The Films in My Life - a personal journal of cinema

Celluloid and Canvas - Frank Sinatra

January 04, 2010

Most people are already aware that Frank Sinatra was quite the talented individual -- he is widely considered one of the finest entertainers of the 20th century, perhaps the best singer of our time and an accomplished, Oscar winning actor. But few know that he was also a very able painter.

As someone who paints and draws for a living, I've always been interested in the painter side of Frank Sinatra. I was delighted a few years ago when I found a copy of the 1991 book "A Man and His Art" by Tina Sinatra. The book features glimpses into Sinatra's art studio and more importantly it showcases oodles of his paintings in full-color, gallery layouts.

While his singing style was quite traditional, and a good portion of his songs were already American standards by the time he interpreted them, his painting style is much more cutting edge and modern. Obviously inspired by artists like Mark Rothko and Josef Albers, Sinatra's portfolio consists mainly of large abstract pieces with huge brush strokes and geometric patterns. While I've included three of those pieces, I found his representational works displayed his talent even more, so I chose two of those to include in the post as well.

As Tina Sinatra wrote in the introduction to the book, "I don't think anybody can have as much talent as my father and not have several forms of expression. That kind of talent is like a constant flame."

All paintings and photos in this post are © the Sinatra family,
scanned by me from the book A Man and His Art.

Cliff Edwards

January 03, 2010

by Elizabeth

of Oh by Jingo! Oh by Gee!

Guest Blogger

Very few people are aware of the film career of singer-songwriter Cliff Edwards beyond his voice work at Disney. His name won’t pop up in the history books next to the film greats. He probably won’t even be featured in a book about famous musicians. Yet there is no reason for him to have to suffer through such obscurity – he acted in over 100 films, sold 74 million records, and had over 30 chart topping hits. Careers like that don’t come around every day!

Cliff got his beginning in vaudeville and Broadway during the 1920s. He introduced some of the most popular songs of the decade and was almost always at the top of the charts. Unfortunately, he was placed at a disadvantage when it came to acting. His problem was similar to the one that many silent stars went through when the “talkies” rolled around – his voice didn’t suit his face. Except that his predicament was the REVERSE of what the silent stars were plagued with. The leading men of the silents were handsome and masculine, but a surprising number of them had squeaky or effeminate voices, speech impediments or bizarre accents. Our Mr. Edwards had a stunningly beautiful singing voice with a large vocal range, and a pleasant Midwestern accent. His voice could have guaranteed him regular parts in musicals as the dashing Romeo, but his figure was another story. Even in his first starring role in “The Hollywood Revue of 1929” it is painfully obvious that he was short (in most of his movies he was noticeably smaller than the leading lady), slightly bug-eyed, well on his way to being bald, and bearing an extra chin or two – and he was only 32 at the time. So while he could continue performing his romantic love songs on the 78s, on celluloid he was confined to character acting. And while character acting can get a person a good amount of jobs, it doesn’t make superstars.

At first he received his roles with great regularity and the parts were good. He never got lead, but he did get fairly high billing on the credits, and he had the privilege of playing sidekick to some of Hollywood’s best talent. His first major pairing was with none other than Buster Keaton from 1930-1931. He and Keaton become close friends, but they were split up by MGM after making only three films together. Part of the reason was that they were getting difficult to handle, as Keaton was a depressed alcoholic and both men were suffering from the shattered remains of nightmare marriages, and their troubles show in their work.

His personal life was now collapsing around his ears. He ended his marriage with second wife Irene Wylie in 1931 with an alimony that would give her one-third of any income that he made for life. He was now appearing in fewer movies, and as the 30s continued his parts became smaller and his credits less significant. He was bleeding money what with alimony, tax troubles, budding alcoholism, and some rather bad choices in gambling. In was inevitable that he should declare bankruptcy multiple times. Even through all that he did appear in some major films, such as “His Girl Friday” and “Gone With the Wind”, and received high praise for many of his parts.

Then came the role that resurrected his failing career. Walt Disney, in search for big talent to voice his films, hired him for the part of Jiminy Cricket in his second feature-length animated film, the highly anticipated “Pinocchio.” Disney must have been very impressed with Cliff’s performance, as during the course of the two years that it took to make “Pinocchio” the part of Jiminy Cricket was increased multiple times from only having only a few lines and the performing one song, all the way up to the part we know now, with Jiminy narrating and performing several numbers. The film was released in February 1940, and turned out to be a terrific hit, and “When You Wish Upon a Star” won the Oscar for Best Song. It was the fifth best selling song of 1940, and was recorded by several other performers, such as Guy Lombardo, Bing Crosby, and Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. As a final crowning achievement, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. Even though the average person is much more likely to know who Bing Crosby is, it is still Cliff Edwards’ version that is remembered today.

