Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

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Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by moira finnie »

Here's the spot where we can ask Mary Mallory our questions about her fields of expertise in Hollywood history on Sat. Oct. 26th & Sun. Oct. 27th. We'll open this thread and begin the Q & A on Saturday morning!

As Lynn described her friend, Mary's interests are particularly pertinent for those who love classic film:
Mary is a film historian, photograph archivist, and researcher, focusing on Los Angeles and early film history.

She writes theatre reviews for "The Tolucan Times" and blogs for the "LA Daily Mirror." Mallory serves on Hollywood Heritage, Inc.'s Board of Directors, and acts as a docent for the Hollywood Heritage Museum. As a member of the Studio City Neighborhood Council, she produced the event, "Mack Sennett and the Birth of Studio City," and helped produce the 75th Anniversary Celebration of Republic Pictures.

Through her work with Hollywood Heritage, she works to preserve not only the history but the buildings and signage connected with Tinseltown such as Grauman’s Chinese theater, the Cinerama Dome and the El Capitan.

She has an in-knowledge of Los Angeles history with an emphasis on the early history of Hollywood as well as the famous DeMille/Lasky Barn from DeMille’s production of The Squaw Man, the first film to be shot in Hollywood and Hollywood Heritage’s long struggle to preserve the barn that is now a museum and headquarters for Hollywood Heritage.

Her books on early Hollywood history include:

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Hollywoodland (http://tinyurl.com/kjcqh24)

Hollywoodland was one of the first hillside developments built in Hollywood. Touting its class and sophistication, the neighborhood promoted a European influence, featuring such unique elements as stone retaining walls and stairways, along with elegant Spanish, Mediterranean, French Normandy, and English Tudor-styled homes thoughtfully placed onto the hillsides. The community contains one of the world's most recognizable landmarks, the Hollywood sign, originally constructed as a giant billboard for the development and reading "Hollywoodland." The book illustrates the development of the upper section of Beachwood Canyon known as Hollywoodland with historical photographs from Hollywood Heritage's S. H. Woodruff Collection as well as from other archives, institutions, and individuals.

Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found (E-book edition) (http://tinyurl.com/k6qmcyd)

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On Mt. Lee, in Hollywood’s storied hills, sits one of the world's most recognizable landmarks, the Hollywood sign, originally constructed as a giant billboard for a housing development. The sign originally read “Hollywoodland” and--minus the last four letters--is an indelible image representing Hollywood and the film industry to the world. This book is a collection of historical essays on Hollywood’s Tales Lost and Found, documenting the forgotten personalities, events, art, architecture, music, and films of the early twentieth century.

Los Angeles Daily Mirror: (http://ladailymirror.com/category/mary-mallory/)

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Mary is regular contributor to this site dedicated to the stories and history of Los Angeles and Hollywood.

So, I hope you will join us for the Q&A with Mary this weekend.
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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by Lzcutter »

Good morning, Mary and thank you so much for joining us this weekend!

I have a couple of questions to kick this off with:

1) How did you get interested in film history, especially early early Hollywood history and what is the most surprising story you have come across?

2) How did you get interested in Hollywood Heritage and can you tell us a bit about their history and what they do?

3) Did Francis X. Bushman really have the first swimming pool in Los Angeles at his home in Whitley Heights?

Thanks so much!
Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by moira finnie »

Thanks for joining us this weekend, Mary.

As someone who has only viewed life in Los Angeles from afar in the movies and other media, could you please explain why there has recently been such a flurry of recent news activity describing the hordes of visitors descending on the area around the Hollywood sign in LA? Why do more people seem to be visiting that spot now?

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Also, I have always been fascinated by the landmark Angels Flight funicular railway in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. Of course, I only know it from the atmospheric "cameo appearances" this picturesque mode of transport has made in dozens of movies (mostly noirs), such as The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Criss Cross, Act of Violence (seen above), The Unfaithful, and The Turning Point. Was this really a vital link in the city like the trolley system once was for many citizens?

Thanks in advance for any insights and welcome!
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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

We are so happy you are here, Mary! Thanks for joining us! :lol:

I loved the old piano at The Hollywood Heritage Museum when I visited it in 2010 with Lynn. Can you tell us a little about how it was acquired for the museum? And have any more costumes been added?

What do you consider some of the most historic acquisitions of the Hollywood Heritage Museum?

Thank you!
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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by MaryoftheMovies »

Thank you all for inviting me to your great site! It's so informative and full of great information.

Let me start with LzCutter's questions.

I became interested in classic films thanks to my dad, who had us watch classic films that the Dallas PBS station showed on Saturday night when I was a kid, films like THE RED SHOES, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. This got me interested in reading and watching old films, and I saw silent clips at Shakey's Pizza too. I would watch classic films whenever PBS showed them, and when I was in high school, the ABC station started showing them after the 10:30 PM news. I'd stay up and see them virtually every night. When I went to college at University of Texas at Austin in the early 1980s, they had a great classic film program, with five auditoriums showing classic and foreign films every night. I joined the Texas Union Film Committee to help program them, and also because we could watch the films for free. I saw about 5-7 films a week, and even saw 2-4 a week when I was in graduate school, besides the ones we saw in classes.

