WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[charliechaplinfan]

It shared much in common with Ecstasy which of course is the more famous because of the unclad Hedy, I too felt this film was the superior and way ahead if it's time and very enjoyable, it will be watched again.

I watched antoher silent, I'd forgotten just how much I enjoyed silents. This one The Three Lovers starring Marlene Dietrich and made before Von Sternberg got hold of Marlene and she still packs a punch in the visual department, disproving all the fact that Marlene needed her mentor to look good. She is a bit heavier here but she still looks fabulous and I can see why any man would abandon his new wife on a train to run after Marlene. The femme fatale, she was born to play it and here is one of her earlier roles. Curtis Bernhardt can get as much impact out of the Dietrich image here as any other director got, she absolutely dominates the film and the film is all about her and how she affects men around her. I love the clothes she has to wear too, no one wore clothes like Marlene, if I were a designer I think I'd like to have designed for her. Another visual and enjoyable silent.

[intothenitrate]

I watched Crime and Punishment (1935) the other day, the Peter Lorre vehicle with Marian Marsh in the female lead. There are a couple of points in the film where Von Sternberg photographs Marsh with the trademark Dietrich lighting, and I thought "Wow, she looked like Dietrich for a second there." Which is silly of course, because the two of them couldn't be more different. Still, it's a good example of how influential the lighting can be for creating some of those iconic images.

[Ann Harding]

What really stroke me about Die Frau, nach der man sich sehnt is how much the Dietrich lighting and costume looked like Garbo's. I remember a book where there was two pictures side by side of Garbo in The Kiss and Marlene in Die Frau. They looked like sisters.

[charliechaplinfan]

It's been a while since I saw The Kiss, I wonder which one was produced first, presumably The Kiss and the look and costumes were copied. Marlene does play a Garbo type role here, thinking of Garbo's early roles, particularly Felicitas in The Flesh and The Devil, Marlene is presented with the same kind of lighting, she has the same effect on the leading man, that he forgets everything else and just wants to be with her. I didn't need the subtitles to tell what was going on, it was very obvious from the faces of the actors.

[intothenitrate]

I have a Garbo documentary that describes her first days at MGM. Apparently, there were more than a few skeptics about Mayer's new "find" from his recent European tour. It wasn't until a certain cinematographer -- I don't recall his name -- put just the right lighting on her that they realized what a luminous beauty they had on their hands. Subsequently, Garbo insisted that this DP be assigned to her pictures whenever possible.

[Ann Harding]

It's William H. Daniels.

[charliechaplinfan]

I can't imagine that Marlene or Garbo could ever have looked anything but stunning on film but perhaps the could. Garbo's figure wasn't perfect, she was quite broad and flat chested and had big feet (that makes her sound awful but comparing her against other film stars it was true) yet she wore she most beautiful creations and made them look fabulous and apparently she liked none of the clothes she was given to wear.

[CineMaven]

I used to look up silent film stars, I was attracted by their photos in several books I had. So I read up on them, but have seen precious few of their movies. It's weird. I know OF the stars of the silent era, even some facts about them, but I haven't actually seen them in action. I know a lot of names too, but not necessarily their personalities. The women are easier than the men, somehow all the teens and twenties men look alike to me.

Hmmmm. Say, uhmmm...hey Wendy, who are they:

( 1. )

( 2. )

(3. )

( 4. )

( 5. )

( 6. )

( 7. )

( 8. )

( 9. )

( 10. )

[JackFavell]

Hmmmm. Say, uhmmm...hey Wendy, who are they:

( 1. )

Anita Page

( 2. )

Betty Compson (I think she's SOOOOO pretty)


(3. )

( 4. )

Nita Naldi

( 5. )

Olive Thomas

( 6. )

( 7. )

Nazimova

( 8. )

Edna Purviance

( 9. )

Norma Talmadge

( 10. ) [/quote]

Pola Negri


Give me a little time and I'll try to remember who#3 and #6 are.

[JackFavell]

Actually, I just realized that #3 is Barbara La Marr, but I cheated because it's written right on the pic. So give me another!

I thought 6 was Leatrice Joy, but now I don't think so. Let me keep guessing.

[JackFavell]

Is 6 Jetta Goudal? If not she's definitely of that slinky sophisticated type. Sometimes the shape of the lips is all I have to go on, and Jetta had very distinctive lips, like Lya de Putti.

[movieman1957]

I have to go PreCode school.

[intothenitrate]

My story is similar to yours, JF. I've seen the photos and heard the names, but have very little sense of (most of) these starlets as performers. I watched a you-tube copy of The Flapper with Olive Thomas and wished that we had more of her to enjoy.

Number six isn't Theda Bera, is it?

Sort of on the subject, I watched Blondie of the Follies last night, a Marion Davies vehicle, and was pretty fascinated by Billie Dove who plays Marion's childhood-pal-turned-follies-girl. She is said to have been quite celebrated after appearing opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Black Pirate.

In my opinion, she could have gone on to be a great actress in the sound era and matured gracefully into supporting roles.

[JackFavell]

intothenitrate, I knew we had a lot in common!
Blondie of the Follies is one of the better Marion Davies sound vehicles, but I have to say, my favorite is Polly of the Circus. She's really quite stunning, especially early on in her career, when she first started in pictures. She has a very modern look and personality, one that we can fully appreciate today. For those who haven't seen her, she's very much like Goldie Hawn, though her daughter, Kate Hudson really has more of the Marion 'look'.




Billie Dove was an extremely popular and talented silent actress, but I guess she retired at the top of her game and never looked back. She was both voluptuous, sexy, and sophisticated, but she also had a kind of little girl quality.


Billie Dove

I don't think #6 is Theda, but it could be Anna Q Nilsson....

[intothenitrate]

I haven't watched Polly of the Circus lately, but I'll give it another look soon. To my eye, it isn't too far into the thirties when the ravages of alcoholism start to affect her looks and verve. But my love of Marion is so firmly cemented by The Patsy, I'll stick with her through any picture.

The legend circling around Billie Dove is that when Hearst saw the rough cut of Blondie of the Follies, he ordered cuts to Dove's part because she was outshining Davies, and that the experience discouraged Dove from continuing her career.

Thanks for the eye candy, by the way.