Tag Archives: #Silent Films

Movieland Silent Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 10, 2025 by lmharnisch

For Monday, we have a sleepy mystery guest. Continue reading →

Posted in 1919, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 23 Comments

October 2, 1947: On Skid Row, Homeless Children Mourn Their Beloved Sister Ollie

Posted on October 2, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 2, 1947: Sister Ollie (though she was famous under another name) died happy, according to her mother, Sister Sibbie, the superintendent at Sunshine Mission, 558 S. Wall St., a shelter for homeless women and children on skid row. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Los Angeles Silent Film Festival Debuts

Posted on September 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory takes a look at the recent Los Angeles Silent Film Festival, which included favorites like Harold Lloyd’s ‘The Freshman’ to the newly restored ‘Silk and Saddles.’ Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Tote DuCrow–Character Actor of the Silent Screen

Posted on November 25, 2024 by lmharnisch

Tote DuCrow in Camera, 1922. The early decades of cinema brought many enterprising, colorful character actors to the screen, those looking and appearing real on film. Not as physically attractive or full of charisma, they brought striking personas and authenticity … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Helen Holmes, The Railroad Girl

Posted on September 30, 2024 by lmharnisch

In the mid-1910s, action-packed serials starring adventurous heroines thrilled audiences of young women dreaming of independence and agency. At the same time, women in the United States campaigned for the right to vote, eager to shape public policy and take … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: May Brotherton, Queen of Film Editing

Posted on September 9, 2024 by lmharnisch

May Brotherton in the Balboa Day Book, 1916. Women were integral to motion picture production from its very beginning. Working behind the scenes, they dominated the dirty work of cutting and assembly of film and negative for decades. Quick and … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Ida May Park Finds Direction in Films

Posted on March 7, 2024 by lmharnisch

Ida May Park in Photoplay. Note: This is an encore post from 2018. Virtually forgotten today, Los Angeles-born Ida May Park earned the distinction of being one of the first women to direct feature films in early Hollywood, as well … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 11, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1925 MGM picture Zander the Great, with Marion Davies, Holbrook Blinn, Harrison Ford, Harry Watson, Harry Myers, George Seigman, Emily Fitzroy, Hobart Bosworth, Richard Carle, Hedda Hopper, Olin Howland and Master John Huff.

Posted in 1925, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Ida May Park Finds Direction in Films

Posted on May 2, 2022 by lmharnisch

Ida May Park in Photoplay. Note: This is an encore post from 2018. Virtually forgotten today, Los Angeles-born Ida May Park earned the distinction of being one of the first women to direct feature films in early Hollywood, as well … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – the Photoplayer

Posted on September 6, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: Joe Rinaudo with his Fotoplayer.  Credit: Joe Rinaudo. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. For a short time in the 1920s, 8,000-10,000 photoplayers ruled the roost at medium-sized motion picture theaters. Basically organs with player piano rolls … Continue reading →

Posted in 1912, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Music, Stage, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Tsuru Aoki, Lotus Flower of the Cinema

Posted on March 22, 2021 by lmharnisch

Tsuru Aoki, in Sunset magazine. Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Though long in the shadow of her more well known husband, Tsuru Aoki achieved just as great a fame as Sessue Hayakawa, with a life story as … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 39th Pordenone Silent Film Festival Transports Audiences

Posted on October 12, 2020 by lmharnisch

In a tumultuous year filled with pandemic, isolation, ill will, and seeming madness, the 39th Annual Pordenone Silent Film Festival transported guests on magical journeys to other worlds, eras, and even dimensions, revealing the richness of love and humanity at … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + + +)

Posted on June 1, 2020 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1918 film “Mickey,” with Mabel Normand, George O. Nicholls, Laura La Varnie, Lewis J. Cody, Minta Durfee, Wheeler Oakman and Tom Kennedy. Written by J.G. Hawks, production manager Hampton Del Ruth, photographed by Frank … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Tsuru Aoki, Lotus Flower of the Cinema

Posted on March 9, 2020 by lmharnisch

Tsuru Aoki, in Sunset magazine. Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Though long in the shadow of her more well known husband, Tsuru Aoki achieved just as great a fame as Sessue Hayakawa, with a life story as … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1916 New York Motion Picture Co./Triangle Film Corp. production “Hell’s Hinges,” with W.S. Hart, Clara Williams, Jack Standing, Alfred Hollingsworth, Robert McKim, J. Frank Burke and Louise Glaum. It can be streamed for free … Continue reading →

Posted in 1916, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Oct. 2, 1947: On Skid Row, Homeless Children Mourn Their Beloved Sister Ollie

Posted on October 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Sister Ollie died happy, according to her mother, Sister Sibbie, the superintendent at Sunshine Mission, 558 S. Wall St., a shelter for homeless women and children … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 54th Annual Cinecon Goes to the Movies

Posted on September 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

A fascinating look at what middle America saw at the movies from the 1910s through the 1950s, the 54th Annual Cinecon Classic Film Festival provided an excellent slate of films running the gamut from silents to sound, musicals to westerns, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2018, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Sessue Hayakawa, Author

Posted on September 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Sessue Hayakawa in Cine Mundial. Long renowned as one of the most mesmerizing, exotic actors of the silent screen, Sessue Hayakawa and his piercing eyes and sensual mouth stole women’s attentions and minds. Born in Japan, the son of aristocratic … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival Covers the World

Posted on August 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

  Max Linder, photo courtesy of Mary Mallory. The 21st Annual Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival traveled the world in its many programs this year, featuring rare technology, recently discovered and restored films, and travelogues from near and far, something … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival Thunders Onto the Screen

Posted on August 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

  The 21st Annual Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival gallops into action Aug. 10 through 12 at the marvelous little Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Niles, Calif., featuring a look at rare silent films, most in 35 millimeter, screening … Continue reading →

Posted in Coming Attractions, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment