Tag: Hollywood

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #190

Dear Reader,

June 1938 and my character, Abigail Summer, aka Sunshine, sets sail on the Queen Mary, heading for New York en route to Hollywood to holiday with her uncle, who’s a screenwriter. The ship featured two indoor swimming pools, beauty salons, libraries, a children’s nursery, a music studio, a lecture hall, telephone connectivity to anywhere in the world, and dog kennels. Sunshine meets an actor on board, but doesn’t recognise him. Nevertheless, he invites her to dinner…

Clara Bow’s twenty-ninth movie was The Shadow of the Law, a silent crime drama produced during the Fall of 1925 and released on January 24, 1926. Clara played Mary Brophy a woman sent to prison for a crime she did not commit, similar to characters she’d played before.

The Shadow of the Law was another marking time movie for Clara. It disappeared on the daily-change circuit and is now considered lost.

I’m exploring the life and career of Virginia Cherrill, the person who, along with Charlie Chaplin, delivered the “Greatest single piece of acting ever committed to celluloid.”

In 1930, while filming Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights (pictured), Virginia Cherrill was living with her mother, Blanche. Aged 22 and separated from her husband, Irving Adler, Virginia was mixing with Hollywood high society, including newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and his mistress, Marion Davies. Indeed, Virginia became good friends with Marion and through her influence she managed to persuade Chaplin to double her salary to $150 a week.

Virginia and Blanche were paying rent of $165 a month. The 1930 census reveals that they owned a radio, that Blanche was divorced and not in employment, and that Virginia was presenting herself as single, with no reference to her marriage. Furthermore, Virginia stated that she worked in motion pictures.

To help promote City Lights, Virginia regularly featured in newspapers and magazines, such as this item from the December 31, 1930 issue of The Tatler.

Ancestral Stories: Lions Led by Donkeys

When the First World War broke out, my 2 x great grandfather Albert Charles Bick was working as a car man at Doulton’s Pipe Works in Lambeth. Married to Annie Noulton, he was the father of six children with another on the way.

On 31 August 1915, Albert departed for France to serve his country. Less than a month later, on 25 September 1915, he found himself in the Battle of Loos, the biggest British attack of 1915, and the first time that the British had used poisoned gas.

The engineers manning the poisoned gas cylinders warned against their use, because of the unpredictability of the wind. However, they were overruled by General Sir Hubert Gough. So, at 6.30 am on 25 September 1915, Albert engaged in battle, charging across open ground, the air full of poisoned gas and bullets.

📸 British infantry advancing at Loos 25 September 1915

As the battle developed, the gas claimed more British than German casualties. In four hours, twelve attacking battalions suffered 8,000 casualties out of 10,000 men. In total, the British suffered 48,367 casualties in the main attack and 10,880 more in the second attack, a total of 59,247 losses, a high percentage of the 285,107 British casualties on the Western Front in 1915. 

Albert Charles Bick died at Loos on 25 September 1915, whether through gas poisoning, a machine gun bullet or a mortar bomb is not known, for his body was not recovered. In the official files he is listed as ‘presumed dead’.

Although General Sir Hubert Gough was guilty of gross incompetence and responsible for the deaths of thousands of his own men, the authorities closed ranks and did not apportion blame.

The poet Robert Graves featured in the Battle of Loos and wrote about his experiences in Goodbye to All That, while the Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who fell in the battle and have no known grave, including Albert Charles Bick.

📸 Loos war memorial 

Latest results from Round Two in my Mastodon Mega Movie Poll.

Laura 22% v 78% Rear Window

The Maltese Falcon 78% v 22% Sunrise

Third Round

Citizen Kane 73% v 27% A Streetcar Named Desire

Gone with the Wind 23% v 77% Dr Strangelove

Lawrence of Arabia 63% v 37% The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Duck Soup 51% v 49% Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Casablanca 78% v 22% King Kong 

Some book news, after fifteen appearances at number one, Sam’s Song, book one in my Sam Smith Mystery Series, is currently number two on the Amazon charts. Not bad for a book that’s eight years old 🙂

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 #189

Dear Reader,

Sunshine, book two in my Golden Age of Hollywood series, will be published in April 2024. Here are the pre-order details and the blurb.

I wanted to fly, I had no idea why, but my childhood dream was to fly like a bird. 