During my freshman year at college, the Texas Union Film Committee sponsored a mini silent film festival with films like BROKEN BLOSSOMS and WAY DOWN EAST. They completely captivated and hooked me. I started devouring books and watching whatever silents I could see. My graduate school featured a class on film from 1895-1929, so I read much early stuff and saw so much as well. I learned about the Pordenone Silent Film Festival (Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Italian) from a professor here. I've sent attended twice. I loved the very early films because so many very doing it for love, not money. These films tell so much about the culture, fashion, architecture of the time, such a great window into the past. They're so full of passion and joy, instead of much of today's soulless, pure money blockbusters. These early films are pure emotion and feeling, once again so different from today's films, which tend to make fun of that. Of course, everything is living history, but I find these to that so much more than today's films. I go to wherever I can to see early, early silents: Niles Essanay Silent Film Festival, Cinecon, UCLA, Pordenone, wherever, and of course, DVD.

I got into Hollywood Heritage after I began attending programs and visiting the museum in the late 1990s-early 2000s. I had worked as a volunteer processing collections at the Pasadena Museum of History when I lived there, but once I moved closer to HH, I began working as a docent for the museum. Gradually, I became more active in what they do. Hollywood Heritage is a nonprofit, historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving the historic built environment and educating the public about Hollywood's early film industry and its pioneers. Hollywood Heritage has helped preserve Hollywood Boulevard, which is now a National Historic Register Landmark, Cinerama Dome, El Capitan Theatre, and Grauman's Chinese. We also fight to preserve homes, bungalow courts, and representative samples of different styles of architecture and businesses. We present programs and exhibits to inform the public about early Hollywood and its film history. In December, our program will focus on the Centennial of the 1914 film, "The Squaw Man," which started filming December 29, 1913, outside our structure. In fact, the Lasky-DeMille Barn is the West Coast birthplace of what is now Paramount Pictures.

Unfortunately, Francis X. Bushman did not have the first pool in LA at his home in Whitley Heights. I wrote an article for "The Silent Treatment" newsletter this summer, and discovered that a few rich people in the Hancock Park/Los Feliz area actually built the first pools here. Later, people like Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Mae Murray, and others followed suit.
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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by MaryoftheMovies »

Moira,
Thanks for having me and resolving my issues! Angel's Flight was a vita transportation link for people who lived on Bunker Hill. There were sidewalks on either side of the little cars, but they were steep, and difficult to climb carrying packages, with children, or in inclement weather. Most people didn't have cars, but instead relied on the vast system of the Pacific Electric Railway and other streetcars to travel around Southern California. Most neighborhoods contained staircases to take residents directly from their streets down to streetcar stops or other streets, rather than having to walk long ways around their neighborhoods.
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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by MaryoftheMovies »

Sue Sue/Christy,
Thanks for visiting the Hollywood Heritage Museum! Please send your family and friends our way! We're open Wednesday-Sunday, 12-4 PM, except on holidays or around special events. Our museum salutes early Paramount, early Hollywood, and early silent film. We don't have too many costume pieces, since we have a small amount of storage space. We do have a costume from "Samson and Delilah" I believe on exhibit, and have acquired a few more since your visit. Some of our pieces go out to other exhibits around the world, since we have little space to exhibit them. In fact, the model of our Barn traveled to Vienna, Austria last year for an exhibit on the early Jewish film moguls at their Jewish Museum. I will have to get further information on the piano for you. Some of our more important acquisitions are documents and photographs, since we have so little space. Of course, things like the original lease signed by Cecil B. DeMille in December 1913, leasing the little barn to make "The Squaw Man" is one of our more important acquisitions, especially from an emotional standpoint. The granddaughter of stills photographer James Woodbury gave us some stills that he shot on D. W. Griffith films.
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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by moira finnie »

Thanks for your patience, Mary.

Bunker Hill seems to have been an interesting neighborhood architecturally and socially. Was it largely composed of working class housing? What vestiges of the area remain?
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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by MaryoftheMovies »

Moira,
Bunker Hill was originally a beautiful neighborhood filled with lovely homes, since it was immediately adjacent to downtown. Over time, wealthy began moving further and further away, and the neighborhood slowly sank into genteel poverty. By the 1940s-1950s, businessmen began slowly tearing down the neighborhood, until it was virtually destroyed. The homes are long gone, and one little park is being shut down. Angel's Flight still exists, but has been moved a few blocks from its original location. It is having some technical issues right now.
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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by movieman1957 »

Hi Mary. So glad you are here.

With Moira's question, does the local government play any part in helping with location or site preservation?

(I'm reminded how a Laurel & Hardy website has photos of locations for some of their films because they are such a big part of them.)

