Contact Help Wanted

Ramon Novarro III: Anita Page, Murder, Life As a Gay Man

Anita Page, Ramon Novarro in The Flying Fleet

Ramon Novarro: Allan Ellenberger Interview II
Ramon Novarro and Anita Page. Do you believe he actually asked her hand in marriage as she claimed later in life?
I do, and the main reason is that I knew Anita Page and interviewed her extensively for over a year before her health really began to decline. At that point, she would have short-term memory loss due to a stroke, which made interviewing her more difficult. That, and the image that she presented to the world in some ways made her appear unreliable. All I know is that I was able to prove most of the stories she told me with secondary [...]

Ramon Novarro II: Best Films, Rex Ingram

Jeanette MacDonald, Ramon Novarro in The Cat and the Fiddle. Photo: Courtesy Matias Bombal Collection.

Ramon Novarro: Allan Ellenberger Interview I
How would you describe Ramon Novarro the actor?
Novarro was a first-rate actor – maybe not an Olivier, but a good solid actor. Even in bad films such as Laughing Boy (1934), he had his moments. He was excellent in dramatic roles such as the aviator Alexis Rosanoff opposite Greta Garbo in Mata Hari (1931), or as the rapist-suitor of Myrna Loy in The Barbarian (1933). He excelled in light comedic moments, especially in The Prisoner of Zenda (1922) and in several of his musicals including The Cat and the Fiddle (1934) and The [...]

Ramon Novarro: Q&A with Author Allan Ellenberger

I first contacted author Allan Ellenberger shortly before the publication of his book on Old Hollywood star Ramon Novarro, as at the time I was working on my own Novarro bio. Instead of treating me like a pesky rival, Allan generously shared the information he’d amassed throughout about a decade of research — and for that I was very thankful.
We’ve since become good friends (but Allan, you need to buy me pizza more often), so I’m glad to report that his Ramon Novarro (McFarland, 1999) is now available in paperback at online bookstores. In his carefully researched book (I’ve read it about four or five times), Allan discusses Ramon Novarro’s life and career from his early beginnings in [...]

Karl Dane Biographer Interview

Allan Ellenberger interviews biographer Laura Petersen Balogh, whose book on silent-film comedian Karl Dane has just been published by McFarland.
Here’s a brief snippet:
Why Karl Dane? What is it about him and his story that moved you to write a biography?
I had always known who Karl Dane was, being a silent film buff my whole life, but he never really made that much of an impression on me. I had read different Hollywood scandal books which said his voice was not suited to the talkies, but pretty much thought that was the end of the story. It wasn’t until December 2005, when my husband Dan and I were watching the 1933 early sound serial The Whispering [...]

Miriam Hopkins on TCM

An early photo of Miriam Hopkins. Photos in this article: courtesy of Allan Ellenberger

Miriam Hopkins, one of the most underrated performers of the studio era, will have her "Summer Under the Stars" day on Thursday, Aug. 20.
Turner Classic Movies will present fourteen Miriam Hopkins films, including one TCM premiere — the Samuel Goldwyn production of Barbary Coast — and three of Hopkins’ saucy pre-Code vehicles made at Paramount.
Although there are no Hopkins rarities in the program — TCM must lease the Universal library, which contains both the Universal and Paramount classics — it’s great to have a day dedicated to an actress who, no matter how good, has been usually dismissed because of her (alleged) off-screen behavior.
As I’ve [...]

Marsha Hunt Discusses Anthony Dexter

In his blog, Allan Ellenberger speaks with Marsha Hunt about Anthony Dexter, who played Rudolph Valentino in the 1951 biopic Valentino (right), and with whom Hunt co-starred in a stage production of The King and I.
Here are a couple of quotes:
"Of course I remember Valentino. By the age of eight I had already seen The Sheik and his films with Vilma Banky. Valentino smoldered, didn’t he? That was fine with me. I got his message loud and clear, even at a young age."
…
"One of the first things that struck me about Tony Dexter was – and I don’t mean that it was obtrusive – but he didn’t have an ego. And I was amazed during rehearsals, this [...]

