Iconic Abstractions of The Era

[vitanola]

Anyone else recognize Paul Whiteman the King of Jazz?

Goes without saying.

Music hath charms, you know.

 

[Fading Fast]

Richard Barthelmess was an actor of the first rank. "He was in some really good movies" That is certainly an understatement! "Rich Man, Poor Man", "Tol'able David", "Broken Blossoms", "Way Down East", and then in the modern era stuff
ike "Scarlet Seas". How could he be forgotten?

Your post has encouraged me to think more about this. At a certain level, I have no idea anymore which actors from the '30s are or are not "well known" today as I don't know the answer to that other than what I glean anecdotally. I think, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn and a few others are, at minimum, names, even today, people would "vaguely" recognize as "old movie stars."

But heck, I don't really know that. Growing up in the '60s/'70s, even kids knew those names, but no-one knew "Barthelmess," so maybe my comment (initially tossed out without much reflection) was based on a mishmash of experiences and impressions over my life. I doubt anyone other than hard-core fans, like many of us here, would know his name today, but as noted, that's just my impression which has not much to back it up.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Barthelmess was one of those actors who got swallowed up by the coming of talkies -- not because he wasn't able to adjust personally, he had a fine voice and was plenty capable as an actor, but because he'd been around a while, was making a lot of money, and the studios saw the transition as a chance to bring in and push a lot of new more cost-efficient performers instead. Warner Brothers, where Barthelmess was working during the talkie transition, churned away pretty much its entire roster of stars between 1929 and 1932, replacing them with the actors now most identified as "Warner Bros. stars:" Cagney, Muni, O'Brien, Davis, Blondell, Powell, etc.

It's absolutely fascinating to watch a picture called "The Show of Shows," an "all-star all-talkie revue" made by Warners in 1929 to showcase its then-current roster of talent. Every prominent Warner actor of the moment, with the exception of Jolson, appears in the film -- and only one of these performers, Loretta Young, was still on the Warner roster in 1932.

 

[Fading Fast]

Barthelmess was one of those actors who got swallowed up by the coming of talkies -- not because he wasn't able to adjust personally, he had a fine voice and was plenty capable as an actor, but because he'd been around a while, was making a lot of money, and the studios saw the transition as a chance to bring in and push a lot of new more cost-efficient performers instead. Warner Brothers, where Barthelmess was working during the talkie transition, churned away pretty much its entire roster of stars between 1929 and 1932, replacing them with the actors now most identified as "Warner Bros. stars:" Cagney, Muni, O'Brien, Davis, Blondell, Powell, etc.

It's absolutely fascinating to watch a picture called "The Show of Shows," an "all-star all-talkie revue" made by Warners in 1929 to showcase its then-current roster of talent. Every prominent Warner actor of the moment, with the exception of Jolson, appears in the film -- and only one of these performers, Loretta Young, was still on the Warner roster in 1932.

Was it all about the money?

Loretta Young was a great "keep," she was real talent that brought in viewers for the next 20ish years. Ridiculously gorgeous in her youth ("Employee's Entrance") and elegant as she matured ("The Bishop's Wife").

In her prime, her body was the definition of lithe.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think a big part of it was money. Pretty much everything that happened in Hollywood in the Era had to do with either money or studio politics -- some studios used the talkie turnover both as a chance to cut the budget and as a chance to get rid of performers who had fallen in bad with the management for one reason or another. There's a lot of talk, for example, that John Gilbert got the shaft at Metro because he'd fallen into L. B. Mayer's doghouse, and that it wasn't just booze that did in Buster Keaton -- he was considered a studio troublemaker who needed to be put in his place.

There's also the fact that a lot of the silent era stars were by 1930, believed to be aging past the point of being marketable. There was talk about that with Barthelmess, to the point where he actually had some plastic surgery done, which turned out to be a botch, and that was pretty much the end of him as a top rank star. It was even worse with women -- Mae Murray had been a big deal in the twenties, but by the thirties she was getting thick in the middle, and the studios decided nobody wanted to look at her anymore.

