Contemporary equivalents of silent stars - or not

[phil noir]

I was in the library yesterday, and started glancing through a book called Silent Cinema by Brian J. Robb. I've seen it advertised on the Sunrise Silents website - it comes with a DVD of excerpts from films. I didn't have long to look through it but it didn't seem that great (the entry on Marion Davies is the only one I've ever seen which describes her as a failed minor star of dramatic roles pointlessly promoted by Hearst and stops there - no mention of her brilliant comic talents and the modern rebirth of her reputation).

Anyway in the chapter on dramatic stars, for anyone new to the subject the author helpfully lists modern actors he thinks are similar; for example:

Mary Pickford - early Julia Roberts
Louise Brooks - Madonna, or possibly Jennifer Jason Leigh
Lon Chaney - Ron Perlman or Jim Carrey
Douglas Fairbanks Sr. - Russell Crowe + somebody else, I forget who
Rudolph Valentino - Titanic period Leonard di Caprio + Johnny Depp + Brad Pitt + somebody else, I forget who
Lillian Gish - Gwynneth Paltrow
Marion Davies - Demi Moore

but worst of all, he reckons that the modern equivalent to Clara Bow is...

Paris Hilton

Words fail me...

[drednm]

Sounds like a book to avoid....

[jdb1]

Unbelievable. Who in their right mind could see any resemblance between, say, Madonna and Louise Brooks? Does this guy go to the movies with his eyes closed? The only one I can see as even remotely close is the Lon Chaney/Ron Pearlman thing, but Pearlman has never really gotten the scope that Chaney had. It's possible, but we'll probably never know.

Lillian Gish/Gwyneth Paltrow -- OMG!!!!! I need a drink.

[charliechaplinfan]

I need a drink too. Julia Roberts and Mary Pickford, which character as Jula Roberts managed to play convincingly as a child when she was an adult, which role has she brought Mary's ladylike grace to? Mary was fabuluous in both kind of characters and the contemprorary My Best Girl. I'm not trying to slate Julia Roberts but not in the same league. And neither or any of the others. Wonder what the author was on?

[Lzcutter]

If going for someone modern to compare to Lon Chaney, I would think Johnny Depp, who is able to lose himself quite well behind make-up and other tricks of the trade and still deliver a good performance (the Pirates sequels not withstanding), often a wonderful performance.

Clara Bow and Paris Hilton? Judith, I'll share a bottle with you!

[MichiganJ]

Clara Bow and Paris Hilton? Nancy, I'll share a bottle with you!

Now, c'mon. When watching The Hottie and the Nottie, didn't you just think: Clara Bow!

[Lzcutter]

Now, c'mon. When watching The Hottie and the Nottie, didn't you just think: Clara Bow!

Sorry, MJ, I haven't had enough pain meds or wine to make that leap and I'm not sure even that would make the leap possible.

Besides, Clara's son would never forgive me.

[moira finnie]

The only contemporary actress who seems to have even a smidge of the air of a silent actress might be Uma Thurman on a very good day. It's her eyes I think.

[MichiganJ]

Sorry, MJ, I haven't had enough pain meds or wine to make that leap and I'm not sure even that would make the leap possible.
Besides, Clara's son would never forgive me.

I'm (marginally) sure it was obvious that I was more than kidding. But in case it wasn't that clear, in my humble opinion, I think that Clara Bow was one of the most natural actors in film; silent or sound. There's rarely, if ever, affectation, and she is so amazingly genuine, that I frequently find myself in awe of what she is doing in, what are otherwise, some pretty pretty mediocre films.

I'm not sure what makes a great actor, but I am sure Clara was one of the best.

Paris, too. (insert devil-smiley icon here).

The only contemporary actress who seems to have even a smidge of the air of a silent actress might be Uma Thurman on a very good day. It's her eyes I think.

I like Uma as a silent actor. Depp already proved himself in Benny & Joon, doing a pretty great Chaplin (or Arbuckle) roll dance and enough Keaton to satisfy me.
I wonder if Tom Hanks could handle pantomime, his face certainly is expressive. I think Audrey Tautou also has an expressive face and could handle pantomime. Of course Harrison Ford already bridges the silent to sound era (collective groan, I know, but this is the only group I know that I can write this in who would even marginally appreciate it). Cameron Diaz has a pretty elastic face, especially when she shows her smile. How about Jim Broadbent? Buddy rolls, of course, but I think he'd be pretty great. I actually see someone like Gary Oldman more in the Chaney "Man of a Thousand Faces" role, and Dame Judy Dench could easily play all of the Griffith matriarchs, no? Now, where to put Emily Watson and Julie Delpy….

[jdb1]

Yes, Mish, now that you mention it, I can see Gary Oldman as a neo-Chaney. I think Johnny Depp is a closer equivalent to the classic film leading man types, especially the more versatile ones. Tom Hanks might be a latter-day James Stewart if he were cast more often in those kinds of roles.

A big surprise to me was how well Drew Barrymore did Little Edie in the TV movie Gray Gardens. She fit into that retro style very well and very credibly, and I can now see her doing Davis/Crawford/Colbert etc. parts. She can actually "act."

But who is the 21st Century Sabu?

[moira finnie]

I actually see someone like Gary Oldman more in the Chaney "Man of a Thousand Faces" role,

That's a good one!

Could John Goodman be George Bancroft, circa Underworld (1927)?

David Straitharn has a very expressive face that could have worked in silents, though I can't think of anyone comparable from that period.

[jdb1]

How about Kevin Klein and/or John Lithgow as John Barrymore?

Donald Sutherland as Conrad Veidt?

Henry Gibson would have been a good Harry Langdon.

I can't even picture some of today's younger stars as equivalents, because I think they are all so generically similar and dull.

[moira finnie]

I think that Christopher Plummer was and is the ideal reincarnation of John Barrymore.

[jdb1]

I think that Christopher Plummer was and is the ideal reincarnation of John Barrymore.

I can't agree there, Moira. I find Plummer an essentially humorless actor, and as such he lacks the twinkle and self-mocking aspect that made Barrymore bearable and attractive even when he was at his most out of control. With Plummer, I get only rampant ego and self-regard without the saving grace of humor in his performances, comic or dramatic. I've never been able to warm to him, and I've never felt that he filled up the screen the way Barrymore did. I think Jon Lovitz as "Master Thespian" is more Barrymore-like than is Plummer.

[srowley75]

I've seen it advertised on the Sunrise Silents website

I agree that the whole exercise of comparing silent stars to contemporary "stars" is inane, even though I do believe I understand the author's intended aim ("Well, see, Clara Bow had a reputation for being a wild party girl, and so does Paris Hilton. Rudolph Valentino was a hunk, and so are Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt. Voila!" - so I guess comparing Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Hugh Grant would not be out of the question).

What I find truly bizarre is this tidbit above. I haven't yet visited the site, but why would a website devoted to silents (whether peddling them or writing about them) promote a simple-minded-sounding book like this? What was apparently printed about Marion Davies is alone enough to discredit the work. I'm guessing it's (1) a friend of the webmaster or (2) someone who's paid them to promote the work.

I think Judith is spot on with her remark about the plasticine stars of today vs. those of yesteryear. Even when watching and revisiting several 1970s films, I'm struck by how different the natural-looking stars of the cinema of that era were from today's mass-produced celebrities - even the sexy stars like Burt Reynolds, Jane Fonda, and Ali MacGraw. They were genuine people complete with moles, wrinkles, and scars, not models you see in the JC Penney catalog.