Born Abigail Summer, my friends knew me as Sunshine, partly due to my surname, and partly due to my personality. This is the story of my life – pre, during and post World War Two.

While the war raged in Europe, I found myself in Hollywood. I had no ambitions to become an actress but, so the moviemakers said, the cameras “loved me”. 

I guess I was photogenic and, as an actress, I certainly relied on my looks. However, in such tempestuous times as World War Two life was never easy. I witnessed a murder and endured family heartache. I discovered that handsome, wholesome stars sometimes possessed darker personalities. On a brighter note, I also discovered the meaning of true love.

As for my dream to fly…sometimes you need to be careful what you wish for…

Clara Bow’s twenty-eighth movie, released on December 27, 1925, was The Ancient Mariner, a silent fantasy based on Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 1798 poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. 

Clara played Doris Matthews, a beautiful, innocent young girl. At this stage of her life, Clara was still young and had certainly retained her looks. However, even before she set foot in Hollywood, her innocence had long gone.

Once again, as an actress Clara was literally and figuratively treading water. That said, the film, now sadly lost, did receive excellent reviews from the critics.

My 3 x great grandfather Richard Stokes was born on 27 December 1842 in Shoreditch, London. He spent his childhood in Green Street, Mile End with his elder brother and two younger sisters. His father, William, was a ‘corn meter’, a customs and excise man dealing with the trade that arrived via the River Thames. His mother, Jane Esther Axe, was a very capable woman who managed her family’s affairs after her father’s death. Compared to many, Richard enjoyed a good start to life.

Vessels moored at London’s Custom House in 1755

In 1860, my 3 x great grandfather Richard Stokes met Lucy Sarah Glissan, daughter of John Glissan and Sarah Foreman, who were pharmacists. Lucy was living with her sisters, Amelia and Mary Ann in Mile End Old Town, London. Aged 17, Richard was a gas fitter.

A ‘brother’, William, was also living with the sisters. William was a newborn baby, Richard and Lucy’s baby. To save face, Lucy had lied to the enumerator. Would Richard marry Lucy, or abandon her and her baby?

On 27 May 1861, my 3 x great grandparents Richard Stokes and Lucy Sarah Glissan married at St Mary’s, Whitechapel Road. Lucy had recently given birth to their son, William. A happy day. However, tragedy lay ahead: on 28 August 1861, baby William died. Rare for the time, all of Richard and Lucy’s siblings had survived into adulthood. William’s death must have hit them hard.

The parish church of St Mary’s, gutted by fire in 1880

1865, and life for my 3 x great grandparents Richard Stokes and Lucy Sarah Glissan was moving in the right direction. After losing their baby, William, Lucy had given birth to another baby (my 2 x great grandfather) also named William. Furthermore, Richard had established himself in a trade: office stool maker. For hundreds of years, broken only when Richard’s father William had moved from Pangbourne to London, the Stokeses were master carpenters.

My 3 x great grandfather Richard Stokes established himself as an office stool maker and regularly featured in the trade directories. His wife, Lucy Sarah Glissan, gave birth to eight children. Her first and eighth born died in infancy. The other six, including my 2 x great grandfather William, made it into adulthood. William continued the Stokeses woodworking tradition and became a master carpenter.

I’m exploring the life and career of Virginia Cherrill, the person who, along with Charlie Chaplin, delivered the “Greatest single piece of acting ever committed to celluloid.”

Separated from her husband after seventeen months of marriage on grounds of incompatibility, Virginia found herself in Hollywood, staying with relatives. At social events, she met many prominent people, including Charlie Chaplin.

The timeline of Virginia’s meetings with Chaplin varies, but it would appear that he noticed her on a beach and, when they met again at a boxing match, he invited her to co-star in his new movie, City Lights. 

Chaplin often cast unknowns in his movies and he hired Virginia, who had no acting experience or ambitions to become an actress, without a screen test. By Chaplin, this was an inspired piece of casting.