 

[Fading Fast]

I think a big part of it was money. Pretty much everything that happened in Hollywood in the Era had to do with either money or studio politics -- some studios used the talkie turnover both as a chance to cut the budget and as a chance to get rid of performers who had fallen in bad with the management for one reason or another. There's a lot of talk, for example, that John Gilbert got the shaft at Metro because he'd fallen into L. B. Mayer's doghouse, and that it wasn't just booze that did in Buster Keaton -- he was considered a studio troublemaker who needed to be put in his place.

There's also the fact that a lot of the silent era stars were by 1930, believed to be aging past the point of being marketable. There was talk about that with Barthelmess, to the point where he actually had some plastic surgery done, which turned out to be a botch, and that was pretty much the end of him as a top rank star. It was even worse with women -- Mae Murray had been a big deal in the twenties, but by the thirties she was getting thick in the middle, and the studios decided nobody wanted to look at her anymore.

As you noted and as we know from so much we've all read, the politics of Hollywood's studio system (and even today without the studio system) was and is smash-mouth.

And wow, 1930s plastic surgery - that had to be a cr*p shoot.

Looks are part of the "product" Hollywood sells, so it makes sense that careers can wane as actors age. Of course, many - Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Meryl Streep and many others - have beaten this. But overall, the pressure is intense and, while cosmically unfair, when youth and beauty sells, it helps to have both.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Barthtelmess was one of the first actors to go in for a "face lift," in the mid-thirties, but the incisions became infected and he was left with deep, noticeable scars on his face. If you've seen "Only Angels Have Wings," the scars are very obvious -- the director insisted he not cover them with makeup because they added an interesting character touch.

A few other actors of the time had "work done," but not as drastic as Barthelmess's botched face job. Clark Gable had his ears pinned back and had extensive cosmetic dentistry performed before he was ready for full public consumption. Before, he was, well, pretty much a gargoyle.

 

[Fading Fast]

Barthtelmess was one of the first actors to go in for a "face lift," in the mid-thirties, but the incisions became infected and he was left with deep, noticeable scars on his face. If you've seen "Only Angels Have Wings," the scars are very obvious -- the director insisted he not cover them with makeup because they added an interesting character touch.

A few other actors of the time had "work done," but not as drastic as Barthelmess's botched face job. Clark Gable had his ears pinned back and had extensive cosmetic dentistry performed before he was ready for full public consumption. Before, he was, well, pretty much a gargoyle.

I've seen "Only Angel Have Wings" several times and, I think, most recently in the last year - wonderful movie - and noticed his scars but thought it was part of his character (no shock an early pilot would have a scarred face). So kudos to the director as I thought they were intentionally added in. Pre-antibiotics, elective surgery was a really big gamble.

Jean Arthur does an outstanding job in that movie and it's fun to see a pre-"Gilda" Rita Hayworth as well.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Clark Gable had his ears pinned back and had extensive cosmetic dentistry performed before he was ready for full public consumption. Before, he was, well, pretty much a gargoyle.

I don't remember where, but I know I read once that Gable basically had all his teeth removed and full dentures fitted which - with his smoking and not great cleaning of them - made his breath stink to the point that Vivien Leigh complained to the director in "Gone With the Wind" about it. Don't know if it is true, but I know I read that as it struck me as funny considering how important his kissing her was to the storyline. She was supposed to be swooning with "passion" not with the urge to throw-up.

Also, if the Gable we know is him after having his ears pinned - holy cow - they must have been pointed forward before surgery as they were pretty big satellite dishes afterwards.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, Gable had lost/given up all his natural teeth by the time he became **CLARK GABLE.** Given the choppers evident in the above photo, there wasn't likely much choice in the matter. It actually wasn't all that common for relatively young people to need dentures in that period -- dentistry was viewed as something to be feared, dreaded, and avoided by most people over the first third of the 20th Century. If you still had all your natural teeth by the time you were forty, you were rather special.

Here is Brother Gable pre-pinning-back in all his glory:

"Looks like a taxicab coming down the street with both doors open!" And the whitewall haircut doesn't help, either.

 

[hatsRme]

Anyone else recognize Paul Whiteman the King of Jazz?

Indeed! Although a bit of a lean look for him...