine passed away on June 4th, 1998, at the Florence Nightingale Nursing Home in Manhattan. Her brother died on December 31st, 1979, in Beaverton, Oregon. Josephine had no children and her ashes were scattered near her niece’s home in Springfield, Oregon.

While Josephine is no longer with us, there are several places of relevance to her life that exist to this day. In 1910, the Hutchinson family was living at 965 20th Ave in Seattle, Washington. Here is a picture of the property today, which is privately owned:

Josephine Hutchinson house 965 20th ave Seattle WashingtonJosephine family home, 965 20th Ave, Seattle, Washington

By 1920, the family moved to 1620 32nd Ave in Seattle, Washington. The property is privately owned. Here is what it looks like today:

Josephine Hutchinson house 1620 32nd ave Seattle WashingtonJosephine Hutchinson family home, 1620 32nd Ave, Seattle, Washington

Josephine’s alma mater, the Cornish School of Music and Drama, has now grown into the Cornish College of the Arts. It is located at 1000 Lenora St in Seattle, Washington.  It is now nationally recognized as a premier college for the visual and performing arts, and as one of only three fully accredited private colleges in the entire nation dedicated to educating both performing and visual artists in an interrelated manner. This is the school as it stands today:

Cornish College of the Arts alma mater of Josephine HutchinsonToday’s Cornish College of the Arts, alma mater of Josephine Hutchinson

In the 1970s, Josephine moved to New York. She resided at 360 E. 55th St in New York, New York. Here is the property today:

Josephine Hutchinson NYC address 360 e 55 stJosephine Hutchinson NYC address at 360 E 55 Street

The Florence Nightingale Nursing Home is no longer in operation due to several violations.

I strongly encourage you to remember Josephine and her career by watching Happiness Ahead, among many of her other works.

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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.

Annette Bochenek of Chicago, Illinois, is a PhD student at Dominican University and an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the Hometowns to Hollywood blog, in which she writes about her trips exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the “Hometowns to Hollywood” film series throughout the Chicago area. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and is the president of TCM Backlot’s Chicago chapter. In addition to writing for Classic Movie Hub, she also writes for Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, and Chicago Art Deco SocietyMagazine.

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Gene Coon: From Beatrice Nebraska to Star Trek and Beyond

Posted on March 3, 2018 by Annmarie Gatti

Gene Coon: From Beatrice Nebraska to Star Trek and Beyond
Interview with Local Historian Jeanelle Kleveland, Gage County Classic Film Institute

“To me, in many ways, Gene L. Coon was the heart and soul of Star Trek.”
-David Gerrold, screenwriter, The Trouble with Tribbles

This weekend the Gage County Classic Film Institute in Beatrice Nebraska celebrates the career of native son Gene Coon, writer and/or producer for many beloved classic TV shows including Dragnet, Wagon Train, Maverick, Bonanza, and Star Trek. Coon joined Star Trek as a screenwriter and producer during its first season and is credited with developing the Klingons and the interpersonal dynamics between Captain Kirk, Spock and McCoy.

The 3-day event kicks off Friday evening, March 2, with a screening of the fan-favorite Star Trek episode The Trouble with Tribbles hosted by ‘Tribbles’ screenwriter David Gerrold.  Saturday’s schedule includes discussions with David Gerrold, local film historian Jeanelle Kleveland and librarian Laureen Riedesel, and features screenings of Bonanza, Wagon Train and Star Trek episodes. The event winds down on Sunday with a screening of the first Star Trek movie.

gene coon star trek event

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That said, we are delighted to have been able to sit down for a minute to chat with Jeanelle Kleveland about the event.

CMH: Hi Jeanelle, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the Gage County Classic Film Institute?

JK: I grew up, and live, in Beatrice, Nebraska, a town of about 12,000 people, about 40 miles south of Lincoln. I graduated from high school in Beatrice and then attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where I got my undergrad degree and law degree.

The Gage County Classic Film Institute was founded by a small group of people to create events that celebrate famous people in the entertainment industry that have connections to Gage County. It still amazes me that we have so many talented celebrities from such a small community – among them Hollywood legends Robert Taylor and Harold Lloyd; three-time Oscar winner for special effects, John P. Fulton, and his father, special effects Oscar winner Fitch Fulton; character actor Janet Shaw who appeared in over 30 films; and television writer, Gene L. Coon, best known for his major contributions to the original Star Trek.

Before our Institute was formed, I attended two events celebrating Robert Taylor in Beatrice, organized through the Gage County Museum and Beatrice Public Library. I then became involved as a volunteer, and have been flattered to be asked to be involved with putting together these programs.

I’ve been collecting movie memorabilia for quite some time, primarily focusing on famous Nebraskans – and I have made it my personal mission to educate people about stars from here – Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Fred Astaire and Henry Fonda to name a few.

CMH: When did the Gage County Classic Film Institute organize?

