TCM, Thanks for the Baby Peggy documentary and films!!!!

[FredCDobbs]

These are great! The documentary was great! These films are great!

 

Yay!!!

 

And thanks to all the European film buffs who helped save all of these films!!! Yay Europe!!

[bvy]

 

Very enjoyable. Sad in a way, but very inspiring also.

 

 

Can anyone identify the music during the closing credits?

 

 

[FredCDobbs]

I don't know the music.

 

Didn't Mr. Osborne say she is 94 years old? She seems very intelligent too. And she really was a great child actress.

[Lori3]

I really enjoyed that special docunmentary on Baby Peggy.

What a life she had, but what a beautiful and intelligent lady she is now. She is an inspiration.

 

I got interrupted for a few minutes and missed on who took all her money, and robbed the house?

 

 

Please someone let me know.

 

Lori

 

 

 

[FredCDobbs]

I think it was her father who took all her money. The documentary is back on again right now.

[gagman66]

The Grandfather who was the banker took the Money. At least the first time. Her earnings in Vaudeville they never discovered who pinched those.

 

I was under the impression CAPTAIN JANUARY was a major hit in 1924, so hard to believe that it didn't cover it's cost's as the studio claimed? Maybe not as successful as HELEN'S BABIES the film that proceeded. I was surprised there was no reference to this movie in the documentary because it was probably her biggest film.

 

I hope people caught the encore broadcast if they didn't see the documentary earlier in the evening. Her parents were really heels and they should have in later life been disgusted with themselves. She is a remarkable lady. When she was featured on the Fragments Documentary TCM produced with Flicker Alley two years ago talking about THE DARLING OF NEW YORK (1923), you could not help but be impressed with her memory and intelligence. Get Diana her own Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame before it is to late!

[twinkeee]

Just got through watching the Documentary, in one word...UNBELIEVABLE!

 

What a life this woman lived, and yes, she is 94yrs. old and still very active, also very intelligent considering she never had a formal education.

 

It is my understanding that the step-grandfather managed the money for the family because he was a banker and ended up steeling the money she made.

[JonasEB]

That was a really great documentary. The films were just curiosities but it's always nice to see such rare material. European archives have brought back important films like Borzage's Lucky Star but I wouldn't have expected them to hold films like these (in some ways it increases your hope that something like Four Devils will be found there when these types of films are discovered more than anything.)

[musicalnovelty]

It was a great evening of programming!

Thanks TCM!

 

Here's a message from Diana (Peggy) to her fans:

 

http://www.silentsaregolden.com/BabyPeggyElephant.html

[mrroberts]

I share Mr Dobbs enthusiasm on Baby Peggy night. Great fun watching these films. And Peggy is the same age as my parents would be , sadly they are both gone for quite some time now. I miss them both still.

[MaryLyn2]

I am so glad I saw the encore presentation of the Baby Peggy documentary. Sad to see that much of the money she worked so hard to earn was "enjoyed" by people other than herself. But it was good to see she is doing so well and enjoying her life with good health and family.

 

[Fedya]

> I was under the impression CAPTAIN JANUARY was a major hit in 1924, so hard to believe that it didn't cover it's cost's as the studio claimed?

 

Can't studio accounting prove anything the studio wants it to?

[Darb]

I really enjoyed this evening too. Some of the films were rough, but we enjoyed them.

[willbefree25]

Horrific that her miserable father (step-father?) and grandfather stole her money. Too bad they didn't live long enough to face charges, thank you Paul Peterson and Jackie Coogan for protecting other child actors. What KIND of parent would steal from their child? Horse whipping is too good for them.

 

So sad that she didn't heap every kind of invective on the names of her father and grandfather, I would have. They did some kind of brainwashing job on her, poor woman.

 

I got the feeling that she needed to do this documentary for the money, how sad was that?

 

Her house was very modest, I was hoping she'd be living it up at 94.

 

How cute that she didn't even know how to mash avocadoes and add whatever mix they sell in CA?

 

How VERY sad that she had mixed feelings about her own son, and how good that she got past them and that he doesn't hate her.

 

How sad that she included her granddaughter in the biopic, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there.

 

I didn't find her charming in her films at all, I wonder why she was so popular? I liked Rin Tin Tin better.

 

Overall, just sad and further proof that the studio system and stage parents are more evil than Satan himself, my apologies to Satan.

 

Oh, and Robert tripping over words? That isn't a good sign, is it?

[markbeckuaf]

OMG, Fred, the documentary (though sad was also hopeful!) was awesome!!!! And the feature and shorts were totally amazing!!! I totally grooved hard to the entire evening! I really didn't know a whole lot about Baby Peggy going in so it was mostly news to me! She looks great and seems to be a really noble and amazing woman after all she's been through! TCM rocks!!

[misswonderly3]

> {quote:title=twinkeee wrote:...}{quote}

> What a life this woman lived, and yes, she is 94yrs. old and still very active, also very intelligent considering she never had a formal education....

I realize this is off-topic, but I cannot refrain from responding to the above comment. There is not a direct connection between intelligence and education. If one is already intelligent, yes, education will help to develop it further. But one can definitely be very intelligent and at the same time uneducated. I really consider them to be two separate things.

