THE BIG PARADE at the 2005 San Francisco Silent Film Festival
by Andre Soares
An article by San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle features an interview with Leatrice Gilbert Fountain, the daughter of silent-film stars John Gilbert and Leatrice Joy.
In the article, Gilbert Fountain discusses her father’s unfair reputation as a second-rank actor (and self-destructive alcoholic) who simply happened to become a superstar.
In fact, John Gilbert was one of the best film performers of the 1920s, displaying an intense — and genuine — acting style that perfectly matched the dreamlike aura of the silent screen.
A restored, tinted print of Gilbert’s biggest blockbuster, The Big Parade (1925), directed by King Vidor, and co-starring a superb Renée Adorée, will be shown at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival on Saturday.
More on the 2005 San Francisco Silent Film Festival
Quiz of the Day: In the mid-1920s, The Big Parade, made at a cost of US$380,000, brought the newly formed MGM more than $3.5 million in worldwide profits (approximately $38 million in 2005), the largest profit margin of an in-house MGM production until the 1940s. What was the first MGM film to surpass The Big Parade’s profitability?
Academy Asks for Foreign-Language Film Submissions
Jacques Tati Centennial Celebration
Liv Ullmann’s New Film Project
Quiz Answer: No, the answer is not Gone with the Wind, for that was not an in-house MGM film but a David O. Selznick production distributed and partly owned by MGM.
The first in-house MGM film to surpass the profits from the anti-war The Big Parade was the 1942 World War II melodrama Mrs. Miniver. Directed by William Wyler, Mrs. Miniver starred the studio’s top romantic team of the period, Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon.
Comments
Leave a Reply
Note: All comments are moderated. Different views and opinions are welcome, but abusive/bigoted/flaming comments will NOT be approved. Also, please be aware that the Alternative Film Guide has NO contact information for the talent mentioned in this blog or any information pertaining to or access to distributors'/producers' film prints.
