Classic movie site with rare images, original ads, and behind-the-scenes photos, with informative and insightful commentary. We like to have fun with movies!
Archive and Links
grbrpix@aol.com
Search Index Here




Monday, January 25, 2021

Of Old Times and Past Personalities

 



Lillian Russell From Footlight To Spotlight


20th Fox getting musical start on Gay 90's nostalgia that would last over a decade. 90’s was when a lot of music still popular in 1940 had its start, not unlike us enjoying rock and roll/pop minted through the 50/60's. Difference was modes of dress and transport old-timey to ‘40 viewership, autos/air travel having come since a turn of the century and fashions taking radical new direction, thus memory stroll past endearing strangeness of still recalled times (equivalent to our sentiment for the 70’s?). Hollywood found comfort in presenting a nineteenth cent celeb however way they pleased, there being little film and fewer artifacts to show what these folks truly looked/acted like. So it was free interp on Lillian Russell, and if she wasn't a lot like Alice Faye, then go fish, for Fox was serving need of Faye's fanbase, not what remained of Russell's, them too old in any case to be of consequence.



The real Lillian Russell looks portly from stills, but how so? Weight was said to reach 160 later in the forty-year career, Lillian liking to eat --- in fact, she had chow contests with “Diamond Jim” Brady, the two stuffing selves amidst elegant diners of the day, to feast hearty no source of shame. Ace showman Charles Frohman would order stacks of fresh pie to see him through busy Broadway afternoons, then head to Delmonico’s for whatever more dessert waited on him. Bigger-than-life Frohman, rounder than he was tall, did everything in a large way. If men fed like starved horses, why not women, specifically Lillian, who to the movie’s credit, longs for corn on the cob and how much she puts away in a sitting. The 90’s were gay for plentiful reason. Another way they got the movie right, Alice Faye and her inspiration Lillian being somewhat zaftig, early-on plus for Faye as it had been for Russell. There was not impression that Alice went hungry for cameras. She was, in fact, a best casting for Lillian Russell Fox could have found.

They Could Be Twins! The Real Diamond Jim Brady, and Edward Arnold, Who Played Him



Recordings suggest Russell did not sing so hot, but did have what they called "something," unfair for us to judge by then-voice capture itself primitive and bare hint of what audiences heard. There was gulf of difference between seeing Lillian Russell and just hearing her, visual stimulus an essential where she was concerned. Others were as fragile, Al Jolson notable instance of needing to be there and watch him live and strutting. Moderns deal a same cold hand to both, as in what’s so great about either? Russell tended her own field, attracted powerful men, and harvested diamonds they would garland flower arrangements with. She was into physical culture, so Diamond Jim gifted a jewel encrusted bicycle for Sunday outings. Such was extravagance that, late as the mid-50’s, Marilyn Monroe, at left, recreated the sport stance to evoke Russell in flower. Lillian and Jim’s was a tie-up of convenience, publicity helpful to both for their association, though it’s said Jim offered Lil two million to marry him (more I think about it, had Faye not been available and preferred, Mae West would have been aces as Russell). The movie casts Edward Arnold for a Brady encore, his having done the role first in 1935, Arnold and the real Jim alarmingly similar when you look at old photos. Fictive Brady weeps with his back to the camera after Alice/Lillian passes on his proposal, nice sentiment even if actual Brady never took the turndown as hard (in fact, he had a dozen of the bikes custom-built for a number of pals). So where are the wheels today that he gave Russell? Inquiry says UC Davis, their having bought a warehouse of vintage bicycles from a lifelong collector. What would it be like to spend your span gathering these, says I, as bicycle folk wonder why I do what I do. Each to his own.




We can't know what frisson existed between stage luminaries and their public. Writings handed down might evoke the spell, but not recreate it beyond descriptive word. Still and all, Lillian Russell was filled with living links to past stage and vaudeville tradition, both in front of, and behind, cameras. Director Irving Cummings had played opposite real-life Lillian in her final play, In Search Of A Sinner, and had been introduced to his wife by Diamond Jim Brady. There was supporting player Joseph Cawthorn, a performing colleague to Russell, with Leo Carrillo, another vaude vet, as Tony Pastor. Eddie Foy, Jr. is also in Lillian Russell to recreate one of his father's stage turns. The real Russell was there from variety’s start with Pastor, committed to mature vaudeville by 1905, entered folklore by 1915, did but one movie the same annum (a clip on You Tube, maybe all that exists, her seated in a chair as Lionel Barrymore gesticulates). Lillian appeared too for Kinemacolor cameras, also on YT, an adjunct for her speaking tour called “How To Live 100 Years.” She’d try making good on the notion, was around till 1922 and age 61 exit. What an era to come up in, born 1860 (did her kindergarten celebrate Appomattox?), then being vital to all of modern show biz that followed. Russell would embroider her life for articles in Cosmopolitan near the end. As with many entertainers who wrote, why worry what’s true, so long as it engages? Hers does. Oddly enough, the columns were never gathered for a book, though one installment at least (her beginnings) turns up in acting and vaudeville histories.



