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THE SILENCE OF HOLLYWOOD
by
Jimmy Skinner
"Still wonderful, isn't it? And no dialogue, we didn't
need dialogue, we had faces! There aren't any faces like that, maybe one
Garbo. Those idiot producers, those imbeciles, haven't they got any eyes?
Have they forgotten what a star looks like?"--Norma Desmond, from Billy Wilder's
classic, "Sunset Boulevard," starring Gloria
Swanson.
Living in Hollywood, you tend to become enthralled, amazed
by what is, what will be, and my favorite part, what was. As I stroll down
Hollywood Boulevard along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I observe so much and
see things that most people do not realize ever existed. I see buildings
that used to be major historical landmarks when the city was in its prenatal
state in the early teens and twenties. I see parking lots and supermarkets
where major silent film studios used to stand, studios that produced such
greats as The Keystone Cops, Mack Sennett, Mabel Normand, Rudolph Valentino,
and much more. I now see all of this in my mind.
Hollywood has changed, is changing, and unfortunately will
continue to change. As I walk down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, there are
many "stars," one after the other. I notice names that are as familiar as
my own, I see their faces, I know what films they were in and how wonderful
they are and were. I see the silent names, the stars of people who have been
forgotten by time and sound. These are the stars whom many people wonder
about, "Why are these stars here, I've never heard of them?" If they only
knew that they were the ones who produced Hollywood and made it what it was
and is today. The silent stars were the birth of Hollywood.
With the silent screen stars' talents and lifestyles,
Hollywood(land) was created and made the capital and the idealization of
the entire world. They were the beginning of Hollywood's "royalty." These,
mostly common people, were the "kings" and "queens" of what we now know today
as the "movie star." Thus, the era of the silent screen stars created the
ambassadors of people's dreams and fantasies. What is "today" leaves nothing
to the imagination; the silent stars were imagination and larger than life.
Going to the movie theater then was a major outing that everyone enjoyed.
Considering there were so many stars in the silent era, how
many today can be named immediately from memory? Rudolph Valentino, Gloria
Swanson, Charlie Chaplin, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.,
Mabel Normand, Mary Pickford. How many more were there? How many more had
careers that began Hollywood and began an entire change in people's thinking,
their beliefs, ideals, lifestyles, fads, dress, and bathtub gin? Who were
these people, how long were they around, and where are they now?
There are some remote parts of Hollywood where the silence
is piercing and you can feel how it was in the beginning. You can see and
hear Tom Mix riding over the range and you can experience
"The Birth of A Nation." You can hear the sounds
that are all still there in the silence of Hollywood. Once I was enjoying
some of this silence when suddenly I thought, or rather imagined, Rudolph
Valentino, riding on his horse as "The Sheik." I was there and he was there,
and for that one brief flickering moment old Hollywood had been reborn.
In this new era of "Give me Bronson and blood, Rambo and bombs,
and Rocky and fists," it is nice to see the silents, when a man came on a
white horse and carried off his love. What happened after that was left to
your own imagination, that reality was not as vivid and as frustrating as
it is in today's films. The madness was taken away and substituted by the
dreams.
In some cases art imitates life, and today sometimes the so-called
art is too real. In the past, life was often improved by art.
Recently, with thanks to my local Public Broadcasting Station,
I had the pleasure of watching the 1924 silent classic, "The
Thief of Baghdad," made by United Artists starring Douglas Fairbanks,
Sr., and was totally amazed at the spectacle of it. An entire city was designed
and built on the studio back lot. The sets, costumes, special effects, etc.
were amazing even by today's standards and modern technology. This was a
$2 million production which obviously was a lot of money for those days as
compared to what it would probably cost to produce such a spectacle today.
I think that many of today's producers and directors should and could learn
from this film what a spectacle really is before they spend millions that
may never be returned at the box office. It was spectacles like these, that
proved Hollywood was the dream factory of the silent era. This was the pioneering
of the ideas that still exist today in the motion picture industry. Instead
of vocally expressing ideas before the camera, the silent film star had to
show what was meant with the use of facial expressions and body language.
They thus literally invented screen acting. Lillian Gish portrayed tragedy,
Mary Pickford innocence, Rudolph Valentino male animalism, Theda Bara vamping,
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. action, Gloria Swanson glamour, and Charlie Chaplin
portrayed comedy. Pioneer directors such as D.W. Griffith and Cecille B.
DeMille were kings of the spectacle. Charlie Chaplin and Mack Sennett were
the kings of comedy. Studios were eventually formed by some stars who wanted
to get away from the rule and power of directors and producers. One of the
first such mergers were the joining of Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks,
Sr. and Mary Pickford, who then formed United Artists.
The silent spectacle was not only on the screen, but in the
private lives of the stars. Gloria Swanson's return from France after her
marriage was one spectacle that is still remembered by some. While in France
she became deathly ill, due to a botched abortion, which was not revealed
to the public. On her return home, she was given a Queen's return welcome
by millions of her adoring fans. The world hung on a thread to each word
of news about Gloria's illness and recovery. When she returned to the states,
the public was then happy, because Gloria would now return to the screen.
When Rudolph Valentino died suddenly while in New York, the world mourned,
their god of the screen had left them. Some people in fact committed suicide
upon hearing the news; songs were written for The Sheik; there was in fact
a "New Star in The Heaven" on that night. His body was viewed by the public
on his return by train back to Hollywood, as many as would be for a President.
"The Sheik" had died and left his people. There is still a major spectacle
at his tomb even today, sixty years after his death. The woman in black (although
not the original) still visits his tomb. One wonders after the emergence
of sound if Valentino would have had a successful transformation to the talkies.
Most doubt this, and he may have faded into celluloid oblivion as did countless
other silent matinee idols of the twenties.
