Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Harry Langdon in Two Reel Comedies -- March 19, 2024

Motion Picture News, 29-March-1924

Vaudeville comic Harry Langdon had started to appear in short comedies for Mack Sennett. Harry looks dapper in this image. 

Motion Picture News, 08-March-1924

Alberta Vaughn was Harry's leading lady in "Smile Please."

Motion Picture News, 29-March-1924

Alice Day was Harry's leading lady in "Shanghaied Lovers."

Roy Del Ruth directed both films. 

Monday, March 18, 2024

Meet Fred Thomson -- March 18, 2024

Motion Picture News, 22-March-1924

Fred Thomson (no relation) had a diverse career. While attending the Princeton Theological Seminary, he earned the Amateur Athletic Union's All-Around Champion trophy in 1910, 1911 and 1913. After being ordained as a Presbyterian minister, he joined the Army and served as a chaplain during World War One. He went into the movie business after he married director and screenwriter Frances Marion. In time, he became a major western star. Sadly, he died of tetanus in 1928.

FBO announced plans to release six movies starring Thomson. 

Motion Picture News, 29-March-1924

Galloping Gallagher is a great title. 

This Monogram apparently had no relation to the famous B-movie studio of the 1930s and 1940s.

Motion Picture News, 15-March-1924

Both Galloping Gallagher and The Mask of Lopez were directed by Albert S Rogell. 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, 2024 -- March 17, 2024

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Happy Saint Patrick's Day, everyone.

Actress Adele Mara appeared in many movies and television shows. She married novelist and television show devisor Roy Huggins. At first I thought she was throwing Irish soda bread, but she may be tossing bricks. I don't know why. 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Friday, March 15, 2024

Buck Jones -- The Circus Cowboy -- March 15, 2024

Motion Picture News, 29-March-1924

The Fox Film Corporation needed a western star to back up Tom Mix. Buck Jones made a long series of movies for Fox. I imagine they tried to change his name to Charles to allow him to move into other movie genres. Wild Bill Wellman directed The Vagabond Trail

Motion Picture News, 29-March-1924

Wellman also directed The Circus Cowboy. Fox had been trying to change Buck's name to Charles. 

Notice that the leading lady was Marian Nixon, who went on to have a successful career in non-Westerns. 13 "Baby Stars" were chosen each year by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers as young actresses who showed promise. 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Hoot Gibson -- The Fastest, Funniest, Most Entertaining Picture This Popular Star has Ever Produced -- March 14, 2024

Film Daily, 31-March-1924

Hoot Gibson looked like a funny guy. Eddie Sedgwick directed the beautifully titled 40 Horse Hawkins

Motion Picture News, 15-March-1924

Director Eddie Sedgwick also acted in 40 Horse Hawkins. It had been ten years since he gave up acting for directing.

Motion Picture News, 29-March-1924

I like how Broadway or Bust, Hoot's next movie, is described as a comedy rather than a western.

Motion Picture News, 08-March-1924

Dig that hat in the top center photo. 

Motion Picture News, 22-March-1924

Jack Hoxie was a real cowboy and rodeo performer who became a big star in the early 1920s. The Phanton Horseman was directed by Bob Bradbury. 

Motion Picture News, 01-March-1924

The Man from Wyoming was also directed by Bob Bradbury. 

Motion Picture News, 29-March-1924

Ridgeway of Montana was directed by Cliff Smith. The Back Trail was shot at Lone Pine. It was directed by George Marshall and Cliff Smith. 

Film Daily, 21-March-1924

Lester Cuneo had worked with Tom Mix at the Selig Polyscope Company and then served in the army during World War One. Unable to deal with the death of his wife, Cuneo died by his own hand in 1925. W Adcock directed Western Grit

Film Daily, 20-March-1924




Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Time Magazine -- Eugene O'Neill -- March 13, 2024

Time, March 17, 1924

Eugene O'Neill was a realist playwright. 

Alta California, 15-June-1884

His father, James O'Neill, spent a significant portion of his career playing Edmond Dantes, The Count of Monte Cristo. James O'Neill played the part over 6000 times between 1875 and the early Twentieth Century. He grew sick of the role and felt that it stunted his growth as an actor, but the public demanded that he play the Count.

After Eugene was expelled from Princeton, he joined the merchant marine. He fought with depression and alcoholism, but he gathered material for many of his plays. He joined the IWW's Marine Transport Workers Union.

Topeka State Journal, 21-October-1922


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Struck by tuberculosis, he spent time ashore in a sanitarium. He began to write plays. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936. This gave him enough money to buy a house in Danville, California. Tao House is a national historic monument. I have never visited there.

Many of his plays were successes on stage and went on to become movies.

New York Tribune, 03-November-1921

Casper Daily Tribune, 21-December-1923

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 16-November-1924

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