Most remarkable of guests appearing in Lillian Russell was Weber and Fields, the joy-boys celebrating sixty-five years at show performing, having been teamed at comedy since they were kids. Fascinating here was the duo staging time-honored routine in a same year latter-day Weber and Fields in the person of Abbott and Costello were making their first splash in movies. Lillian Russell simply stops for W&F's extended turn, the two playing "themselves" in a backstage card game. Six decades had not dulled their timing (but how can we tell?, not having access to Weber-Field perfs from a half-century before), and it's nice to see clowns of such vintage come off effectively. Fox knew there was something special in the reunion, and would not hurry it along. In fact, a delighted Darryl Zanuck had the routine expanded after eyeball at rushes, letting Weber/Fields foolery run to triple the intended length. Critics would say theirs was highlight contribution to Lillian Russell.

Let's Have a Beauty Contest --- Lillian Russell at Left, or Evelyn Nesbit at Right? 


Fox publicized its year-long nationwide search for photos of Lillian Russell. 800 images were turned up. For all I know, that remains what survives today, or could it be even less these eighty-one years after Lillian Russell was made? Such info raises this question too: What becomes of content from a studio's research department? Were those files eventually junked, sold, or what? I'd like to think Fox's research is still extant on the lot, but am not optimistic. Certainly the prep they did for Lillian Russell represented a most extensive inquiry on the woman's life and career up to that time, Fox having far more resource and initiative than any historian before or since. Might those 800 photos of Lillian Russell still be in file cabinets? Further burning inquiry: Was she a most beautiful woman that lived? Yet again … matter of taste, and it depends on what stage of her life portraits were taken (pre or post-corns on the cob). I’m fascinated by really old images thought gorgeous then that still are, or not, today, Russell OK so long as you don’t put her beside Evelyn Nesbit, a for-instance contemporary. So whose vintage beauty, these or others of the period, translate best to today?




Fox went junket route for a dual Lillian Russell premiere, one at their subject's hometown, Clinton, Iowa, the other in Pittsburgh, PA, Russell's last residence. Trains were loaded with stars who'd attend as part of contract duty, such cross-country trips being footloose op to live high off the studio's expense account, empty every bottle in dining compartments, and play musical berths for 3000 miles. The device was good for free publicity at every stop, had raised awareness for Dodge City, Union Pacific, others that opened similarly. Lillian Russell was expensive to make, $1.4 million negative cost, at a time when spending seven figures was far from norm. A lot of critics recalled the real Lillian Russell, some in rose-hue terms, thus pans here/there for Alice Faye's impersonation. The picture ran to what some called an unconscionable 127 minutes, and lost money ($213K). It is fanciful telling of turn-of-century theatre and vaudeville, but for just attempting the vast job, Lillian Russell deserves credit and is a fascinating watch. Alice Faye enjoyed much residual benefit, reprising Russell often for live and TV appearances. It was as if the identities merged in 1940 and stayed that way. An outstanding sample is at You Tube, Faye doing lavish medley of Lillian for a 1968 vid appearance. Lillian Russell is on DVD from Fox, with a nice bio extra on real-life LR. There is also rental or purchase streaming from You Tube in HD.

Where would we be without LANTERN? --- the finest research/history resource movies ever had. Thanks again and again for all this remarkable team has done. 

12 Comments:

Blogger James Abbott said...

One of the great losses to American movies is when Alice Faye just (more-or-less) walked away from them. She was incandescent, and made everything she was in better.

9:56 AM  
Blogger Beowulf said...

Ms. Faye left movies (slowly...and in multiple steps) to join her husband Phil Harris on radio, where they thrived. I don't know if it's original to him, but I've always loved Harris's line, "If I'd known I was going to live so long, I'd have taken better care of myself."

3:23 PM  
Blogger DBenson said...

Interesting marital note: Alice Faye and Tony Martin were married, briefly. It was evidently a two-sided learning experience as each of them went onto famously long-lasting relationships (Tony with Cyd Charisse).

