TCM 10 part documentary on Hollywood in 2010

Turner Classic Movies plans to release in 2010 a 10 part documentary called Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood.

"Our story will span more than 100 years of inventiveness and entertainment," said Wilkman in a statement.

"From Thomas Edison to Steven Spielberg, from Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford to Sean Penn and Kate Winslet, we'll tell the stories of Moguls and Movie Stars, the lives they've lived, the movies they've made and the impact they've had on lives around the world.

"TCM is known by lovers of great film as a destination for those who cherish the film industry's cinematic legacy; no network is better positioned to tell Hollywood's complete story than Turner Classic Movies. This is an epic project that promises to be a landmark event for TCM." - Digital Facility

Nearly a full day of Charlie Chaplin films on TCM April 16th!
Check this link for more!

35 cent to over 300 thousand dollars

For my other interest section: A young boy bought the first Superman comic 12 years after its first release in June 1938. He paid 35 cents for the comic that originally sold for 10 cent.

He kept the comic and basically had it in storage until he placed it up for auction recently. His 35 cent investment fetched $317,200.00 this week.

He was keeping it in hopes it would go up in value. He got his wish. LINK

Chaplin's 67-foot statue hits religious opposition

I posted earlier about the 67-foot statue of Charlie Chaplin being built for a movie being filmed in Ottinene. The project is being protested now on religious grounds (Chaplin being seen as a Christian).

Chaplin wasn't a religious man, but interesting to see how religion is playing a role in this event. It sounds like they will be re-locating the statue, but here's a link to the latest news on this matter. LINK

Update March 15, 2009 - Activists Block Chaplin statue (Guardian UK)

Update March 21, 2009 - FINALLY, the Chaplin statue finds a place to go up near Bidadi. more>

Traveling in the 1920s

I thought I share this link to a silent film created in the 1920s by a tourist traveling to Palestine, Egypt, and finishing their trip in India. It is not done by a big budget film company, so it gives more of the favor of what it really was like.

Edna never traveled to these locations, but she did love traveling by ship.

In this film there is a great scene of passengers abroad the ship heading to India. I have still photos of Edna (and Charlie) abroad ship too, and it reminds me of some of the same things that happen on their trip(s).

So grab a hot cup of tea, and take this 19 minute journey back to the 1920s. LINK

Remembering early day flight

Edna's husband, Jack Squire, flew for a few different airlines during his day. While he did fly passengers planes, his favorite was airmail flights to unique locations.

In the future I will be placing together films from Jack's personal film collection, but until that time here are a few YouTube links to different airplanes before 1940.

Jack did work for Pan Am about the same time as this first film.

Clipper ship - See more films at Travel Film Archive

• The first is a 38-minute film about Pan Am flights to South America. A very interesting 1935 tour of South America. (Jack and Edna lived in South America in the late 30s and early 40s) - LINK

• Sikorsky S-40 Flying Boat - (NOTE: In Jack's collection, he has a colour film of a similar model of this plane landing and unloading passengers). Great piece!) - LINK

• Latécoère 521 - Biggest Flying boat in its day - LINK

• A short 1931 film showing the first use of autopilot. - LINK

Rare Film Posters

The BBC is showing some of the rare film posters up for auction at Christie's, including a very nice silent film poster of Carl Theodor Dreyer's La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc.

EP Book update and thoughts...

I have been working on Edna's second book the last three months. Mainly research, but also writing it too. It has not been easy, since I always been a loner (with language issues since childhood) and I never fit in the writing circles, or any circle for that matter.

And except for the great fans who have continued to stay in contact with Edna over the years (and I am very, very, grateful to all of you who have written in or just visited quietly), I find the general silent film community a bit too close knit, to easily get to know.

But that is partly me too, for I always been very shy and reserved since childhood. The writing ties right into that, being it is not easy for me.

People are very quick to judge, but very slow to understand.

But I found some great friends who do understand, so will always be grateful to them.