JK: We started organizing in 2014 and have had four events, two of which featured Robert Taylor. The first Taylor event was in celebration of his 105th birthday (August, 2016) and featured discussions with two authors who wrote books on Taylor. His children, Terry and Tessa Taylor were in attendance. We also screened the Taylor film, Escape, co-starring Norma Shearer and Alla Nazimovaz, and featuring character actor Janet Shaw from Gage County. At our second Taylor event, we screened Quo Vadis.

We’ve also done two events about John P. Fulton’s special effects. The first one featured speaker Joanne Fulton Schaeffer (John P. Fulton’s daughter) and included a screening of The Ten Commandments for which John P won an Oscar for Best Special Effects. Our second Fulton event last March featured Jill Fulton McClure (John P. Fulton’s granddaughter) who brought along Fulton’s Special Effects Oscar for Bridge at Toko Ri. We were so surprised and thrilled that we all had the opportunity for a photo opp holding the Award!

the trouble with tribbles star trekStar Trek fan favorite, The Trouble with Tribbles

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CMH: What is the next event you have planned?

JK: On March 2-4, 2018 we are celebrating Gene L. Coon – one of the early writers and creatives on Star Trek. He invented the Klingons and developed much of the personalities of the main characters. He was known as the ‘other Gene.’ Coon was born in Beatrice Nebraska in 1924. His family moved to Glendale, California when he was a teenager. He was a teenage newscaster on the local radio station in Beatrice.

This event will feature David Gerrold as our keynote speaker, who was mentored by Coon on Star Trek. Gerrold wrote The Trouble with Tribbles and Coon produced it. We are showing this episode as a free event at the Beatrice Public Library on Friday night and will be having a reception with Star Trek refreshments. I can’t wait to see them!

On Saturday, we will be discussing the Beatrice years and showing two westerns written by Coon – an episode of Bonanza and an episode of Wagon Train that Coon co-wrote with his brother, Bloise. I will be discussing the similarities in Coon’s stories for westerns and science fiction. In the afternoon, we will feature two Star Trek episodes and keynote speaker David Gerrold. We have two more free events at the library on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. You can see the entire schedule here: Gage County Museum Info.

CMH: Does the Gage County Classic Film Institute have any future events planned?

Next year we are planning to spotlight the legendary Harold Lloyd. He lived in Beatrice as a child, and was born in Burchard, Nebraska about 25 miles away. We are very excited to be developing this event. Please feel free to follow us on Facebook at Gage County Classic Film Institute to see what we have in store for the future and to also find out about ‘our stars’ on television.

We want to thank Classic Movie Hub for helping us to advertise our event and putting us on the CMH calendar.

We hope we will have a big turnout for Gene L. Coon, one of my famous Nebraskans.

CMH: Thanks so much Jeanelle for spending time with us. Good luck with the event!

–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

 

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Win Tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Grease” (40th Anniversary) (Giveaway runs through March 24)

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Annmarie Gatti

Win tickets to see “Grease” on the Big Screen!
In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun April 8 and Wed April 11!

“If you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter.”

Yay! The contest is over and the winners are: Liliana, Jodi, Javier, Diana, Jlwthe2nd, Migdalia, Tracy. Due to some ineligible entries, we only were able to award 7 prizes this month.

CMH continues into our 3rd year of our partnership with Fathom Events – with the 4th of our 13 movie ticket giveaways for 2018, courtesy of Fathom Events!

That said, we’ll be giving away EIGHT PAIRS of tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Grease” – The highest-grossing movie of 1978 directed by Randal Kleiser, starring John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing and Jeff Conaway — on the Big Screen!

In order to qualify to win a pair of movie tickets via this contest, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, March 24th at 6 PM EST.

We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter on Sunday, March 25, between 6PM EST and 7PM EST. If a winner(s) does not have a Twitter account, we will announce that winner(s) via this blog in the comment section below.

TCM Big Screen Classics GREASE

The film will be playing in select cinemas nationwide for a special two-day-only event on Sunday, April 8 and Wednesday, April 11 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time. Winners will be responsible for their own transportation to the Event. Only United States entries are eligible. Please click here before you enter to ensure that the Event is scheduled at a theater near you and that you are able to attend. (please note that there might be slightly different theater listings for each date)

ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday, March 24 at 6PM EST…

1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post

THE QUESTION:
Although not officially a classic-era film, what in your opinion makes “Grease” a classic? And, if you haven’t seen it, why do you want to see it on the Big Screen?

2) Then TWEET* (not DM) the following message:
I just entered to win tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics Presents: Grease” on the Big Screen courtesy of @ClassicMovieHub & @FathomEvents #EnterToWin #CMHContest link here: http://ow.ly/UKRx30iIbH9

*If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can still enter the contest by simply answering the above question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog — BUT PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU ADD THIS VERBIAGE TO YOUR ANSWER: I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.