5:57 PM  
Blogger Kevin K. said...

A story I've read is that Phil Harris was dating Alice Faye without knowing her romantic past. So when Harris innocently asked his pal Tony Martin, "Have you met Alice?", he replied, "Met her? I MARRIED her!" If it's true, I'd like to have seen Phil's reaction.

3:26 PM  
Blogger Reg Hartt said...

One of the most interesting aspects of THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE SILENT SCREEN was the physical appearance of the early stars. None of the idealized "beauty" of the later silent period and sound films up till now. People were probably a lot more comfortable in themselves than most now are caught up in the vain attempt to be what they can not and should not be. Truly charismatic people don't look like film stars or the models in advertising.https://www.amazon.com/Pictorial-History-Silent-Screen/dp/0448014777 . That said, Alice Faye is fine by me. "If I'd known I was going to live so long, I'd have taken better care of myself," is probably true of all of us. But then we would not have had as much fun.

3:59 PM  
Blogger Barry Rivadue said...

I had the privilege to talk with Alice Faye on the phone a few times in the 1980s. One takeaway I'll never forget is when I asked what she thought of Al Jolson, her co-star in ROSE OF WASHINGTON SQUARE (1939). Her succinct reply? "I didn't like him!"

5:06 PM  
Blogger antoniod said...

Fox wanted Laurel and Hardy to do supporting roles, one assumes as "old-time" vaudevillians in nostalgic musicals, after their B film series ended, but of course Stan had had enough of Fox.

5:15 PM  
Blogger John McElwee said...

Dan Mercer considers changing standards of beauty as applied to past actresses of the stage:


I've seen photographs of Lily Langtry suggesting that Judge Roy Bean’s obsession with her was not entirely misplaced. At that, however, her beauty was of a sort that was very much in fashion then and probably not so much now, with a full, rounded figure, round cheeks, and a luxuriant mass of hair. In “trouser” roles, portraying a young boy in some farce or operetta set in the 18th century, that womanly figure would have been charmingly displayed in tight breeches and stockings. I understand that Judge Bean never cast his eyes upon her, but had to be content with carte de visits, posters, and post cards.

The beauty of Evelyn Nesbit, on the other hand, is of a sort that will never go out of fashion. The doe-like eyes, piquant mouth, and delicately emphatic figure would be as celebrated today as then. That she was the nexus of a romantic triangle in which the celebrated architect, Sanford White, was shot dead by her husband, Harry Thaw, is entirely understandable. Men do not possess beauty so much as they are possessed by it, even more so when the object of their admiration is one such as her.

I confess that I am rather intrigued by another contemporary of theirs, Maude Adams, who found lasting fame as the first actress to portray James Barrie’s boy who would never grow up, Peter Pan. She was an elfin creature, slight of figure, with limpid eyes and a delicate profile. There is often an air of melancholy in photographs of her, which one should have wanted to have dispelled. Whether such attention would have been welcome, however, is a question, given her romantic predilection towards her own sex.

Recently I acquired two postcards featuring the Metropolitan Opera soprano, Geraldine Farrar, who I find most attractive, with her large eyes and strong, aristocratic features. Evidently, the men of her time did as well, since it was said that she could have any one of them whom she chose. The one she wanted, however, was the great maestro, Arturo Toscanini. At the height of their affair, she demanded that he leave his wife and children and marry her. In response, he abruptly resigned as principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, though fortunately for music, his career flourished in other venues. She did marry the actor, Lou Tellegen, who proved to be a serial philanderer. Years later, long after the embers of passion had cooled to an ash, she was informed of his death by suicide. “What is that to me?” she responded. No doubt that diva's temperament provided its own consolation.

6:39 PM  
Blogger Scott MacGillivray said...

I read somewhere that Lou Tellegen wrote a candid memoir titled Women Have Been Kind. Otherwise known around Hollywood as Kiss and Tellegen.

6:49 PM  
Blogger William Ferry said...

Fascinating portrait of Evelyn Nesbit. She looks so contemporary, as if she could be in a film with any of today's young actresses!

9:38 PM  
Blogger Filmfanman said...

When reflecting upon the beauties who graced yesteryear's stages, and their relation to those gracing the screens of today, it might be worthwhile to recall that the camera has always had a mind of its own; and that some of them - though always cutting fair figures whilst bounding the boards - might not have passed a screen test.

2:25 PM  
Blogger Filmfanman said...

