jackpickford1 Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 Are there any Joan Crawford fans here who would like to see her silent films? It seems like the only want to play "The Unknown" and "Our Dancing Daughters." They have all of her silent films except for a couple of titles. It would be great if we could see "Pretty Ladies", "Understanding Heart", "Winners of the Wilderness", "Spring Fever", or "Four Walls." Not only does Crawford's films need "rescued", but there are other silents in the Turner library that won't see the light of day due to that there is no "star name" power to them...that is the names aren't known by anybody except silent movie fans. We need a better approach with the silent films here. When it comes March we won't even get our repeated Silent Sunday Nights. There are movies here that can be played! Let's get them on!! It doesn't do any good to use the "suggest a movie" thing either. It's sad when you use it and you see people are requesting "Jaws" and "Close Enconters" over and over. This why we get these same films shoved down out throats. Haven't these people heard of Blockbuster?? I can already tell by the schedule that March has Joan films lined up and not one of them is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicsfan1119 Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 I agree that if TCM has most of Joan Crawford's silents it would be nice if we could see them, especially on Silent Sunday's. Concerning March, according to the schedule I have there are still Silent Sunday's all through the month. In addition, the Star of the Month in March will be Charlie Chaplin, and a huge number of his films will be shown on Wednesday's all through the month. Perhaps you meant February...the month that TCM is doing their "31-days of Oscar" theme, which means that we will be seeing lots of movies that aren't normally shown on TCM, and we will also be missing Silent Sunday's during February only. You will see "Close Encounters..." during Feb., but it will be uncut, and unedited, and will run without commercial interruption...which will make it worth watching for many of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeedan1927 Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 Well, if you can wait until 6 am Thursday, you can see Joan Crawford in one of her earliest roles in THE BOOB (1926). Long considered a lost film, a print was discovered in a German film archive about three or four years ago. It's part of TCM's day-long tribute to director William Wellman. Plus you'll be able to see Crawford in OUR MODERN MAIDENS (1929) in March. Not that there's been a shortage of Crawford silents on TCM -- in the past, besides THE UNKNOWN and OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS, they've also shown WEST POINT and ACROSS TO SINGAPORE. I believe that FOUR WALLS may be a lost film, but I could be wrong. And I don't know about you, but the "Suggest a Movie" feature sure works for me, and I've requested a LOT of obscure films. You might also try writing them at their all-purpose e-mail address, tcm@turner.com. Either way, make yourself heard -- it ain't going to happen otherwise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpickford1 Posted January 27, 2004 Author Share Posted January 27, 2004 According to the TCM library they Crawford silents for The Duke Steps Out, Four Walls, Lady of the Night (as a stand-in only I think), Pretty Ladies (billed as Lucille Le Seur),Rose-Marie, A Slave of Fashion (walk on part, extra?), Spring Fever, Taxi Dancer, Law of the Range, The Understanding Heart, and Winners of the Wilderness. The silent Old Clothes does exist because it has been shown at festivals, but it is not in the TCM vault. Paris may exist overseas. I've requesting these throughout last summer and fall. Hopefully they got passed to someone. I would also like to get William Haines (no Show People) on the air. I guess they played a lot of his obscure films a couple of years before I got TCM. I about wore my fingers to the nub asking for his titles too. I should also mention any silent Marion Davies (no Show People) would be a real treat too. No luck with that either. I guess I'll try again!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandykaypax Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Interesting that this topic should come up--I just watched WEST POINT with William Haines and Joan Crawford a couple of nights ago! I taped it off of TCM several months ago. So, if you request it, they may show it again. I, too, have had my requests show up on the schedule, so it's definitely worth a try! Sandy K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neptuneslawyer Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 It would also be fantastic to see some of the Ramon Novarro silents besides Student Prince or Ben-Hur. Not that those two are not enjoyable. They just seem to be about the only Novarro silents that are readily available or occasionally shown. I would especially like to see Across to Singapore (which also features Joan Crawford), The Midshipman, or the partially silent The Pagan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickdimeo Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 It's good to see somebody else that is a fan of Jack Pickford, don't run across 'em that much! Anyway the Joan silent I would most like to see is the one that she is in with Harry Langdon. I think the name is Tramp something. On a side note why isn't any Harry Langdon silents shown anyway? I saw Across to Singapore and it's bit laughable that Ernest Torrence is Ramon Novarro's brother and they both fight for the love of Joan. The film starts to deteroiate towards the end, but still a pretty good action movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neptuneslawyer Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 The movie that Crawford made with Harry Langdon is titled Tramp, Tramp, Tramp. Joan plays the lovely young object of Harry's affection. In order to impress her he enters a cross-country foot race. This scenario allows for a number of comical moments that rival some of the best of Keaton or Lloyd from the same era. Joan's role does not require much. It is essentially your standard ingenue role that was a fixture in most comedies of that time. It is, however, interesting to see Joan in one of her earliest movies, particularly