NOTE: If for any reason you encounter a problem commenting here on this blog, please feel free to tweet or DM us, or send an email to clas…@gmail.com and we will be happy to create the entry for you.

ALSO: Please allow us 48 hours to approve your comments. Sorry about that, but we are being overwhelmed with spam, and must sort through 100s of comments…

Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in Grease

About the film: Grease is the one that you want! Go back to high school with Pink Lady Sandy (Olivia Newton-John), leader of the bad-boy T-Birds, Danny (John Travolta), and a rockin’ and rollin’ all-star cast. This 40th Anniversary event includes exclusive insight from Turner Classic Movies.

Please note that only United States residents are eligible to enter this giveaway contest. (see contest rules for further information)

BlogHub members ARE also eligible to win if they live within the Continental United States (as noted above).

You can follow Fathom Events on Twitter at @fathomevents

Good Luck!

–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Looking At the Stars: Celebrating Women’s History

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Aurora Bugallo

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
– Mae West

Welcome to March and a new series on Classic Movie Hub, “Looking At the Stars.” Every month we’ll be celebrating a star or two – or perhaps three – in short subject posts with a theme in common. Each entry will celebrate history, art or culture. Some notations will be serious and others whimsical. They will all take on a movie twist, of course, and (we hope) they will also be entertaining. For our inaugural entry we honor women’s history.

Following more than a century of women fighting for equal rights and fairness, the National Women’s History Project successfully petitioned Congress to officially name the month of March one during which the contributions of women across all facets of society and from all nations will be celebrated. (Women’s History Month).

Classic Movie Hub dedicates this entry to three actors who doubled as film pioneers by changing the course of motion pictures with hard work, perseverance and talent.

Pearl White (March 4, 1889 – August 4, 1938)

More than six decades before Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley saved the world from a terrifying alien, Pearl White’s Pauline was defying the forces of evil on a regular basis in Pathe’s popular serials. The first of the 20 chapters in The Perils of Pauline serial premiered on March 23, 1914, making its star a giant hit with audiences. Although Pauline was supposed to be a classic damsel in distress, she refused to give up and always became the hero in her stories. At any given moment Pauline would be hanging off a cliff, trying to evade being killed by a huge boulder, running from a burning house or fighting off all kinds of evil doers, usually in great numbers. She was a wonder. Pauline’s life was often in serious and immediate danger, yet she managed to survive at every turn by sheer grit and guts. The perilous situations Pauline escaped from make even Indiana Jones look like an amateur. It was Pearl White’s athleticism, bravery and star power that made this serial, and the subsequent ones she starred in, as entertaining as they still are today. Here’s to the one who was known as the “Peerless Fearless Girl.”

Pearl White c. 1915

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Mae West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980)

“Mae West controlled her own destiny. She created an archetype of a freewheeling sexually liberated women, in the 1920’s and 1930’s! She made her first film at 40, discovered Cary Grant along the way. She wrote on nine of the 13 films she acted in, yet she is not included when we talk about the pantheon of great auteur comedians? She should be included alongside Chaplin and Buster Keaton.” – Illeana Douglas

Mae West

Visit the Mae West Movie Quotes page.

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Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1895 – October 26, 1952)

“On a February afternoon in 1940, Hattie McDaniel — then one of the biggest African-American movie stars in the world — marched into the Culver City offices of producer David O. Selznick and placed a stack of Gone With the Wind reviews on his desk.” – The Hollywood Reporter

“Hattie McDaniel, as Mammy, comes closest with a bid for top position as a trouper. It is she who contributes the most moving scene in the film…” – Variety, December 19, 1939

“Best of all, perhaps, next to Miss Leigh, is Hattie McDaniel’s Mammy, who must be personally absolved of responsibility for that most “unfittin'” scene in which she scolds Scarlett from an upstairs window. She played even that one right, however wrong it was.” – The New York Times, December 20, 1939

David O. Selznick submitted Hattie McDaniel’s name for Academy Award consideration and she became the first African-American actor to win the Academy Award because everyone agreed that her portrayal of Mammy in Gone With the Wind is the film’s heart. McDaniel accepted her Oscar statuette on February 29, 1940 at the ceremony held at the Coconut Grave in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, an establishment she was not allowed to enter because of her skin color.

Hattie McDaniel accepting her Academy Award on February 29, 1940

Visit the Hattie McDaniel Movie Quotes page.

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More Women’s Film-related topics…

“Actresses” database

Movies about Career Women or Nurses and Secretaries

Femme Fatales and Outlaws

Strong Women in Forbidden Hollywood

Women in the Home

As Wives and Mothers and Daughters and Sisters

Socialites

Until next month,

–Aurora Bugallo for Classic Movie Hub

Aurora Bugallo is a classic film-obsessed blogger, and co-founder and co-host of the Classic Movies and More Youtube show. You can read more of Aurora’s articles at Once Upon a Screen, or you can follow her on Twitter at @CitizenScreen.

