Louise Brooks

One of my favorite silent film actress’ is Louise Brooks. Her iconic “page boy” look is still a replicated style in various forms today. She was really a daring woman who wasn’t afraid of saying now and although turning her back on the Hollywood scene eventually led to her being blacklisted in Hollywood, she still managed to capture the interest of millions and today is a fan favorite.

Louise “Brookies” Brooks was born in Cherryvale, Kansas on November 14, 1906 to parents who were less then parental. Her mother an artistic sort was famous for saying “that any squalling brats she produced would take care of themselves.

Louise began dancing at an early age  and joined the Denishawn Dancers and with them she left for New York. Not long after arriving in the city she joined the Ziegfeld Follies, and eventually became one of the most fascinating and alluring personalities ever to grace the silver screen.Louise made her debut in the silent film The Street of Forgotten Men in 1925. Although it was an uncredited role she captured the attention of directors and was soon playing female leads in several silent comedies and flapper films.

The film “A Girl in Every Port” directed by Howard Hawks where she played a vamp proved to be a pivotal role in her career. And skyrocketed her to fame. 1928 was also the year she began her career in sound films. Her first being “Beggars of Life.” This film was  filmed on location along railroad tracks and as a result the boom microphone was invented as a way of capturing sound for the film.

Louise enjoyed her fame and was seen regularly in the company of William Randolph Hearst and his mistress at his palatial home San Simeon. Louise’s trademark bob haircut is still recognized today. Despite her fame and recognized face, Louise heated the Hollywood lifestyle left Paramount after being denied a raise and moved to Europe and appeared in many films by G.W. Pabst. As a result of her snubbing of Paramount, and her refusal after returning to Hollywood to participate in sound retakes of several films resulted in her being blacklisted. And the voice that appears in the movies The Canary and the Murder Case is not Brooks.

Louise’s career officially ended in 1938 and the total count of all her movies was only 25 films. After her “retirement” she spent her time enjoying reading and painting and became a rather accomplished writer, authoring several books one of which was her own autobiography.

On August 8, 1985, Louise died of a heart attack in Rochester, New York. She was 78 years old.

Lillian & Dorothy Gish

Lillian and Dorothy Gish were from Ohio and their journey to stardom began when their father who by all accounts was an alcoholic and abandoned the family. The girl’s mother put them on the stage in order to help make ends meet. This decision would eventually lead to both Lillian and Dorothy to become two highly recognized silent film stars.

Lillian Gish

Lillian is the older of the two girls and first appeared on the stage in 1902 at the age of six.  Lillian met a young Gladys Smith who would later be renamed Mary Pickford. Mary would introduce Lillian to D.W. Griffith and this would be instrumental in launching Lillian’s impressive film career. Mary and Lillian remained close friends for the rest of their lives. Although it was rumored that Lillian had an affair with Griffith there is no true evidence to say yes or no although it is highly agreed upon that they had an amazing working relationship and parted amicably in 1925 when Gish signed with MGM.

Some of the films credited to Gish included La Boheme, The Scarlet Letter and The Wind. The Wind would be Lillian’s last silent film.

In the twenties public taste was evolving and with that came the “flapper actress” which included actresses such as Clara Bow and even Greta Garbo. Lillian realized that her place was evolving and left Hollywood to return to the stage. On Broadway she had a triumphant success and played notable roles in Ophelia and in 1941 she had an incredible sixty-six week run in Chicago in the play Life with Father.

Lillian made the decision to return to film in the 1940’s and appeared in Duel in the Son with Lionel Barrymore and Portrait of Jennie, with Jennifer Jones. Both of these films were done for David O. Selznick a famed Hollywood producer. Lillian also appeared on television with Helen Hayes in the adaptation of Arsenic and Old Lace.

She was not only an accomplished actress; in 1969 she authored her own autobiography titled The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me. The following year in 1970 she was awarded a special Academy award for “Superlative artistry and distinguished contribution to the progress of motion pictures.”

Her last film appearance would be in 1987 in the film Whales of August.

