Silent Summer Film Festival in Chicago

July 20 - August 24, 2007 - Each Friday Night
at the Portage Theater in Chicago

Scheduled:
July 20th - Seven Chances - Buster Keaton
July 27th - Wings - Clara Bow
August 3rd - Battleship Potemkin - Vladimir Barski
August 10th - Welcome Danger - Harold Lloyd
August 17th - Beggars of Life - Louise Brooks
August 24th - Suds - Mary Pickford

Single tickets or passes are available. more>

Grand View - Special Meeting Planned

The attorneys for the Grand View Cemetery lawsuit have scheduled a special meeting to gather stories from nearly 140 people involved in the lawsuit. The plan is to decided the amount of money to sue for. The meeting is Tuesday, July 17th, at the Pacific Community Center.

This July 15th, 2007 article will be up on the Glendale site for 14 days. LINK

"About 140 people suing the owners of the cemetery are invited to come to the Pacific Community Center Tuesday, said attorney Mary Der-Parseghian, whose firm Aroustamian & Associates filed the lawsuit." - Glendale News

New York Digital Gallery - Online

The New York Public Library has a Digital Gallery with over 550,000 images available to view online. Check these sampling of links or do a search of your own... more>

Charlie Chaplin | Silent Films | Buster Keaton
Mabel Normand | Edna Purviance
Valentino | Hollywood

Edna Purviance's First New York Trip

It was December 1917, when Edna Purviance made her very first trip to New York City.

Until 1917, Edna's travels were to California and visiting friends in Nevada, but her first trip outside of the United States was in August 1917, when she sailed to Hawaii. Hawaii was not a state at that time, and had not been totally changed by tourist.

She traveled with Charlie Chaplin and Rob Wagner. She made many friends on that trip and loved every moment of it. In fact, she didn't want to come home after her six week stay, but Charlie was antsy to get back to California and start building his studio.

The studio took a few months to build, so the stock company had time for leisure. Getting the traveling bug, Edna decided to make her first to New York City. While in New York, she had many invitations for dinners, toured the city, had fun shopping, and also answered requests for interviews.

Following is an article about her arrive in the city...
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Edna Purviance's First New York Visit - Girl of the West
Charlie Chaplin's Leading Woman Here on Shopping Trip While New Studio Goes Up - December 1917

Edna Purviance, Charlie Chaplin's leading woman, had her first glimpse of New York this week when she arrived from California to do her shopping in the metropolis. The trip was made possible by the fact that the new Chaplin studios are not yet ready for occupancy, and until they are completed the players are taking their leisure.

Miss Purviance finds her every minute occupied with invitations to dinners, interviews and the selection of frocks for forthcoming Chaplin comedies. The comedienne is a western girl and has expressed herself delighted with the hospitality she has enjoyed at the hands of Gotham's theatrical and screen folk, although she came cast unannounced.

She visited the headquarters of the First National Exhibitors' Circuit and there talked of publicity plans for the Chaplin releases. She declared that some of the best comedy work of Chaplin's career will be disclosed on forthcoming productions.

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According to tax documents still available, Edna did buy clothes that were used in her films.

The studio opened in January 1918. The collection has a couple of photos that appear to be on that opening day, with one being Edna's mother, Louise, taken with Edna in front of the studio.

Few bites...

Hope you are enjoying your summer, or at least staying cool, if in one of the hot areas. For our Buenos Aires visitors, read about you enjoying snow for the first time since 1918? Some of our England and Texas visitors have been nearly flooded out, and areas Edna knew well in Nevada have suffered wildfires lately.

Anyway, sorry for the lack of Sea Gull news, but working on the book. We have had new jobs in our business that takes time away from the project, but also waiting for a few things, as well. Thinking of a new Brief Glimpse that might touch on Sea Gull again.

If you haven't heard, charliechaplin.com is running a Charlie Chaplin dress up contest. Follow this link, for more details.

Coming this weekend is the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for breaking some new records in visits!

Grand View Gets Court Order to Clean-up

JULY 16th UPDATE: Special meeting planned for July 17th. See Link

"The city of Glendale received court approval Monday to do much-needed maintenance work at Grand View Memorial Park — clearing the way for the cemetery's eventual reopening."