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Silents Are Golden: A Look At Six (Very) Early Film Directors

Posted on February 19, 2018 by Lea Stans

A Look At Six (Very) Early Film Directors

You’ve likely all heard about Thomas Edison’s irreplaceable contributions to the development of cinema — particularly as a business — and are probably familiar with the iconic work of Georges “A Trip to the Moon” Méliès. The Lumière brothers probably ring a bell, too. But who were some other important early directors, who perhaps fly a little under the radar for most non-silent-film-fanatic folks?

6.  Siegmund Lubin

Siegmund Lubin

 One of the earliest directors and producers, Lubin was a native of Germany who moved to the U.S. in the 1870s. Having a background in optometry (he patented two types of spectacles), he was quickly drawn to the novelty of motion picture cameras and projectors. After spending some time as a distributor of Edison films he started his own film company, filming “actualities” (brief documentaries) and brazenly re-making films by fellow directors — he even re-made The Great Train Robbery... (This kind of copying wasn’t uncommon in the early days of cinema.) Not just content with re-makes, he also pirated some films. (Also not uncommon in the early days of cinema.) While not battling lawsuits from rival film studios, he churned out dozens of dramas and comedies and attempted to have his company be its own distributor, exhibitor, and manufacturer of its products. In 1916, at age 65, the headstrong Lubin decided to retire from film production, and would pass away a few years later.

5. Shibata Tsunekichi

Shibata Tsunekichi Image credit: Who’s Who of Victorian Cinema

One of the very first filmmakers in Japan, Shibata worked for the photography shop Konishi Camera, which had been on the scene since 1873 (a prominent Tokyo pharmacist had started selling photography equipment in his store). When the shop imported Japan’s first motion picture camera, famed benshi and producer of sorts Komada Koyo instructed Shibata to start making films, hoping to incorporate them into stage performances (a benshi was a type of lecturer who delivered running commentary for plays). Shibata obliged by first filming traditional geisha dances at a Kabuki theater in 1899, and then making Inazuma goto Hobaku no Ba (The Lightning Robber is Arrested), which was a hit. He would then film a number of Kabuki plays, featuring some of Japan’s most renowned actors. His last film credits are from 1904, and he apparently passed away in 1929.

4. Segundo de Chomón

Segundo de Chomon

The well-mustachioed De Chomón was born in Spain on October 17, 1871. He would marry Julienne Mathieu, an actress at the early film studio Pathé Frères. She was soon encouraging her husband to join Pathé, so he began working there as an agent and then a director. After filming documentaries, in 1903 he made Gulliver en el país de los gigantes (Gulliver in the Land of Giants) and discovered his new specialty: trick films. He was soon so talented at creating special effects that Pathé himself decided he should concentrate on competing with the work of the famed Georges Méliès. De Chomón happily obliged, and as a result his intricate, surreal fairytale-style films are often mistaken for work of Méliès today. He would eventually focus less on directing and more on cinematography, helping create effects for classics like Napoléon (1927). He passed away from a heart attack in 1929.

3. Alice Guy-Blaché

Alice Guy Blache Guy-Blaché was born in Paris in 1873. Her father would pass away in 1891, and she became a stenographer in order to help her widowed mother. She soon became a secretary to Léon Gaumont, who at the time owned a company that sold camera equipment. Guy and Gaumont would attend one of the famous Lumière film showings in 1895, and inspired by this, Gaumont decided to start producing films. Guy-Blaché became one of his first film directors–which made her the world’s first female director. Her lengthy filmography began with La Fée aux Choux (The Cabbage Fairy), which some consider the world’s earliest fiction film. She soon rose to becoming head of production at Gaumont, and after marrying Herbert Blaché in 1907, the two formed their own company, Solax. In 1919, after making literally hundreds of films (including many early sound films), Guy retired from directing. She drifted into obscurity, passing away quietly in 1968, but her pioneering work is gaining interest again today.

2. Edwin S. Porter

 

You likely know Porter as the man responsible for familiar film milestones like The Great Train Robbery (1903) and Life of an American Fireman (1903). Born in 1870, he was raised in Pennsylvania along with his six siblings and grew up to work a number of odd jobs, eventually settling on working with electrical devices. By 1899 he was a mechanic at the Edison Manufacturing Company and was soon involved in its film production. Working his way up to being a director, he was put in charge of Edison’s New York studio and his work became very popular with the public. He was a pro at both editing and dissolve techniques. After 1909 he left Edison and jumped from film studio to film studio until retiring in 1925. A quiet, humble individual, he would focus on his private film equipment inventions until passing away in 1941.