Miriam Hopkins and Kate Morton’s THE SHIFTING FOG

Australian author Kate Morton’s bestselling novel The Shifting Fog (The House at Riverton in the US and the UK — see comment below) chronicles the emotional and romantic travails of two beautiful sisters from a declining aristocratic British family during the early 20th century.
The reason I’m posting a mention of The Shifting Fog has nothing to do with the plot or with author Morton or with a possible film adaptation of the novel. What matters here is the Australian book cover, which features a photo of Miriam Hopkins at her most glamorous.
Only yesterday, I posted a two-part interview with author Allan Ellenberger, who’s currently working on a Miriam Hopkins biography. Today, Allan sent me a link to a review [...]

Miriam Hopkins IV: Hollywood Blacklist, Bette Davis

Miriam Hopkins III: BECKY SHARP
Miriam Hopkins blacklisted during the post-war anti-Red hysteria? Why? And how come that fact — to the best of my knowledge — has never been discussed anywhere?
During the late ’30s and throughout the ’40s, Hopkins was involved with several political and social groups that were considered fronts for the Communist Party. These groups included the Motion Picture Democratic Committee (of which Hopkins was 2nd vice president) and the incendiary League of Women Shoppers.
In 1945, Louis Bundenz, a Communist Party functionary and the managing editor of the Daily Worker, renounced communism and in 1950 created a “List of 400 Concealed Communists” for the FBI. Miriam Hopkins was on that list. Of course she wasn’t [...]

Miriam Hopkins III: BECKY SHARP

Miriam Hopkins: Q&A with Allan Ellenberger Part II
Becky Sharp was the first feature film in three-strip Technicolor. Why was Miriam Hopkins selected for the title role? And what was filming like?
Hopkins was producer Jock Whitney’s choice for the role from the beginning; I’m not aware of anyone else being mentioned. However, she almost lost it when she couldn’t come to an agreement with RKO over her salary. The studio then considered replacing her with Myrna Loy (who had starred in a modern-day version in 1932) or Claudette Colbert, who turned down the role after reading the script. Finally, Hopkins and RKO came to terms and she was reinstated.
Jock Whitney and his Pioneer Pictures’ first attempt at Technicolor [...]

Miriam Hopkins: Q&A with Allan Ellenberger, Part II

Miriam Hopkins: Allan Ellenberger Interview Part I
I understand that Miriam Hopkins turned down a large number of parts. Could you name a few of those? And was there anything she felt sorry she missed out on — any part she rejected but then came to regret her decision, or any part she wanted to play but lost out to someone else?
[Photo: One role Miriam Hopkins accepted: the schoolteacher in These Three, opposite Merle Oberon.]
During her career, Hopkins was scheduled to appear in countless films that were never made, or the parts were given to another actress. Of course, it was a combination of her changing her mind about projects and in some cases the studio changing theirs. Some [...]

Miriam Hopkins: Allan Ellenberger Interview I

Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins in All of Me

Miriam Hopkins: Allan Ellenberger Interview Intro
First of all, why Miriam Hopkins?
The films she made with Bette Davis — The Old Maid (1939) and Old Acquaintance (1943) — first attracted me to Miriam Hopkins. Also, the stories of their purported feud and Davis’ virulent comments that she spouted forth during her last days piqued my interest. Davis has always been a favorite of mine, so anyone who could incur this diva’s wrath must have something going on. I also felt that Hopkins is one of the most underrated actresses from Hollywood’s golden era. Regardless of the quality of her vehicles, she always gave an interesting performance.
 
When people think of the major [...]

Miriam Hopkins: Q&A with Author Allan Ellenberger

Miriam Hopkins in a publicity shot for Becky Sharp

Miriam Hopkins.

If mentioned at all today, Miriam Hopkins‘ name pops up in the media for two reasons:

One of her movies is being shown on cable or at some retrospective or other, and someone says or writes that Old Hollywood’s Miriam Hopkins was a selfish, self-centered, megalomaniacal, scene-stealing, temperamental, fire-spitting Bitch from Hell who made life difficult for co-stars, directors, producers, writers, cameramen, hairdressers, manicurists, costume designers, studio carpenters, and special effects personnel, among others.
Miriam Hopkins was Bette Davis‘ Foremost Nemesis. Davis hated her so much, but so much, that Joan Crawford, Jack Warner, Errol Flynn, and whoever else Davis feuded & fought with during her sixty-year career were transmogrified into [...]