The judge had handed down the court order allowing the city of Glendale the right to clean up the dying trees and limbs on the Grand View property. It is a band aid to a much bigger problem, until the court cases for finished.

As soon as the work is scheduled and completed a new date will be arranged for the reopening of the cemetery as agreed at the June 26th city hall meeting.

This article will be available for the next 14 days. more>

Made to fit

"Boeing airplanes have parts that are "bashed to fit" and unsafe to fly" - HDNET Reports

I thought I pass on a program that is airing tonight that has nothing to do with silent films, but everything to do with people who love to fly to silent film events.

Tonight, HDNET will air Dan Rather's report on interviews with Boeing employees who are 'blowing the whistle' about outsourcing of parts on their planes. Apparently, as the report will reveal these parts don't even fit and are forced on to make them fit.

If you do get HDNET, you may want to take a listen.

Anita King's Nevada adventure

While I found several stories of Edna's sister Bessie out driving in northern Nevada to California (usually with her young son, Morgan) I never found her to have any problems, but she knew the Nevada desert well. Here is a story about a young Paramount star who tried to travel northern Nevada, by herself in 1915.

Anita King was known as a race car driver and actress who set off to become the first woman to drive across the United States by herself. This event was sponsored by Firestone Tires and KisselKar.

The following from the LA Times shares a telegram about her problems in Nevada. King sent the telegram from Elko, Nevada. She originally planned to travel through Nevada by Reno, Fallon, Austin and Ely. Ely is south of Lovelock about 200 miles 'as the crow flies', but she made the wrong turn.

September 15, 1915 - as reported to the Los Angeles Times.
Nervy Girl
Anita King, the plucky "Paramount Girl" who has undertaken the nervy adventure of crossing the continent alone in a KisselKar, is having some thrilling experiences and breathless adventures, according to telegrams received at the Lasky studio during the past few days. The record of her trip reads like a pioneer story of 1849, plus the automobile.

Miss King lost the road leading from Fallon to Austin, Nevada, and when, after three days' hard traveling, she fainted from exposure and lack of food, and was picked up at Lovelock (Nevada) by prospectors, and carried to Elko. She was 300 miles north of her course.

Here is the record of the mishap secured by wire: (Anita's original wire from Nevada)

Elko, Nevada - Sept. 6, 1915 - Have been lost in distress since Saturday. Was stuck in mud up to my waist on Salt Lake Flats, trying to cross Fallon. Worked eleven hours to dig out. Had no food and fell exhausted. Was picked up by three prospectors at 2 a.m. and taken to Lovelock. Started out the next day and have not had a place to sleep or found a town until this. Will leave for Salt Lake at once and if all is well should be there Wednesday. If not, at least I am not a coward. I say I held out to the last breath. - Anita

Miss King made the record trip for solitary driving to San Francisco when she arrived in that city from Los Angeles in seventeen hours and fifty-five minutes.

Providing no further accidents have befallen Miss King, that gritty young woman in now well on her way to Salt Lake (City).

As for her note as being struck in the Salt Lake Flats, she is most likely talking about one of the many dried alkali lakes scattered about northern Nevada that can become muddy after a downpour.

Being "carried to Elko" doesn't make sense, but probably noted because the wire was sent from Elko, instead of Lovelock.

If she stayed on the main road across northern Nevada she would have gone through Winnemucca and dozen other places (with hotels) along the main east/west rail line before reaching Elko.

About two weeks later, there is another version of this story that she reported to the New York Times. It mentions about her run in with a mad coyote and struggling with it for three hours before being pick up. (Something she didn't mention in this telegram.) This is a highly unlikely event, and if like she said, she wouldn't have been continuing on her drive the next day.

Rabid coyotes were not uncommon in the desert. There was a Lovelock report of one 'attacking' a couple of miners at a mining site, but neither of the men were injured and they easily scared it away.

As for her trip, Anita apparently made it to New York in 49 days.

