Old Hollywood Stars, Lost Wedding Rings: Dawgone I forgot the ring!
Buster Keaton and Natalie Talmadge
Whether it's the best man's pretending to have forgotten the ring or the groom who's really left the ring behind, the show must go on. Though traditionally part of the best man duties to keep and hand over the ring, the groom has to remember to bring the ring to begin with!
What celebrities from the Golden Age of Hollywood dealt with a lost wedding ring at their own weddings?? "The ring proved to be undiscoverable. Gone, vanished, vamoosed you comprehend? We called a recess and all of us - even the parson knelt in prayerful repose to search the floor. Presently the ring was found in my vest pocket so the debate proceeded." Buster Keaton recollecting his wedding to bride Natalie Talmadge. -- Screenland 1923 A celebrity is no different from anyone else. Harry Ritz dropped the ring during the
service. Everyone including the minister got down on hands and knees,
poking around under furniture to find the missing circlet. It was more
elusive than a collar button, grumbled to bridegroom.
Harry Ritz performed with his brothers Jimmy and Al. Harry appeared in Mel Brooks' film, Silent Movie. When Caesars Palace hotel opened in Las Vegas August 5, 1966 the acts featured were Andy Williams in the main showroom and The Ritz Brothers in Nero's Nook. In 1939 Madge Evans lost her engagement ring traveling to her stock appearance at Ogunquit, Maine. It was returned before her wedding to playwright Sidney Kingsley. In 1935 Sally Blane was married in the home of her sister, Loretta Young. Alan Campbell the best man who temporarily lost the ring. Unfortunately Young was upstairs lying ill and she could not attend the proceedings. When Errol Flynn married Lili Damita he couldn't find the ring. Then the minister noticed it was on nervous groom, Flynn's right thumb.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz 1955
At the wedding of Arthur Hornblow and Myrna Loy, the ring was also thought to be lost. They took their vows in Ensenada, Old Mexico. Hornblow began to search for it but it turned out that the best man hadn't really trusted him to carry it. In 1955, the John Ericson-Milly Coury wedding. Best man Dick Clayton lost the ring hours before down a drain pipe while he was shaving and it was retrieved 30 minutes before the ceremony. Tab Hunter and Lori Nelson who attended the wedding helped transport guests to the reception when one of the wedding party's limousines broke down en route to the church.
Vivien Leigh did a screen test with Laurence Olivier for the role of the second Mrs. de Winter in the 1940 Hitchcock film, Rebecca. Joan Fontaine played the role, for which she won an Academy Award.
Vivien Leigh was married to Laurence Olivier for twenty years. During this time, she lost two wedding rings. One was once said to have been lost in a robbery. When Olivier gave her the third ring, the second of the replacement rings, he had it inscribed: "This is the last one you'll get I hope." "I'd lost the first when I was sitting in a cinema in the west end watching Les Enfants du Paradis. I put my hand up to rub my eye and the ring slipped off." -- Vivien Leigh, The Milwaukee Journal 1960 As a side note, when the couple was first married in 1940, reports are that their friend Benita Hume, wife of Ronald Colman, bought the ring for them. Most likely it means that she went to pick it up and brought it to the wedding site. The wedding was to be secret.
"I'll never forget the event - when we got to the part where Bob Burns was to put the ring on his bride's finger, he dug into all his pockets, looked red and frantic then gulped, 'Dawgone I forgot the ring!' And he had forgotten it. As soon as I pronounced the pair man and wife Burns kissed her and exclaimed: 'Now honey you won't have to laugh at my jokes!'" Quoted by the reverend who performed the ceremony. -- Modern Screen 1942 In 1957 Desi Arnaz and his wife, Lucille Ball were vacationing in Honolulu.
Before swimming in the ocean, Arnaz put his wedding ring onto a chain around his neck.
His wife had given him the gold chain. When he came out of the water the chain and the ring were gone. Also missing was a medallion that had hung from the chain.
Did Clark Gable lose his wedding ring on the golf course of the Arizona Biltmore? This would probably have been in the 1950s when stories of his visiting the hotel were in the news. Is the story apocryphal, urban legend? Gable was Rhett Butler, another star member of the Gone with the Wind cast along with Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara. "'I lose so many wedding rings that every time I see her it's a new one,' John Travolta says in January 1999 Harper's Bazaar.
"'I know he's not fooling around or anything,' Travolta's wife, Kelly Preston said. 'It's just that he goes to the spa and losees them. He gets in the car and loses them. The loses them on the set or at dinners. Sometimes we find them again. He has a box of them by the bed.'" Okay he's not old Hollywood, but he's a favorite of mine so here he is. :) It was 1981. Bill Murray got married to Margaret Kelly. The best man was his older brother, Brian Doyle-Murray. "He did the classic fumbling-for-the-ring routine, looking around him in an exaggeratedly comic way and miming confusion. Everyone thought Brian was a riot at the wedding." -- 1981 Rolling Stone Magazine
Bill Murray 2014
Carol Channing had her wedding ring stolen from her hotel suite while she was doing Lorelei in Detroit. Also taken was a costly cigarette case in which she had 12 custom made eyelashes. She said she hoped the burglar looks good in the eyelashes. There are other rings of sentimental value. The stories of their losses are recounted. Irene Rich had a ring, a sapphire encircled by diamonds and set in platinum. It
"At a beach party last summer near Santa Barbara she lost it in the sand. She felt so badly about its loss that the entire party spent several hours searching for it without result.
