the curoption and obscure origins of the silent film era- the lotus podcast script #31

The Missing Filmmaker and the Foundations of Cinema

TW: Suicide, sexual harassment, exploitation, pedophilia, grooming, abuse, brief explanations of war-related deaths

Louis Le Prince was a french artist and the renowned inventor of an early moving motion picture that could shoot a moving picture sequence using the single lens camera, skyrocketing the ideas of other late 19th century inventors to compete. Since this day in France in 1888, the world’s sources of entertainment suddenly changed, from live-action plays and puppet shows to the developing success of early cinema. “Roundhay Garden Scene” was produced by Le Prince that same year. But the Roundhay Garden Scene had more variety to offer the audience. The humble 2-second film captured a few 19th-century cheerful middle-class people walking around a patio at Oakwood Grange in Roundhay, Leeds, following this was the Horse in Motion sequence that more popularly defines the first-ever film. 

Although Le Prince seemed to have birthed a new way of life and Culture that we know as the film industry today, he mysteriously disappeared on September 16th, 1890. The last sighting of him was boarding a train station leaving the Dijon platform though both French and Scotland Yard police carried out an exhaustive investigation for his body and luggage, the search was unsuccessful and still remains unsolved. Since then only conspiracy theories were conjured. One of the leading theories was murder. 

Thomas Edison was a very similar inventor and artistic creator to Le Prince, who claimed he was the sole inventor of Cinematography and filed a lawsuit against Le Prince a few months before his disappearance, claiming that Le Prince was taking false credit. This was an elaborate coincidence but the appropriate proof did not hold up to make for a lead to the investigation. Another common theory is tragic suicide. 

Paris Police records found in 2003 revealed a photograph of a deceased man pulled from the Seine River in that same month of 1890, that bore a resemblance almost identical to Le Prince, even his brother claimed that he knew Le Prince was suffering from a rough patch of Depression before his disappearance and It could be possible he took his own life, maybe the stress following the lawsuit or the quilt from such accusation. Despite this, it’s not even confirmed whether or not the man in the Photograph died from accidental drowning or suicide. Either way, it’s devastating to know Le Prince had a wife, a child, and a soon-to-be colossal following of film fanatics. Besides the Perplexing disappearance of Louis Le Prince, the Invention progressed and advanced in the decades to come all over the world, starting with European continents, most people say the Silent Film era officially began in the mid-1890s and lasted till the early 1930s and especially hit the fan once it reached the booming progressive Era going on in America. 

The Birth of Hollywood and Silent Films

Thomas Edison would go on to share the Kinetoscope in 1893. Many films. And If you didn't know, this is when movies got the name Movies, short for Moving motion pictures. And It was around 1985 to 1900 when the Kinetoscope reached the rest of the world. America, in particular, created the classic Hollywood cinema which developed during the early 1910s and then birthed the branches of movie genres. Around this time as well as radio shows becoming more popular, they were much easier to achieve and more affordable to listen to, but still included creative storytelling elements. Now that Americans had the luxury to watch movies instead of live shows across the country, for once in history you could watch the same performers as someone in another part of the world if you so wished. When World War 1 struck the economy and everyday liberties, the homeless population grew, and the political climate worsened but everyone could rely on one thing- entertainment. For just a dime, you would spend hours in the cinema, listening to the orchestra play, watching a few silent productions and cartoons play out on huge screens in front of you, Children especially admired these cartoons, Looney Tunes, and betty boop were among the first, along with the famous Walt Disney Mickey mouse animations. But as this new industry developed even further, Safety and policy went neglected especially considering the fat cash cow growing in size every day this was now the late 1920s and early 30s. 

Did you know, for example, actors never explicitly shared their real names? This was mostly because their anonymity conserved actors' true identity and membership in the average society, but also prevented them from being recognized for their real talent by name. Until one being the Biograph girl, nicknamed after the Biography Moving Motion Company in which she worked had her real name leaked, that name being Florence Lawrence. Throughout her career, she appeared in almost 300 films and became one of the first women to lead a US film studio. She was also an inventor and was credited to invent the turn signal and the brake signal for automobiles yet, She too passed due to death by suicide. Though devastating, suicide cases were very common among entertainment staff not only including actors and performers who were ruled the faces of the movement but also among film directors, writers, publicists, and set managers, who all were affected by substantial pressure put on them by those seeking to escape the country’s painful reality. 