1. William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson

William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson

Otherwise known as William K-L. Dickson, you may know him as the young man holding a hat in the super early short Dickson Greeting (1890). Born in France in 1860, at age 19 he wrote to Thomas Edison asking for a job. While he was turned down, he and his family immigrated to the U.S. later that year and by 1883 he finally managed to be hired to work in Edison’s laboratory. He quickly proved himself, becoming one of the head assistants. Around 1888 he began experimenting with film, which fascinated him, and eventually designed both the earliest “kinetoscope” and the Black Maria — the world’s first film studio. Dickson is credited not only with  patenting a practical type of cellulose film and the emulsion needed for it, but deciding that film needed to be 35mm, making him possibly the most important figure in the history of cinema’s development. He founded the American Mutoscope Company in 1895 and left Edison that same year. While he kept working as an engineer and director of documentaries, he became an obscure figure and spent his remaining years in England, passing away in 1935.

These hardworking directors, from all different backgrounds and from all over the world, are just a sampling of the important contributors to the art form that inspires and influences us today. They may not be household names (unless you’re a film historian), but the results of their long-ago experiments can still be seen every time you switch on your TV screen.

–Lea Stans for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Lea’s Silents are Golden articles here.

Lea Stans is a born-and-raised Minnesotan with a degree in English and an obsessive interest in the silent film era (which she largely blames on Buster Keaton). In addition to blogging about her passion at her site Silent-ology, she is a columnist for the Silent Film Quarterly and has also written for The Keaton Chronicle.

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The Covered Wagon (1923) Silent Classic DVD/Blu-Ray Giveaway (now through March 24)

Posted on February 18, 2018 by Annmarie Gatti

The Covered Wagon DVD/Blu-Ray Giveaway

It’s time for our next giveaway, courtesy of Kino Lorber. This time, we’ll be giving away FIVE copies of the 1923 silent classic The Covered Wagon, starring J. Warren Kerrigan, Lois Wilson and Alan Hale… This is the first time ever that this film has been available on either DVD or Blu-Ray.

In order to qualify to win one of these DVDs or Blu-Rays via this contest giveaway, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, March 24 at 10PM EST. However, the sooner you enter, the better chance you have of winning, because we will pick a winner on five different days within the contest period, via random drawings, as listed below… So if you don’t win the first week that you enter, you will still be eligible to win during the following weeks until the contest is over.

  • Feb 24: One Winner
  • Mar 3: One Winner
  • Mar 10: One Winner
  • Mar 17: One Winner
  • Mar 24: One Winner

We will announce each week’s winner on Twitter @ClassicMovieHub (or this blog, depending how you entered), the day after each winner is picked at 10PM EST — for example, we will announce our first week’s winners on Sunday Feb 25 at 10PM EST.

the covered wagon 1923 silent classic

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ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday, March 24 at 10PM EST— BUT remember, the sooner you enter, the more chances you have to win…

1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post

2) Then TWEET (not DM) the following message:
Just entered to win “The Covered Wagon” 1923 silent film classic #Giveaway courtesy of @KinoLorber and @ClassicMovieHub contest link: http://ow.ly/RS8230itxKn

THE QUESTION:
Why do you want to win this DVD/Blu-ray? 

*If you do not have a Twitter account, you can still enter the contest by simply answering the above question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog — BUT PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU ADD THIS VERBIAGE TO YOUR ANSWER: I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.

ALSO: Please allow us 48 hours to approve your comments. Sorry about that, but we are being overwhelmed with spam, and must sort through 100s of comments…

…..

the covered wagon poster

About The Film: The first Western epic! A great caravan of covered wagons, filled with hearty pioneers and their families and possessions, are waiting for the Spring “jump off” at Westport Landing, now Kansas City. The time is 1848, and the destination is far-off Oregon, in The Covered Wagon (1923), the first big-budget Western epic. Where countless pilgrims fell, a love triangle flourishes, as Molly Wingate (Lois Wilson) must choose between the brutish Sam (Alan Hale) and the dashing Will (J. Warren Kerrigan). Complicating her decision are the perils of the trail: a mile-wide river, prairie fire, heavy snowfall, a buffalo stampede, crippling hunger, and Native American attacks. Boasting a cast of thousands and an unparalleled commitment to authenticity, The Covered Wagon was an enormous box-office success in 1923 and became one of the major milestones in the history of the Western.

You can visit Kino Lorber on their website, on Twitter at @KinoLorber or on Facebook.

Please note that only residents of the Continental United States (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and the territory of Puerto Rico) entrants are eligible to win.

For complete rules, click here.

And if you can’t wait to win, you can click on the image below to purchase on amazon :)

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Good Luck!

–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Noir Nook: Four Noir Fellas: Show Biz Beginnings

Posted on February 13, 2018 by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Four Noir Fellas: Show Biz Beginnings

Last month’s Noir Nook focused on the opening scenes from some of my favorite noir features. In a further nod to the start of the new year, this month I’m taking a look at four of my favorite noir fellas, and how they got their starts on the silver screen.