"Several weeks later she and the same group of friends were picnicking at the spot where the ring had been lost. One of the girls was scooping up sand when suddenly she felt a lump between her fingers. It proved to be the ring. Irene was overjoyed." -- Picture Play Magazine 1932 Related articles of interest:
Valentino's Impact Could he be such big a star today?
Valentino was the first
Sex Symbol
"George Washington may be the father
of this country, Mary Pickford may be its sweetheart. But Valentino is
its lover. ... Valentino has an almost perfect physical physique - a
physique combining both beauty and strength: Apollo plus Dionysus. He is
at once graceful and aggressively masculine. "He is every woman's husband by proxy - the invisible Cavalier of the Boudoir. He is the Phantom Rival in every virtuous domestic establishment - the gallant courtier with whom every husband must bear comparison - the standard by which every wife measures her legal mate. And he is also the young lover's rival, the nemesis of every ardent swain, the third party on every honeymoon, the absent correspondent in every divorce proceeding." -- Motion Picture 1923
Valentino is the Romeo of all ages.... 1923 psychological profile
"He is less a shadow
even though he is gone, than men who live in the world as flesh and
blood, because he was all things to all women. He had glamour for all
women. But he had also the wistful appeal of the boy whom all women want
to mother, to scold a little perhaps, to soothe and console and cherish
in their hearts. "He was a brother to girls who never had brothers or having them wished their brothers could be as Rudy was. He was the other son
of all elderly women whose own sons had deserted them or disappointed
them. He was the Sheik, the good comrade ... he was all those things to
me and to all women." -- Actress Pola Negri to whom he was said to be engaged at the time of his death. Motion Picture Magazine interview 1934
Julio's romance, "Do you promise to be good?" The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
In the early 1920s
American society was changing. Women had gained the right to vote, they
were entering the work force allowing greater financial independence.
The Jazz Age influenced style. We had flappers on and off the
screen. Movies
in general were sometimes seen as a threat to the home and family. What
would we see on the screen? How would they influence the audience? What would happen in the dark at the movie theater? A push to censor films and keep them wholesome happened quickly. Early Movie Idol Worship "If you are an idol worshiper don't
be ashamed. So was your great grandpa. Our pagan ancestors made idols
out of wood and stone. To us in this enlightened age this seems a
foolish waste of good building material. We make ours of celluloid. We
picked models for their resemblance to the old Venuses and Apollos. Many
would have passed for the wooden originals if they hadn't moved. Noting
this, some genius called them 'movie idols.'" -- Herbert Howe; New Movie Magazine 1931 In the early silent films most leading male actors were all-American cowboys such as William S. Hart or Broncho Billy from out of Essanay Studios. There were other handsome dramatic actors such as Richard Barthelmess and the swashbucklers like John Barrymore and Douglas Fairbanks. Youngsters really loved their films. There were big stars from other countries, Ramon Novarro, Antonio Moreno and Sessue Hayakawa. But Rudolph Valentino was something different and special in his way. Valentino was the first Italian sex symbol, he was new and passionate and he seemed dangerous. "Italians
in movies were always characters; villains and peasants, maybe a crime
figure, maybe a thief. With few opportunities for Valentino in
traditional Hollywood films he found work instead in romantic fantasies
about faraway places. His Italian looks would stand in Indian rajas,
Spanish bullfighters and most famously an Arab Sheik." -- from the 2015 PBS documentary series, The Italian Americans Quickly the first sex symbols appeared in movies. For women, there were the lady vampires, the vamps such as Theda Bara. Larger than life characters, temptresses. "Nita Naldi's sex appeal is her raison d'être in pictures. What other quality could possibly account for the great vogue of Mack Sennett's bathing beauties, a year or two ago? Why does Mae Murray appear in a pearl breast-band and a tinseled loin-cloth and nothing else in at least one sequence in every picture? Because the men for years who for years have paid money to sit in the bald-headed row within squinting distance of the beautiful chorus girls now get a mental thrill out of a pair of alabaster shoulders in what are deftly termed society dramas of the screen."
Sex Appeal Who would get the women's hearts pumping? Magazines were full of psychological and medical analyses. Is the screen hypnotizing you? Do the movies harm your eyes? How will they hurt our children? Alongside were ads to write for movies, contests to get into the movies, gossip and news about the stars. They were as unusual and suspect as they were enticing and exciting. Sometimes the doctors, scholars, censors and pundits went to the movies as part of their work, in the name of the public good. That was okay.