Women of the twenties especially followed the trails of the
stars. When a new hair style was worn, for example Colleen Moore's bob, the
beauty salons would be packed with women ready for the change. Rich and poor
alike had one thing in common with today's people, that they still have their
escape into the movies.
Hollywood in the twenties was an age of desperation. People
were desperate to find the good life, and those who came to Hollywood and
found stardom usually changed their names. The publicity departments went
wild with sensationalistic stories of the celebrities' torrid or unusual
past; little girl from middle America would usually wind up becoming an exiled
princess from a European country. Those who did come to Hollywood in the
early days and made it as stars had to handle life on their own terms. Some
handled it well while others destroyed themselves. Popularity and the freedom
proved too much. Mabel Normand was one of the many who died at an early age.
Many more were to follow. They lived too fast and died too soon, unlike those
who took life slow and easy and were able to keep and enjoy what they had.
Most of the stars of the silent era did not make it into sound,
due to many reasons. One was that their voices may not have been suited for
sound and were too high for some male stars and too low for some female stars.
Some spoke with thick accents, and some just could not handle the change.
Most of their careers were cut short. The few who did make the change became
major stars of the thirties and forties, as did Greta Garbo. It was the silent
stars who created what we know today as "Hollywood."
The stage stars of the time tended to look down on the screen
as the lower class of actors. However, as film took over as the top form
of popular entertainment, even the stars of the stage made the change to
the screen, liking it or not. The stage actors at one time said, "Screen
actors didn't act for films, only posed."
Lillian Gish once said, "You have to start with the curtain
down and then go on from there once the camera started. With music and silent
film you have a universal language, a tear is a tear and a smile is a
smile."
MAJOR FILMS OF THE SILENT
ERA
"THE SQUAW MAN" - 1913, Dir. by Cecille B. DeMille, starring Dustin Farnum
"BIRTH OF A NATION" - 1915, Dir. by D.W. Griffith, starring Lillian Gish
"INTOLERANCE" - 1916, Dir. by D.W. Griffith, starring Mae Marsh
"THE MARK OF ZORRO" - 1920, Dir. by Fred Niblo, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
"THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD" - 1924, Dir. by Raoul Walsh, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
"MANHANDLED" - 1924, Dir. by Allan Dwan, starring Gloria Swanson
"THE GOLD RUSH" - 1925, Directed/Written/Produced/Starring Charlie Chaplin
"THE EAGLE" - 1925, Dir. by Clarence Brown, starring Rudolph Valentino
"THE GREAT GATSBY" - 1926, Dir. by Herbert Brenon, starring Warner Baxter
"SON OF THE SHEIK" - 1926, Dir. by George Fitzmaurice, starring Rudolph Valentino
"IT" - 1927, Dir. by Clarence Badger, starring Clara Bow
"WINGS" - 1927, Dir. by William A. Wellman, starring Charles "Buddy" Rodgers
IMPORTANT DATES OF THE
SILENT ERA
1894: Horace Henderson Wilcox bought 120 acres to establish a country home and named his ranch Hollywood.
1911: October, Hollywood's first studio was opened by the Centaur Company.
1912: Adolph Zukor founded Famous Players Company.
1914: Charlie Chaplin made his film debut in Keystone's "MAKING A LIVING."
1915: PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE became Hollywood's major voice to the American film public.
1920: Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. married Mary Pickford. Their house, "Pickfair" became Hollywood's Buckingham Palace.
1923: Greta Garbo was introduced to the American public.
1925: Gloria Swanson returns home to America from France after nearly dying.
1926: Rudolph Valentino dies of "peritonitis complications" in New York; the nation mourns.
1927: "THE JAZZ SINGER,"
the first feature film with synchronized sound and dialogue. The careers
of the silent stars were about to change, and for most, they were
ended.
SOUND HAD COME AND AN ERA HAD
ENDED.
"WHERE IS THIS
HOLLYWOOD(LAND)?"
What's made out of Hollywood?
where the concrete empires now thrive
and the boulevards go rampant
with fleeting moments
Once upon a while gone by
days were promised with illusions--
grand dreams of persistence
fulfilled with many answers
Lights of tinseltown twinkled
from day one to day tomorrow
and flashes of celluloid
were above and beyond reach
While many grasped out to receive
some held on to maintain
what was gained only by hope
and not taken by greed
Here in the land of dreams
Oz has only been found by few
and others to this day still seek
the rainbow from beyond
Looking over this famed Eden
lenses tend to haze over
and label and destroy
those who joined with weakness
Only power survived yesterday
a town that's built in a day
settled in minutes and seconds
and destroyed by times passed
Where is this Hollywood(land)
the town of false fantasies
dreams that surpassed reality
and tomorrow that doesn't exist
by Jimmy Skinner
THE HOLLYWOOD SUNSET
"SUNSET IN THE SOUTHLAND"
There's emotion on the wayside
as the sun sets in the southland
and the lights of tinseltown appear
amidst the hustle of the boulevards.
Admittedly searched for silence around us
somehow awaits knowingly on all sides
searching the faces and vibrations
carousing up and down, in and out.
From dusk to dawn people emerge
and cluster together in corners of the street
awaiting for a certain moment unmentioned
when the sun sets in the southland.
by Jimmy Skinner
A POEM IN MEMORIAM OF GLORIA
SWANSON
"AN ILLUSION OF GLORIA"
All too soon the lights fade
and the cameras shut down,
the set becomes struck
and the spotlight disappears.
Memories that were captured
by the illusions of a dream
are printed forever on yesterdays
when tomorrows remember today.
Starlight that twinkled on screen
glowed with imagination
while the image captivated
and held onto the hopes.
The lights, the cameras, the illusion
now has faded with time,
just like the lady
that created dreams.
by Jimmy Skinner