United Artists sent out press releases and Virginia, along with this unflattering picture, appeared in local, national and international newspapers. Fame and fortune beckoned…

Mr Smith Goes to Washington 33% v 67% His Girl Friday

Sunset Boulevard 95% v 5% Meet John Doe

High Noon 37% v 63% The Thin Man

2001: A Space Odyssey 70% v 30% In the Heat of the Night

The Great Escape 70% v 30% Stagecoach

Psycho 51% v 49% The African Queen

Double Indemnity 68% v 32% The Adventures of Robin Hood

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 #188

Dear Reader,

Clara Bow’s twenty-seventh movie was The Best Bad Man, released by Fox, November 29, 1925. Clara played Peggy Swain. A co-star was ‘Tony the Wonder Horse’ who played himself.

Loaned out by B.P. Schulberg, Clara was hopelessly miscast as a frontier gal in a vehicle for cowboy star Tom Mix. After the success of Clara’s previous movie, The Plastic Age, The Best Bad Man was a backward step.

B.P. Schulberg was a ‘dollars and cents’ producer with no real feel for artistry or a person’s career. Schulberg helped Clara to become a star, but without his help she would have become a star sooner.

Why did Clara Bow quit Hollywood at the height of her fame? I believe there were numerous reasons, and I will explore them in a future article. Certainly, Hollywood did not abandon Clara. The offers continued to roll in. They included three offers for long-term contracts with major film companies ranging from $100,000 to $175,000 per picture, an offer of $150,000 plus a percentage for one picture, and two profit-sharing offers from independent producers. Clara also rejected product endorsements, radio shows, personal appearances and Broadway productions, turning her back on $10,000 – $20,000 a week.

My latest translations, the Dutch version of Operation Sherlock, book five in my Eve’s War Heroines of SOE series, and the Afrikaans version of Love and Bullets, book two in my Sam Smith Mystery Series.

My 10 x great grandparents Thomas Papillon and Jane Brodnax.

In 1667, Thomas was in Breda, Holland as a representative of the East India Company to observe progress in the Treaty of Peace between England and Holland. Thomas exchanged a number of letters with Jane. Her letters survived and have been transcribed. 

In this letter of May 31, 1667, Jane talks about their children: Elizabeth, Philip, Sarah and Ann Mary/Anna Maria, my direct ancestor.

Later in the letter, Jane requests that Thomas returns home with some fresh linen. And “a little cheese.”

My 5 x great grandmother Grace Austin was born on 22 July 1786 in Barking, Essex and baptised on 20 August 1786 in St Margaret’s, Barking (pictured, Wikipedia). She was the fourth born of eight children. Her family lived in relative comfort although, in common with many females of her time, she was not taught how to read and write.

My 5 x great grandparents Samuel Axe and Grace Austin married on 22 September 1803 in Saint Luke Old Street, Finsbury, London (pictured, Wikipedia). Both bride and groom were seventeen years old. Grace’s parents, Isaac Austin and Mary Chetwynd, were also seventeen when they married. Maybe seventeen was the family’s lucky number.

Married to Samuel Axe, between 1805 and 1821 my 5 x great grandmother Grace Austin gave birth to eight children. However, in September 1815, Samuel had an affair with Maria Hammant. We know this because Maria claimed parish relief for her baby. Grace forgave Samuel and gave birth to two more children.

On 25 July 1823, at the age of 37, my 5 x great grandmother Grace Austin died. Her birthing pattern suggests that she was due to give birth to her ninth child, so maybe that was a factor. Grace was buried in Bunhill Fields, Islington (pictured, Wikipedia) alongside such notables as John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe and Susanna Wesley. The common factor: nonconformity. This branch of my family, along with many others, was very strong on nonconformity.

My 6 x great grandmother Mary Chetwynd was born on 7 June 1759 in Barking, Essex and baptised three days later in St Margaret’s, Barking. On 30 January 1777, Mary married Isaac Austin in St Margaret’s. Mary gave birth to at least eight children. 

Mary lived on Paradise Street, just south of the River Thames. In his maps of London, Charles Booth described Paradise Street as a ‘well-to-do, middle-class’ street.

Mary died on 25 July 1823, five days after her daughter, Grace, died. Almost certainly, Grace’s death was a factor in Mary’s death. Mother and daughter were buried alongside each other in the nonconformist graveyard of Bunhill Fields, Islington.

My latest article for the Seaside News, about Gloria Swanson, features on page 35 of the magazine.