Richard Conte

richard Conte with Marilyn Maxwell in New York ConfidentialRichard Conte with Marilyn Maxwell in New York Confidential, 1955

Born Nicholas Peter Conte  in Jersey City, New Jersey, this future noir star was the son of a neighborhood barber who insisted that his son take lessons in piano and art. Although he organized and performed in a jazz band during high school, Conte was a mediocre, unfocused student, and after graduation, he took on a variety of jobs, quitting when he got bored or getting fired for failing to fulfill his duties. (He was once dismissed as a floor walker at a department store for “permitting women to wear more clothes out of the store than they had when they entered,” he recalled.) His life took on a notable focus in 1935, when he landed a job as a waiter at the Pinebrook Country Club in Connecticut, where he was required to entertain the guests in addition to waiting tables. Conte’s performance in a play at the country club was spotted by a member of The Group Theatre, who suggested he pursue an acting career and later arranged a scholarship for him at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. Conte remained at the Playhouse for two years; he debuted on Broadway in 1939 in My Heart’s in the Highlands, the first play penned by William Saroyan, then landed the title role in the road company of Golden Boy. After this production, Conte decided to give Hollywood a try, and was quickly signed by 20th Century-Fox, earning fourth billing in his first film, a western called Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence (1939).

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Dan Duryea

Dan Duryea with Yvonne DeCarlo in Criss CrossDan Duryea with Yvonne DeCarlo in Criss Cross, 1949

Born in White Plans, New York, Dan Duryea first showed a fondness for acting as a member of his high school’s drama club and, later, at Cornell University, where he succeeded future star Franchot Tone as president of the Dramatic Club. By the time he graduated, though, Duryea had decided to pursue an advertising career, and he landed a job selling ad space in small daily and weekly newspapers. After several years in this field, Duryea suffered a mild heart attack during a basketball game, and was encouraged by his doctors to choose a less stressful job. He turned to his former love for acting, finding small roles in summer stock and making his Broadway debut in 1935 in Dead End (written by a former Cornell classmate, Sidney Kingsley). For 85 weeks, Duryea played small parts in the production, but toward the end of the play’s run, he was given the lead role. This led to a string of additional roles, and a few years later, he was hired for the part of Leo Hubbard in the Broadway production of The Little Foxes, starring Tallulah Bankhead. When producer Sam Goldwyn bought the rights to the film, he hired Duryea to reprise his role and he made his big-screen debut in the feature in 1941.

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Robert Ryan

Robert Ryan with Ida Lupino in On Dangerous GroundRobert Ryan with Ida Lupino in On Dangerous Ground, 1952

Ryan was born in Chicago, the first child of a well-to-do building contractor. While a student at Dartmouth College, Ryan was editor of the school newspaper, participated in track and football, and became the first freshman to win the college’s heavyweight boxing championship. After graduating with a degree in English, Ryan toiled at a number of jobs, including digging sewer tunnels, working in the engine room on an ocean liner, and serving as paving supervisor for the Works Progress Administration. (“I just didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Ryan later recalled. “If times had been different, people would have called me a bum.”) Finally, in 1936, Ryan joined an amateur theater group in Chicago, and two years later, he moved to Los Angeles to join the Max Reinhardt Workshop. After making his professional stage debut in Too Many Husbands at the Belasco Theatre, he was spotted by a Paramount talent scout and signed to a contract. In his first film, Golden Gloves (1940), he was able to put his boxing skills to good use, playing a bit part as a boxer.

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Richard Widmark

Richard Widmark with Victor Mature in Kiss of DeathRichard Widmark with Victor Mature in Kiss of Death, 1947

A native of Sunrise, Minnesota, Richard Widmark once claimed to have been a “movie nut” since the age of three, and while he wasn’t necessarily interested in acting, he discovered early on that he had an affinity for public speaking. With plans to utilize this ability as a lawyer, Widmark enrolled at Lake Forest (Illinois) College as a pre-law student, but while there, he was encouraged by the school’s drama coach to pursue an acting career. After his graduation, he remained at the school for two years, teaching speech and drama, then headed for New York, where a former classmate gave him a job on the radio series, Aunt Jenny’s Real Life Stories. He appeared in countless radio programs during the next several years, sometimes as many as eight a day, from morning until midnight. Rejected for service in the U.S. Army due to a perforated eardrum, Widmark entertained servicemen during the war years as part of the American Theatre Wing, and he made his Broadway debut in 1943, in Kiss and Tell, playing a young Army Air Corps lieutenant. He went on to appear in several other theater productions, and got his big-screen break when Hollywood director Henry Hathaway visited New York to cast the role of a vicious hoodlum in his upcoming film, Kiss of Death (1947). Although Hathaway didn’t want Widmark (“I have a high forehead – he said I looked too intellectual,” Widmark said.), he was overruled by studio head Darryl Zanuck, and Widmark debuted in the film, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Who are some of your favorite noir performers? Let me know and I’ll spotlight their show biz beginnings in a future Noir Nook!

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– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Karen’s Noir Nook articles here.