CELEBRITIES IN THE 1930 CENSUS II

CELEBRITIES IN THE 1930 CENSUS Q&A: Part I
What does the 1930 census tell us about those people?
Specifically, it’s a snapshot of each celebrity’s life on one specific day — April 1, 1930.
As I put this book together, I had to decide which information I would include from the census. I realized that listing the answers to all 32 questions would not be possible, so I chose twelve of the most appealing and relevant. Of course, I knew that the subjects’ location would attract the most curiosity.
The value of the person’s home or the rent he paid was another point of interest. This was the only census in which every person was asked if he or she owned [...]

CELEBRITIES IN THE 1930 CENSUS: Q&A with Author Allan R. Ellenberger

As it says on the cover, Allan R. Ellenberger’s Celebrities in the 1930 Census (McFarland, 2008, US$49.95) is a compilation of household data — as collected by 1930 census takers — of more than 2,000 "U.S. actors, musicians, scientists, athletes, writers, politicians and other public figures." (The woman in the photo is aviatrix Amelia Earhart.)
The book, of course, doesn’t offer any saucy insights into the lives of those people. Instead, it’s a straightforward amalgam of un-dramatic — but important — information for researchers. (Though non-researchers may find the myriad listings addictive as well.)
For instance, when I wrote the Ramon Novarro (above right) biography Beyond Paradise, I didn’t have access to the 1930 census, which became part of the public record [...]

Miriam Hopkins Biography in the Works

Though relatively forgotten and, when remembered, usually dismissed as a second-rate talent (quite possibly by those who have never seen her on film), Miriam Hopkins was actually a highly capable performer who worked with some of the most renowned directors in Hollywood history — Rouben Mamoulian, Ernst Lubitsch, and William Wyler, among them.
Hopkins was also a household name in the 1930s, a time when she co-reigned, at least for a brief while early in the decade, as one of the Queens of Paramount.
Apart from the fact that time tends to dim memories, that most early Paramount films are shamefully unavailable (thanks to thoughtless executives at Universal, the studio that now owns most of the Paramount classics), and that most U.S. [...]

THE VALENTINO MYSTIQUE by Allan Ellenberger

Allan R. Ellenberger’s meticulously researched The Valentino Mystique: The Death and Afterlife of the Silent Film Idol depicts in great detail the circumstances surrounding Rudolph Valentino’s death in 1926. (The star of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and The Sheik was only 31 years old.)
Allan — I’ve known him for quite some time — also discusses the aftermath of the film legend’s death, including the riots, suicides, fights over the estate, and Pola Negri’s myriad fainting spells. (Negri used to claim that only death prevented Valentino from marrying her.)
Rudolph Valentino is currently back in the news following the discovery of the 1922 film Beyond the Rocks, in which he plays Gloria Swanson’s love interest. Beyond the Rocks had [...]

Recently Posted

• Oscar 2010: Animated Short Film Semi-Finalists
• Golden Globes 2010 Predictions: Best Picture – Comedy or Musical
• Golden Globes 2010 Predictions: Best Picture - Drama
• Noel Clarke's ADULTHOOD on IFC Festival Direct
• Oscar 2010: Documentary Feature Semi-Finalists
• THE FUPLERS: Q&A with Matt Koval
• Yoav Shamir's DEFAMATION Opens in NY/LA
• TCM Classic Film Festival: A STAR IS BORN, METROPOLIS, BREATHLESS, 2001
• FOUR SEASONS LODGE Screenings
• Oscar 2010: Hash Hamilton to Direct Oscar Telecast

Most Popular Tags

2008 Oscar 2010 Oscar Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Animation Best Films Books Box Office Brokeback Mountain Censorship Classic Movies Daniel Day-Lewis Documentaries DVDs Film Awards Film Festivals Film Reviews Gay Film Festivals Gay Interest Gay Movies Heath Ledger Helen Mirren Interviews London Film Festival London Film Festival 2009 Los Angeles Screenings Martin Scorsese New York Screenings No Country for Old Men Oscar Movies Photos Political Movies Politics Sex Shorts Silent Films Slumdog Millionaire Sundance Film Festival Trailers Turner Classic Movies


Related Posts

Rudolph Valentino Memorial Service 2007Marsha Hunt Discusses Anthony DexterRamon Novarro: Q&A with Author Allan EllenbergerRamon Novarro Photo Montage and THE PAGAN ClipAllan Ellenberger on Miriam HopkinsRudolph Valentino’s Legacy