It’s a Wonderful Life 50% v 50% Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
It’s a Wonderful Life won on tie-break

Some Like it Hot 57% v 43% Touch of Evil

On the Waterfront 57% v 43% From Here to Eternity

The Grapes of Wrath 59% v 41% Midnight Cowboy

The General 53% v 47% Fantasia

To Kill a Mockingbird 51% v 49% The Philadelphia Story

The Graduate 42% v 58% The Manchurian Candidate

I’m exploring the life and career of Virginia Cherrill, the person who, along with Charlie Chaplin, delivered the “Greatest single piece of acting ever committed to celluloid.”

When she was seventeen, Virginia caught the eye of a handsome young lawyer, Irving Adler. Irving invited her to dances and the theatre. From a high-society Chicago family and with good prospects, Irving had a lot going for him. He proposed marriage, repeatedly, and eventually Virginia said, “yes”.

In the summer of 1926 Virginia and Irving married in secret, often a portent of things to come. Sheltered by an over-protective mother, Virginia’s wedding night came as a shock to her, and the events of that night set the tone for her marriage. 

Irving was often away on business. Lonely, and after seventeen months of marriage, Virginia admitted her mistake. She sought a divorce and on 25 November 1927 made her way west, to friends in Hollywood.

I’m researching material for Sunshine, the second book in my Golden Age of Hollywood series. Sunshine is the nickname of the main character, Abigail Summer. The story is set between 1938 and 1946. 

The theme song for the novel, so to speak, is “You Are My Sunshine”. The Pine Ridge Boys (Marvin Taylor and Doug Spivey) recorded the song on August 22, 1939, and released it on October 6, 1939 for Bluebird Records. Here’s the iconic recording.

This week’s featured title: Sunshine, book two in my Golden Age of Hollywood series.

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.

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 #186

Dear Reader,

Clara Bow’s twenty-fifth movie was Free to Love, released on November 20, 1925. Clara played Marie Anthony, a woman falsely accused of murder. Producer B.P. Schulberg was still content to churn out movies at pace – he reduced the shooting time from three weeks to two – rather than focus on quality. A shame, because Free to Love’s noirish plot – before noir was ‘invented’ – had something going for it.

My 9 x great grandmother Anna Maria Papillon, 1668 – 1738, gave birth to ten children. Only three of those children – William, Anna Maria (my direct ancestor) and Elizabeth survived into adulthood. I don’t know how Anna Maria’s heart and mind survived. The picture depicts a memorial to her children.

I have a number of rogues on my family tree – indeed, one branch of my family were regulars at the Old Bailey – but this obituary suggests that my 9 x great grandmother Anna Maria Papillon, 1668 – 1738, was a lovely person. She offered charity to the poor and benevolence to all, and possessed a “lovely character”.

Pictured, my 10 x great grandmother Jane Brodnax, born 16 March 1627 in Godmersham, Kent. On 30 October 1651, Jane married Thomas Papillon MP in Canterbury Cathedral. The couple had eight children. The first four died young, the second four, including my ancestor Anna Maria, eighth born, survived. Jane was a great letter writer, and a number of her letters also survived. I’m looking forward to reading them 🙂

My 10 x great grandfather Thomas Papillon MP was born on 6 September 1623 in Roehampton House, Putney, London to David Papillon and Anne Marie Calandrini. Of French Protestant Huguenot origin, his family arrived in Britain as refugees. Thomas never forgot his roots and, although he later acquired great wealth, he was mindful to care for the poor.

Acrise Place, Kent, home of my 10 x great grandparents Thomas Papillon MP and Jane Brodnax. The couple purchased the house in 1666. Jane managed this property and another in Fenchurch Street while Thomas was – frequently – away on political and economic business.

I’m organising the Golden Age of Hollywood Mastodon Mega Movie Poll. Here are the results from the Second Round, Week One. Voted for by the movie lovers of Mastodon.

Citizen Kane 51% v 49% The Third Man

Bonnie and Clyde 49% v 51% A Streetcar Named Desire

Casablanca 78% v 22% The Apartment

King Kong 76% v 24% Shane

Singin’ in the Rain 72% v 28% West Side Story

The Sound of Music 41% v 59% Modern Times

Gone with the Wind 63% v 37% Wuthering Heights

Dr Strangelove 81% v 19% White Christmas

Lawrence of Arabia 93% v 7% Elmer Gantry

Clara Bow Quotes: “When the weeks turned into months and the duties of the ranch and of guiding the baby’s first steps came, I completely forgot I had ever been a movie actress, believe it or not, until a souvenir hunter came along.”

