OLD HOLLYWOOD IN COLOR

A Video Tour of the Souvenir Program from BEN-HUR (1925) with Musical Accompaniment from the 1931 Reissue

MGM spared no expense in producing its massive silent film version of BEN-HUR and, frankly, the story behind the making of this film is a great tale in its own right. Filming began in Italy with different actors in the lead roles, except for Francis X. Bushman playing the villain Messala. He remained in the role despite everybody else being replaced including the director. All told, Bushman worked on the film for about two years!

Constant labor strikes in Italy created huge cost overruns, so the studio decided to shut down filming, scrap most of the Italian footage, and start over again in Hollywood. It turned out to be a wise move. The massive production was eventually completed and had its astounding premiere in December 1925. It was a massive success following in the wake of the best-selling novel by Gen. Lew Wallace, and the ever-popular stage version that brought real horses onstage for the chariot race.

Without further ado, let’s enjoy a video tour of the original souvenir program from BEN-HUR‘s roadshow engagements. I added original color lobby cards and photos colorized by yours truly. To top it off, I added music from the soundtrack of the film’s reissue in 1931.

An original glass slide that was projected onto movie theater screens to promote BEN-HUR:

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Video Tour of the Souvenir Program from BEN-HUR (1925)

on November 25, 2019 at 9:26 PM Leave a Comment
Tags: BEN-HUR, classic film, Francis X. bushman, May McAvoy, MGM, old Hollywood, Ramon Novarro, silent film

DON JUAN (1926) – A Video Tour of Two Original Souvenir Programs

Souvenir movie programs have always been highly collectible items. In fact, the more vintage the program, the more expensive they tend to be, especially if the item is in top condition. Among my personal collection I have two souvenir programs from DON JUAN (1926), the first feature film to have a synchronized music score (with a few sound effects).

Here is the cover of the deluxe American program that was sold at the special “road show” engagements of the film.

This is the cover of the German program that was printed on such thin paper that I immediately digitized the pages before they crumbled.

And now, please take a video tour of both programs accompanied by musical excerpts from the film’s original score.

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Video Tour of DON JUAN Souvenir Programs

on November 24, 2019 at 9:08 PM Comments (2)
Tags: classic film, Don Juan, John Barrymore, Mary Astor, Montagu Love, Myrna Loy, old Hollywood, silent film, sound film, Souvenir Movie Programs, talkies, Vitaphone, Warner Bros., Warner Oland

Happy Halloween 2019 – Icons of Classic Horror Films

Continuing my efforts with a new software program I recently learned that adds a bit of motion to still photos. The effect is a bit creepy but I thought it would work well with Horror Film Icons. So here goes:

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Happy Halloween 2019

on October 31, 2019 at 9:40 AM Comments (4)
Tags: 2019 Happy Halloween!

Lon Chaney – Just in Time For Halloween 2019

I used a variety of software applications to put together this short video dedicated to the Man of 1,000 Faces, Lon Chaney (Sr.). While I barely made a dent in reviewing Lon’s incredible number of faces, at least it’s a start. I used Photoshop to restore dingy old photos to a like-new B/W sheen, and then turn them into color images. Each finished color image was then sent to the Motion Portrait software demo to create the illusion of movement from still photos. As a finishing touch, I used Magix Audio Lab to clean up and restore the sound quality to a 1922 acoustical record of Gounod’s “Funeral March of a Marionette,” more popularly known as Alfred Hitchcock’s theme from his TV series.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

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on September 26, 2019 at 2:12 PM Comments (3)
Tags: classic film, horror film, lon Chaney, London After Midnight, old Hollywood, Phantom of the Opera, silent film

Lost Films We’d Love To See

There’s a special cache that lost films seems to have in our minds, a sort of unattainable treasure just beyond our grasp. Looking at surviving stills, posters and lobby cards tend only to increase our longing to view the movies. The fact that a number of “lost” films have surfaced in the last ten years or so, and some have even made it to home video DVD or Blu-ray, only increases our hopes that more of these elusive antiques will be found.

Here to tantalize us is artwork of some of the better known “lost” films beyond the obvious ones such as LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT (1927) or CONVENTION CITY (1933). Well, we can dream, can’t we?

I decided to choose one particular year – in this case 1928 – and focus on notable films by big stars that are gone.

I have confirmed the “lost” status of each title with the 2018 listing of “7,200 Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films” by the National Film Preservation Board. You can access this document at https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/SFF-LostFilmsList050118.pdf

Clara Bow has an unfortunate run of four lost films from this one year:

THREE WEEK ENDS (1928)

THE FLEET’S IN (1928)

LADIES OF THE MOB (1928)

RED HAIR (1928)

There exists a few bits of RED HAIR that only make it more tantalizing:

Next, let’s take a look at a couple of Gary Cooper‘s lost films:

THE LEGION OF THE CONDEMNED (1928) with Fay Wray getting top billing over Coop

BEAU SABREUR (1928)

The films of Greta Garbo enjoy a high survival rate except for this 1928 MGM film:

THE DIVINE WOMAN (1928)
About nine minutes were found in a Russian archive but the rest of the film is considered lost at this time:

Considering John Gilbert‘s legendary status as one of the greatest stars of the 1920s, it’s surprising that one of his 1928 films is among the lost. This film is also one of his most intriguing:

THE MASKS OF THE DEVIL (1928)

We’ve only scratched the surface of reviewing important lost films. Sadly, there are many more so perhaps we might do a “Lost Films 2” in the near future.

