Gallery of Mastheads

[Jim Roots]

With apologies to Bob Fells, this photo makes Arliss look like the most unattractive man since Neanderthal times. It literally makes him look like a cross between a chimpanzee and a feral pig.

He wasn't that bad-looking!

Jim

[bobfells]

Mike said that he was looking for a photo that had "personality" so I proposed a few, among them was the one that graces the N'ville Masthead for September. The portrait was taken in conjunction with THE WORKING MAN (1933), which was a remake of $20 DOLLARS A WEEK. I rather like the photo and a close examination of my 8x10 inch original reveals Mr. A to have a distinct five o'clock shadow that puts him right in style with the contemporary male fashion of today. As for Mr. Roots' disapproval, I'm reminded of something Will Rogers told a reporter: "I don't care what you say about me, just spell my name right."

BTW, this year marks the 150th anniversary of Mr. A's birth so I made up this little video to mark the occasion:

https://youtu.be/Dns0RUYYs84

[Hamilton's Grandson]

Nice tribute on YT and great selection of colored stills.

Thanks for increasing our awareness of Arliss.

[Jim Roots]

Apologies for the misspelling of your name, bobfells.

Jim

[bobfells]

Apologies for the misspelling of your name, bobfells.

Jim

I've been called worse.

Bob

[Mike Gebert]

It started in January 1918 with a country doctor who noticed so much flu in Haskell County, Kansas that he took the unusual step of reporting it to the U.S. Public Health Service. Around the same time, soldiers from Haskell County traveled to Camp Funston at Fort Riley, Kansas. An army camp would prove to be a perfect vector for quickly spreading disease, first within the camp and then to other places around the country‚ and then, because World War I was still raging, to places around the world. By October 1918, its deadliest month, the so-called Spanish Flu was a global pandemic.

And so the industrial world proved remarkably efficient at spreading disease worldwide. Among the millions who would die from it—more than would die in World War I itself, if you don't consider the pandemic an effect of the war—are three figures of American motion pictures shown on this month's masthead. On the right, the popular star Harold Lockwood, who died on October 19. In the center, the actress Myrtle Gonzalez, who died October 22nd. And on the left, John H. Collins, a leading director and husband of the star Viola Dana, who died on the 23rd. Some threads:

1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic Effects
INFLUENZA 1918 - American Experience
Harold Lockwood
John H. Collins - Wow!
NEW KICKSTARTER: THE COSSACK WHIP (1916)

Ed Lorusso has a good blog post about it here.

[Brooksie]

The list of casualties from Variety, included as part of Ed's blog post, is truly sobering. The number of later-to-be-famous names that can be found amongst the survivors makes you wonder what might have been.

[boblipton]

The loss of life is terrible. However, I think there was a pause in the advancement of cinematic art, a lack of innovation, in the period from 1918 through 1920. I had attributed it to the period of economic confusion, the fact that America could sell into a Europe finally at peace with almost no German or French production and so no need to stretch. This month's masthead notes another factor: people in a position to push, died.

Bob

[drednm]

The list of casualties from Variety, included as part of Ed's blog post, is truly sobering. The number of later-to-be-famous names that can be found amongst the survivors makes you wonder what might have been.

That page from Variety I posted was one page from one issue. There was one article I found, and I'm sure there were many more, where a man was shot and killed because he was not wearing a flu mask when he tried to board a street car. It must have been a terrifying thing to go thru.

[s.w.a.c.]

My grandfather was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Station north of Chicago, which was an epicentre of the outbreak in that region.

Here's a recent piece on it from the Chicago Tribune.

There was an American Experience doc about the epidemic not too long ago, worth seeking out.

[linquist]

Not sure if any of this is in any of the posted links so::
SHOULDER ARMS was released just as the pandemic started and I have come across articles that said that people defied medical bans in order to see the film. It was the one film that continued to have packed houses through the pandemic, when theaters were open. I had also read that the major stars had a number of studio doctors/nurses by their side. Supposedly, Mary Pickford had a staff of health care workers and Dorothy Gish was sent to live with the Talmadges when Lillian came down with it. Griffith and Sennett also kept their studios open and Lillian Gish was barely into recovery when she filmed BROKEN BLOSSOMS.

