Tweet Silent Films About Hollywood and Movie Stardom

Hey gang. So I'm working on a long-term project on star narratives from the 1910s and 1920s, and plan on doing a considerable amount of research into the fictional accounts of Hollywood stardom (and, to some extent, fandom) from these two decades. As such, I will be looking at many novels (serialized or otherwise) and short stories from the period, and will spend the next year or so watching the various films that either directly or indirectly deal with film stardom.

So, in the interest of seeking assistance from the authorities on all things silent cinema, I thought I'd swing by and ask you guys if you had any film recommendations for this project? I've already started work on the more well-known star narratives from the period (Souls for Sale, Show People, Ella Cinders, The Last Command, etc.) and some films tangentially related to my project (Are Parents People?, The Patsy, etc.) and the "lost films" (Hollywood, Merton of the Movies, etc.). Oh, and I guess I'll also have to talk about The Artist too, since it's technically relevant to my project.

Any recommendations for films I might have missed? I'm excited to see more films (or at least look at the lobby cards and fantasize about actually seeing the film).

Thanks in advance, everyone. Even though I'm something of a lurker, I gotta say it: you guys are the best!

Other Titles:
THE EXTRA GIRL
MOVIE MANIA
HIS NEW JOB
THE LAST COMMAND
FREE AND EASY
A MOVIE STAR (1916)
NIGHT LIFE IN HOLLYWOOD
THE SKYROCKET

[silentfilm]

Crazy to Act (1927) Oliver Hardy's only appearance in a Mack Sennett short.

[Christopher Jacobs]

A GIRL'S FOLLY (1917) deals with the New York/New Jersey movie industry, but it also shows that nothing much has changed about public impressions of movie stars and getting into the movies after nearly a century, not to mention the contrast between rural and urban lifestyles.

Here are a few. Chaplin's BEHIND THE SCREEN (1916), A SMALL TOWN IDOL (1923) with Ben Turpin and vast all Star cast. Mary Of The Movies (1923). As the first Columbia Pictures features, it is supposedly being restored by Sony. Also the Russian film A KISS FOR MARY PICKFORD. I'm sure that their were probably many others.
There is an early 20's short with Will Rogers, but i can't think of the name of it?

This is why I love you guys. Thank you so much, everyone! Some excellent discoveries in this thread; you've all given me plenty of fascinating stuff to hunt down. To the archives! (Or, um, wherever I can find these films.) Many of these I'd already considered, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm once again over-the-moon and wildly impressed by the wealth of knowledge demonstrated by you fine folks.

(I'm especially excited to discover that there is a film adaptation of The Skyrocket, especially since it apparently stars Peggy Hopkins Joyce. Oh, boy, that sounds like a hoot!)

A few more:

The Picture Company (Those Jersey Cowpunchers) Nestor 1911
Lost and Won 1911 H. Bosworth
The Picture Idol 1911 M. Costello
A Vitagraph Romance 1912
A Newsboy's Luck 1911 Lubin
The Stolen Voice 1915 R.Warwick
When the Studio Burned 1913 Thanhauser
Pop Tuttle's Movie Queen 1922
the Buck Parvin series with Art Acord @1916 (the Extra Man and the Milk-Fed Lion is around)

in Europe:
Debuts de Max au cinematograph 1910
The film Primadonna 1913 A. Nielsen
Cenerentola 1913 Ambrosio

Not necessarily about Hollywood success but stories around moviemaking.

It seems that there were as many or more about careers on the Stage.

Another one more about filmmaking than stardom is THE EVIDENCE OF THE FILM.

And some of those are available online:

A Vitagraph Romance
http://www.thoughtequity.com/video/clip ... =vitagraph" target="_blank

The Picture Idol
http://www.thoughtequity.com/video/clip ... ure%2Cidol" target="_blank

The Evidence of the Film
http://thanhouser.org/films/Evidence.htm" target="_blank

When the Studio Burned
http://thanhouser.org/films/studio_burned.htm" target="_blank
And some of those are available online:

And on this page:
http://dryden.eastmanhouse.org/sneak-peek/
you can find The Stolen Voice (1915--it's a ways into the film before he becomes a film actor)


greta

greta

Oh, and another lost one: In Hollywood with Potash and Permutter (1924)

Once Columbia-Tristar complete their restoration, 'Alice in Movieland' (1927) is one you can add to the list.

Polly of the Movies

Thanks folks! You've given me plenty of stuff to hunt down and research.

And if I may stretch it a bit...Felix in Hollywood.

He gets to meet William S. Hart, Douglas Fairbanks, Gloria Swanson, Charlie Chaplin...and Will Hays!