One would assume that such a successful role and yet another chart topping hit would save his career and bring him out of his poverty. Not true. In fact, he filed for bankruptcy for the second time in 1941, just one year after the release of “Pinocchio” and the same year that he returned to Disney to do the voice of Jim Crow in “Dumbo”. In the mid to the last half of the 1940s he played the sidekick to cowboy Tim Holt in a series of B-westerns (and as any film historian knows, B-western sidekick generally means that an acting career is dead and buried.)

At this point, Cliff was broke and alone. His only form of regular work was because of his personal friendship with Walt Disney, and that was only voice work. He released a couple of children’s records, but they were as Jiminy Cricket, and not as himself. Even his autographs read “the voice of Jiminy Cricket.” He now had no identity that was not related in some way or another to Disney Studios. He spent all of his spare time hanging around the Studios, looking for a free lunch and someone to talk to. Whenever he was sick, Disney kindly paid all of his medical expenses. He did his final movie, a Jiminy Cricket short, in 1970 which was made 41 years after his first appearance on the big screen and 47 years since he made his first vocal recording. Cliff Edwards died in the hospital in 1971 at the age of 76.

Today he is bizarrely remembered and forgotten. Many people still fondly remember his “I’m No Fool” series of Jiminy Cricket shorts from the 1950s-1970s. Just about everyone could recognize his voice, all thanks to Disney. During his lifetime he was constantly employed in some form or another, which is not something that many actors can say. Besides that, he was an incredibly optimistic person, and refused to dwell on his own troubles. His greatest misfortune is that very few people know his name or his groundbreaking work in music, television, radio, and film apart from his cartoon voicing, which perfectly sums up how one little cricket both destroyed and preserved his career. So the next time you hear Jiminy singing “When You Wish Upon a Star”, remember the triumphs and struggles of the incredibly unique little man behind the kindly little cricket.

Hedy Lamarr

January 02, 2010

by Casey

of Noir Girl

Guest BloggerOn the face of it, a casual viewer might dismiss Hedy Lamarr as just another Hollywood illusion. Hedy is notorious for her dazzling beauty and was rightly tagged as The Most Beautiful Woman in Hollywood . She had a successful film career with roles ranging from the calculating native girl Tondalyo in White Cargo (1942) to the Russian zealot Theodore who steals Clark Gable's heart in Comrade X (1940). Hedy also runs a close second to marriage guru Lana Turner in the husband count with 6, and she divorced every one. While these are the facts that spring to mind at the mention of her golden name, I'd like to spotlight a side she is less famous for: her brain.

Our friend Hedy, was in fact, something of a genius. Her first husband, Fritz Mandel, was an important munitions manufacturer in Austria . Fritz was such a celebrated man, he hosted Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini at parties in his home. He was also a man without principles and sold his goods to all takers (a quality which eventually caused him to have to flee to Argentina ). Before his downfall, he funded research in the field of control systems for bombs. It is presumed that Hedy snooped into this research and learned about a scientific breakthrough.

The knowledge she acquired from her former husband's research department stayed with her and she started coming up with additions to the theory. Many years later, while Hedy was living in Hollywood , she started chatting with a musician neighbor named George Antheil. She shared her idea of "frequency hopping" for radio control of torpedoes with George. George was fascinated and helped her to conjure up a scheme to bring her idea to life.

Frequency hopping was a revolutionary idea at the time. It would allow a torpedo to be controlled by using what appeared to be an unplanned combination of radio frequencies. This would make it practically impossible for an enemy to tap into the control frequency, since the frequency was constantly changing with no apparent pattern. Frequency hopping was controlled through the use of perforated rolls of paper similar to piano player rolls (see the musicians influence here?).

Hedy and George were awarded a patent for frequency hopping on August 11, 1942 - the height of Hedy's film career. Next, the duo attempted to get the US Navy interested in their new weapon technology. The shortsighted reviewers found it impossible to look past the integration of music, and refused to get involved with the idea. Their loss, I say.

But, never fear - this story does not have a tragic ending. At the Sylvania Electronic Division of Buffalo, NY in 1957, the engineers took up where Hedy and George left off, seeing the incredible value in their findings. The Sylvania engineers upgraded the technology slightly and had a version of the Lamarr-Antheil communication system on US ships sent to Cuba in 1962. Today, this technology is used in cellular and wireless networks to prevent the systems from being hacked.

So, next time you flip your cell phone open to take a call or send a text, remember the glamorous Hollywood lady who helped make it possible: Hedy Lamarr, A Gal With A Beautiful Mind.

