Cinematic Retrospective: Sea Gull mentioned on BlogTalkRadio

Late last night, I was wrapping up a full weekend of work on THE SEA GULL, when I did a little searching on the Web before turning in. I found a new classic film chat show starting on BlogTalkRadio called Cinematic Retrospective. This show is like a podcast but with one main difference, it is broadcast live, with fans able to call in.

They just started the program in January and ran a test show on January the 4th and 7th. I saw they had linked to Edna's site, which was very nice discovery. I listened to the test show and was very pleasantly surprised to hear them talking about THE SEA GULL. This was really the first time I heard people whom I don't know talking about our project, which was very enlightening, especially after working on that project all weekend. The segment turned into a chat about Chaplin and his leading ladies that ran for several minutes, which was revealing in itself.

It you like to listen, you can find their download program at this LINK. They have a schedule of future shows, but it appears you have to send an email address for the live broadcast times. The past programs are available to hear.

We will have much more about The Sea Gull, but at this point we are in the final stages of the rewrites, after hearing from our manuscript readers. We have a few more major stages to go before we go fully public. This will be the very first book to feature Edna Purviance, but not the only one, since we have the full biography in the works. This book will be an introduction to Edna and have information never seen before about her, but also information on the film which was created for her by Josef von Sternberg and produced by Charles Chaplin. Chaplin never released the film. (You can check our older post that talks about this project.)

For our fans who entered the contest, I will have more for you in February, but for now, I need to keep focused on the project at hand. It was great to hear Sea Gull mentioned 'on air'. Much more to come, but it all takes time, as we do this project in our free time. So do watch for more, have a listen to Cinematic Retrospective, and thanks to them for the mention of THE SEA GULL on your program! The best to you with your program!

UPDATE February 5th: The programs are scheduled live, Thursday nights at 10PM Central Time. Click on PROGRAMMING GUIDE and select FILMS. Also for Mac users, see this link for help in hearing the programs, if you have problems and I found Firefox browser works the best.

Cleveland Public Library Lantern Slide Collection

The Cleveland Public Library has an Internet exhibit called Coming Attractions: Cinema Teasers from the Silent Era. This collection was made available from W. Ward Marsh Archives.

With nearly 700 glass lantern slides from the silent film era, it covers films made between 1915-1928, including images of Edna Purviance, Charlie Chaplin and Eric Campbell in films like 'The Adventurer'. This collection is all on a database for easy searching or view the full collection with details on each slide. Cleveland Library had the collection since the 1970s, but now can have visitors enjoy it.

The Pilgrim - Los Angeles June 2, 2007

June 2, 2007: UCLA Los Angeles, Ca. - Silent Film Gala - The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is planning a live music presentation of 'The Pilgrim', starring Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance. Timothy Brock will be conducting. Buster Keaton's 'Shelock, Jr. is on the same bill. MORE

Los Angeles Daily News: Edna at Grand View

On January 11, 2007, Lisa Burks article about Edna Purviance at Grand View appeared in the LA Daily News. Click on image for a readable page. See Lisa's blog for continued general coverage on Grand View. On a follow up note: Edna's family is looking into Edna's situation at Grand View. More later...

Update January 27, 2007: Grand View Viewing Hours
From the Glendale News: " The city has released a revised visiting schedule for Grand View Memorial Park which cuts operating hours at the cemetery from each Sunday a month to two Sundays a month. The cemetery will be open from noon to 4 p.m. on Feb. 4 and 18, March 4 and 18, April 1 and 15, May 6 and 20 and June 3 and 17. The City Council will be re-evaluating the visitation schedule in March."

Charlie Chaplin Goes to War - a play

Charlie Chaplin Goes to War
February 1 - 17, 2007
By Simon Bradbury and Dan Kamin
Gateway Theatre - Richmond, British Columbia
A play about Chaplin 'feverishly' finishing the 'The Great Dictator', when suddenly 'Hitler speaks back' from the screen. MORE

Charlie Chaplin: Retrospective in Italy

IL CINEMA RITROVATO in Bologna, Italy is planning a major retrospective marking the 30th Anniversary of Charlie Chaplin's death. This year's festival is scheduled for June 30th - July 7th.

