Tag Archives: #Silent Films

Black L.A. 1947: Lottie Grady, Pioneering Black Actress in Theater and Film, Visits Los Angeles

Posted on June 20, 2018 by lmharnisch

“Dat Lovin’ Rag,” courtesy of the University of Colorado Boulder Music Library. June 19, 1947: Lottie Grady, one of the first African American actors to perform on Broadway, visits Los Angeles and is interviewed by the Sentinel. Grady performed on … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival Salutes the Written Word With Unique Programs

Posted on May 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

Martin Scorsese is presented with the first Robert Osborne Award for film preservation. In its ninth year of celebrating classic film, the 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival highlighted the written word and how film speaks to audiences through a wide … Continue reading →

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

Posted on March 26, 2018 by lmharnisch

  Ida May Park in Photoplay. 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 as write and produce, before being pushed … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘Moving Picture Hero of My Heart’ Promotes Movies

Posted on February 26, 2018 by lmharnisch

  From its beginnings, the motion picture industry developed adept advertising and promotional concepts to spread the word of its film products and stars. Quick to develop cross-promotions and partnerships with magazines and newspapers, the film industry grew new fans … Continue reading →

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

Posted on June 19, 2017 by lmharnisch

  Tsuru Aoki, in Sunset magazine. 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 fascinating as any novel. Born in Japan … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Hollywood Heights / Mary Mallory: San Francisco Silent Film Festival Travels the Globe

Posted on June 7, 2017 by lmharnisch

  The Twenty Second Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival concluded Sunday, June 4, after screening an eclectic slate of entertaining and challenging films from around the globe. The festival’s films covered a diverse variety of themes, examining exploration of … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: San Francisco Silent Film Festival Salutes World Cinema

Posted on May 29, 2017 by lmharnisch

  For those who find it difficult to get to Bologna’s Cinema Ritrovato or Pordenone’s Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, scheduled June 1-4) highlights classics of silent film the world over right here in … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Character Actor Spec O’Donnell Lights up the Screen

Posted on May 8, 2017 by lmharnisch

  Spec O’Donnell and Maxine Tadacome, Exhibitors Herald, 1923.   Long a favorite of classic film fans for his infectious grin and mischievous onscreen personality, Walter Davis “Spec” O’Donnell gained fame for the explosion of freckles which covered his face. … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: California Sunshine Lures Filmmakers in 1910

Posted on May 1, 2017 by lmharnisch

  Downtown Los Angeles in 1906, contrasting it with the destruction in the San Francisco earthquake. While romantic stories proliferate of how early independent filmmakers in the 1910s traveled to Los Angeles to escape the patents men of the Motion … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: K.O. Rahmn, Mary Pickford’s Photographer

Posted on April 24, 2017 by lmharnisch

  Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks in “The Taming of the Shrew,” photo by K.O. Rahmn, from Close Up. Probably the only actor/stills photographer in early Hollywood, K. O. (Knute Olaf) Rahmn worked for Kalem Co. at its Glendale studio … Continue reading →

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June 24, 1946: What Was the First Talkie You Saw?

Posted on April 18, 2017 by lmharnisch

“I thought talking pictures was a novelty that could never last — like miniature golf.” — George Karg “It was certainly an improvement over the silent pictures.” — Mrs. Edna Helsing. From the Inquiring Camera Girl, Maryon Zylstra, Chicago Tribune, … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Heart of California Offers Intriguing Look at Cowboy Life

Posted on March 13, 2017 by lmharnisch

  A poster for “Heart of California,” courtesy of Dwight Manley. In honor of Brea, California’s Centennial Celebration, a fraction of Dwight Manley’s stunning silent motion picture poster collection is currently on exhibit in that city. Containing everything from one-sheets … Continue reading →

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Eve Golden’s YouTube Theater: Do not Get Me Started With Marion Davies and Orson Welles

Posted on September 27, 2016 by lmharnisch

“American Heiress” via Amazon.com. Rush out and get Jeffrey Toobin’s new book about the Patty Hearst kidnapping, American Heiress. It’s really one of the best-written, best-researched books I’ve read lately, and is actually laugh-out-loud funny at points. I am quite … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Silver Screen Revue Salutes Silent Days

Posted on September 12, 2016 by lmharnisch

  A matchbook from the Wilshire Bowl, listed on EBay as Buy It Now for $9.95. Within just a few years of sound motion pictures becoming the approved film format, silent films became a virtual pariah in popular culture. They … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

John Bengtson on Silent Films and Hollywood History

Posted on November 3, 2015 by lmharnisch

John Bengtson, who does so much amazing research into tracking down the sites where early films were shot, is giving a luncheon talk and book signing Nov. 16 at the Ebell of Los Angeles, 741 S. Lucerne Blvd. The event … Continue reading →

Posted in 2015, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pordenone Screens the Best of Silent Films

Posted on October 27, 2015 by lmharnisch

A PDF of the film festival’s 240-page catalog can be downloaded here. Note: Mike Hawks recently returned from the Pordenone Silent Film Festival and this is what he tells Mary Mallory. By Mike Hawks as Told to Mary Mallory For … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: San Francisco Silent Film Festival Jazzes Up Fall

Posted on September 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival spices up the fall with a presentation of silent films Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014, at the glorious Art Deco Castro Theatre for its Autumn Film Festival. The one-day event highlights the glories of what … Continue reading →

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From the Vaults: ‘While the City Sleeps’ — Part I

Posted on April 30, 2014 by lmharnisch

It’s worth spending a bit more time on our recent mystery movie “While the City Sleeps” for several reasons. It’s not widely available and most copies seem to be missing large chunks of the film, making the complex narrative even … Continue reading →

Posted in 1928, City Hall, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Joseph Farnham, Script Doctor

Posted on January 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

Joseph Farnham in an undated photo, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Title writers are the mostly forgotten men of the silent film era, the scribes who relayed important plot points and character arcs through witty or descriptive lines employed on cards … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Silent Film Festivals, Then And Now

Posted on June 27, 2013 by lmharnisch

  Northern California plays host to two wonderful silent film festivals in the next few weeks, the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum’s Bronco Billy Silent Film Festival, and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Both celebrate the art of silent … Continue reading →

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