The Top 10 Female Stars Of 1928?

[Gagman 66]

These are the Top 5 Female Stars for 1928, according to the same distributors survey in Moving Picture World magazine toward the end of that year. This list will undoubtedly turn allot of heads here.



1. Clara Bow



Far and away the highest vote getter among any Star in Hollywood both Male or Female. Incredibly not one of Clara's Four features released that year still survives today. Although there is some fragmentary footage of two of them.



2. Colleen Moore




The second highest vote getter among the ladies by a wide-margin. Colleen Moore was bigger for much longer than Clara Bow was, without question, and commanded a significantly higher salary. For about 7 years she was a Top 5 Box-office attraction! In 1928, LILAC TIME was a major Blockbuster. SYNTHETIC SIN seems to have been about as well received by ticket buyers.



3. Billie Dove



Very hard to believe. I haven't seen much in the way of her films at all! I would like to be able to see a few in which she got top billing.


4. Bebe Daniels




Kind of a surprise here. Though Bebe's "Good Little, Bad Girl" character was so infectious and fun. You couldn't help but be a fan.


5. Delores Del Rio




Not exactly the Delores that I was expecting to find in this spot. Del Rio had a good year, with RAMONA, THE RED DANCE, and THE TRAIL OF '98.



And now, here is the second 5:



6. Mary Pickford



Now understand that Mary released no first run films in 1928, and still ranked well into the top 10! She probably did have a re-issue or two in theaters that year. In many ways this is a pretty darn impressive showing considering zero new films!



7. Marion Davies



OK, so who was really the queen of MGM in the late 20's??? Based on this it sure wasn't Garbo! Let's hear it for Marion!!! Davies had three highly successfully comedies during the year. THE CARDBOARD LOVER, THE PATSY, and SHOW PEOPLE.



8. Laura La Plante



Nobody would have expected this one. Though I personally love this little gal! WARNING SIGNS, LOVE THRILL and SCANDAL, were apparently big hit movies?



9. Norma Shearer



The recognized "Queen of MGM", one might anticipate her to rate a little bit higher.



10. Joan Crawford



All on The strength of OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS alone it would appear? Joan had been kicking about for a few years, and hadn't made really a significant impression on much of anyone until this film. And it seems that poor Anita Page was already being overlooked?


Not even making the top 10 at all are some very big names, among them were:

Janet Gaynor, Greta Garbo, Delores Costello, Gloria Swanson, Norma Talmadge, Lillian Gish, Renee Adoree, and my beloved Corinne Griffith!

So where diid Greta check in you might demand to know? Try the number 12 spot, just behind Janet Gaynor at number 11! To Renee's credit she did make the Top 20 at 17, and was also listed in the Top 5 favorite Screen-Couples with John Gilbert. Interestingly enough, Gilbert and Garbo as a couple did not even make the list!

[myrnaloyisdope]

Thanks for the list Jeffrey, it's always fascinating to see contemporary lists about what reigned supreme. Often times what was popular at the time gets overlooked and forgotten. I'd never even heard of Colleen Moore until I watched Brownlow's Hollywood, and similarly Marion Davies' work is criminally underrated today, but at the time she was beloved.

Interesting to see the lack of Garbo, I have some movie magazines from the late 20's and early 30's and Garbo is pretty much referred to with reverential tones. I'm not sure how to gauge her popularity among the public but I have to believe she was thought of as being pretty unique even if her popularity didn't quite match the hype.

[Jim Reid]

These lists are interesting although they are not always a sign even of the quality of work. Usually, the stars that top these lists are associated with the bigger studios with the better PR machines behind them. Marion Davies, as great as she was, also would beneift from the huge buid up she got through Hearst papers. And Garbo at the time was considered very "exotic" and did much better in the big city houses than she did nationwide.

[coopsgirl]

I’m happy to see my very fave actress Clara at the top spot and another of my faves from the silent era Colleen at # 2. Like Jeff said, it stinks that none of the four films Clara made in ’28 are still around; especially Red Hair which began with a two-strip color sequence. I have Colleen’s Lilac Time from that year but the copy is pretty bad and the title cards are nearly unreadable for most of the film. Fingers crossed everybody that this film gets restored and released one of these days.

It is surprising the Janet Gaynor didn’t crack the top ten or even top five with the huge year she had in ’28 and also her carried over success from ’27.

Like Justin said, it’s neat to read about the stars when they were actually working, and not just something written about them in hindsight. I love my old movie mag collection and am always adding to it. It’s especially funny to read an article about someone early on in their career and compare the predictions for them to how it actually turned out.

[charliechaplinfan]

Lovely pictures Jeffrey. I'm glad Clara's at the top. I share the frustration about her films.

[Gagman 66]

I have seen a fair amount of Laura La Plante. of course She was about as cute as the come. The film that made her a Star Clarence Brown's BUTTERFLY (Universal, 1924). with Norman Kerry, and Margaret Livingston, was recently restored by UCLA. I hope that it might be offered on DVD soon. Two or three other of her Silent's were also restored at the same time.





"The Butterfly" Laura La Plante

The only Silent's that I can think of in which I have seen Billie Dove, are Eddie Cantor's KID BOOTS (Paramount, 1926) also with Clara Bow, and Fairbanks THE BLACK PIRATE made the same year. I may have seen a few others, but have forgotten what they were? I will need to look into this matter further.

Last week TCM ran one of Dove's early talkies, A NOTORIOUS AFFAIR (United Artists, 1930). It was really good, and she was great too. Her voice was just fine in talkies, quite lovely in-fact. I was entranced by her voice, graceful movements, and gestures. I find it hard to accept that sound was Billie's demise in films? Her performance was restrained and totally believable.

Basil Rathbone in one of his very early films as the leading man was rather awful. Billie was way better than He was in this picture. I certainly wouldn't mind TCM giving us allot more of Billie Dove!!! With any luck they have access to a few of her Silent films?





Billy Dove, Feathers Galore!

[drednm]

FASCINATING, JEFF.... thanks

and YAY for MARION DAVIES, another victim of Hollywood's "urban legend" syndrome that always casts her as a flop in films.

[drednm]

Jeff are these actual magazines you have or have you found this info online???? I love this stuff... and GREAT PICTURES.

It's odd that Paramount thought Bebe Daniels was a has been and wouldn't even let her do voice tests for talkies!

[jdb1]

La Plante is so cute! And the photo of Billie Dove reminds me of Mary Astor.

[Gagman 66]

jdb1,

Who is the stunning Woman in your Avatar? I have tried to post an Avatar before, but everything I have in my PC, is to large.

Glad that you like the photos. I colorized all of these. I have several more of La Plante, and I think I have a few of Mary Astor in here someplace too? I will try to find them. I have more of Dove as well, but they are great big.

I apologize for the size of most of these photos. I have never resized anything before. I'll have to learn how to do this.

Ed,

Yes the info about the magazine is On-line. The thing is you could probably pick up a couple other trades published at the same time, and the list might look quite different? So it just depends. They would likely not the same theaters being surveyed either?

[drednm]

I always find these kinds of stats to be fascinating. Marion Davies is usually counted among the top 5 MGM stars of the late 20s but when you consider the box office clout of Gilbert, Haines, Garbo, and Shearer, I have often wondered.

I assume Dressler was not a box office giant until the talkies so I assume Davies ranked with the other 4 until talkies came in.

Clara Bow was a huge star for Paramount. But it's odd that Swanson is not on your list what with SADIE THOMPSON. But it all depends on what the lists were based on.... theater owners? actual receipts?

[Jim Reid]

Clara Bow was a huge star for Paramount. But it's odd that Swanson is not on your list what with SADIE THOMPSON. But it all depends on what the lists were based on.... theater owners? actual receipts?

Swanson was no longer with Paramount. Sadie Thompson was produced by Swanson and released by United Artists. UA films had no where near the box office oompf unless your name was Pickford, Fairbanks or Chaplin.

[drednm]

Yes I know, but SADIE THOMPSON was a hit, a bigger hit than Swansons' previous LOVE OF SUNYA

[Birdy]

Great list - and beautiful colorization, IMO.

I especially loved the ones of Laura LaPlante. Did you know that was Spencer Tracy's nickname for Katherine Hepburn? I'm not sure why...anyone know?

B

[Gagman 66]

Birdy,

Thanks I am glad that you like the photos. I have many more to post. I am working on a Clara Bow tribute, as she was the top vote getter in the poll. Laura La Plante was a sweetheart, I have a whole bunch of her photos!

Let me retract my previous statement that I colorized all of these. The Norma Shearer photo was actually done by somebody else on GAOH other than me. I toned it down a little, and changed a few things slightly. The backgrounds were far to vivid. Still I can't take credit for that photo. Don't want anyone getting angry with me.

I had a different photo that I did color a photo of Norma, with long hair, which I posted initially, but later decided to replace that one.

I have a friend who is urging me to copyright all of my colorized photos, as I have hundreds of them that I have worked on over the past 5 years or so. I have no idea what that entails? I assume that it cost money to do this though? Anyone else know how to go about this?