Audience members' hearts flutter at a Valentino kiss
Someone hooked up an audience reaction meter aka a love meter to test women's reactions when they saw Valentino kissing on screen. A
1920s newsreel caught their palpitations as they watched him kiss Vilma
Banky. Fan Mail In the early 1920s, Rudolph Valentino
was the right man at the right time. He was born with the talent,
determination and the looks. Those around him would control and mold
his career. At one point the postage
it took to send out photos in response to his fan mail was
in excess of the actor's salary. One fan magazine suggested that fans
tell the studio that Valentino deserved a raise! They tried to explain why Valentino was as popular, as mesmerizing as he was. Why did American women worship him? Why did American men dislike him so? Some were able to pin their distaste for women's growing independence and for society's changing times onto Rudolph Valentino (a representation of what was wrong with movies in general). The addition of disapproval often adds attention and attraction. It made Valentino's flame shine that much brighter. What was he doing that was so naughty anyway? Women wanted to have a look. Publicity departments had a field day building his reputation. Women would sit through an entire picture to savor just one elusive Valentino smile.
A fine figure of a man... "Mother used to blush when father mentioned his woolen underwear. Now
she gets a kick out of the kinematized BVDs of Valentino as in the
dressing-room scene of Blood and Sand. ... It wasn't his dramatic
ability that made Rudolph Valentino the idol of American womanhood,
practically overnight. And Valentino is a superb actor, at that.
"It was
his sex appeal, whether you will admit it or not, you women who go to
see his pictures five and six times as he crushes the heroine (the
heroine who might be you!) to his breast, the fact that he makes you
sigh blissfully at his romantic ardor. For this very reason many men do
not like Valentino. Men never like to see a man more skilled in the art
of love-making than they themselves. ... "There is a perfectly good
economic reason for the beach scenes where the strapping hero poses in a
one-piece suit; for bedroom scenes the costume pictures where
skin-tight trousers display a shapely thigh and slender waist. Valentino
you remember has late appeared in snug toreador costumes in Blood and Sand in tight knee britches in The Sheik and a few strings of pearls in The Young Rajah." -- The Sex Best Sellers, Screenland 1923
Valentino draped in pearls The Young Rajah 1922
And here we thought showing men in tight pants was such a 1970s thing? Well, not really. Though it brought him fame and wealth, Valentino ultimately
wasn't happy with how he'd been packaged. He looked
forward to breaking out of the Latin lover, or what he sometimes called the lounge lizard stereotype. He looked toward his future and wanted to be more than a caricature. He was trying to assimilate. It was said by the end of his life at age 31, he'd already lost much of his Italian accent.
Job Opening: National Lover "Valentino would not be the national lover unless the country was in sore need of such a lover. The very intensity of the emotion Valentino has aroused reveals how great a lack of adequate lovers there is in America. No nation creates a symbol for a thing which is prevalent in the flesh. ...
"Why then should there be a need for a romantic idol in a country where there are so many able-bodied men? Why should the American women create a symbol of the ideal lover in the person of Valentino when there are any number of willing males, that is potential realities, on every hand?
"The answer is simply that American men are not lovers. .... They are too busy, there are too many demands for their energy for them to devote themselves to the finer things in life. They give their wives a fur coat as a consolation prize for time and romance. European men are far better versed in the game of love and the art of love making than American men. They have or take more leisure."
Those who are the first, the first to attain an incredible height often leave a lasting impact. Before Marilyn Monroe, it was Jean Harlow for whom they coined the term Blonde Bombshell. Were Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford the first Hollywood super couple? How does Pickfair stand up against Brangelina? Greta Garbo and John Gilbert were another hot screen couple of the 1920s. Valentino's sudden death and his funeral was so traumatic that many afterward are still compared to his. Perhaps most notably we think of James Dean's. There are too many to list. Huge stars who left us too young, too suddenly, left us wondering what might they have done.
To this day the actor
is identified with a role which unfortunately he felt was poorly directed and one that he personally did not like. "Mr. Valentino was not happy with The Sheik. He called it 'an error.' Speaking of how he was directed in the film, 'What nonsense it was!'" He said his performance including the eye rolling did not ring true to his character. "Mr. Valentino declared one of his greatest problems was 'to live down' his reputation as a 'sheik' a character which he repudiates." -- Picture Play August 1922; The Owosso Argus-Press February 1923 For what it's worth, The Sheik is a
film that contemporary audiences may not like as much as others. Don't start and stop with that film if you want to get a real sense of Rudolph Valentino. The Son of The Sheik gets a better reception.