Dorothy Gish

Dorothy Gish was also born in Ohio and along with her sister was introduced to D.W. Griffith. Dorothy was all of four years old at this time. Where her sister excelled in dramatic work, Dorothy on the other hand excelled in comedic roles and appeared in over one hundred movies several of which was alongside her sister, Lillian. Although Lillian had a longer and some would say more commercial success then Dorothy, there was no jealousy between the sisters.

The last film Dorothy appeared in was the 1927 Madame Pompadour. After this film she appeared in smaller film roles although she enjoyed a longer career in theater and moved to England directly after retirement to take the London stage.

 From 1920-1935 she was married to actor James Rennie. She never remarried but did return to the cinema in 1944 in order to take a role in the romantic comedy Our Hearts were Young and Gay. Her final film appearance was in The Cardinal.

Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford was born Gladys Marie Smith on the 8^th of April 1892 in Toronto Canada.  Mary had a very distinguished Hollywood career and was one of the co-founders of the film studio United Artists. She was also one of the original thirty-six founders of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts Sciences. Mary was one of many Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and she played a significant role in the development of film acting.

Mary started her career in the early 1900’s with her mother and two siblings and toured the United States in third rate acting companies. She was about to give up acting after six years of failing when in 1907 she ended up landing the supporting role in the Broadway play The Warrens of Virginia. In 1909 the Biograph Company screen tested Mary for a role in the Nickelodeon film Pippa Passes. Although the role when to someone else, Griffith the director for the company was immediately taken with Mary and agreed to pay the unheard of price of $10 a day with a guarantee of $40 a week if she would sign with them. She played roles that spanned characters such as scrubwomen, and secretaries to ingénues and spitfires. Pickford managed to appear in fifty-one films in 1909.

In 1910 Mary traveled with the Biograph crew to Los Angeles in an effort to escape the weak light and short days of winter and swiftly became involved in the movies Sweet and Twenty, They would Elope, and To Save her Soul while in California. Soon the audiences recognized her and her popularity began to grow. Mary left Biograph in 1910 and spent 1911 staring in Independent Moving Pictures Company which would be later absorbed into Universal Pictures. Throughout the 1910’s and 1920’s Mary Pickford was to be believed to be the most famous woman in the world.

Over the course of her career she stared in such films as The Poor Little Rich Girl, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Daddy Long Legs, and Pollyanna. Her films grossed up to and over $1,000,000. Sadly the arrival of sound was Mary’s undoing. She underestimated the value of adding sound to film. She was famously quoted in saying “Adding sound to movies would be like putting lipstick on the Venus de Milo.”

In 1919 she co-founded Untied Artists with Charlie Chaplin and D. W. Griffith and her soon to be husband Douglas Fairbanks. When she retired in 1933 Mary continued to produce films for United Artists leaving the company finally in 1956.

Mary passed away on the 29th of May, 1979 in Santa Monica. 

Man City-Review

Blurb:

Footie brought two best friends together; no matter that one was Shai's ex and the other her current boyfriend.

When she flirts with Stuart on the bus ride home, Shai begins to formulate an idea to make match night more rewarding for all three of them.

This was a short novella and perfect if you’re in the middle of a commute or what a short steamy read to help pass a small amount of time. Shai, Joe and Stuart have a great connection. This read is not for the faint of heart. It’s steamy and no holds bar when it comes to the interaction between the three characters.

Interested in this read or others by C. Margery Kempe? Follow the link below!

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Maude Fealy

I have forever been fascinated with the Victorian and Edwardian time periods. There is just something very dynamic regarding these eras. Perhaps it’s the fashion, or the traditions, or the very fact that the world was teetering on the edge of change with the outbreak of World War I. Whatever the reason I have found myself studying, researching and even setting my stories during these time periods.

Film has always been an escape for me. I love going to the movies and losing myself in the glitz, glamour, suspense or even humor of a film. And once again my favorites all tend to be those made during the heyday of old Hollywood. Arsenic and Old Lace, Bringing up Baby, Adams, Rib, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and of course the sweeping epic Gone with the Wind. These loves led me to the idea of doing a series of blogs surrounding two of my favorite things. Film and the Victorian/Edwardian actress.