Karen Burroughs Hannsberry is the author of the Shadows and Satin blog, which focuses on movies and performers from the film noir and pre-Code eras, and the editor-in-chief of The Dark Pages, a bimonthly newsletter devoted to all things film noir. Karen is also the author of two books on film noir – Femme Noir: The Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. You can follow Karen on Twitter at @TheDarkPages.
If you’re interested in learning more about Karen’s books, you can read more about them on amazon here:

 

 

Posted in Noir Nook, Posts by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Win Tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Vertigo” (60th Anniversary) (Giveaway runs through March 3)

Posted on February 13, 2018 by Annmarie Gatti

Win tickets to see “Vertigo” on the big screen!
In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun Mar 18 and Wed Mar 21!

“You shouldn’t keep souvenirs of a killing. You shouldn’t have been that sentimental.”

CMH continues into our 3rd year of our partnership with Fathom Events – with the 3rd of our 13 movie ticket giveaways for 2018, courtesy of Fathom Events!

That said, we’ll be giving away EIGHT PAIRS of tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Vertigo” – the Hitchcock masterpiece starring James Stewart and Kim Novak — the way it was meant to be seen — on the Big Screen!

In order to qualify to win a pair of movie tickets via this contest, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, March 3rd at 6 PM EST.

We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter on Sunday, March 4, between 6PM EST and 7PM EST. If a winner(s) does not have a Twitter account, we will announce that winner(s) via this blog in the comment section below.

TCM Big Screen Classics VERTIGO

The film will be playing in select cinemas nationwide for a special two-day-only event on Sunday, March 18 and Wednesday, March 21 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time. Winners will be responsible for their own transportation to the Event. Only United States entries are eligible. Please click here before you enter to ensure that the Event is scheduled at a theater near you and that you are able to attend. (please note that there might be slightly different theater listings for each date)

ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday, March 3rd at 6PM EST…

1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post

THE QUESTION:
What is it about “Vertigo” that makes it a classic? And, if you haven’t seen it, why do you want to see it on the Big Screen?

2) Then TWEET* (not DM) the following message:
I just entered to win tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics Presents: Vertigo” on the Big Screen courtesy of @ClassicMovieHub & @FathomEvents #EnterToWin #CMHContest link here: http://ow.ly/S4sy30inBUY

*If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can still enter the contest by simply answering the above question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog — BUT PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU ADD THIS VERBIAGE TO YOUR ANSWER: I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.

NOTE: if for any reason you encounter a problem commenting here on this blog, please feel free to tweet or DM us, or send an email to clas…@gmail.com and we will be happy to create the entry for you.

ALSO: Please allow us 48 hours to approve your comments. Sorry about that, but we are being overwhelmed with spam, and must sort through 100s of comments…

James Stewart and Kim Novak in Alfred Hitchcock's VertigoJames Stewart and Kim Novak in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo

About the film: Considered one of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest cinematic achievements, Vertigo is a dreamlike thriller from the Master of Suspense. Set in San Francisco, the film creates a dizzying web of mistaken identity, passion and murder after an acrophobic detective (James Stewart) rescues a mysterious blonde (Kim Novak) from the bay and must unravel the secrets of the past to find the key to his future. This 60th Anniversary event includes exclusive insight from TCM host Eddie Muller.

Please note that only United States residents are eligible to enter this giveaway contest. (see contest rules for further information)

BlogHub members ARE also eligible to win if they live within the Continental United States (as noted above).

You can follow Fathom Events on Twitter at @fathomevents

Good Luck!

–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

Posted in Contests & Giveaways, Fathom Events | Tagged , , , , , , , | 38 Comments

Classic Movie Travels: Jobyna Ralston and South Pittsburg

Posted on February 11, 2018 by Annette Bochenek

 

Jobyna Ralston and South Pittsburg

Jobyna RalstonJobyna Ralston

While fans of silent film may easily recall comedian Harold Lloyd  working with many terrific actors, one of my favorite co-stars of his is Jobyna Ralston. Jobyna easily projects an image of innocence, comfort, and sweetness against whatever chaos befalls Lloyd in their films. However, Jobyna worked with many more actors, both comedic and dramatic, throughout her film career.

Jobyna (pronounced “Jo-bean-a”) “Joby” Lancaster Raulston was born on November 21st, 1899, in the mountain town of South Pittsburg, Tennessee. Her stage-struck parents were Joe Lancaster Raulston and Sara E. Kemp Brady Raulston, and they named their daughter Jobyna after actress Jobyna Howland. The Raulstons also welcomed a son, Edward Angus, into the family on April 14th, 1905. The family lived in a red frame house on the main street in town, surrounded by many bustling businesses. The Raulston home also featured beautiful white rose bushes.