Also, the source of the flu seems to be changing. A recent history book on WWI that I read mentioned the usual suspect: China. In this semi-substantiated theory, Britain imported Chinese worked and transported them across Canada. Supposedly, some of these workers already had the flu and there are supposed to be mass graves of Chinese workers somewhere in Canada. Now sure how this got to America beyond proximity.

[drednm]

Not sure if any of this is in any of the posted links so::
SHOULDER ARMS was released just as the pandemic started and I have come across articles that said that people defied medical bans in order to see the film. It was the one film that continued to have packed houses through the pandemic, when theaters were open. I had also read that the major stars had a number of studio doctors/nurses by their side. Supposedly, Mary Pickford had a staff of health care workers and Dorothy Gish was sent to live with the Talmadges when Lillian came down with it. Griffith and Sennett also kept their studios open and Lillian Gish was barely into recovery when she filmed BROKEN BLOSSOMS.

Also, the source of the flu seems to be changing. A recent history book on WWI that I read mentioned the usual suspect: China. In this semi-substantiated theory, Britain imported Chinese worked and transported them across Canada. Supposedly, some of these workers already had the flu and there are supposed to be mass graves of Chinese workers somewhere in Canada. Now sure how this got to America beyond proximity.

Some accounts name Boston and some name Kansas. Nobody knew what it was. It was also enabled in Europe in the many filthy military hospitals, so many in the military died from the flu but were listed as war casualties. Griffith was forced to keep working because of money issues. He wore a flu mask while filming The Girl Who Stayed Home, which starred Carol Dempster because Lillian Gish was ill. I know I've seen a photo of GWG wearing a mask while directing but cannot find it online.

[Brooksie]

The list of casualties from Variety, included as part of Ed's blog post, is truly sobering. The number of later-to-be-famous names that can be found amongst the survivors makes you wonder what might have been.

That page from Variety I posted was one page from one issue. There was one article I found, and I'm sure there were many more, where a man was shot and killed because he was not wearing a flu mask when he tried to board a street car. It must have been a terrifying thing to go thru.

One of my great-great uncles was arrested and fined for not wearing his flu mask on public transport. Ironically, his brother, who was fighting on the Western Front, had what was probably the same flu in the very early stages of the epidemic.

[tthacker]

I have a couple of photos of Myrtle Gonzalez in my collection, this one being my favorite.

[Brooksie]

Myrtle seems to have been a very interesting performer - an action girl along the lines of Helen Holmes or Helen Gibson. I covered her lost film The Chalice of Courage (1915) in my 1916 Film Diary - see https://brooksieatthemovies.weebly.com/may-1916.html.

The number of performers I covered who were affected by the disease gives some idea of its reach. The French performer Gladys Deslys was another victim, while Olga Petrova, Alice Guy Blaché, Mary Pickford and possibly Theda Bara were amongst the survivors.

[drednm]

I found an article that listed Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino (sick for 5 weeks) as survivors. It also talked about Viola Dana's complete nervous breakdown after Collins' death PLUS she had a slight bout with the flu as did sister Shirley Mason. It also listed Own Moore, Thomas Meighan, Mae Marsh and sister Marguerite Marsh. Also listed were Mary Pickford, but moreso Lottie Pickford. Also listed are Texas Guinan, Howard Hickman, and Bill Russell (I'm not familiar with these last two).

[Mike Gebert]

So strange coincidence—the first time I had heard of Gaby Deslys, which I think is the actual name of the flu victim mentioned above as Gladys Deslys, was yesterday afternoon. A few hours later, I saw her name for the second time in a Facebook post, as the owner of a famously opulent bed, which upon her death was purchased by MGM's prop department... and has had a very long life since.

[drednm]

and Gloria Swanson in 1919.

[drednm]

So strange coincidence—the first time I had heard of Gaby Deslys, which I think is the actual name of the flu victim mentioned above as Gladys Deslys, was yesterday afternoon. A few hours later, I saw her name for the second time in a Facebook post, as the owner of a famously opulent bed, which upon her death was purchased by MGM's prop department... and has had a very long life since.

I only know this name because she appeared in the Broadway show Stop! Look! Listen! with Marion Davies in 1915.

[Brooksie]

So strange coincidence—the first time I had heard of Gaby Deslys, which I think is the actual name of the flu victim mentioned above as Gladys Deslys, was yesterday afternoon. A few hours later, I saw her name for the second time in a Facebook post, as the owner of a famously opulent bed, which upon her death was purchased by MGM's prop department... and has had a very long life since.