***

Casey wrote a fantastic sister post to this one on her blog, Noir Girl. It features a clip from Come Live With Me in which Hedy Lamarr demonstrates how to properly tie a turban -- and Casey dissected the demonstration step by step for the modern vintage girl :-D Here's the link!

My top ten list

December 23, 2009

Tis the season for top ten lists and so yours truly is jumping on the bandwagon. Mine is ridiculously silly, but I just felt like doing it :) I think it will be an annual tradition on Silents and Talkies, presuming the blog exists long enough for annual traditions to take place.

10. Reels from classic films were used to feed the fire in the burning of Atlanta scene in Gone with the Wind. (Thank you, Terry.)

9. Helen Broderick was Broderick Crawford's mother. (Thank you, imdb.)

8. Jeanne Moreau was a fantastic actress (Thank you, Vivienne.)

7. Despite the fact that I had this name picked out for over four years, finally Christened my blog with it in January and have kept it this way for nearly a year -- this blog has practically nothing to do with silents. (Thank you, brain.)

6. Gail Patrick is pretty awesome. (Thank you, C.K. Dexter Haven.)

5. My ten year search for British movies on dvd in America was finally solved when I discovered The Yammering Magpie, E-Crater and Vintage Classic Movies. (Thank you, Google, Google and Nicola)

4. Polish movie posters are really, really strange. (Thank you, Lolita.)

3. Rod Taylor was Australian! (Thank you, The V.I.P.s, a curious mind and imdb.)

2. Blogging can introduce you to your best friends. (Thank you blogger, Casey, Millie, Nicola and Sarah.)

1. DIRK BOGARDE. (Thank you, God.)

My top twenty favorite actresses

December 20, 2009

While I was out last Thursday I had some spare time, a notebook and a pen so I made my top twenty favorite actresses list (and my top twenty favorite character actors list -- coming soon!) but totally forgot to post it until this morning! I'm becoming more and more absentminded by the day, it seems.

The first five are more or less in order, then after that it's just kind of random. I chose my favorite ROLE for each actress, not necessarily my favorite film. I know I left out a lot of classic-movie-blogging-world-favorites, so please don't hate me :-)

1. Barbara Stanwyck
Favorite role: My Reputation, Meet John Doe & Ever in My Heart
(& The Lady Eve. & Ball of Fire. & Christmas in Connecticut.....)

2. Bette Davis
Favorite role: Now, Voyager (cliche, I know, but I love it!)

3. Susan Hayward
Favorite role: I Want to Live!

4. Julie Christie
Favorite role: Darling

5. Miriam Hopkins
Favorite role: Trouble in Paradise & Old Acquaintance

6. Hayley Mills
Favorite role: The Trouble with Angels

7. Jane Fonda
Favorite role: Sunday in New York

8. Jean Arthur
Favorite role: Talk of the Town & The More the Merrier

9. Joan Blondell
Favorite role: Union Depot

10. Margaret Leighton
Favorite role: The Astonished Heart & The Winslow Boy

11. Audrey Hepburn
Favorite role: How to Steal a Million

12. Celia Johnson
Favorite role: Brief Encounter & The Captain's Paradise

13. Kay Francis
Favorite role: The Goose and the Gander

14. Marsha Hunt
Favorite role: The Affairs of Martha

15. Estelle Winwood
Favorite role: The Glass Slipper

16. Juliet Mills
Favorite role: No, My Darling Daughter & Avanti

17. Ida Lupino
Favorite role: In Our Time

18. Deborah Kerr
Favorite role: Night of the Iguana

19. Glenda Farrell
Favorite role: Mystery of the Wax Museum &
all of her Torchy Blane films

20. Jeanne Moreau
Favorite role: Mademoiselle and Elevator to the Gallows

My top twenty favorite actors

December 15, 2009

Eons ago (I think it was before I even had a blog) there was a tag going around, asking people to name their top 20 favorite actors. I wasn't tagged or anything, but I really really wanted to participate. At first, when I was more or less keeping with the "artwork to go with every single post" idea, I was going to paint or draw ALL of my favorite actors. After failing miserably to capture some of their likenesses on paper (eh-hem, Dirk and Robert) I decided to just go ahead and finally do the post sans-art.

When Millie did her top 20 actors post back in March she left the tag open to anyone who wanted to jump on the bandwagon, so I'm considering myself tagged now :) And I tag anyone who wants to join in on the fun! I also think it would be super neat for people who made the list a year ago to re-do it and see if anything has changed!

Anyway.. on to the list!! The first ten are more or less in order, and the last ten aren't. Like Millie I decided to list my favorite ROLE that each actor played. It's not necessarily my favorite film of theirs, just my favorite role. For some of them I just couldn't narrow it down and had to pick two... sue me ;-D