More 30th Anniversary Events for Charles Chaplin, including the MK2 French re-release of the newly restored films: The Kid, The Circus and The Gold Rush. Plus Cineteca completion of the Chaplin documents on their website (set for summer 2007).

UPDATE MARCH 23, 2007: MORE INFORMATION ON 30TH ANNIVERSARY

UPDATE APRIL 2, 2007: LATEST DETAIL EVENT INFORMATION
"Chaplin – whose work is being restored in Bologna – has long been a guardian angel of our festival. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Chaplin’s death and the Cineteca di Bologna is paying a five month homage to him with a monumental exhibition, seven concerts and an entire retrospective dedicated to him which is culminating in the festival week with some brand new treasures for all cinephiles’ palates."

Charles Chaplin was born April 16, 1889 in London. He died Christmas Day 1977 at his home in Manoir de Ban, Corsier sur Vevey.

Edna Purviance: Personal Films Discovered!

We announce the restoration of NEWLY DISCOVERED film footage of Edna Purviance. The films show Edna Purviance's PRIVATE LIFE during her happy marriage with pilot Capt. Jack Squire. We see Edna nearly 20 years after her film career, living in South America!

See this link for MORE DETAILS about this exciting project.

Note: These films will only be on a future DVD.

UPDATE: January 23, 2007 - NEW BRIEF GLIMPSE

UPDATE: January 22, 2007 - I just received the hard copy of Lisa Burk's Edna Purviance article in the LA Daily News. Will share soon...

January 18, 2007 - I have been hearing and reading about the wintry weather and heavy summer rains in different countries. Just thought I share a link from YouTube of the icy weather Portland, Oregon has experience recently. You could call it 'ice-skating by car'. But what is happening is no fun and games... (Portland had ice, UK and Europe high winds.)

The Sea Gull book update...

We are very excited here with a couple of things! In a few hours I will post the special January 17th announcement. But right now, a special book update about The Sea Gull.

We just received our special printed test book back. It was to test layout, fonts and how the photos would look, before going into final production. And we have to say, we are thrilled with the results.

We never printed with an on-demand-printer before (and frankly worried), but seeing this result today is a great relief! I have heard good things and this helps prove it. We are pulling together over 25 years in printing, layout and photography skills to get the best results possible for the book printing. We know this is our first 'live' test, but so far, we are very pleased!

Update: This is a very quick picture of the limited page sample test book. Mainly to show you we are working on it. At this time, we plan about 100-120 pages, but nothing is final at this stage. The size will be 8 1/2 by 11 inches. (To give you an idea of size, the book behind The Sea Gull is Maurice Bessy, 1983 French edition Charlie Chaplin.)

Lisa's LA Daily News - UPDATE

Update January 17th: Lisa Burk's article about Edna Purviance at Grand View has appeared in print in the Los Angeles, LA Daily News... Update: I just received the hard copy and will share soon.

See Special Announcement about Edna Purviance under January 17th!

Charlie Chaplin on TCM

Here are the current 2007 showing of Charlie Chaplin films on Turner Classic Movies:
January 16th - 12 am eastern - The Gold Rush
February 1st - 9:15 am eastern - The Circus
February 28th - 1:45 pm eastern - Monsieur Verdoux
February 28th - 4:00 pm eastern - The Great Dictator

Missing these past showing on TCM? Watch for TCM Special Charlie Chaplin Birthday programing for April 2007. MORE

Gosh, one week to special Edna Purviance news!

Next Wednesday, January 17th, I will announce special news about Edna Purviance. It will be posted around midnight west coast time in the USA. (That is around 8AM London time.)

Until than, just a bit about The Sea Gull book project. I am currently working on the re-writes and we are preparing the first test printing of the book.

It is great to see the layout coming together. So there is hope for getting this done! And we got some very good comments from our test readers.

Who were our test readers? They were selected from a group of people we have actually met and have experience in writing. Some of the readers were new to Edna Purviance, but this helped with introducing Edna to her ever growing list of fans.