It is indeed Gaby Deslys (ah, autocorrect ... at least it was so baffled by 'Deslys' that it didn't even try to unscramble it ...)

She's one of those performers who was a household name in her day, but comes up today only in the odd anecdote - a kind of French equivalent to Irene Castle.

A capsule summary of her film career: she was another of the 'famous players' of the stage that Adolph Zukor attempted to transform into a screen star. The pseudo-autobiographical Her Triumph (1915) was her only American film, though she looked poised to make a screen comeback in 1919, when the French picture Infatuation (1919) was released stateside to coincide with her appearance on Broadway. By all accounts, it was a huge success on the basis of the star's name. Presumably, she caught the flu while in America, and Stop! Look! Listen! proved her swansong.

None of her films survive, so we'll probably never know whether she and dance partner Henry Pilcer might one day have challenged Fred and Ginger's mantle, as has sometimes been suggested.

https://brooksieatthemovies.weebly.com/ ... -1916.html

[Jim Roots]

But she was absolutely huge in France and other parts of Europe.

Jim

[Brooksie]

But she was absolutely huge in France and other parts of Europe.

Jim

And elsewhere - Infatuation did gangbuster business in prestige city houses all across America on the basis of Deslys' name (though laid an egg in the 'nabes and stix').

[drednm]

But she was absolutely huge in France and other parts of Europe.

Jim

And elsewhere - Infatuation did gangbuster business in prestige city houses all across America on the basis of Deslys' name (though laid an egg in the 'nabes and stix').

How in hell is that last name pronounced?

[Brooksie]

But she was absolutely huge in France and other parts of Europe.

Jim

And elsewhere - Infatuation did gangbuster business in prestige city houses all across America on the basis of Deslys' name (though laid an egg in the 'nabes and stix').

How in hell is that last name pronounced?

De-Lee. Similar to 'fleur de lys'.

[Tommie Hicks]

I am here today because of the flu epidemic of 1918. My grandfather's first wife died from the flu as well as my grandfather's sister, two brothers and his mother. The flu was especially virulent in tidewater Virginia.

[Mike Gebert]

Seems appropriately gloomy for October 31...



November masthead to come tomorrow night. If the corporate ghouls don't git ya!

[Mike Gebert]

On November 11, 1918, the World War ended—or, some might say, went on pause for 21 years. Soon audiences were so tired of the subject that programs were advertised as "No War Films!" Or so legend has it, anyway.

Before that happened, though, in March 1918 D.W. Griffith released Hearts of the World, probably (along with Chaplin's Shoulder Arms) the best-known WWI film made during the war itself, and so I use it and stars Robert Harron and Lillian Gish to mark the centenary of the conclusion of the war, as this film marked the centenary of its beginning. As a film it has lasted, at least, better than the idea that the Great War was the war to end all wars—World War I has proven to be the father of wars not only in Europe but in places from Indochina to the country Gertrude Bell invented in its aftermath, Iraq.

[Brooksie]

Hearts of the World has the distinction - possibly unique - of being mentioned in a novel about the war written well within living memory of it, Rilla of Ingleside (1921). To tie things in with last month's theme, the book was dedicated to a friend of the author who had died of the Spanish Flu.

[s.w.a.c.]

Hearts of the World has the distinction - possibly unique - of being mentioned in a novel about the war written well within living memory of it, Rilla of Ingleside (1921). To tie things in with last month's theme, the book was dedicated to a friend of the author who had died of the Spanish Flu.

As soon as I saw that title, I knew it rang a bell, and saw it was one of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables novels (most folks probably don't know there are nine books in the series, Rilla is about Lucy and Gilbert's daughter), and one which I never got around to. I keep thinking I'm going to re-read the first three, and continue with the rest one of these days...I feel like a bad Maritimer for not finishing the series, which is set so close to home.

[Brooksie]

Yes, that's the one. Even though it's the last in the series, my advice is to skip ahead and read it anyway - it's a fine standalone book and does not really require knowledge of the earlier books which, because they were published out of chronological order, contain some foreshadowing that acts as a spoiler to the events of Rilla of Ingleside.

It was written close enough to the war to feel very authentic (so much so that some of the more paranoid anti-German sentiment was later censored; an unexpurgated version was published a few years ago).