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Sam Smith Mystery Series

Dear Reader #172

Dear Reader,

I’m researching Rita Hayworth for a forthcoming article and novel.

“I’m a good actress. I have depth. I have feeling. But they don’t care. All they want is the image.” – Rita Hayworth.

Clara Bow’s eleventh movie was Wine, produced during the spring of 1924 and released on August 31, 1924. In her first starring role, Clara played Angela Warriner, an innocent girl who develops into a “wild redhot mama”. 

A bootlegger’s daughter, Angela reforms when her mother temporarily loses her sight because of bootlegged booze. Unfortunately, Wine, Clara’s eighth picture made in 1924, is now a lost film.

At the time, Clara was a “Baby Star”, one of the up-and-coming actresses in Hollywood. Fellow Baby Star Ruth Hiatt said of Clara, “She was peppy and vivacious in front of people, but when you talked with her, one on one, she was serious and sad. Clara was an awfully sweet girl, but a very lonesome sweet girl.”

Highest Grossing Movie of 1929 The Broadway Melody.

The Broadway Melody was the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. The movie was also notable in that it featured an early Technicolour sequence, which survives today only in black and white.

Experimentation was the name of the game, which meant set changes, long hours and re-shoots as the sound recordists tried to capture the sound. Indeed, Bessie Love’s brief ukulele-playing scene took over three hours to film.

The Broadway Melody made a profit of $1.6 million for MGM. Contemporary reviewers sang the movie’s praises. Motion Picture News said: “The direction is an amazing indication of what can be done in the new medium.”

Variety wrote: “It has…a basic story with some sense to it, action, excellent direction, laughs, a tear, a couple of great performances and plenty of sex.”

However, modern reviewers highlight the poor directing and bad acting, which the original audiences tended to forgive because of the film’s novelty.

Film director Raoul Walsh, pictured, was famous for one of Hollywood’s legendary stories. Apparently, Walsh and a friend stole John Barrymore’s body from a mortuary and seated it in Errol Flynn’s living room to greet the actor after a night on the town. Walsh’s explanation: “There was a lot of the laughing water around in those days.”

It looks like we might get some snow in Glamorgan before Christmas.

The musical White Christmas, released in 1954, was filmed in Technicolor and released in VistaVision, a widescreen process developed by Paramount. White Christmas was the first movie to appear in that format, which entailed using twice the surface area of standard 35mm film.

The movie featured seventeen songs or musical interludes, all written by Irving Berlin. The centrepiece was the title song, which first appeared in Holiday Inn in 1942.

Clara Bow Quotes: “All my illusions about Hollywood were quickly dispelled. Here was no paradise. Here was a busy little community devoted, for the most part, to the manufacture of motion pictures, a business which ranked near the top of the country’s greatest industries. Big business. Here were no princes or princesses. Charming men and women, yes; and many who were not so charming…”

Intertitle #12

Next week, my family history research resumes.

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on 36 occasions.

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Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #171

Dear Reader,

A landmark for my Sam Smith mystery Sam’s Song, this week the book received its 1,000th review 🙂

The Portuguese version of our Hollywood magazine.

Clara Bow’s tenth movie was Helen’s Babies, a silent comedy based on an 1876 novel by John Habberton. Clara played Alice Mayton. The movie was produced during the spring of 1924 and released on October 24, 1924. 

At this stage of Clara’s career, producer B.P. Schulberg was loaning her out to various studios. She would play one part in the morning, another in the afternoon. Consequently, her hairstyle and hair colour would change continuously, sometimes during the course of one day.

In 1924, aged nineteen, Clara was renting a three-bedroomed house on Hollywood Boulevard. Her boyfriend, cameraman Artie Jacobson, lived with her, along with her father who had moved from Brooklyn. Jacobson was a steadying influence on Clara’s life. Her father, however…that, as they say, is another story…

Welcome to Mom’s Favorite Reads 106 page bumper Christmas and fiftieth issue!

In this month’s issue of our #1 ranked magazine…

Interview with Orna Ross, founder of ALLI. Plus, Author Features, Health, Nature, Photography, Poetry, Short Stories, Young Writers, Nature Photography Day, and so much more!

Available to read FREE here 👇

Eileen Sedgwick in The Terror Trail, a 1921 serial. The foreground is actually a film set while the background is downtown Los Angeles.

Clara Bow Quotes: “My advice for a girl trying to make good in Hollywood…Destroy the illusion from the start. Hollywood is no fairyland. Success comes to those with talent and ability who are willing to face hard work, to make such sacrifices as are demanded.

Take good advice and ignore bad, but be sure you are able to differentiate between the two. Don’t let your feelings run away with your good judgement. When you realise you are wrong, admit it. When you know you are right, FIGHT! Be yourself at any cost.”

Intertitle #11

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on 35 occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #170

Dear Reader,

Our latest translation, the Portuguese version of Operation Watchmaker, Eve’s War Heroines of SOE book eight.

Clara Bow’s ninth movie was Daughters of Pleasure, a 1924 silent romantic comedy. The film had a unique release date – February 29, 1924. Clara played Lila Millais, one of the support characters.

Clara was still finding her feet in Hollywood at this time and was dependent, probably over-dependent, on producer B.P. Schulberg for guidance. Schulberg undoubtedly helped Clara with her career but, it could be argued, was less supportive of her personal development. Indeed, Clara felt that Schulberg was betraying her trust.

Arthur Jacobson had an affair with Clara Bow. After that affair, they remained friends. Around the time of Daughters of Pleasure, he offered this insight into her character: “Clara was the sweetest kid in the world, but you didn’t cross her, and you didn’t do her wrong.”

📸 Clara in 1924.

Highest Grossing Movie of 1929 (joint) Sunny Side Up.