We also like to thank the continued interest in the project and new entries to the contest to win a free copy of The Sea Gull. Those entries alone tell us Edna has fans in many different parts of the world.

Picture Note: The photo is one I took of Gosh! comic bookstore in London. Close to the British Museum. A must stop for comic book fans!

Silent Film Events and Festivals

Currently happening in Silent Films

Charlie Chaplin Film Events
June 2, 2007 - UCLA - The Pilgrim - Live music event
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with Timothy Brock, conducting
June 2, 2007 - Silent Film Benefit - Catalina Island - Chaplin and Bow
June 3, 9, 10 and 12th, 2007 - Four Films Events in Japan with the Kyoto Symphony
August 30th and September 1, 2007 - Sydney, Australia -
The Gold Rush - Sydney Opera House

Silent Film Events and Festivals
While there are thousands of film festivals, with some showing a few silent films, this is a list of silent film festivals and events. Even these may show some talking films, but I tried to keep this list on just silent film events and ones with currently updated schedules.

United Kingdom
Nottingham
British Silent Cinema





London
Barbican Film Series





Bristol
Bristol Silents
Slapstick





Italy
Le Giornate Del Cinema Muto




Bologna, Italy
IL CINEMA RITROVATO - June 30th - July 7th, 2007
30th Anniversary celebration since Charlie Chaplin's passing is being planned during this year's festival, with a major showing of Chaplin's films with live music and special exhibits of his work.


Australia
Sydney
Australia Silent Film Festival






Netherlands
Amsterdam, Holland
Filmmuseum Biennale










United States
California
San Francisco
Silent Film Festival





Niles
Nile Essanay Silent Films (series of films and festivals)
10th Annual Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival
June 25th-July 1, 2007
Celebrating 100th Anniversary of Essanay (1907-2007)





Los Angeles
Silent Film Theatre




Hollywood
Cinecon - Labor Day Weekend (first weekend in Sept.)
Mixture of silent to 1950s films.
(Cinecon 43 - If like in the past, they will have the 43 program schedule on their site this summer. )






Illinois
Chicago
Silent Films Chicago



Kansas
Topeka (follow-up on 2007 event)
Kansas Silent Film Festival










New York
Cinefest - Syracuse (Every March)
Link to 2007 event.

The Silent Clowns









Utah
Salt Lake City
The Organ Loft



Oregon
Salem
The ElsinoreThe Elsinore still has a limited silent film series.

Ohio
Columbus - Cinevent - Link to 2007 Event
Massillion - Cinesation - Link to 2007 Event

Iowa
Sioux City
Orpheum Theater
Check event schedule for silent film showings

Worldwide
Chaplin Film and Music Events

Past Event 2007
Charlie Chaplin Play - Charlie Chaplin Goes to War
February 1 - 17th, 2007 - Gateway Theatre
Richmond, British Columbia






Media Links for Silent Films
Television and Radio
Turner Class Movies - Silent Sunday Nights
Charlie and Edna on TCM
Check the BBC for silent film showings
and special radio broadcast

Podcasts
Stolen Moments - Donna Hill
Preview of 2007 is currently available
(mixture of shows with Kevin Brownlow, hopefully, again for an interview)



Theatre Events Worldwide
America Theatre Organ Society

Events in dark gray are past events.

Update May 11, 2007 - I decided this spring to create a new home for this page on Edna's site. Here is the LINK. Thanks for visiting this page... L

Smile - Violinist Anne Akikl Meyers

If you haven't heard it before, here is another version of SMILE by violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. Part of 'Performance Today' - A LOOK BACK, the last 20 years of the program. You can download Meyers' version of SMILE off the NPR website at this LINK.