Even though an article is to include his wife, Natacha Rambova, the writer swoons
over Valentino. "The interviewer is confused, frankly, rattled. One has
heard so much about this man and dreamed so much more that when one
finally is in The Presence, words simply desert or worse still, mutiny
and intelligent questions become chaotic stammerings. Yes, one is a
little excited." -- Motion Picture Classic December 1923
Valentino: Dangerous Man The desire for that seductive, dangerous romance is nothing new. The fact that it's illicit makes it all the more tempting. Rudolph Valentino was given some of the first bad boy roles. While Italian actors continue to be cast in roles as gangsters, it has to be noted that there are positives and negatives to the allure, the ongoing stereotype of taking those parts. There are often box office dollars there and the iconic Godfather Trilogy shows us that.
Valentino stars alongside Brando and Pacino? Rudolph Valentino would have only been in his 70s when the first Godfather film came out, perfect for a role in that film. Brando was in his forties and relative newcomer, Al Pacino was thirty-two. Valentino could've played Pacino's grand-dad? (In the story, Vito Corleone's father had been killed, but Valentino's age was right.) Who knows? "Just when I thought I was out of the picture business, they pull me back in....."
In the 1940s, even
though some female movie goers loved it, the actor James Mason was trying to shake his image. He was
thought to be a dangerous lover after he
made films such as The Seventh Veil. A Burns and Allen
OTR radio episode spoofed the attraction of being dominated by the dangerous man when Mason appeared as their guest. Gracie said, "Some women dream of being covered in
diamonds. I dream of being covered in bandaids." There has always been the attraction to the suave otherworldly vampire. Look at the Twilight series with Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen. Replicas of Bella's wedding dress were hot sellers. Fifty Shades of Grey, the book and the movie are big news.
Herbert Howe 1931 article, Movie Idols, types and the need to worship
A trip to the beach....
Would he be such a star today?
Manic Monday The Bangles, 1986 lyrics excerpt...
"Six o'clock already I was just in the middle of a dream I was kissin' Valentino By a crystal blue Italian stream But I can't be late 'Cause then I guess I just won't get paid These are the days When you wish your bed was already made...." A 1933 magazine asked, Could the sheik win hearts today? Again he was still associated with that persona, that character. "The fickle feminine public no longer wants one man on the screen to have all their worship but chooses to divide it among the reigning stars with voice appeal.... each with his particular flair, special following. And yet, they admitted that There had never been a successor to Valentino. There had never been an actor whose death caused the outpouring of emotion of Valentino's.
"Cortez, Raft and LaRue are the villain-you-love-to-touch-you type and when they're heroes they have a darkly sinister quality of brooding or actual mystery that gets the girls who like to guess and wonder about the facts of life and the factors therein." They were right. There could never again be one person who could so captivate the country. He had everything including the right timing. His story was similar to that of Jean Harlow and Elvis Presley. Had he lived, I believe he would have grown and evolved as an actor. He may not have continued to be the one and only but chances are he would still be a star. "I do not want to go on in these Great Lover roles. People will soon get tired of them. Perhaps they are tiring already I must make a decided change." -- Rudolph Valentino
His films continue to bring in royalties to his estate. Then and now people visit Castellaneta, Italy where he was born. There's a list of places reputed to have visits from Valentino's ghost not the least of which would be his grave and his former homes. There are seances or you can host your own.
"I know Rudolph Valentino would still be great to-day if he had lived. It is my opinion that Rudy had not even reached the zenith of his career when death came. He was always studying always preparing. Rudy was not merely a handsome fellow with melting eyes and an unusual amount of sex-appeal. He had a whimsical flair for comedy and a depth of understanding for emotional drama that no one on the screen except perhaps Leslie Howard possesses to-day." -- Director Sidney Olcott 1935 There were and are many movie idols after him. In the 1930s they tried to get Clark Gable and a new actor named Cary Grant to take on remakes of Valentino films. They refused hoping that the studios wouldn't force them to do it. Others such as George Raft were regularly compared to Valentino. Generations of actors were compared to Gable and Grant, too. Was the handsome and brooding Al Pacino some kind of new Valentino? Fine as they are, why not let all of them have their own identities. Not one can be replaced. In the 1960s, when girls saw the Beatles in movies such as A Hard Day's Night they screamed at the movie screen. I found articles from the 1920s through to the 2000s that asked what would happen if he were alive today, who might be the next or the current Valentino. But why are we asking? Though they do keep asking the question, the end of a 1934 article pretty much puts it into perspective. Why even ask what would happen if he were alive. The fact that millions of people attend memorials, hold seances, watch/go to see his films, still talk about him, compare others to him.... "Valentino is alive to-day!"