I found the first group I met in the UK excellent (warm and welcoming). But I felt a coldest from others over the years, to the point of someone involved with one well-known US group, told me to not come to their event, saying I wouldn't enjoy it. (I have a witness to back me up.)

It is no wonder why I don't feel like I fit in or feel welcome.

I have many issues to write about in this book, and finding information I have requested not coming in, and/or in some cases, I will most likely have to travel to find. Plus (while of no real interest to any of my readers, but only add because it slows down the project) a growing personal health issue, that is not going to go away. It is causing real problems in just doing normal things, but I can work around it at home, but not so much way.

While the health thing is just a side issue I have to deal with, the main issue is the writing. Many more personal things about Edna in this book I have to sort out.

One exercise I learned in college was an assignment where you had to write openly about yourself and things you saw in detail. It was excellent exercise, because we had to write openly about ourselves, than we had to find someone else to write about into a biography piece. We had to share it with the class.

It was very tough, especially if you have always been shy and reserve, but I can't be that way with this book. And I have to write with equal ease to men and women. I have the practice of throwing all my first thoughts out there and going back and piece by piece, re-writing, until it says clearly what I want to say.

Well, I had a chance to do it recently, on a private bases, with people I know, trust and actually met.

I don't know, but while working on it, I suddenly decided to remove all of it.

Writing about oneself is difficult, but important, if you are going to be honest about who you are writing about. And that is what I want to do with Edna's book. I just have to get over the roadblock, which is me. The rest you just deal with.

If you can't write honestly about yourself, you will never write honestly about anyone else.

Added note: I removed a post I had in here about me being related to Edna. It is true, I have learned, that we are cousins, but felt this news may not be of interest to the readers of this blog, and may only be of interest to the people who actually know me, since it is more on a personal nature than a public one.

And again, thanks very much to all the visitors regular and new! We are eying another milestone that could be broken in the not too far future.

Update March 19, 2009 - Just like to thank all the new fans who have bought The Sea Gull lately! Thanks ever so much!

Tintin, Spielberg and Jackson

"The Tintin comicbook series about a globetrotting teenaged boy reporter, which originated 80 years ago in Belgium, is wildly popular in many countries around the world. In the U.S., however, the character is little-known, especially among children." - Variety

File this one under my 'other interest file' as my husband has emailed me this piece from Variety about Tintin, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, about the much secret filming of Tintin, the movie. LINK

As for the statement above, it is basically true. You had to be into comics to have known about Tintin in the states. Superheros and Disney 'toons' ruled most of the shelf space where I lived. Tintin was not available in bookstores and for that matter, I never saw it in my libraries until ten years old, or so. (Probably as the internet got popular and people started requesting it.)

I did have to travel to a larger city to find any Tintin books to purchase in a store (even today). I found a very nice Tintin shop that opened about 2002, or so, in one city. But when I went back to that shop, about a year later, the shop had closed.

Tintin is a great comic, but was drowned out my American comics.

We have a local comic store, not usual for a town our size, I visited one day. I went there looking for Tintin and other UK and European comics. The owner at the desk made a face and continued to say there wasn't anything worth buying outside the US.

How wrong you are sir!

I located another Edna Purviance relative!

Note: I did find another relative. I have learned after many years of research, Edna is a cousin of my. But I removed the original post here, since I felt it may not be of interest to my regular readers and more of a personal item.

Only reason I placed this post backup is because of a link I currently can not change on another site. Thanks for visiting and please do see our other posts about Edna, Chaplin and much more.

Have you seen this Charles Chaplin doll?

We are looking for anyone who
might have seen this
Charlie Chaplin doll.

We do have some thoughts about it, as it could be a repaired original Chaplin doll or maybe a re-created doll from the porcelain head, hands and feet.


The dolls porcelain parts show great detail and age. We are lead to think this was re-built or recreated, due to the fact the feet have been reversed. Also some of the sewing details appear to be re-sewn.