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Lost Films We'd Like To See

on September 15, 2019 at 7:59 PM Comments (3)
Tags: Clara Bow, classic film, Gary Cooper, Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, lost films, old Hollywood, silent film

All New – 2019 Gallery of Color Transfers!

Your blogmeister has been busy over the last few months creating new color transfers from classic Black & White photographs. I have also included the b/w image for comparison. Enjoy!

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. surveys a beautiful southwestern landscape while filming A MODERN MUSKETEER in 1918:

Here’s what we started with:The Lost Talkie GENERAL CRACK (1930) with (left to right) Lowell Sherman, Marian Nixon, and John Barrymore:

A very young John Wayne and Marguerite Churchill in the wide-screen THE BIG TRAIL (1930):

Bessie Love and Richard Barthelmess in SOUL FIRE (1925):

BLARNEY (1926) with Renee Adoree and Ralph Graves:

Marion Davies at MGM circa 1927:

Lon Chaney in his first (and only) talkie THE UNHOLY THREE (1930):

Clara Bow in THREE WEEK ENDS (1928):

Dolores Costello and John Barrymore (paternal grandparents of Drew Barrymore) in WHEN A MAN LOVES (1927):

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2019 Gallery of Color Transfers

on March 21, 2019 at 1:57 PM Comments (1)

Here they are – our 2019 Old Hollywood in Color Calendars!

I’m flattered to receive inquiries asking when we would be posting our selection of calendars for the New Year. Well, the wait is over and just in time to ring in 2019. Another question I’m asked: How can I get a copy? That’s easy – just print them out. If you prefer a size larger than 8.5 x 11-inches then let me suggest that you bring the file to a copying store. Enjoy and may you have good health and many blessings in 2019!

We can take a few requests although we can’t make any promises.
Happy 2019!

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2019 Old Hollywood in Color calendars

on December 31, 2018 at 2:39 PM Leave a Comment

The New 2018 Gallery of Color Transfers

Here is the latest roundup of color transfers taken from vintage black & white photographs by your blogmeister. Enjoy!

Lon Chaney poses in a gift chair given to him by the crew of HE WHO GETS SLAPPED (1924), which was the first film produced by the then-newly formed MGM. Alas,inquiries indicate that this chair no longer exists:

Dolores Costello does her bit to publicize the construction of Warner Bros. new theater in Los Angeles circa 1928:

In one of his more unusual roles, Humphrey Bogart plays a Mexican bandit in VIRGINIA CITY (1940). On the left is Randolph Scott, on the right is George Regas:

W.C. Fields in one of his rare silent films, IT’S THE OLD ARMY GAME (1926) recently released on Blu-ray:

A very young Joan Crawford in the lost film, DREAM OF LOVE (1928):

Monty Woolley confers with Al Jolson as they prepare for a radio broadcast on the Colgate Show in 1943:

The ill-fated Olive Thomas circa 1920:

Pola Negri in BELLA DONNA (1923):

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in one of their last silent films, WRONG AGAIN (1929):

High up on the roof of the Paris Opera House Lon Chaney’s Phantom dressed as the Masque of Red Death spies on the lovers Norman Kerry and Mary Philbin. The film of course is THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925):

Director Sam Taylor welcomes Camilla Horn (left) and Lupe Velez on the set of TEMPEST (1928):

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New 2018 Gallery of Color Transfers

on March 24, 2018 at 9:12 PM Comments (1)
Tags: Al Jolson, classic film, color in films, Humphrey Bogart, lon Chaney, MGM, old Hollywood, old time radio, Phantom of the Opera

2018 Old Hollywood in Color Calendars

Take your pick and print out this year’s assortment of Color Calendars:

Greta Garbo:

John Barrymore as The King of Fools in THE BELOVED ROGUE (1927):

Joan Crawford circa 1927:

Lon Chaney and Lupe Velez in WHERE EAST IS EAST (1929):

Gloria Swanson circa 1919:

Phyllis Haver and Olive Borden in FIG LEAVES (1926):

Lupe Velez circa 1930:

The Original Rin-Tin-Tin circa 1925:

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2018 Old Hollywood in Color calendars

on January 6, 2018 at 11:01 AM Comments (1)

On the Set with….the 2017 Edition!

Among our most popular posts here are the “On the Set” series showing legendary figures of Old Hollywood at work on the set of their films. It’s high time we posted a new round of photos – all in living color of course!

On the set of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1923) director/producer Cecil B. De Mille (on the left) introduces the U.S. Secretary of War John Weeks to the Pharoah Rameses aka Charles De Roche:

The original Rin-Tin-Tin (1918-1932) and his owner Lee Duncan enjoy sunset on the beach in 1929:

John Barrymore at his magnificent Tower Road home in the Hollywood Hills circa 1930:

Clara Bow gives some swimming suggestions to her niece and nephew circa 1928:

Bette Davis and her dog do a bit of fishing on the San Clemente River in 1933:

Greta Garbo and John Gilbert join director Edmund Goulding and crew for a picnic lunch during outdoor filming on LOVE (1927):

Marion Davies is directed by Sam Wood on the set of THE FAIR CO-ED (1927):

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. is the center of attention at the Hotel Manila in the Philippines during the filming of AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY MINUTES (1931):