Motion Picture magazine sums it up;
Valentino lives on
Animals on Hollywood's Walk of Fame Famous Dogs, Character Costumes : Muppets, Godzilla
Walk of Fame Animals: Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Strongheart, The Muppets, Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, Godzilla
The only actual animals with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame are three dogs: Strongheart, Rin Tin Tin and Lassie. Featured here are also Godzilla, Kermit the Frog, Big Bird and the Muppets as a group just because they're sometimes live-action, puppets, etc and not exclusively animation. All information is correct as of the writing of this page. The Muppets received their group star on the Walk of Fame March 20, 2012. More info on a post to come. Have you seen their latest film? Now Kermit and Big Bird are the first fictional characters to have received two stars! If you're on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood would you look for animal stars? How many can you find? There's currently a push to get Tarzan's Cheetah the chimp a star. When Roy Rogers signed his name in cement in at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, his horse Trigger also placed his prints on the sidewalk beside Roy's. These are other animal characters with stars. Looking for your Hollywood Walk of Fame map? Included you'll find the Hollywood Walk of Fame address for each star. Did you know that there are several star walks in the United States and in other countries? The American Buffalo and Midnight the horse, the most famous bucking bronc on the rodeo circuit from 1923 until 1933 can be found on the Texas Trail of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas. I may be wrong, but at the time of this writing, I believe there are no animals or fictional characters on Canada's Walk of Fame. These aren't best known as being animated though they may be seen on film or TV in animated form sometimes. Hollywood animals work hard, they're remembered fondly and some get stars on the walk of fame.
The characters are Godzilla, Kermit the Frog and Big Bird. Do you think Godzilla has a secret rivalry with King Kong to see who's more popular?
The Munchkins are another example of fictional characters on the Walk of Fame. I have a separate series of pages celebrating the animated characters with stars on the Walk of Fame. There are some fun and nostalgic YouTube videos here. If you're so inclined, give the folks who uploaded the videos some Likes, comments and such. They add a lot to the Web. Kermit the Frog Star Hollywood Walk of Fame Poster Prints , Amazon, see below
Rin
Tin Tin (often billed as Rin-Tin-Tin in the 1920s and 1930s) was the
name given to several related German Shepherd dogs featured in fictional
stories on film, radio and television. .... The dog's big break
came when he stepped in for a recalcitrant wolf in The Man From Hell's
River (1922). Rin Tin Tin would be cast as a wolf or wolf-hybrid many
times in his career, though not looking like one. His first
starring role was in 1923's Where The North Begins, playing alongside
silent screen actress Claire Adams. This film was a huge success and has
often been credited with saving Warner Brothers from bankruptcy. Rin Tin Tin was featured in the one Technicolor segment of the Warner Brothers all-star 1929 The Show of Shows. Toto in The Wizard of Oz, which was shot partly in color in 1939 could look back on Rin Tin Tin's color performance a decade earlier.
It's said that in 1929, Rin Tin Tin may have received the most votes for the first Academy Award for Best Actor. The Academy determined that a human should win. In her book,Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, Susan Orlean writes that in the first year Oscars were awarded, "according to Hollywood legend, Rinty received the most votes for best actor. But members of the Academy, anxious to establish the awards were serious and important, decided that giving an Oscar to a dog did not serve that end." It was
followed by Shadows of the North (1923), Clash of the Wolves (1925), A
Dog of the Regiment (1927) and Tiger Rose (1929). As with superstar Lassie years later, there were mass produced Halloween costumes and other memorabilia in and with the likeness of Rin Tin Tin. Although
primarily a star of silent films, Rin Tin Tin did appear in four sound
features, including the 12-part Mascot Studios chapter-play The
Lightning Warrior (1931), co-starring with Frankie Darro. Rin Tin Tin got his star on The Walk of Fame in Hollywood on February 8, 1960.
Radio
Between 1930 and 1955, "Rin Tin Tin" (though not always portrayed by the original dog) was heard in three different radio series, beginning April 5, 1930 with The Wonder Dog, in which the original Rin Tin Tin did his own sound effects until his death in 1932, when Rin Tin Tin, Jr. took over. This 15-minute program was broadcast Saturdays on the Blue Network at 8:15pm until March 1931 when it moved to 8:15pm on Thursdays. -- Wikipedia
Lassie
is a stage name for several dog actors. The fictional character was
created by Eric Knight in a short story expanded to novel length called
Lassie Come Home. Published in 1940, the novel was filmed by MGM in
1943 as Lassie Come Home with a talented dog named Pal playing Lassie. June
Lockhart played Ruth Martin 1959-64, the wife of Paul Martin (portrayed
by Hugh Reilly) and the mother of Timmy Martin (played by Jon Provost)
in the 1954 CBS series, Lassie. She also played Dr. Maureen
Robinson, the wife of Professor John Robinson (portrayed by Zorro actor
Guy Williams) in Lost in Space (1965-68) and appeared as Dr. Janet Craig
on the final two seasons of Petticoat Junction (1968-70). Her
character was brought in to fill the void created after Bea Benaderet
died during the run of the show. She was a regular, playing in the Maria Ramirez on the soap opera General Hospital during the 1980s and 1990s. Pal
then appeared with the stage name Lassie in six other MGM feature films
through 1951. Pal's owner and trainer Rudd Weatherwax then acquired the
Lassie name and trademark from MGM and appeared with Pal (as Lassie)
at rodeos, fairs, and similar events across America in the early 1950s.