News from July 7th, 1907

With all the talk about today being July 7, 2007, I went back to July 7, 1907 to see some of the news stories from that era. One thing I didn't see was any articles about it being 7/7/07, in 1907.

Most of the following stories are from California. July 7, 1907 came on a Sunday.

I didn't find any big articles about films, for live stage productions were still king of entertainment in 1907. The top feature in the LA area was the live play 'Peter Pan'.

There was still unrest in the Philippines, as the US was involved with a war in that area for several years.

The heat was on everyones mind in Southern California, as Los Angeles hit the 100 degree mark on July 6, 1907. The fisherman were blaming the 'unprecedented heat and absence of trade winds' for the current 'red water' (an epidemic of Peredinium), that was killing the local fish and shell fish off the coast.

The heat also helped cause a 10,000 acre wildfire in the Las Cruces area in Santa Barbara County. It started the afternoon of July 6th and raged into the hills very quickly.

In Bakersfield, California an oil refinery was being repaired after fire nearly destroyed it. The property had no insurance and the article said:

"...it is being almost impossible to place any (insurance) on refineries like this. It can never be done except under the very exacting conditions, and than only at exorbitant rates."

Hollywood has 'quarter of a million dollars' spent on new buildings in the area, with $200,000 on 55 new homes and the rest for the new Mountain Inn ($22,000), The Penman building ($12,000) and Central Block ($9,000). Many of the homes were for sell in the $3500 to $15,000, with the bulk of the two-story homes in the $3500 to $5000 range.

Prices were soaring for navel oranges, lemons and grapefruit, as demand was exceeding supply.

A move was on to 'push' the push-cart salesmen off the city streets of New York. The city was starting a licensing fee for anyone to sell anything off the streets. The fee was high enough to place many out of business.

And as people talk about climate today, so were the people in Los Angeles in 1907.

SAVE THE CLIMATE! was the headline, as the State Medical Society and the board of Health started a campaign to stop the pollution of the air in the LA area.

"It cost more to make smoke than to burn fuel properly, but it is futile to attempt to arouse the owners of smoking stacks from their solid indifference to their own interest. The only way to pound sense into their head is to fine them for being stupid" , the LA Times reported.

And that is just a bit of news for July 7, 1907...

City Lights week engagement at Castro Theatre

July 6th - 12th, 2007 - Charlie Chaplin's City Lights week engagement starts today at the Castro Theatre, followed by opening of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
Times for City Lights at this link.

Record Heat...

Like so many places, we are getting our record heat now, with over 100 degree temperatures. We never needed air conditioning, because it always cooled off into the 30s and 40s at night. I hope those days are not gone. It does mean switching hours to work, because the office hits 90 degrees by noon, and I have to shutdown.

That means it may slow up Sea Gull, as business has to be done first, but a lot of Sea Gull work has been done recently. Just into my least favorite time of the year.

Hope you are staying cool and have some refreshing rain (not too much), where ever you are! Thanks for visiting during the hot summer days or wintertime if you are far south!

Note: I have looked up the forecast for Lovelock, Nevada: averaging 103-105 degrees for the foreseeable future, record breaking heat. With thunderstorms (which means dry lightning storms included.)

Family Flickers - New Silent Film Creations

"Learning to laugh again. Enjoying a thrill instead of gruesome images. Having a ‘good guy’ to root for again. That’s what Family Flickers was created to help people to do. The creative team at Family Flickers noticed some time ago that the works of classic film comedians like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy have created laughter in audiences of all ages, long after the cameras had stopped rolling." - Family Flickers

Family Flickers - Silent Films Anew
Tired of all the sex and violence in so much entertainment today, Mark Margulies, the founder of Family Flickers are recreating the art of silent films for a modern day audience.

"Any of the images, any of the action that is going to take place is all built with the idea of action, adventure, thrills and laughter, no gratuitous sex, no unnecessary violence, no graphic violence, no graphic images of any type," Margulies said.