Ok, sorry for the off-topic interruption. Carry on everyone.

[FredCDobbs]

>What a life this woman lived, and yes, she is 94yrs. old and still very active, also very intelligent considering she never had a formal education.

 

Yes, I agree. She seems to be very intelligent and also seemed to be intelligent when she was a 4 year old actress. She seemed to know she was a professional actress making movies.

[misswonderly3]

I'm going to say something rather unkind. Although clearly this little kid was talented, very smart, very expressive, and a good sense for comic timing, even at such a young age, one thing she was not was pretty or even cute-looking. This remark is mean and shallow, I know, and it doesn't matter, because she was a good little actress. But, especially considering the times - didn't the 1920s put a very high premium on looks, even with young children?- I thought "Baby Peggy" was a plain-faced little thing. Oh, what a meanie I am! I know it doesn't matter, and I agree with those who say she was talented - as I said.

I'm just surprised that, regardless of her talent, she was so hugely popular when she was such a plain little thing.

Hey, I said I was being mean and shallow and that a child actor's looks shouldn't matter. And evidently they didn't, at least with her.

[hamradio]

Baby Peggy is the poster child for child labor laws. Its a shame so little of her films survives considering the brutal work hours she was forced to put in. She was mentioned in the documentary "Child Stars, Their Story" that last appeared on A&E a few years back.

 

I have all her 3 movies that still exist, "Captain January", Family Secret" and "Helen's Babies".

If anyone has her other films in their collection, please notify UCLA or the Library of Congress so they can be preserved.

 

She is in the movie "April Fool" (1926) but you will see very little of her in it, mainly at the beginning Very disappointed in that one.

[joefilmone]

Love this documentary a fine example of the sort of original production TCM does best.

[atcmviewer]

I tried to record them because I couldn't watch them live, but unfortunately I bungled the recording and only saw a few minutes of the documentary. The TCM database shows that they won't be repeated in the coming months. I'm saddened over this. This could be the last time these films would be on television. TCM has had plenty of "once-and-done" broadcast. Remember those Indian classics introduced by Ivory Merchant? There is a reason why Baby Peggy films are so rarely seen, and it's probably the rights holders are not keen on having them shown them on TV. I pray to God that there will be another chance for me to see these films.

[Arturo]

Well she was no less cute than Jane Withers, Margaret O'Brien or Peggy Ann Garner: your statements are equally applicable to these child stars.

[AndyM108]

My only comment is that I wish they'd do a repeat of the entire Baby Peggy evening, since it almost totally conflicted with the best NFL game of the year, and my DVD recorder can't record off channels I'm not tuned into. From what I saw of her during the football game commercials, though, I liked what I saw, and I hope to get another crack at watching her at some future date.

[misswonderly3]

> {quote:title=Arturo wrote:}{quote}Well she was no less cute than Jane Withers, Margaret O'Brien or Peggy Ann Garner: your statements are equally applicable to these child stars.

Hmm, Arturo, you may have a point there. First, I must admit -which I've done on these boards many times -that there are huge gaps in my movie history knowledge, and two out of the three child actors you cite I'd never even heard of. (The one I'm familiar with is Margaret O'Brien.) So I looked up the other two, and then threw in Virginia Weidler (are you there, Ginnyfan?) for good measure.

 

Then I looked 'em all up, both their filmographies and their "images". I have to confess that not only have I not seen the majority of films these kids made, I haven't even heard of most of them. But that doesn't mean anything, there are doubtless hundreds of good movies that I've never heard of.

 

Anyway, I wanted to see what these little girl actors looked like, so I went to "images" for all four of them. And you know what? You're right, none of these kids were "pretty" in any conventional sense of the word. This is actually an interesting revelation to me, because just look at how important it was for female actors to be at good-looking if they were adults (unless they were character actors.)

Yet as children, it matters not. Of course there was Shirley Temple, I suppose she was "cute" looking. But, like her or not, she was an entire industry in herself, and therefore in a separate category.

All of the little girl actors named above were not conventionally "pretty" - in fact, yeah, I'd go so far as to say they were "plain". Which suggests to me that in some way that was almost preferred by filmmakers of yore. Maybe they felt good looks would just be a distraction, that it was their "cuteness", not in their appearance, but in their style and performance, that was what audiences responded to.

 

I am, as stated, not familiar enough with Virginia Weidler, Jane Withers, or Peggy Ann Garner to comment. But regarding Margaret O'Brien, I have to say, I never noticed her looks much one way or the other, because her voice is what you notice about her. In a good way ( for me - I know some people find her grating or annoying.) I find her very sweet and innocent, yet spirited and mischievous enough not to be sickening. And I do think her unique little kid voice and the way she said her lines very engaging. I like her.

 

But I appreciate your listing those other female child actors, Arturo, because if you hadn't, I wouldn't have looked them up, seen that they too were "plain", and thought about some of these ideas concerning little girls and how they are perceived in the movies.

[willbefree25]

Absolutely true, missw.

 

Some of the most brilliant entreprenueurs, inventors, and scientific minds never went beyond the 8th grade.

 

Some of the biggest idiots in the country went to prestigious * cough * Yale * cough * colleges.

 

Edyukashun means nothing when it comes to intelligence.