Jobyna’s mother was South Pittsburg’s only photographer and enjoyed posing her daughter before the camera. She enjoyed making dresses for Jobyna and using a finger to curl Jobyna’s tresses about her face. Intrigued by the motion picture industry, Mrs. Kemp-Raulston devoured movie magazines and kept up-to-date about the latest directors and producers. Moreover, she taught her daughter how to pose before the camera to instill confidence and poise in her and to eliminate any sense of self-consciousness. At age nine, Jobyna carried out her first stage performance in Cinderella at the Wilson Theater and Opera House in South Pittsburg.

When Jobyna turned sixteen, she began dating John Campbell, who had a farm several miles away from South Pittsburg. Though the Campbells and Raulstons were amiable with one another, they did not approve of the match. Nevertheless, the couple married but divorced shortly thereafter.

Jobyna Ralston YoungA young Jobyna

In response, Jobyna decided to leave South Pittsburg and take acting classes in New York, where she appeared in Ned Wayburn’s company of performers. In 1919, she made her film debut in a short called Starting Out in Life, though she was incorrectly billed as Juliana Ralston. Her next film appearance was in a short called The Sultan of Djazz (1919), which credited her as Jobyna Ralston.

After working on a series of shorts, Jobyna appeared as the heroine in a now-lost production of a Marx Brothers short called Humor Risk (1921). Additionally, she was also featured in a 1921 Vincent Youmans Broadway show called Two Little Girls in Blue. Jobyna continued a career in comedy, mostly working for Hal Roach Studios, when she was recognized as a Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers (WAMPAS) Baby Star in 1923.

When Harold Lloyd was looking to replace his frequent co-star, Mildred Davis, whom he was planning to marry, Jobyna Ralston was hired on as an ideal counterpart to his characters. The pair worked in six films together, including Why Worry? (1923), Girl Shy (1924), Hot Water (1924), The Freshman (1925), For Heaven’s Sake (1926), and The Kid Brother (1927). They can also be spotted in a cameo appearance during the Our Gang short, Dogs of War (1923), as Why Worry? was being filmed alongside the short.

Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston in The FreshmanHarold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston, The Freshman, 1925

In the midst making films with Lloyd, Jobyna’s mother fell gravely ill and passed away in 1925. Jobyna had shared a California bungalow with her father, mother, and brother, and was inconsolable over the loss. She traveled home to South Pittsburg to clear out the house and spent time in front of the rosebushes, while also packaging the dozens of photographic plates her mother had produced over the years.

While Jobyna also worked with another comedian, Eddie Cantor, in Special Delivery (1927), she also took on a more dramatic role in the film Wings (1927). Wings was the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, also starring Clara Bow, Charles “Buddy” Rogers, and Richard Arlen. Jobyna and Richard Arlen met on the set of Wings and married later that year. Their marriage produced a son, Richard Arlen, Jr., who was born in 1933.

Later, Jobyna worked in sound films, which included The College Coquette (1929), a Rin Tin Tin film called Rough Waters (1930), and Sheer Luck (1931). Around this time, Jobyna was also in a Los Angeles play called Bad Babies (1930). The entire cast was arrested by authorities due to “lewd and indecent exhibition.” All of the cast members opted to pay the $300 fine as opposed to spending 30 days in jail. Jobyna retired from acting in 1931. She and Richard Arlen separated in 1938 and divorced in 1945.

Jobyna Ralston and Richard ArlenJobyna Ralston and Richard Arlen

The last five years of Jobyna’s life left her suffering from rheumatism and several strokes. She died on January 22nd, 1967, from pneumonia at the Motion Picture Country Home in Los Angeles.

Today, South Pittsburg does possess a tribute to its famous daughter. On November 21st, 2004, which would have been Jobyna’s 105th birthday, the town dedicated a marker to her. The marker was paid through private donations and a group of roughly forty-seven people attended on the rainy day of the dedication, which included the county mayor, town mayor, road commissioner, city commissioner, and representatives from the South Pittsburg Historic Preservation Society. South Pittsburg Mayor Bob Sherrill read a proclamation during the event, which officially declared the day as Jobyna Lancaster Ralston-Arlen Day. Richard Arlen, Jr., was unable to attend, due to health issues. Upon the dedication of the Tennessee Historic Commission marker, guests enjoyed a screening of Hot Water (1924).

Jobyna Ralston Birthplace Marker in South PittsburgJobyna Ralston Birthplace Marker in South Pittsburgh

The Jobyna Lancaster Ralston-Arlen Birthplace marker stands in front of an apartment building at 324 S. Cedar Avenue. If you are ever in the South Pittsburg area, consider taking a moment to remember Jobyna where her childhood home once stood.

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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.

Annette Bochenek of Chicago, Illinois, is a PhD student at Dominican University and an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the Hometowns to Hollywood blog, in which she writes about her trips exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the “Hometowns to Hollywood” film series throughout the Chicago area. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and is the president of TCM Backlot’s Chicago chapter. In addition to writing for Classic Movie Hub, she also writes for Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, and Chicago Art Deco SocietyMagazine.

 

Posted in Classic Movie Travels, Posts by Annette Bochenek | Tagged | 9 Comments