In 1954, the long running, Emmy winning television series Lassie
debuted and, over the next 19 years, a succession of Pal's descendants
appeared on the series. The Lassie character has appeared in
radio, television, film, toys, comic books, animated series, juvenile
novels, and other media. Pal's descendants continue to play Lassie
today.
A Christmas episode, Lassie's Gift of Love, she befriends a toy maker.
The character of Lassie was created by English American
author Eric Knight in Lassie Come-Home, first published as a short story
the Saturday Evening Post in 1938 and later as a full-length novel in
1940. Set in the Depression-era England, the novel depicts the
lengthy journey a rough collie makes to be reunited with her young
Yorkshire master after his family is forced to sell her for money. In
1943, the novel was adapted into a feature film, Lassie Come Home, by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) that starred Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth
Taylor. The movie was a hit and enjoyed favorable critical response. MGM
followed this with several additional films, including a sequel
entitled Son of Lassie (1945), starring Peter Lawford and June Lockhart,
and Courage of Lassie with Elizabeth Taylor. A radio series, Lassie
Radio Show likes lassie with his friends was also created, airing until
1949. Between 1954-1973, the television series, Lassie was
broadcast in America, with Lassie initially residing on a farm with a
young male master. In the eleventh season, she changed to adult forestry
workers as her companions, then had the collie on her own for a while
before ending the series with Lassie residing at a ranch for troubled
children. The long running series was the recipient of two Emmy
Awards before it was canceled in 1973. A second series followed in the
1980s. In 1997, Canadian production company Cinar Inc. produced a new
Lassie television series for the Animal Planet network in the U.S. and
YTV in Canada. It ran until 1999. In 2005, a remake of the
original Lassie Come Home movie was produced in the United Kingdom.
Starring Peter O'Toole and Samantha Morton, Lassie was released in 2006.
Lassie made a guest appearance on Whose Line is it Anyway?
Remember the show with Lassie's Great AdventuresDVD, Share it with your family Lassie
continues to make personal appearances as well as marketing a line of
pet food and a current pet care TV show, Lassie's Pet Vet on PBS
stations in the United States.
In 2005, the
show business journal Variety named Lassie one of the "100 Icons of all
time" - the only animal star on the list. -- info from Wikipedia and other sources Lassie made a surprise guest appearance on the 2015 season of Project Runway All Stars sitting between her trainer and designer Isaac Mizrahi. Lassie
got her Hollywood Walk of Fame star on February 8, 1960. (Walk of Fame
site shows same date for Lassie, Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin, as well as many actors and other professionals from the early era of Hollywood.)
Patricia Morison was in Kiss Me Kate on Broadway opening in 1948
I Hate Men Lyrics, from Kiss Me, Kate : First on Broadway 1948 From Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate Mentions Lassie I Hate Men Lyrics excerpt I hate men. I can't abide 'em even now and then. Than ever marry one of them, I'd rest a maiden rather, For husbands are a boring lot and only give you bother. Of course, I'm awfully glad that Mother had to marry Father, But I hate men. Of all the types I've ever met within our democracy, I hate most the athlete with his manner bold and brassy, He may have hair upon his chest but, sister, so has Lassie. Oh, I hate men! ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ Lassie isn't the only icon mentioned in a Kiss Me, Kate song lyric. Clark Gable's name also appears in the song, Always True to You in My Fashion.
While you're driving, wrapping presents, doing housework, resting or any time you want to Dogs of Old Time Radio Collection: of dog-themed old time radio programs on this MP3 CD shows. From man's best friend to man wolves, the OTRCAT Dog Collection includes radio shows about dogs. One of the many artists who, through their alluring offering via the big chains, are making the ownership of a good receiving set ever more desirable. A dog's tail serves as a radio receiver for Frank G Kerk, Los Angeles, experimenter.
Kerk attaches an aerial to the collar of his Great Dane and hooks an ear phone to the animal's tail. The canine radio is then complete and all that is necessary is to place the phone to the ear and listen. Dogs have long served humans as protectors, hunters, herders, and companions. They also make fun additions to radio shows. Stories in this collection include: * Cathy sneaks a scary, huge dog into her playroom in Father Knows Best. * In Suspense a DJ investigates a haunted house with his dog, only to have the dog run out of the house! * Cecil gets a dog named Nero in Cecil and Sally * In Dragnet, a man that appears to be more wolf-like is hunting the women in Los Angeles. * It's National Dog Week in Fibber McGee and Molly and Fibber tries to convince Molly to get a dog. Their Cat Collection presents cat-themed shows.
"Cats have long been the muses of artists, writers, musicians, and now web pages. Worshipped by the Egyptians and Mayans, hated during the Inquisition, and cuddled by smart folks listening to old time radio shows. The world is under the paw of cat scratch fever. We're not a lion! Roaring old time radio shows about cats, black cats, cat-eyed crooks and catty witch-wives are included in this collection - plus an extras folder with curious Cat Nursery Rhymes. It's the cat's pajamas. Before a cat can lick her ear, grab your catnip and fiddle plus your favorite purring puss in boots and listen to these purrfect shows. MEEE-OOOW!" --I have the Cat Collection. It's a good variety of shows.