Here is a list of more information on the doll:
• 490mm high (about 20 inches)
• all china and/or porcelain head, feet and hands
• hands once held a cane
• hat is made of felt (could have been made at a later date)
• hair, face and shoes all painted
• stuffing feels like rags or wool cotton
• hands show veins
• doll found in the UK
• Owner can not find any markings

If you have seen this Charlie Chaplin doll, or have seen parts of it, we would really like to hear from you. You can contact us at charlie[at]info-fx.com. Ednapurviance.org is helping the owner to seek information about this doll. Thanks for your help... Linda

Interested in Chaplin dolls? Here are a few more links:
My Charlie Chaplin Doll
Charlie Chaplin Action Doll
Charlie and dancing partner
Couple of Chaplin dolls in exhibit

May 6, 2009 Update: Here is the post for Clint Matlock's Chaplin Doll.
_____________________

June 25, 2010 - Update: Images of another one of these dolls. I don't have the complete information, but at least you can see another one that is with its original box. (Images sent and told from an auction. Probably ebay.)

Sydney Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's son, has died

Sydney Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's second son during his marriage to Lita Grey Chaplin, has died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California from complications after a stroke. He was 82.

March 30, 1926 - March 3, 2009

Sydney Earle Chaplin was born March 30, 1926, during the time his father was creating The Circus and producing The Sea Gull, A Woman of the Sea.

But Sydney's life with his parents, Charlie and Lita Chaplin, would not last long, as his mother took him and his brother, Charlie Chaplin Jr. away from Chaplin's home and started her long divorce from Chaplin.

Sydney and Charlie Jr. wouldn't return to Chaplin's home, until after the divorce, where they would meet Paulette Goddard in the early 1930s. Goddard would become the third Mrs. Chaplin (though there was no official paperwork of their marriage).

Lita Grey Chaplin was very grateful to Paulette. The boys loved her. Paulette became the perfect 'step' mother for the boys at Charlie's home during their visits.

Being around acting, Sydney co-founded a group called The Circle Theater in Los Angeles. His father took an interest in the group, as well.

Both Sydney and Charlie Jr. would play in Chaplin's film Limelight in 1952.

Sydney played the young composer, Neville, who was the love of Terry (Claire Bloom), the ballet dancer in Limelight.

Sydney would continue working in films and plays, including his role in Funny Girl, with Barbara Streisand and Bells are Ringing, with Judy Holliday.

Sydney would work again with his father in A Countess From Hong Kong. It was his last time working with his father.

A few months after the film opened, Sydney's brother, Charlie Chaplin Jr. died in 1968.

In the late 1980s, Oona Chaplin gave Sydney $500,000, which Sydney used to open a bistro in Palm Springs, California. The bistro didn't stay open for long, as he closed it in the mid-1990s.

Retired, he would travel to Charlie Chaplin events and gave talks about his father. He also appears in some of the documentaries created for his father.

Sydney had only one child, Stephen, with his wife Noelle Adams.

He married his current wife, Margaret Beebe, in 1998. He is survived by his wife, eight half-siblings (all from the marriage of Oona and Charlie), and one granddaughter.

Story at the LA Times.

Films
Limelight - with Charles Chaplin and Claire Bloom (1952)
Land of the Pharaohs - with Joan Collins (1955)
Funny Girl - with Barbara Streisand (1964)

Play
Bells Are Ringing - with Judy Holliday (1956)
(Dean Martin go the film role Sydney played.)

Oregon Historical Society closes the Research Library

Another sad event, because of the current turn down. The Oregon Historical Society is closing there research library in Portland, Oregon.

I used this library myself, in researching the history of Charlie Chaplin during his Karno Tour in Portland, Oregon. Even at that time, nearly 10 years ago, the library was having trouble with funding.

We also had a cousin who worked in the library for several years in the late 80s and early 90s, and heard the inside story on the problems with funding. So this news is not surprising, but probably the norm, as we read of more closings around the world.

The Society is asking for help and placed together this special web page, at this link, to a special petition to sign. Below is information from that page.

We know it is not easy, with many people just trying to keep a roof over their head and a job to pay for it. But they are seeking 1000 signatures, so if you can help, please do so. And remember this is not just an Oregon issue, since libraries like this are used by researchers from around the world, doing research into Oregon's history.