Others who have recorded SMILE listed at NPR:
Madeleine Peyroux - LISTEN HERE
Freddie Redd - Jazz Pianist

List of more SMILE recordings
Update January 22, 2007 - Nanny Assis, Double Rainbow, Blue Toucan label. Nanny is a Brazilian jazz artist who has recorded his own version of Sorrie (Smile) "soft and pleasing... with a Brazilian beat". LINK

Update February 12, 2007 - Tierney Sutton Band version of Smile

Update February 19, 2007 - Rebecca Parris version of Smile

Charlie Chaplin Mutuals - Salt Lake City

January 5, 2007 - Salt Lake City, Utah - The Organ Loft Theater in Salt Lake will be screening all twelve of the Chaplin Mutual films in order, for their 2007 Spring Silent Movie Series. They kick things off with 'The Floorwalker' on January 11th. Except for 'One AM', all the films feature Edna Purviance. See their link for more details!
____________________________

A non-Chaplin film: If you haven't seen it, I viewed an emotionally moving film called 'Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont'. It was so nice to see a film without guns or four-letter words (at least I don't recall any). Just a touching story about the a widow's relationships with her family and the special person she meets along the way. The title refers to her taking up residence at the Claremont Hotel in London, England. It stars Joan Plowright and introduces Rupert Friend.

Lisa's story hits the LA Daily News website

January 17th update: I have been informed by Lisa, this article has appeared in print at the LA Daily News.

UPDATE: Lisa's Burk's story about Edna Purviance and Grand View has hit the LA Daily News website today. Lisa said it is getting good interest. I know this story has been getting good interest here too. LINK to LA Daily News

On a follow up note, I have been doing more research into this matter. I am checking again about a letter in the family collection that concerned Grand View. On another front, I have dug up some more interesting facts about this, but the most important one at the moment concerns moving Edna from Grand View.

Because of California state laws, it is not that easy to move Edna from Grand View to anywhere. Edna's current family (her grand nieces) are not considered close enough family to just move Edna out of Grand View without a court order. Edna has no direct family (she had no children) and all other close family have died long ago. But the family is working on the situation at this time.

Thanks to some special help today, I do know Edna's remains were delivered to Grand View on February 17, 1958, a full month after Edna's cremation and funeral at Forest Lawn. Also, there were only two plots purchased at Forest Lawn by Edna's mother, Louise Nurnberger, 23 years before Edna died. We are tracing more of the history, but it does raise the question on Edna's true wishes. It is speculative on all our parts at the moment.

I am doing more research, talking to more officials and talking to the family. I like to thank everyone who has written in the last few days. I will continue to research the matter.

I am also posting updates at ednapurviance.org

JANUARY 3rd FOLLOW UP: I want to share with you a comment from Lisa Burks. Lisa has done a lot of writing in the Los Angeles area and have worked with lots of different people, so here is what she has to say about the fans of Edna Purviance:

"Edna fans are the best, you and your readers are truly above average when it comes to caring about silent film stars!" - Lisa Burks, LA Daily News

Lisa will be doing continuing coverage of the Grand View Case as it goes to trial. Follow her reports on her blog throughout the case. LINK

January 23, 2007 - Lisa's Edna Purviance's article appeared in print on January 11, 2007, in the LA Daily News.

A Lady who knew Edna...

This morning in my 2007 post, I mentioned about finding new information about Edna. Well, I just had a wonderful post from a lady whose Grandmother knew Edna during Edna's days in San Francisco. Here is part of her post:

"I just wanted to let you know that my grandmother was very good friends with Edna Purviance when she lived in San Francisco. They were in business school together there, and she remembers Charlie offering Edna a job. My grandmother also volunteered her housecoat as one of the props that was needed for one of his early films. My grandmother died in 1988, but she always told us the story of Edna and Charlie..."

Thank you Marilyn for sharing your special story... Linda

2007 - A Look Ahead...

Happy 2007 to everyone! One never knows what a new year has in store, but we hope this year will be a successful one for all!

When 2006 started, we had no idea we would be in Hollywood Labor Day Weekend showing the first documentary on Edna. I knew we had a great interview with Lita Hill, but I didn't even have my computer fully working to edit any of the video on January 1, 2006.

Who knows what this year will bring, but we do know we have a lot of work in the office to do this year!

As for the Lita Hill video, it is planned to be released after the our Edna Purviance biography is done, which will be sometime in 2008.