To start my series I’m going to introduce you all to Maude Fealy. She is one of my favorites. I find her to be not only beautiful but an intriguing enigma. She never seemed fully happy almost as if she were on a constant search for her own happy ending.

Maude Fealy was born Maude Mary Hawk in 1883 in Memphis, Tennessee. Her mother was an acting coach named Margaret Fealy. Margaret’s teaching brought her and her daughter to Denver, Colorado where she taught acting at the Tabor School of acting.

Maude first appeared on stage at the age of three when she performed beside her mother. By the age of five, Maude was performing in dramatic roles. She made her official Broadway debut in the 1900’s production of Quo Vadis once again beside her mother. This eventually lead to Maude touring England with William Gillette in a production of Sherlock Homes from 1901-1902. Between 1902-1905 she toured the United Kingdom with Sir Henry Irving’s company. By 1907 she was the star of the show and touring with productions back in the United States, appearing on numerous magazine covers and earning critical acclaim for her roles in both dramatic and comedic roles. 

Silent film was making a big splash and Maude performed in her first silent film in 1911 for Thanhouser Studios. She managed to appear in eighteen films for this studio between 1911-1917. Maude would not perform for fourteen years after this. This was not to say she wasn’t active in the industry. She had some minor commercial success as a playwright, co-writing The Read Capwith. She also taught acting in the various cities she’d lived in.

Maude may have had success in her field of acting, writing and teaching but she always seemed to be in search of her own happy ending. Her first marriage to Hugo Louis Sherwin, in 1907 was performed in secret. Her mother, who was by all accounts domineering, did not approve of the match. She actively sabotaged the couple and the marriage soon fell apart in 1909. Not long after this Maude married actor James Peter Durkin this time with the full support of her mother. Together the couple formed the Fealy-Durkin stock company who performed plays in Denver. This marriage also sadly ended in divorce in 1917. Third time unfortunately was not the charm for Maude. Her last marriage to James E. Cort ended in 1923 and was annulled. None of her marriages produced children.

Maude was described by theater magazines as petite 5’1” actress with dark blue eyes. Her hobbies had included writing, art, swimming and she enjoyed animals.

Maude died in 1971. Her acting/writing resume was impressive and she’d officially retired from the industry in 1958. She is interred in Woodland Hills, California.

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The Victorian Wedding

It was said that a bride should always wear:

Something  Old,
Something  new,
Something  borrowed,
Something  blue,
And a sixpence in the shoe.

Wearing "Something old" was always provided by a woman who was happily married. Many believed by doing this the happiness of the former owner would be a transferred to the new bride. “Something new” was obviously the new gown or the shoes worn by the bride. “Something borrowed” was always an object made of gold which would guarantee wealth and fortune for the new couple. “Something Blue” was a symbol of the heavens and true love.  “Sixpence” needed to be placed in the heel of the left shoe of the bride. This was also to insure wealth and prosperity for the happy couple.

Marry on Monday for health,
Tuesday for wealth,
Wednesday the best day of all,
Thursday for crosses,
Friday for losses, and
Saturday for no luck at all.

Even the day of the week one chose to be married on was important during Victorian times. Although Saturdays traditionally have been a popular today, during the Victorian Era it was not a lucky day at all.

White--chosen right
Blue--love will be true
Yellow--ashamed of her fellow
Red--wish herself dead
Black--wish herself back
Grey--travel far away
Pink--of you he'll always think
Green-ashamed to be seen

 Most wedding gowns today are traditionally white which, is a symbol of purity and this dates back all the way to the Greeks. However this wasn’t the tradition through the Regency period. During this time period colors were worn for wedding dresses and white dresses were worn at coming out balls. Wearing white didn’t become fashionable until Victorian times and is a tradition that has continued today for the most part.

The wearing of the veil is actually Eastern in tradition and was introduced to Europe thorough knights returning from the Crusades. Women in Eastern countries wore veils to protect them from the evil eye. Whereas the veils of today only cover the face, in Eastern custom the veil covers the entire body and is only removed after the ceremony. The veil was a sign to the groom that the bride came to him pure and innocent.

The tradition of a man lifting the wedding veil from his brides face was part of an ancient wedding ritual which symbolized the groom taking possession of the wife either as her lover or as a form of property.