That reminds me, I think I asked this about Felix in Hollywood back on a.m.s., but does anyone know who that is that Felix encounters around the 6:20 mark? I'm thinking it's a well-known director, but it doesn't look like anyone I can recognize right off the bat. Clearly from the way he's caricatured we're supposed to know who he is.

A FILM JOHNNIE and THE MASQUERADER, with Charlie Chaplin take place at the Keystone studio.

Mabel's Dramatic Career

greta

Just remembered, another is HER BIG NIGHT (Universal, 1926) with Laura La Plante. Not a lost film it was found about 15 years ago. I know people that have seen it. They said the print was in very good condition.

Gagman, the Will Rogers short you mentioned is
BIG MOMENTS FROM LITTLE PICTURES (1924).

You might also try THE MOVIES (1925) starring
Lloyd Hamilton. This short is available on THE
FORGOTTEN FILMS OF ROSCOE "FATTY" ARBUCKLE
set.

Gagman, the Will Rogers short you mentioned is
BIG MOMENTS FROM LITTLE PICTURES (1924).

Or it might be the other movie satire Rogers made for Hal Roach, Uncensored Movies (1923). The earlier film has an interesting framework: Will goes back to his hometown to tell his friends and neighbors about life in Hollywood. He sets up a projector at a town meeting and show clips from current productions -- actually parodies, of course. There are some indirect references to the Hollywood scandals of the early '20s.

Big Moments is the more straightforward satire, in which Will simply performs impersonations of his fellow stars: Valentino, Fairbanks, and Ford Sterling. The Keystone parody is first-rate, and easily could convince modern-day viewers it's the real thing. Hal Roach must have gotten a kick out of spoofing his rival.

THE ICED BULLET (1917) with William Desmond as a writer on the Ince lot. It's at the LOC.

the Horace in Hollywood series at Universal with Arthur Lake. HOLLYWOOD OR BUST (1928) is at LOC.

Will Rogers also made Doubling for Romeo, where he goes to Hollywood and becomes a stunt double.

Colleen Moore's Ella Cinders has her going to Hollywood, and in Dogs of War the Our Gang kids end up behind the camera with Harold Lloyd, if I remember correctly. And wasn't there an English movie called Shooting Stars that takes place in a film studio?

Oh yes, SHOOTING STARS is great! It's a German Expressionist/pre-film noir full of film background, both in the studio and in "real" life.

[Christopher Jacobs]

I guess that MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH might also qualify, sort of.

Paul E. Gierucki wrote:

You might also try THE MOVIES (1925) starring
Lloyd Hamilton. This short is available on THE
FORGOTTEN FILMS OF ROSCOE "FATTY" ARBUCKLE
set.

This set also includes the Johnny Arthur short MY STARS, which deals with fandom.

A TRIP TO PARAMOUNT TOWN(1922) a behind the scenes pseudo documentary and still yet another appearance by Elsie Ferguson. Made a year before HOLLYWOOD. I remember seeing scenes from 'TRIP , with or about Wallace Reid, on a television special. It was hosted by Jackie Cooper. I believe they were fragments from 'TRIP and of course talked about Reid's drug use/demise.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0229789/

Thanks everyone! You've all been a wonderful help! Now begins the difficult journey... of actually trying to find some of these films. Gulp.

I just ran across the fact that A TRIP TO PARAMOUNT TOWN is offered on the 2007 Flicker Alley DVD of Rudolph Valentino material. But I knew I had seen parts of it many years back on television. Just thought I'd pass it on. Here's a link from silentera.com:

http://www.silentera.com/video/collVale ... verHV.html

Thanks everyone! You've all been a wonderful help! Now begins the difficult journey... of actually trying to find some of these films. Gulp.

If you don't know about it already, check these titles on the silent era website which will at least get you started thinking about whether these films are still available. It's not 100% complete, but its close http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/index.html

Also, if you are looking to amass a huge list here's a tip: the AFI online catalog has "actors and actresses" and "motion pictures" as keywords: you can easily do an advanced search with both of those and limit it to the years in questions. You need a membership to log on, but lots of universities have subscription, and if you're not already associated with one, most university libraries will let you walk in and use their databases for the day.

Finally, the journal Film History did a special issue in 2008 on motion picture fictions, where you'll find a bibliography of more literary sources.

And if in your research, you come across more examples of instances (on film or in literature) where people are depicted watching film -- or even instances where film-watching is alluded to, please do post them in the "watching films on film thread" (unfortunately, the AFI catalog does not have a keyword for this particular trope).