This year, we have Edna's first book The Sea Gull in the works. We nearly have all our test copies back and will start the re-write shortly. I don't have a date yet, but decided to start a contest for fans to be the first to know the release date. Later, these same fans will get updates and special information about Edna.

Besides The Sea Gull, we will be working on the biography about Edna and her family. At this point, it will take most of this year to prepare it. I have about 2/3 of the draft written, but it will go through many re-writes before it is finished. Lita Hill is also working on it, to help cover the later years of Edna's life. All this material has to be combined into one book. As I mentioned before, Edna's life has never been fully researched. Many things not fully researched have been written in books, then duplicated in other books. It takes much time to research all this material and to find new original material. I originally planned for The Sea Gull to be second, but The Sea Gull will be a special book for Edna and Chaplin fans to enjoy first. More on The Sea Gull, as we get closer to release.

On January 17th, 2007, I plan to make a special announcement at ednapurviance.org and Edna's Place. You will just have to come back for that one.

Dominique has informed me 'Santa' was very giving this Christmas with new Chaplin books. You will be seeing his new additions in the coming weeks, but first I have some special news coming about the library. The Chaplin Library will be seeing major changes this year, due to some very special work from one of our special Edna fans. As the English would say, I was gobsmacked upon the news! I am thrilled about the changes and I know fans should really like it too. I will fill you in with a special post in the coming weeks!

We will also be keeping an eye on the Kevin Brownlow and David Gill Hollywood Series. It was to be released on DVD in 2006, but held up due to copyright issues.

We like to thank all the people who have been entering their names to the Hollywood Walk of Fame Petition. We are continuing to help the Facebook group with gathering signatures for the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The comments alone tell me what a loyal fan base Edna has. It is a long process, but great to see the interest. The deadline for signatures for this year is May 31, 2007. Check this link for more details.

I will be continuing to follow the developments at Grand View (where Edna is interred). This year includes the court cases. We thank Lisa Burks for her continued coverage on GV. I have been in contact with a few people on this matter and will be looking into it more this year.

One never knows for sure what the year will bring. Some are better than others, but I do know a lot of work will be involved as we work on two books about Edna Purviance. So I will be seeing lots of the office this year as work on the book kicks into high gear. Always nice to hear from fans, so do drop a note by once and while. I have one idea for an special event, but nothing in the works. But the first thing is to get The Sea Gull done and prepare for the final writing of the biography.

We thank you for visiting and for making 2006 another record breaking year. In fact, smashing last year's record. We thank all our visitors from around the world for your support and return visits!

Last Christmas I said Merry Christmas to the many different visitors in their language. This year, here is a list of some of the countries Edna and Charlie fans that have visited from in 2006: Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Japan, China, Australia, South Africa, The Republic of Congo, Italy, France, Germany, Paraguay, Vietnam, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Czech Republic, Peru, New Zealand, Netherlands, Thailand, Switzerland, Georgia, Ireland, Scotland, Korea, Denmark, Turkey, Kuwait, Lithuania, Wales, Spain, Portugal, Ukraine, Pakistan, India, Philippines, Israel, England and the United States.

We hope you enjoy your visit at Edna's and look forward to your return!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Follow up: I do watch American Football (well, I never liked it growing up, but my husband got me hooked many years ago) and we follow the Denver Broncos. Sunday the team lost their chance to be in the playoffs. Actually, they were not playing well enough this year to be in it, so just as well to 'call it a day' Sunday. We thought that was it until next year.

Monday morning the alarm goes off and the first words off the NPR station was the tragic drive-by shooting of Denver's starting CB, Darrent Williams, who was killed in his limo. He was actually a bright spot on the team, with some of the best plays for the year. No one has been arrested for the shooting as this writing. He was a kid who made it out of the 'other side of the tracks' as the saying goes.

While the day started off on a tragic note, the day ended with the best college football game I personally ever seen. Boise State Broncos (who wear the same colors and name as Denver) won against Oklahoma in overtime. The team best known for their blue turf and being from the potato state, played a whale of a game and smashed their way through to a perfect season. Nice to see the old home state do well! Go Broncos!

(Boise, Idaho is the most likely place where Edna's parents first met.)