The films can be viewed at their website i-flick.com. The film I watched was a bit jumpy and wasn't totally in time with the music (this is watching it with a cable modem, but problems maybe worked out overtime. Good to see someone creating new silent films for a modern era. more>

Edna's First 4th of July in Lovelock

On July 4th, 1899, Edna Purviance was three years old and enjoying her first Fourth of July in Lovelock, Nevada. The family moved to Lovelock in November of 1898, where her parents leased The Singer Hotel.

By July 4th, the family were very settled in their new town and were part of the Fourth of July celebration, as Edna’s sister Bessie and mother Louise, sang at the special day long event. Being three years old, she wouldn’t remember much about it, but she met her uncle William Purviance for the first time, who was the oldest brother of Edna’s father Madison.






















The day was filled with events everyone in the Big Meadow Valley shared in from parades, horse races, a series of fun races for young and old (tug a wars, egg races, slippery pole climbs, etc.) followed in the evening and well into the morning of July 5th - a grand ball (dance with live music) and dinner.

Below is just a ‘taste’ of some events held on Edna’s first 4th of July in Lovelock, Nevada.

The Fourth of July in Lovelock - 1899
Lovelock Nevada - Lovelock Tribune

“The Fourth was a gala day in Lovelock. It was one long round of pleasure from the first firecrackers in the early morning till the last strains of the music in the ball room died away in the dawn of another day.

Grand Marshal of the Day Grannis with appropriate sash and decorated horse was on hand to lead the parade and a respectable turnout followed.”

“It was high noon when the crowd was assembled under the big trees in the Ruddell Grove. It was the enjoyment itself to sit in the shade with the cool wind blowing through the leafy boughs. Mr. Ruddell had carefully laid fresh-cut alfalfa over the bare places left by the burning of the old houses and one walked as on a carpet. Strong planks gave ample seat room. The children romped in a big awing nearby. The lemonade and ice cream stand offered refreshments to all. It was a regulation picnic ground and a more suitable place would be hard to find in the valley.”

“In the absence of the president of the day, Hon. W.C. Pitt and C.H. McIntosh took his place and introduced Rev. Bott, who delivered the invocation. In the choir were Mrs. Stautts, Mrs. (Louise) Purviance, Mrs. J.A. McIntosh, Mrs. Williams’, Mrs. White, Miss Stroke, Miss (Bessie) Purviance, Miss Marshall, Prof. Lynips, C.H. McIntosh and Rev. Bott.

The choir sang the Star Spangled Banner. Miss Marshall gave an instrumental selection.”

“A pleasing interlude at the picnic was the singing of the “Lost Ship Maine” by Mrs. (Louise) Purviance and Miss Bessie Purviance.”

“C.H. McIntosh as orator of the day, spoke against expansion. He contrasted the glories of the flag in the past with the war now going on in the Philippines.”

Well, some things don’t change...

As an added note, Charlie Chaplin was on tour with the Eight Lancashire Lads in 1899. By July 1899, he was on his seventh month with the group that begin touring in late December, 1898.

Footnote: In the ad, it mentions 'purses will also be offered'. In case you didn't know, a 'purse' was award money given in the form of usually gold dollar coins, presented in a leather pouch. In the case of pole climbing, a $3 purse was placed on the top of the pole. The first person to reach the top of the pole won the price. Today, $3 might buy a cup of coffee and a newspaper. In 1899, it represented two days worth of wages, working a good 10 or more hours each day in the haying fields.

Le Cafe - French Tribute to Chaplin

With it being sort of a holiday week for me, using most of the free time from normal business to work on The Sea Gull and cataloging of the Edna Purviance Collection. I like to thank again everyone who has entered the Sea Gull drawing from around the world. Right now, we are in the middle of production just before the first full book test printing.

Thought I share this French tribute film to Charlie Chaplin. The film is called 'Le Cafe' created in 2006. The film sort of gets it idea from The Immigrant and a few other Chaplin films. You can see it at this link at Internet Archives.

Also, to our state side visitors, Happy Fourth of July!

TCM has Chaplin films in July

Can't make it to Bologna, Italy or London for special Chaplin events? Turner Classic Movies has a few films this summer starting on July 9th, with Modern Times and A Dog's Life. Later, on July 23, they will show A King of New York.

Check this link for more Chaplin films this summer...