Tweet the Ghost of Rosy Taylor

I finally got a copy and watched "The Ghost of Rosy Taylor" and even though the quality wasn't the finest, I thought it was an excellent movie and I can understand what the attraction was about for Mary Miles Minter. Very pretty and though some people might say a little under acting, I thought she was very effective.

Just my two cents.

I have this also but have not watched it... maybe this weekend.

Well that was pretty bad....

Ed Sloman, the director, hated Minter and it was likely mutual. I'm not very fond of Ghost either but I agree with the originating post that Mary had lots of ability. They worked her to death at American and - with her mother's help - ruined a potentially fine career. (The Taylor stuff was still years ahead.)

Sloman was a very skilled and interesting director whose visually demanding style did not last terribly long once the talkies came in. Right now I am watching his A DOG OF FLANDERS and while the dialogue direction stinks, visually it's perfect, including the performances.

Bob

Sloman's Murder By The Clock (1931) looks great, has a fine cast and a nifty story, but it moves like molasses. Puttin' On The Ritz (1930) looks even better with sets by William Cameron Menzies, but it comes to a dead stop every time Harry Richman stops singing and tries to act. The Lost Zeppelin (1929) is pretty much a slog through the love triangle (most of the picture) but really picks up interest once the zeppelin action starts.

The film starts off with a prologue about there being on 5 extant MMM films, and only 4 for Sloman. Is this still true?

The narrative structure is interesting in having the film start near the end and then filling in info via flashback. The story is trite but but usual for the time (1918) in that it full of illogic and strung together by a series of coincidences.

So poor little MMM is living in France with her expatriate father. He dies. She gets to USA working as a nurse (she's 16 or so) and gets back to ancestral home (with $17). She takes the places of Rosy Taylor but is sent to reform school when she's taken for a burglar, etc.

MMM seems ok but it's hard to tell from one film. Allan Forrest, Kate Price, and George Periolat (duel role) co-star.

Much of the plot is carried by handwritten letters, few of which can be read because of deterioration. So it's a little hard to follow the whiz-bang 60 minutes of story.

What else exists for MMM ?

Well, I've seen eight films directed by Sloman. They are:

THE GHOST OF ROSY TAYLOR (1918)
UP THE LADDER (1925)
HIS PEOPLE (1925)
THE LOST ZEPPELIN (1929)
PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ (1930)
THE CONQUERING HORDE (1931)
MURDER BY THE CLOCK (1931)
A DOG OF FLANDERS (1935)

Can anyone add to this list?

Bob

I've seen Sloman's Zeppelin movie and the fascinating Puttin' on the Ritz, notable as Harry Richman's ill-conceived star vehicle.

[Danny Burk]

Can anyone add to this list?

Bob

SURRENDER (1927)

Well, I've seen eight films directed by Sloman. They are:

THE GHOST OF ROSY TAYLOR (1918)
UP THE LADDER (1925)
HIS PEOPLE (1925)
THE LOST ZEPPELIN (1929)
PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ (1930)
THE CONQUERING HORDE (1931)
MURDER BY THE CLOCK (1931)
A DOG OF FLANDERS (1935)

Can anyone add to this list?

Bob

In the last month or so I've watched "Gun Smoke" (1931) with Richard Arlen, and it's an amazing piece - gangsters go out "West" to Idaho (almost seeming like 1890 instead of 1931) - but it's really wonderfully done, from direction to acting to writing. Well worth seeing. By the way, its violence is totally shocking for the day.

Also in the last month, I watched "His People" (1925), which, although you have it listed as one you've seen, should be touted. It's really very good, and the visuals, especially near the beginning of the film where most of the action is in the streets, are a sweet dessert of fine photography. Story's slightly hackneyed by today's standards, but this was one of the seminal attempts at that story. Nicely done. I liked Rudolph Schildkraut, too.

About two months ago I watched "There's Always Tomorrow" (1934) with Frank Morgan playing an older gentleman who has an affair with a girl he'd known in the distant past. It's really a remarkably fine film, and I was very surprised I'd never heard of it. It also goes under the name "Too Late for Love". Binnie Barnes as the lover is a little too stage bound in her acting, but Lois Wilson as Morgan's wife is superb, and it's one of Robert Taylor's earliest performances on film, and he plays one of Morgan's sons. Recommended if you can find it.

I think "Puttin' On The Ritz" was one of the worst musicals I've ever experienced. Can't stand Harry Richman.

"The Ghost of Rosy Taylor" I saw a number of years ago and liked it. I've seen the others on your list, too - with the exception of "The Conquering Horde".

I'm waiting for the release of "Surrender" by the Jewish Film Institute, something they promised over two years ago. Presently, they have it available for rent in 16mm. They are promising a DVD release - but when, who knows?

Besides the titles directed by Mr. Sloman which I listed above, the IMDB shows the following titles survive according to the number of votes that have been cast by people whom, I would presume, claim to have seen the movies:

Director
48 Puttin' on the Ritz (1930)
45 Murder by the Clock (1931)
34 A Dog of Flanders (1935)
33 His Woman (1931)
29 The Lost Zeppelin (1929)
25 The Perfect Tribute (1935)
20 The Storm Breaker (1925) 12 His People (1925)
11 The Ghost of Rosy Taylor (1918)
10 The Conquering Horde (1931)
8 Surrender (1927)
7 The Kibitzer (1930)
7 Wayward (1932)
5 Gun Smoke (1931)


As Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
66 Behind the Mask (1932)


The number at the start of each line is the number of people who have rated the film. The IMDB doesn't track movies which four or fewer people have rated; and I strongly suspect that not everyone who claims to have seen a particular title has seen it; certainly there are more than 50 Melies titles with between five and nine votes which don't appear on either Melies dvd set -- and at least a couple of the Talmadge titles have reviews which the reviewer admits not having seen.

However, currently we can say that between nine and thirteen of Sloman's directorial efforts are, to some extent, available.

Bob