Was their use a case of 'They're here, might as well use them" or more a lack of studio space?
Chris

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Post by MaryoftheMovies »

Movieman,
Yes, the city is involved somewhat in preserving sites. Sometimes they realize the historic value of a site, and help get it recognized and repaired. I was in the Pico area of LA near MacArthur Park about a month ago, and the city was restoring two Victorians on Alvarado to turn into city offices. This is a win, and businesses can do it too, because homes and businesses restored to their original look can receive tax benefits, and an increase in property values. Sometimes the city is involved because they own historic locations, like parks, old libraries, government buildings, museums, etc. Residents can go to their cities' planning and land use commissions and request historic-cultural monument status for locations and structures, which help somewhat in preventing demolitions and help get them on watchlists of various historic preservation organizations.

The very earliest filmmakers would be brother/sisters of today's guerrilla filmmakers, traveling around town stealing shots. Some studio backlots could stand in for certain shots, but actual sites like lakes, towers, homes, etc. might be required for shots, or if nothing else, make them look more realistic. The city really had no idea how prevalent filming was and required no permitting. I think by the 1920s the city was starting to realize the headaches filming could cause because of closed streets, gawkers, etc., possibility of accidents. Once they realized they could make money requiring permits, which also would benefit safety issues, they began requiring permits.
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Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Mary, I am so tickled to learn of your Texas connections as I currently live in Houston. I wish I had been able to study at UT and focus on film and literature there, but alas and alack, I went to Stephen F. Austin and became a Spanish teacher, then eventually earned by MA in English at SFASU.

It sounds like that was a wonderful time to study film at UT. Any more comments? What do you think of the Texas Film Commission? And have you had any specific dealings with them?

Could you share with us some more of the films that held your interest and helped to fascinate you?

Thanks for joining us here!
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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

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Mary, In reading the Hollywood Heritage newsletter, I noticed that you currently have an exhibit there related to F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby.

1.) Some years ago, I saw a sequence devoted to Fitzgerald's final years in LA and they showed the apartment where he was living at the time of his death. I believe it was a bungalow style place. Do you happen to know if that spot and if many other bungalow-style apartments still exist?

2.) Also, your article on Charlie Chaplin's construction of his own studio, I wondered if this is one of the few spots in LA that has always been devoted to its original purpose. Was this complex of Tudor-style buildings ever threatened with destruction as the city grew?

Thanks!
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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by MaryoftheMovies »

Sue/Christy,
Studying film at UT in the late 1980s was great. There was a bustling film education/screening program on campus, with the five screens. Movies that tied in with all types of classes, be they film, dance, literature, foreign languages, art, etc., played. There was an opportunity to see a little of everything, without the focus on the purely commercial. We ran a student film festival too, judged by newspaper critics from around the state. It was an eye-opening experience. I helped create a bi-weekly newsletter for the main film theatre, which featured reviews, trivia, and puzzles. Stars came to visit on campus. I went to a talk by Burt Lancaster, and rode down on the elevator with him. I was also an editor of "The Velvet Light Trap," a scholarly journal on film, and helped edit a special issue on film distribution.

I worked as an assistant in the Photography-Theatre-Film Department of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. I processed collections like the Alfred Junge Collection (production designer for Powell/Pressburger), Saenger Theatres (theatre chain in Texas/Louisiana), Edward Carrick Collection (he was a British art director and son of theatrical designer Edward Gordon Craig), and the David O. Selznick Collection. I worked as a research assistant on the documentary, "Making of a Legend: Gone With the Wind," and was David Thomson's main research assistant for "Showman: The Life of David O. Selznick." From his referrals, I helped Matthew Bernstein, Barry Paris, Aljean Harmetz, and Steven Bach with research in the Selznick Collection. I wrote my master's thesis on Myron Selznick, DOS' famous older brother, who made talent agents the power players they are today. It has been referenced in "Showman" and Dennis McDougall's biography of Lew Wasserman.

I didn't really work with the Texas Film Commission, but like all states' film commissions, they seek out film productions to shoot in the state and help earn revenue. Many of the states undercut each other with their tax and other benefits, so I don't really know if filming is really a good moneymaker anymore.

Selznick films grabbed my attention because of my work, so I seek out anything from their silent days through David's greatest films. I love silents, classic films of the 1930s and 1940s, and film noir. I appeared in the TCM Film Noir Fanatic interstitial a few years ago. Several of us from Hollywood Heritage appeared in the final Cinerama short which filmed last year, "In the Picture," which was about two couples visiting historic sites around Los Angeles, including the Hollywood Heritage Museum. I love all types of movies, and recently attended part of the 3D Festival here in Los Angeles.
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Re: Welcome to Mary Mallory Our Guest Author on 10/25 & 10/26

Post by moira finnie »

Whoa, Mary! You worked on The Velvet Light Trap?? I used to go to the library just to read issues of that fascinating periodical (we weren't allowed to check it out). Do you still have copies?

Also, last week we had Kendra Bean, the author of a new Vivien Leigh bio, as our guest. Since you wrote about Myron Selznick and know reams about David, could you please shed some light on Leigh's relationship with both?

Did Myron Selznick change the status of contract players in the studio system? Was his personality similar to that of his brother?
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