The Star System

Between the 1920s to the 1960s in Old Hollywood style, The star System was functional management for actors to conserve their images by keeping them from adultery and drug use. Men had to behave like gentlemen and women had to behave like ladies. Therefore they always had to dress properly and women had to have their make-up on every time they left the house. If they violated these terms, they were suspended without pay or even blacklisted. Being Blacklisted meant you’d be denied your employment as an actor, you would be denied auditions, and rejected by directors and screenwriters and because of this, you’d eventually find yourself bankrupt. So as you can see, Blacklisting was the worst possible punishment. Especially considering you would lose your agent, and therefore you would not be protected from scrutiny, public disapproval, and bullying, sometimes even physical assaults. As soon as a new actor signed a contract, they would give them rigorous training for things like diction, posture, manners, dancing, and singing. Plastic surgery was often a part of the deal too, which the studio paid for. A background biography was created, which fit the image the studio envisioned for their new star. A lot of manipulation played a part in convincing actors they should be thankful at the least to their producers for turning their lives around and improving them from the inside and out. The studio did everything for them outside of their working lives, they set up where they lived, who they were allowed to be associated with, be friends with, and even date. The Common misinterpretation people have about old Hollywood is that the actors made all of their money for themselves, but really everything was given to them

Old Hollywood Blacklisting and The Red Scare

Hedda Hopper was a “failed” film actress who turned gossip columnist, Her column, entitled "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood", debuted on Valentine's Day of 1938. Hopper could not type, nor spell very well, so she narrated her column to an enthused typist over the phone. Hedda would describe tender secrets from inside the sets and behind the scenes, specifically targeting queer people, communists, and African Americans. Especially when the Cold War began in 1947, the Red Scare grew, and Hedda took no problem with blasting innocent Hollywood celebrities for their suspected communistic beliefs. She ruined marriages, friendships, and careers with just a sentence. Blacklisting in the rights of the Star system included basic violations to the Image they were promised to play forever but in cases like The Hollywood Ten, communism was at the root of many blacklisting cases in Hollywood.  Most witnesses or the accused people, were “friendly” — that is, willing to respond to the committee’s central question: “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” And those who confessed to membership were offered the opportunity to name “fellow travelers'' or (to rat out other members they know of) Ten witnesses all current or former party members banded together in protest, refusing to either confirm or deny the allegations on First Amendment grounds, these were 10 men, Hollywood screenwriters and it would go down in history as one of the first times the public feared and lost trust in the American film industry. This Red Scare was promoted throughout the country with propaganda, but before I explain the propaganda that the film industry housed, I want to explain the real difference between ordinary media vs political propaganda. Propaganda is biased or misleading media that is made with the goal of influencing the public to believe or support a particular political agenda, using its jingoistic methods, and its prominent use during both World Wars. Some Films in particular are 

1. Mission to Moscow (1943) - Ambassador Joseph Davies is sent by FDR to Russia to learn about the Soviet system and returns to  America as an advocate of Stalinism implementing the ideology of a one-party totalitarian police state and by some considered fascism. 

2. The Woman of Pier 13 (1949) - Successful, newly married Brad Collins once belonged to the Communist Party of the USA, and now the Party will stop at nothing to punish him. The staff at Variety magazine actually wrote a tepid review, "As a straight action fare, I Married a Communist generates enough tension to satisfy the average customer. Despite its heavy-sounding title, pic hews strictly to tried and true meller formula Pic is so wary of introducing any political gab that at one point when Commie trade union tactics are touched upon, the soundtrack is dropped."

3. I was a Communist for the FBI (1951) - In Pittsburgh, PA, an F.B.I. agent works to undermine the Communist party, but his brothers and his teenage son think he's a real Red and on the movie cover it says “I know a hundred secrets and each one is worth my life” 

Again, Propaganda Films and just any propaganda, in general, are perfectly legal under first amendment rights, as long as you're not calling any active threat of violence, it’s fine, but it is unethical, especially considering propaganda was created for children's entertainment. With both sudden and blatant messages it was universally known Children had a part to play in the War, whether it was as little as standing for the pledge of allegiance or training young boys for military camp before they were even 10 years old, Propaganda was spread to the most gullible of society. Children's Book Illustrators and cartoonists had their political views too such as Dr.Suess commenting on his opposition to Hitler and the genocide of  Nazi Germany with his political cartoon “Adolf the Wolf” and many other published works.  Disney too had its share of propaganda like when (according to Smithsonian Magazine) Donald Duck donned khakis as a United States Army recruit, while Minnie Mouse recycled leftover bacon grease to make explosives. Uncle Sam deployed the whole Disney crew, reassigning its members from pratfalls to pitching war bonds and victory gardens in animated movies that debuted shortly after the US intervened in World War 11. These can still be found in the archives today but obviously, Disney no longer broadcasts these on their central sources.

Malicious Contracts and Exploitation

New actors were initially signed to a seven-year contract, but the studio had the option to terminate the contract every six months. The salary was usually between $75-$250 a week, which in today’s currency would be about $1,200 to $4,200 but with bonuses for the more lucrative actors. This proved to be frustrating for stars like Marilyn Monroe, who shot to stardom after a few years but still made the same salary as when she just began big productions, these were the contracts other actors like Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Grace Kelly, and Cary Grant signed. Studios had the make and would sometimes ‘loan’ out their stars to other studios. If a star refused to appear in a film that was chosen, they were suspended without pay for a period of time. Actors often felt ‘owned’ by the studios and were frustrated that they did not have the ability to choose their own work. As early as 1919 four major movie stars, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith started their own company United Artists so they could be in control of their own careers. 