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.

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 #185

Dear Reader,

My books are available in a number of languages, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Bulgarian, Dutch, Portuguese, Afrikaans and Swedish. And now a new language for my stories with the translation of my Eve’s War Heroines of SOE series into Hindi.

Clara Bow’s twenty-fourth movie was The Keeper of the Bees, a silent drama released on September 19, 1925 at Salt Lake City. The movie went on general release on October 18, 1925.

The promotional blurb: “Joseph P. Kennedy presents Clara Bow in her greatest emotional triumph!” However, Variety stated: “Clara Bow acts all over the lot and aside from weeping (her specialty) and swirling around, does little.” 

At this stage of her career, B.P. Schulberg was still farming Clara out to substandard productions.

I’m organising the Golden Age of Hollywood Mastodon Mega Movie Poll. Here are the results from Week Three.

Voted for by the movie lovers of Mastodon.

The format: 32 movies seeded and selected by the American Film Institute receive a bye to Round Two.

Round One: 64 movies selected by Mastodon movie lovers, matched when possible by era and genre.

My Man Godfrey 39% v 61% The Thin Man

Rebel Without a Cause 64% v 36% Sweet Smell of Success

All About Eve 76% v 24% A Face in the Crowd

It Happened One Night 69% v 31% The Lady Eve

Stagecoach 54 % v 46% The Searchers

Frankenstein 80% v 20% Mutiny on the Bounty

The Jungle Book 49% v 51% Fantasia

Meet John Doe 75% v 25% This Happy Breed

Intolerance 13% v 87% Sunrise

The Awful Truth 13% v 87% His Girl Friday

I’ve traced the Axe branch of my family back from Jane Esther, born 1812, to John, born 1670. All ancestors on this branch were educated, literate and married merchants, captains in the navy, daughters of lawyers, etc. Although often faced with the challenges of life, all did well for themselves and their families.

Jane Esther managed her family’s financial affairs, Samuel, born illegitimate, was a property developer, while the three Johns were Freemen of the City of London and traded as tallow chandlers. Crucially, for further research, Ann, her father John and grandfather John were Non-Conformists. Going back in time, the story is about to get ***very*** interesting.

My 8 x great grandmother Anna Maria Turner was born on 12 October 1696 and baptised on 1 November 1696 in Canterbury, Kent. Her parents: William Turner and Anna Maria Papillon. Her denomination: French Protestant. Anna Maria’s grandfather, David Papillon (c.1581-1659) arrived in Kent from Dijon, France, escaping religious persecution.

On 25 April 1720, my 8 x great grandmother Anna Maria Turner married John Axe in St Margaret’s, Lee, Kent. Between 1722 and 1731 Anna Maria gave birth to five children: Ann, John (my direct ancestor), George, Richard and Turner. George joined the Royal Navy as a gunner. Ann married a prosperous coal merchant. John continued the family business as a chandler.

📸 Remains of the tower of the former Church of St Margaret in the Old Churchyard (Wikipedia).

My 9 x great grandfather William Turner was born on 1 December 1660 in Canterbury, Kent. His mother, Elizabeth Brodnax, died when he was seven, so a tough start in life. The key to understanding this branch of my family is the entry that accompanies them in the church records, “French Protestant.” Faced with religious persecution in France, they sought sanctuary in Kent.

On 14 August 1689 my 9 x great grandparents William Turner and Anna Maria Papillon married in Canterbury, Kent. French Protestants, their families had fled religious persecution in France. 

William became a lawyer. When he died on 24 September 1729, the following words were written about him: “That excellent man, William Turner, gent. A man exceedingly remarkable in his piety, benevolence and compassion towards God, men, his own family. 

Highly expert in English municipal law, abundantly eloquent in conducting law cases, a loyal patron of his clients. Mourned with sadness by everyone and particularly his own family.”

Clara Bow Quotes: “The first few months when I moved up to the ranch and Rex and I began to build our home there, I was dreadfully lonely. I did miss the studios and the hustle and bustle of the sets; I missed the autograph hunters and the crowds. You can’t just turn your back on a career and forget it in a moment. But I did find that being a wife and planning a home was quite the most wonderful job in the world.”

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.

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 🙂