Sunny Side Up continued the late 1920s tradition of a musical producing the highest grossing movie of the year. Sunny Side Up starred Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell with songs by B.G. DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson. A romantic-comedy, the movie premiered on October 3, 1929 at the Gaiety Theatre in New York. For early movies, it had a long running time – 121 minutes.

Sunny Side Up produced three popular songs – ‘I’m a Dreamer, Aren’t We All?’, ‘Turn on the Heat’ and ‘(Keep Your) Sunny Side Up’. 

Critics offered faint praise. They reckoned that the singing voices of Gaynor and Farrell, were “tolerable, but not exactly worthy of praise.” They disliked the movie’s sugary sentimentality, but were impressed with the cinematography and special effects.

My latest article for the Seaside News appears on page 34 of the magazine.

Clara Bow Quotes: “My advice to a girl trying to make good in Hollywood…In the first place, don’t under any circumstances ever come to Hollywood for motion picture work unless you have a contract, or definite assurance that you will be used in the making of screen plays.

Secondly, don’t try pictures if you are unduly sensitive. The work is hard and in the thick of battle many things may be said on the spur of the moment which are not to be taken at face value. It is part of the game, but it will cause heartache unless one’s sensitiveness can be overcome.”

Intertitle #10

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on 34 occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #169

Dear Reader,

By 1924 film producer B.P. Schulberg was guiding Clara Bow’s career. Under his guidance, she made her eighth movie, Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo, a silent romantic drama.

Clara played Margot Le Blanc. Left a small fortune by her foster mother, Margot goes to Monte Carlo and loses the fortune gambling. She finds support, and love, from an artist, Hugh Kildair.

Throughout her life, Clara needed sound people around her to guide her. At this time, she had Schulberg along with her agent, Maxine Alton. However, an affair between Alton and Schulberg shattered Clara’s confidence in them. Clara was trusting and naïve, and it’s fair to say that Alton and Schulberg exploited her trust and naivety.

🖼 Lobby card for Poisoned Paradise

Highest Grossing Movie of 1928 (joint) The Singing Fool.

A part-talkie musical melodrama, The Singing Fool starred Al Jolson. Following hot on the heels of The Jazz Singer, this movie established Jolson as a leading entertainer. The Singing Fool was more popular than The Jazz Singer mainly because many movie theatres were not equipped to show talkies when the The Jazz Singer was released in 1927.

Although heavily reliant on its musical interludes, The Singing Fool was released as a silent movie, alongside the sound version. The film ran for 102 minutes with 66 minutes devoted to dialogue and singing.

Reviews were, in the main, positive. “The Singing Fool is the finest example of sound pictures made to date.” – the Film Daily. The New York Times felt that the dialogue was “a little halting” and “not convincing”, but concluded that the main point of interest was “Mr Jolson’s inimitable singing”, and on that basis the movie was “capital entertainment.”

My latest translation, the Italian version of Operation Sherlock, Eve’s War Heroines of SOE, book five.

Clara Bow Quotes: “During my recent troubles, when broken in health and on the verge of despair, my many friends of the vast motion picture audience came to my assistance with countless messages of faith and good cheer. To them, I am profoundly grateful. If I do make another motion picture, it will be to please to the best of my ability those fans and friends who at no time lost faith in me.”

The Golden Age of Hollywood Winter 2022

Intertitle #9

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on 34 occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #168

Dear Reader,

Clara Bow’s seventh movie was Black Oxen a silent fantasy/romantic drama produced during October 1923 and released on December 29, 1923 in San Francisco.

Black Oxen starred Corrine Griffith and Conway Tearle. Corinne Griffith was one of the big names of the day. As well as a successful acting career, she also excelled as a producer, author and businesswoman. Dubbed ‘The Orchid Lady of the Screen’, she was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful actresses of the silent era.

Clara excelled in this movie to the extent that she gained more parts immediately, and the studio quadrupled her salary to $200 a week, the equivalent of $2,900 today.

📸 Clara Bow as Janet Oglethorpe, the flapper in Black Oxen, holding a copy of Flaming Youth. Also pictured, Kate Lester and Tom Ricketts.

Highest Grossing Movie of 1927, Wings.

A silent war movie set during the First World War, Wings won the first Academy Award for Best Picture, the only fully silent film to win the award. Because of her status, Clara Bow received top billing, but the film mainly concentrates on Charles Rogers and Richard Arlen’s characters.

The movie was designed as an action-war picture, but romantic elements were included to accommodate Clara Bow, Paramount Pictures’ brightest star at the time. The film featured nudity, one of the first to do so.

Wings was shot on location in San Antonio on a budget of $2 million, $30 million today. Shooting ran from September 7, 1926 to April 7, 1927. The antics at the actors’ hotel have become the stuff of legend, and they will feature in a future article.

Hundreds of extras and around 300 pilots were involved in the filming. The highlights of Wings are its realism and its stunning air-combat sequences. Indeed, the pilots and their planes are the stars of this movie. Many of the flying sequences required extraordinary courage and skill.

My latest translation, the Dutch version of Operation Treasure, Eve’s War Heroines of SOE book four.

Clara Bow Quotes: “What advice would you endeavour to give a girl who was trying to make good in Hollywood? I can give my viewpoint with absolute frankness and understanding. I was ambitious and at the same time I was shy and super-sensitive. I saw Hollywood as Utopia. I see Hollywood now as it really is. I’ve tasted fame and wealth and love – true love – and I’ve also suffered heartbreak and disappointment as much as any other person in the motion picture world. Some scars I shall carry on my soul forever. Through recklessness, thoughtlessness and impulsiveness, I have made many mistakes. But I’ve profited from such errors and that is why I am attempting to assist those who will take the advice of one who knows.”

Intertitle #8

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on 33 occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