as her physical appearance is considerably softer (and less striking) than what it would soon (and more famously) become following her MGM makeover. Tramp, Tramp, Tramp is readily available on a Harry Langdon DVD from Kino Video. I tound it a year ago at a local Borders Books, and I still see it at other stores from time to time. For Langdon fans this is a must-have DVD, as it also contains, in addition to Tramp, Langdon's other 2 "classic" silent features, The Strong Man and Long Pants. NeptunesLawyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpickford1 Posted January 28, 2004 Author Share Posted January 28, 2004 I hope the TCM staff looks at the boards from time to time, but I highly doubt it. It looks like the demand for the silents are here, but yet we are still the minority of the film viewing audience it seems. Did that make any sense? There are a few more Lillian Gish silents I'd love to see as well!! Has Annie Laurie been shown? If you e-mail them directly instead of using the "suggest a movie" link does that get better results? A friend gave me a blurry- much copied tape of Elsie Ferguson's Scarlet Pages (early talkie). I'd love to see that aired so I can get a better quality copy. When Grapevine Video in Phoenix went out of business TCM shuld've bought the rights to their catalog! They had the best selection of vintage films. Does anybody know of a place that sells silents that doesn't consist only of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton? I'm having great difficulty finding films by actresses like Norma Talmadge and other obscure stars that Grapevine video once had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neptuneslawyer Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 I would really really like to see some Norma Talmadge movies, although I am of the impression that most of them are considered lost. I would also appreciate anyone with info. on Norma Talmadge's available and extant movies. Approximately how many are know or believed to be existing? Where could one go to locate them and view them. How is the quality, etc.... Thanks, NeptunesLawyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpickford1 Posted February 1, 2004 Author Share Posted February 1, 2004 Here is an interesting Norma Talmadge website! Hope it helps you out! www.stanford.edu/~gdegroat/NT/home.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neptuneslawyer Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Thank you JackPickford for furnishing me with the Norma Talmadge website. I am going to be busier than usual this week, however, I most definitely intend to spend some quality time at the site (checking out all the related links, etc.) by next weekend. By the way, while we're on the topic of Norma Talmadge, I have a neighbor who just recently loaned me a book entitled The Talmadge Sisters, authored by the legendary Anita Loos and published in 1978. The book is rather brief - fewer than 150 pages, plus some appendices - so I will probably get around to reading it in one or two sittings sometime within the next week or two. Are you (or anyone else) familiar with this book? NepturnesLawyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeedan1927 Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 I've read Anita Loos's book about the Talmadges. It has a lot of fascinating tidbits, but when I started to do my own research on Norma and Constance, I found the book has a lot of inaccuracies and baseless suppositions. Approach with caution . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpickford1 Posted February 2, 2004 Author Share Posted February 2, 2004 I found the Loos book in a used store. I must say I'm not really a fan of it. Way too short and a little too gossipy. I didn't care for the style in which she wrote this biography. It seemed like a little gossipy book that brought Loos some income in her later years. Maybe I should re-read it? The only other Talmadge book I know of (The Talmadge Sisters) is one written by their mother, Peg. It was published in the 20's and expensive when you come across it. You're not really missing much. It's a typical fluffy-breezy little read that catered to the movie-going public at the time. I wish somebody would work on a real biography on the sisters, or at least just Norma. I wish Norma films were more easy to locate. Even Kino Video has turned their noses up at her films saying they would be lucky if they could sell several thousand copies of a title. In other words, it is not worth their time to release an artist who isn't going to rake in the dough for them. I would like to know if Norma really did tell fans and autograph seekers to go away after her "retirement" or not. She also told them that "she no longer needed them anymore." Who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neptuneslawyer Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 Thanks coffeedan and jackpickford for the words of warning re: The Anita Loos Talmadge bio. I will proceed with caution! NeptunesLawyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpickford1 Posted February 4, 2004 Author Share Posted February 4, 2004 Neptune, I found two Norma Talmadge titles at www.lifeisamovie.com They have "Going Straight", and "The Forbidden City" on VHS for $14.99 each. They have silents and hard to find films. Check them out. If you want to battle it out there is a tape of Norma's "Kiki" on Ebay. It is probably a bootleg, but sometimes it's the only way to go in locating these super-scarce films. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neptuneslawyer Posted February 5, 2004 Share Posted February 5, 2004 Thank you so much Jackpickford for all the good info. you have recently furnished me re: Norma Talmadge. I am going to order the two Norma Talmadge movies from the website, and I will certainly tell you what I think about them once I see them. I am actually quite curious as I have yet to see a Norma Talmdadge movie! NeptunesLawyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpickford1 Posted February 5, 2004 Author Share Posted February 5, 2004 I'm glad that I'm able to be a help! I found another Norma film!!! Dubarry is for sale at www.captainbijou.com on VHS for only $14.99. This one of her rare talking films. I haven't seen it myself. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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