by Christian Esquevin
Friday, September 15, 2023
Designing Hollywood: Studio Wardrobe in the Golden Age by Christian Esquevin
by Christian Esquevin
Sunday, September 10, 2023
Ida Lupino: A Biography by William Donati
by William Donati
“Emotionally, Ida was a jumble of contradictions, infused with the polarity often present in intensely creative individuals.” — William Donati
- Lupino was such a perfectionist that she often drove herself to exhaustion, illness and/or injury.
- She greatly admired anyone who took the business seriously and preferred to work with people were as driven as she was.
- Producer Mark hellinger stepped in to vouch for Lupino so she would get cast in the film They Drive by Night (1940). That film as well as High Sierra (1941) became breakout roles for both Ida Lupino and her co-star Humphrey Bogart.
- Ann Sheridan and Lupino often got the same types of roles and replaced each other in different projects. For example, when Lupino turned down a role in King's Row (1942), it went to Ann Sheridan.
- When Jack Warner offered her a 7 year contract he told her she'd be another Bette Davis for Warner Bros.
- To prepare for Moontide (1942), Lupino took French actor Jean Gabin on a tour of the seedier parts of Los Angeles for a "first-hand look at vice and violence."
- The Hard Way (1943) and Devotion (1946) were two of Lupino's most challenging productions due to complications with the studio, WWII and Stanley Lupino's death from cancer.
- Agent Charles K. Feldman sought Lupino as a client and even bought the rights to Road House (1948) and sold them to Twentieth Century Fox with the stipulation that Lupino be cast in the lead.
- Lupino enjoyed working with The Breen Office and welcomed their changes which she didn't view as censorship but rather as improvements.
- For her hard-hitting drama Not Wanted (1949), which she produced and eventually directed, she couldn't use the title "Unwed Mother" because it was too salacious. But the restrictions did not apply to marketing materials so she plastered UNWED MOTHER in bold type in various newspaper ads to promote the movie.
- She fostered new talent by casting Sally Forrest and Keefe Braselle in Not Wanted (1949) and Never Fear (1950).
- Lupino and Young struck a deal with Howard Hughes to partner on three films between RKO and The Filmakers production company. Lupino was one of the few executives Hughes would actually agree to meet with directly.
- While the Motion Picture Association objected to the making of The Hitch-Hiker (1953), Lupino and The Filmakers went ahead with the production. Lupino had already gotten permission from prisoner Billy Cook and the two men he kidnapped. Their story was the basis of the movie.
- Many of us know that The Bigamist (1953) had Lupino starring and directing in a film that also included her ex-husband Collier Young and his new wife Joan Fontaine. While that seems like it would have been an uncomfortable situation, Lupino and her third husband Duff were friendly with Young and Fontaine and the couples often spent time with each other.
- According to the author, "with The Bigamist, Ida Lupino became the first woman to direct herself in a major motion picture."
- Lupino was quick to adapt and in the early 1950s that meant transitioning to television. She insisted that her husband Howard Duff be her co-star in the TV sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve. The story idea was developed by her ex-husband Collier Young.
- Producer William Frye personally chose Ida Lupino to direct which would be her last production The Trouble with Angels (1966). They originally wanted to cast Greta Garbo but couldn't get her out of retirement and was replaced by Rosalind Russell.
- I love this quote from Rosalind Russell about Lupino: "The sex of a director doesn't mean a hoot. The one all-important thing is talent. Somehow it has evolved that directing is a man's profession. A woman has a tough, almost impossible time breaking down this caste barrier. Miss Arzner managed it. Ida is doing it now."
Monday, July 31, 2023
The Classic Film Collective: Nazimova by Gavin Lambert
This was originally published in the former The Classic Film Collective Patreon.
“When I first came to America I had so much luck it frightened me… And then the luck turned.” — Nazimova
With her dark and wild hair, her downturned eyes and her incredible confidence, Nazimova was bonafide star. This actress who made waves on stage and on the silent screen is the subject of Gavin Lambert’s 1997 biography, recently reissued in paperback by University Press of Kentucky.
Alla Nazimova was born Mariam Edez Adelaida Leventon in Crimea, Russia in 1879. Nazimova came from a Russian Jewish family and suffered from severe neglect after her parents’ divorce. She sought solace with acting and became part of the Moscow theatrical scene. The author goes into incredible detail about childhood and teen years thanks to Nazimova’s own unfinished autobiography that he used as reference. Towards the end of her life she spent countless hours detailing her origin story but never got to write about what happened after the age of 17. Luckily, she left behind many other details in the form of correspondence and diary entries that the author had access to and references frequently throughout the book.