[From the OTR Cat site Image from publicdomainpics]
Strongheart 1724 Vine StreetGerman shepherd, Strongheart was the screen name of Etzel von Oeringen, October 1, 1917-June 24, 1929.
After being trained in Germany as a police dog, he was brought to the United States by husband and wife filmmakers Laurence Trimble and Jane Murfin, who had previously worked successfully with Jean, the Vitagraph Dog.
He appeared in several movies, including a 1925 adaptation of White Fang. Some of these pictures were highly successful, and did much to encourage the popularity of the breed, but most have been lost.
In August of 1928, Etzel Von Oeringen,
the canine who played Strongheart, was accused of murdering a young
child by the name of Sofie Bedard. It reportedly "tried to eat her."
Strongheart's name was later cleared and Sofie's family was prosecuted
for wrongly testifying in a court of law. A popular celebrity in his day, Strongheart paved the way for the much better remembered Rin Tin Tin. Strongheart and his mate, Lady Jule, had many offspring and their line survives to this day. In 1929, while being filmed for a movie, Strongheart accidentally made contact with a hot studio light and was burned. These burns caused a tumor to form and Strongheart died as a result of it.
Strongheart died the next year in peace. "God bless you Strongheart, God bless you", were the words of the eminent dog's Eulogist and former trainer, Henri Potts.
"Read in honor of the dear friends who walk patiently with
us seeking no more than to be told Good Dog:" Part of Letters To Strongheartby J. Allen Boone 1939. Timeless content not just about respect, living through bereavement and pet loss but about much more than that.
Filmography
* The Silent Call (1921)
* Brawn of the North (1922)
* The Love Master (1924)
* North Star (1925)
* White Fang (1925)
* The Return of Boston Blackie (1927); Thought to be the only Strongheart movie still in existence Strongheart got his star on The Walk of Fame in Hollywood on February 8, 1960. Strongheart appeared in popular winter silent movies with early movie snow He was owned by early female writer and producer Jane Murfin and trainer Larry Trimble.
** This is part of a short series. Trivia, background, videos and costume ideas will be included. Next Installments, Godzilla, Kermit the Frog, Big Bird and the Muppets for their group star. Links will be added & announced on Twitter.
Just what did the censors cut out? Official cutouts and other judgments made by The Chicago Board of Censors 1918
Mrs. Murdock pointed to a place near her bed. Nude statuary or sculpture was
Gwen Lee "in hula skirt made of
film cut from her own films"
seen near the beginning of another film. Shocking. There's more. Apologies that I can't supply the removed scenes. Until we get a time machine, only the censors got to see them. But we can describe some of them.
What scenes were removed? What subtitles/intertitles had to be removed or changed? What films were issued Adult Only permits? What films were banned completely? Remember this is only Chicago. Films would likely be censored differently, some banned in one city and not another.
Which were issued permits but then revised so that they were once again released back for the general population? What you can't see won't hurt you? The Fox Film,The Bird of Prey had its permit refused. The film featured the degradation of a woman and contained repeated scenes of immorality, murder and other unlawful acts.
Human Driftwood:Directed by Emile Chautard, 1916. Banned. Refused because the film portrays immoral, disorderly and unlawful scenes
The film Men Men had its Adults Only permit cancelled after revisions including Subtitles changed: "I can deceive my mother no longer - when are we to be married?" changed to read "I can deceive my mother no longer, when is our marriage to be announced?"
"My family still objects, I can never marry you," changed to read, "Our marriage is not legal"
Request: During conversation between mother and daughter insert subtitle "My husband has deceived me with a mock marriage," or word to that effect. Old Wives for New,Spanish subtitles on this print, intertitles are in English Elliott Dexter, Florence Vidor, Sylvia Ashton, Theodore Roberts Cecil B. DeMille director, Artcraft Issued Adults only permit Removed Scenes and Subtitles: "A shrewd sensualist"; "With a ribbon and feather Berkeley pays his debts"; "Suppose he didn't get you the ermine?"
"No I can't forget, I'll take you only to your apartment"; "I killed him, he was a
beast"; "We've got to get him to his hotel"; "Hushing it up"; "I won't
turn you over to the police yet"
Removed incidents include: Mrs. Murdock pointing to a place near her bed All scenes of girl in man's arms on chair Girl shooting man All scenes of girl on floor after shooting
Is video we see today original or censored/edited version, does the unedited version even exist anymore? Who knows?