_____________________
From the Oregon Historical Research Library:

Approved March 1, 2009, 11:33 A.M.

Resolutions of the Associates of Northwest History Network with respect to the Oregon Historical Society Research Library

At the moment of marking its 150th anniversary of statehood, Oregon is on the verge of losing the very stuff of its history and its collective memory.

The Oregon Historical Society has announced the closure of its Research Library -- a nationally significant historical resource that is the fount of knowledge for all Oregonians who examine the past in order to understand the present. This action promises to break the Society's trust with its membership, with researchers and educators, and with all Oregonians, who for more than a century have been assured by the Society that their history would be cared for, tended to, and made available to a wide audience.

This is a tragedy that must be faced and a situation that must be resolved. These immense treasures -- millions of items comprised of photographs, diaries, books, manuscripts, newspapers, magazines and journals, maps and charts, business records, personal letters and papers, films, and sound recordings -- must not be allowed to fade into oblivion without our very public and personal efforts to rescue them.

The actions of the board and leadership of the Oregon Historical Society in closing the Research Library and firing its dedicated professional staff are unacceptable to the Northwest History Network, a nonprofit consortium of history professionals. The membership of Northwest History Network has approved the following resolutions:

Resolved, that the closure of the Research Library of the Oregon Historical Society is a critical blow to the people of the state of Oregon including hundreds of researchers, students and family historians and authors and filmmakers, and others; and,

Resolved, that this closure and the risks that it brings to the care and preservation of priceless historical materials deserves to be fully examined by concerned Oregonians; and,

Resolved, that while the Society's financial condition is critical and that it requires steep reductions in staff and programs, the maintenance of the Society's Research Library should be its highest priority; and

Resolved, that the Oregon Historical Society must acknowledge its responsibilities to its membership, to the research community, and to all Oregonians, to preserve and to make accessible research materials that have been entrusted to its care and funded by generations of Oregon citizens; and,

Resolved, that the Oregon Historical Society must work transparently and collaboratively to craft a sustainable solution for the Research Library and its irreplaceable collections; and

Resolved, we request the Governor appoint a task force to review the present situation and recommend a permanent and sustainable solution for the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

LINK TO PETITION

Chaplin Society of Japan Third Chaplin Festival

March 14-15, 2009 - Kyoto, Japan - The Chaplin Society of Japan is holding there Third Chaplin Festival in Kyoto, Japan March 14 and 15, 2009.

A featured event is the unveiling of nearly 400 photos of Charlie Chaplin, taken between 1916 and 1931. Hiroyuki Ono, Chaplin society chairman, arranged for this 'unveiling'.

The private collection will be displayed from noon until 6PM both days, at the former Rissei Primary School in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto. more>

Charlie Chaplin's Cuba Posters for Auction

Poster Auction International

New York City
Sale Date March 12th, 2009
at 5:30PM at the International Poster Center

Two Original Charlie Chaplin Film Posters
Both film promotional posters from Cuba

by artist Eduardo Munoz Bachs
(note: This link is missing images, but does have a good selection of his work, including another Chaplin piece.)

Lot #129: Por Primera Vez/Chaplin
Year - 1968
Artist: Eduardo Munoz Bachs (1937-2001)
Silkscreen Print
Size: 30 x 45 inches (76. x 114.3 cm)
Condition A- (Slight tear at left edge)
Starting bid for this poster: $400
Value estimate: $800 to $1,000


#130: Cine Movil/ICAIC
Year - 1974
Artist: Eduardo Munoz Bachs (1937-2001)
Paper Print
Size: 30 x 45 inches (76. x 114.5 cm)
Condition A
Starting bid for this poster: $400
Value estimate: $800 to $1,000

For more information on these original Charlie Chaplin film posters, visit the www.postersplease.com, or call 212-787-4000. You can also email info[at]postersplease.com.

The auction house is located at 601 W. 26th St., 13th Floor. New York, NY 10001. Absentee and phone bids welcome. Free catalogue upon request.