What made Nazimova so special as an actress was her stage and screen presence, her ability to play characters much younger than herself, her incredible memory, her attention to detail and her personal and professional networking skills. She was a master at both the technical and social aspects of being an actress. It was natural that Nazimova would make her way to Broadway. Despite her heavy accent which some criticized, Nazimova soon became a star in the New York theatre world.
Metro Pictures came around with an incredible offer: a contract that would make her one of the highest paid actresses in silent film and give her approval of the director, leading man and the script. The author goes into detail about each of Nazimova’s films. There is a lot of detail for her early Metro Pictures films, including WAR BRIDES (1916), Revelation (1918) and TOYS OF FATE (1918), all of which are unfortunately lost. When Metro Pictures moved to Hollywood, Nazimova followed suit. She made silent films with them until a terrible falling out led her to start her own production company. Now with complete creative control, she produced and starred in films like CAMILLE (1921) and SALOME (1924). By 1925, Nazimova had abandoned films for the New York stage. She returned to Hollywood in the 1940s with small roles in films like ESCAPE (1940) and BLOOD AND SAND (1941). In fact, her final role in SINCE YOU WENT AWAY (1944) was written specifically for her.
The crux of Lambert’s biography is Nazimova’s relationships with family, lovers and professional collaborators. Nazimova was queer and preferred to be in relationships with women. Her relationship with her common law husband Charles Bryant (they weren’t legally married but pretended to be so for many years) was a means to protect her professional image. He was also producer, actor and director for many of her films, which further gave Nazimova control over her projects. Lambert offers the reader many stories about key figures like June Mathis, Jean Acker, Rudolph Valentino, Natacha Rambova and many more. I was surprised to discover that much celebrated genre producer Val Lewton was Nazimova’s nephew! And of course, there are Nazimova’s homes including the The Garden of Allah and Who-Tok, both of which no longer exist although stories of these grand homes continue to be part of her legacy.
My biggest issue with Lambert’s biography on Nazimova is some of the outdated language. There are a few sexist and racist terms, direct quotations from people in Nazimova’s life, that I feel could have been nixed in the reissue. Fortunately, these are few and far between. There is quite a lot of details about Nazimova’s sex life but I felt it was done in a respectful manner. Lambert really does demonstrate how these relationships were key to her growth as a performer and were also how she navigated her social world.
Never salacious and always informative, Gavin Lambert’s biography captures the dramatic rise and fall of the late great Nazimova.
Thank you to University Press of Kentucky for sending me a digital copy of this book to review!
Monday, July 17, 2023
New & Upcoming Classic Film Books (21)
Hoo boy! Do I have a list of new classic film books for you! It took me a few weeks to gather this list and its finally here. I'm very impressed with what TCM/Running Press and University Press of Kentucky have coming up in their Fall catalogs. There are lots of good paperback editions of some big releases notably the Paul Newman memoir, the Elizabeth Taylor biography and Mark Vieira's George Hurrell's Hollywood.
Are you new to my list? Here are the details. The books include biographies, memoirs, scholarly texts, coffee table books and more from a variety of publishers. For any scholarly books I make sure the ones included are affordable. There are also some reissues and paperback editions added to the bunch. Publication dates range from July to December 2023 and these are subject to change. These are U.S. release dates. International release dates and availability may vary.
Links go to Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Powell's. I receive a small commission if you shop through some (not all) of my buy links.
I would love to hear what you think? Which books are you putting on your wishlist?
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Powell's
NOVEMBER
9781476689708
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Powell's
DECEMBER
9781476692593
Amazon — Barnes and Noble
Popular Posts
-
Thank you to everyone who reached out to me in anticipation of the new roundup of classic film books! I've been hard at work on this lis...
-
For anyone who loves the 1940s music, dance and overall style, discovering Soundies is an absolute treat. What is a Soundie you may be ask...
-
I saw this the other day on Twitter. Really? That's a fact? I don't buy it. Okay maybe it's the case with Panic in the Streets...
-
On the latest episode of The CineHistorians Podcast, Dr. Carl Sweeney and I discuss Gillian Armstrong's film My Brilliant Career (1979...