The Star Boarder aka The landlady's pet aka The House Has a hero Charlie Chaplin, Minta Durfee, real-life wife of Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle
Removed: Chaplin thumbing his nose and Chaplin expanding trousers and looking into them
The types of scenes/shots that were removed from many movies features and short films (Naughty bits?):
Pulling
a card from his sleeve
close-up of a roulette wheel
prize-fighting
slugging detective/shooting policeman
robbing/drilling a safe
shooting a dope
fiend
an arson scene
close up of a man pulling out a knife
robbing a
dead body
closeup of currency showing denomination
view of man rubbing his seat in the snow after being shot
view of man in electric chair
chloroforming man
throwing a stone at
someone
man thumbing his nose
man forcibly kissing a girl
view of
carbolic acid label
front view of nude child
man kicking woman
Pulling any foreign objects out of or putting anything down your trousers. They probably preferred it that actors just leave their trousers alone completely.
Scene of girl scratching herself
Clothes dropping to floor while dressing
A girl in a low cut gown bowing to the audience
Just about anything regarding underwear; picking it up, wearing it, talking about it. Sponge Bob wouldn't have had a chance in 1918 unless he put on some proper trousers. :-)
man in underwear bumping into girl
pulling the dress off of a fat woman and
leaving her in her underwear
views
of nude statuary in foreground
There might be notes such as: "Shorten kissing scene by at least half."
Tom Mix film Fame and Fortunehad many scenes cut and changes of subtitles. Westerns in general with Mix, Broncho Billy and other stars had several edits.
A short Tom Mix biography. (Said to be a little inaccurate, the actor was born 1880 in Mix Run, Pennsylvania.)
Comedy short film A Tight Squeeze Lloyd Hamilton, Ethel Teare, Jimmie Adams, Charles Dorety and Tom Kennedy Removed scenes included:
Scene of a duck squirting water into a rooster's posterior
Entire incident of man lying in water feeling back while looking at a cow
View of a stork with sign, "We satisfy"
Scene of feather duster landing in ram's posterior
Two views of dancer's legs through curtain
Two scenes of dancer wiggling her posterior and first scene where she swings the same
Caught in the Rain Other titles: Who Got Stung? and At It Again 1914 Charles Chaplin, Alice Davenport, Mack Swain It didn't appear to matter how big or popular the director, producer or star was. (Though we did see censors investigated and arrested on charges such as graft across the country.) Removed: All scenes of man or woman in nightrobes, man thumbing nose. Additional eliminations: Scene of Chaplin in underwear preparing for bed, Chaplin putting legs across woman's lap, Chaplin picking up woman's underwear.
Other shocking cuts: Mary Pickford loses her trademark curls... Changes to women's hair will continue to shock audiences in the future whether imitated by the public as styles often are, or not
Short films were mentioned as often as features. Slapstick comedy was not exempt
The 1917 Billy West, Oliver Hardy short film, The Band Master. Removed: Scene of dough dropping from West after he sits in pan. Two scenes of West kicking woman, two scenes of West dropping trousers, two scenes of West bumping women, West expectorating into telephone receptacle (figure of woman).
The Belles of Liberty featuring Eva Novak. Removed: Two scenes of girls ascending stairs with skirts raised above their knees, scene of elderly girl in same action.
In Dutch, a comedy short Removed: Three scenes with a Dutch dancer kicking fat man seated in a chair, striking man in seat with a fork
It's a Great Life, another comedy short: Removed: Four scenes of vacuum cleaner pulling girls' skirts up, scene of vacuum cleaner pulling man's shirt out of his trousers and pushing it in again, man and girl falling into bathtub, woman in bed embracing a minister
In a Keystone comedy, Alonzo's wriggling dance(r), a scene where a character puts a photo down the front of his trousers was removed
Fatty's Wine Party 1914 released 1918 with title Fatty's Wild Night Fatty Arbuckle, Syd Chaplin, Mabel Normand, comedy short Removed: Fatty sticking Chaplin in seat with a pin, Chaplin pulling pin out and then sticking Fatty in the seat with the pin.
Fatty and Mabel Adrift 1915. Mabel Normand, Fatty Arbuckle, Al St. John
World War One ended in 1918. Clara Bow had yet to make a film in 1918. The Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution
establishing prohibition of alcoholic beverages was
ratified in 1919. It wasn't repealed until 1933.
In 1922, Frank Sinatra called Chicago a toddlin' town. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy began working together in the late 1920s.
Not long ago, almost one hundred years after those 'nude statues' were removed from a movie, on television I saw some unclothed store mannequins. Someone had pixelated/blurred out the 'breasts.'
In 1918 Exhibitor's Herald ran a sample of scenes cut by the Chicago Board of Censors. Couldn't find lists similar to this earlier or later. All films are thought to be 1918 unless stated otherwise. This is part of a series. Major changes will be noted and marked with date.
Susan Orlean writes that in the first year Oscars were awarded, "according to Hollywood legend, Rinty received the most votes for best actor. But members of the Academy, anxious to establish the awards were serious and important, decided that giving an Oscar to a dog did not serve that end."
by J. Allen Boone 1939. Timeless content not just about respect, living through bereavement and pet loss but about much more than that.
This is a popular series with films, stars and directors who get too little attention.
by James L. Neibaur 
Some early Cary Grant
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