"Come Down Ma Evenin' Star", sung by Lillian Russell, as recorded in 1912 - listen to it here:

https://archive.org/details/LillianRussell

"This was the signature song of the famed "Queen of Comic Opera" star Lillian Russell, and it is her only known recording, done privately in 1912 and re-recorded onto a private label 78 RPM in 1943" (quote taken from comment by Mississippi King on webpage linked above).

Speaking for myself, I could take it or leave it. The tuba was nice, I guess.

8:45 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

grbrpix@aol.com
  • December 2005
  • January 2006
  • February 2006
  • March 2006
  • April 2006
  • May 2006
  • June 2006
  • July 2006
  • August 2006
  • September 2006
  • October 2006
  • November 2006
  • December 2006
  • January 2007
  • February 2007
  • March 2007
  • April 2007
  • May 2007
  • June 2007
  • July 2007
  • August 2007
  • September 2007
  • October 2007
  • November 2007
  • December 2007
  • January 2008
  • February 2008
  • March 2008
  • April 2008
  • May 2008
  • June 2008
  • July 2008
  • August 2008
  • September 2008
  • October 2008
  • November 2008
  • December 2008
  • January 2009
  • February 2009
  • March 2009
  • April 2009
  • May 2009
  • June 2009
  • July 2009
  • August 2009
  • September 2009
  • October 2009
  • November 2009
  • December 2009
  • January 2010
  • February 2010
  • March 2010
  • April 2010
  • May 2010
  • June 2010
  • July 2010
  • August 2010
  • September 2010
  • October 2010
  • November 2010
  • December 2010
  • January 2011
  • February 2011
  • March 2011
  • April 2011
  • May 2011
  • June 2011
  • July 2011
  • August 2011
  • September 2011
  • October 2011
  • November 2011
  • December 2011
  • January 2012
  • February 2012
  • March 2012
  • April 2012
  • May 2012
  • June 2012
  • July 2012
  • August 2012
  • September 2012
  • October 2012
  • November 2012
  • December 2012
  • January 2013
  • February 2013
  • March 2013
  • April 2013
  • May 2013
  • June 2013
  • July 2013
  • August 2013
  • September 2013
  • October 2013
  • November 2013
  • December 2013
  • January 2014
  • February 2014
  • March 2014
  • April 2014
  • May 2014
  • June 2014
  • July 2014
  • August 2014
  • September 2014
  • October 2014
  • November 2014
  • December 2014
  • January 2015
  • February 2015
  • March 2015
  • April 2015
  • May 2015
  • June 2015
  • July 2015
  • August 2015
  • September 2015
  • October 2015
  • November 2015
  • December 2015
  • January 2016
  • February 2016
  • March 2016
  • April 2016
  • May 2016
  • June 2016
  • July 2016
  • August 2016
  • September 2016
  • October 2016
  • November 2016
  • December 2016
  • January 2017
  • February 2017
  • March 2017
  • April 2017
  • May 2017
  • June 2017
  • July 2017
  • August 2017
  • September 2017
  • October 2017
  • November 2017
  • December 2017
  • January 2018
  • February 2018
  • March 2018
  • April 2018
  • May 2018
  • June 2018
  • July 2018
  • August 2018
  • September 2018
  • October 2018
  • November 2018
  • December 2018
  • January 2019
  • February 2019
  • March 2019
  • April 2019
  • May 2019
  • June 2019
  • July 2019
  • August 2019
  • September 2019
  • October 2019
  • November 2019
  • December 2019
  • January 2020
  • February 2020
  • March 2020
  • April 2020
  • May 2020
  • June 2020
  • July 2020
  • August 2020
  • September 2020
  • October 2020
  • November 2020
  • December 2020
  • January 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2021
  • April 2021
  • May 2021
  • June 2021
  • July 2021
  • August 2021
  • September 2021
  • October 2021
  • November 2021
  • December 2021
  • January 2022
  • February 2022
  • March 2022
  • April 2022
  • May 2022
  • June 2022
  • July 2022
  • August 2022
  • September 2022
  • October 2022
  • November 2022
  • December 2022
  • January 2023
  • February 2023
  • March 2023
  • April 2023
  • May 2023
  • June 2023
  • July 2023
  • August 2023
  • September 2023
  • October 2023
  • November 2023
  • December 2023
  • January 2024
  • February 2024
  • March 2024
  • April 2024
  • May 2024
  • June 2024
  • July 2024
  • August 2024
  • September 2024
  • October 2024