Child Stars

When  we’re on the subject of exploitation it’s vital we talk about Child actors, especially the exploitation of little girls in Hollywood. Shirely temple was only a toddler when she started dancing and performing to help earn a family a little more during the Depression, but once she earned her first role as a baby sex worker in “ Baby Burlesks” 1932, at the age of three, Shirley Temple signed a contract with Educational Pictures, a film distribution company founded in 1916 known primarily for brief comedies. The film depicted young children playing adults, the girls were entertainers and the boys were soldiers at a bar. Shirley was wearing a small bralette paired with a diaper, polishing her nails and talking to the boys like adults would in that setting. Yet, the unacceptable nature of the scenes was not all that young child actors had to deal with. Like the lack of protection and censorship guidelines, there was also a distinct lack of safety parameters for on-set child actors. Directors were regularly accused of being cruel to the children and punishing them unfairly as they did with their adult actors just as often if not less,but once children were “tamed” into the industry, they were very easy to control therefore much more appealing to agents, making them more money off of these kids, these children missed out on every aspect of childhood, education and friendships just to work for more than 8 hours a day. 

Regardless, These ages of the early cinema showed exactly how devastating the results of greed, bias and overconfidence are. But without recounting these events, we’ll just forget and repeat them. I know a lot of people listen to my episodes for entertainment purposes, like while you're driving to work, cooking or doing chores, but if you’re to take anything else with you, I’d like you to take the reminder that knowledge can save lives. After you know you Improve and now though far from perfect, the US government has laws, regulations and policies enacted to protect those in the film industry to make their careers and lives as fair and safe as possible. It makes you ask what action will we take in the future to protect children from being exploited or groomed on social media platforms? Like family blogging or content featuring children and marketed as entertainment? In Conclusion, Contextualizing the darker dimensions of old Hollywood glamor and news entertainment is my way of honoring the injustices of what these entities went through. Of course not everything is as it seems and while our society has improved, Progress does not need to stop. 

 Humiliation, power play, and Superficiality 

John Gilbert “The Great Lover” or “Hollywood’s Unhappiest Man” who he was nicknamed by the media, was according to the Los Angeles Times breathtakingly handsome with curly black hair and dancing eyes, and women swooned over his passionate love scenes and followed his well-publicized love affair with Flesh and the Devil leading German actress Greta Garbo in the movie magazines, stemmed a notorious scandal of the late 20’s before he blew her off since she was significantly younger than him and didn't speak much english. But once the film industry tentatively shifted from silent films to “talkies” Gilbert struggled in getting the same recognition he used to which marks when his alcohol dependency problems began, he was reported to have powerful mood swings, he was either up or down and there was no in between. In Gilbert’s first talkie, the 1929 melodrama His Glorious Night, was poorly received and critics said his voice sounded high pitched and even squeaky, which significantly affected Gilbert’s self- esteem but his biggest burden was his relationship with Louis B. Mayer. Louis Burt Mayer was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in 1924 which housed Gilbert and many other gleaming stars. Apparently, Louis B Mayer personally and venously sabotaged John Gilbert's career, the two despised each other and Gilbert often poked him on set, and narrowly bullied the producer without breaking his contract. It's meant to have stemmed from Mayer's hate for mothers so Gilbert implied that he resented mothers because he was a whore, which led to a fight. King Vidor was set to marry actress Eleanor Boardman, and Gilbert arranged that it be a double wedding, that the Boardman/Vidor nuptials be followed by the union of Garbo and Gilbert. But on the day of the wedding, Garbo didn’t show up. Gilbert was incredibly upset. At one point, he was in the bathroom crying. According to Boardman, Louis B. Mayer walked in, saw his romantic idol whimpering, and said, “Sleep with her, don’t marry her.” Gilbert punched Mayer in the face. Mayer, on the floor, his eyeglasses broken in pieces, allegedly then said, “I will destroy you.” As a result of this slight, Mayer is meant to have had Gilbert's voice recordings tampered with, the same recordings that led to so many bad critiques of his “talkies”, after all he did get married again when in 1931, an L.A. Times story called Gilbert “Hollywood’s Unhappiest Man,” reporting that he skulked around the MGM lot with his hat pulled down over his eyes. With his wife Ina Claire’s career on the ascendency, their marriage fell apart and he actually had two divorces in just one year. At the  divorce court in Reno, Claire said of Gilbert, “He said he wanted to be left alone”—paraphrasing the famous line associated with Greta Garbo at least as far back as 1929 and at the age of 38, Gilbert died of a sudden and irrational heart attack, but it said he had several kidney stones brought on by his drinking.