DOCSLIB.ORG

* * Mrs Thelma Born to Mr Gregg (Management Retirement Guide) * Article Submitted for Publication * Transcribed by Jamie Terrill

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
* * Mrs Thelma Born to Mr Gregg (Management Retirement Guide) * Article Submitted for Publication * Transcribed by Jamie Terrill * * Mrs Thelma Born to Mr Gregg (Management Retirement Guide) * Article submitted for publication * Transcribed by Jamie Terrill [Address redacted] [Telephone number redacted] Feb 10 The Dr Editor, Management Retirement Guide. Dear Mr Gregg, I am forwarding you an article named “THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF THE CINEMA”, which I am sure would interest your readers. I find there is a good deal of nostalgia among mature folk for this particular part of earlier years. All details are entirely authentic, I enclose an endorsement of the fact that I am well qualified to have written this article. There is a sepia photograph dated 1922 of this orchestra, if you might like to use it. Please enjoy, hoping to hear from you. Yours faithfully, Mrs Thelma Born Pen Name Willard S.A.E enclosed 1080 Words First British Serial Rights THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF THE CINEMA Do you miss going to the cinema? No I dont mean the multi screened ones of today, which seem much more like recording studios specialising in sensationalism. No, I mean the hey day of your local cinema. It might have been a plushy super cinema, which seem then to be the ultimate in luxury, or a much less impressive little ‘flea pit’ type of hall that you patronised? Whichever it was, I’m sure like millions of others, you have found nostalgic memories of those days. Having been born into the business and after a lifetimes (sic) association with it, I am a dedicated ‘film buff’. My parents were both members of what was known as ‘THE EMPIRE PICTURE PALACE ORCHESTRA’, providing background music for silent films. My father played the violin and my mother the kettle drums. The popular image of one man plonking away on th (sic) piano is not strictly accurate. This six piece orchestra ran through every film first, before carefully selecting appropriate music. My earliest ever recollection is of being carried into what was the second talking picture AL JOLSON in “THE SINGING FOOL’ I was mystified? Why were all the people crying, but the new miracle of sound plus the sign of Jolson down on one knee singing “SONNY BOY” was emotionally overwhelming. mf Not only the audience were affected, when my father happened to go up to the operating box, during that first showing, he discovered the chief operator standing beside his projector with tearing down his face. When all the ballyhoo and the excitement of the ‘talkies’ had died down, the sad fact remained that hundreds of musicians were now out of work. We were lucky, my father had the good fortune to secure a cinema managers job in Cornwall. At first glance the cinema resembled a Russia mosque with its rounded turrets, it was perched picturesquely on the top of a cliff overlooking a golden beach. He however had no time to admire the view! These were challenging and exciting times for the film industry and a lot of hard work would be needed to get the public in regular weekly cinema going habits. He threw himself wholeheartedly into his new vocation. Those were the days of Tom Walls, Ralph Lynn, and Robertson Hare, with his stock phrase “Oh calamity’. I wonder if anyone reading this can recall the delicious British comedy ‘ROOKERY NOOK’, which starred this trio? mf Later on Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtnedge, then Jesse Matthews all emerged into the limelight and became big musical comedy stars, of British films. Film scripts in those days never allowed the ‘baddy’ to win. Crooks were eventually shown behind bars, kitted out in striped suits. Murderers always paid the ultimate penalty and erring husbands, in the end always returned to their wives.! I have so often seen my father down on his knees backstage, painting publicity posters for some special attraction. Later he thought up clever stunts to attract people away from the beach, and into the cinema. On one particular occasion, to advertise a comedy called ‘HEAVENS ABOVE’, he and two male members of staff paraded the town dressed in full clerical gear, one of them carrying a sandwich board advertising the film. After a most successful tour of the town, as it had been a very warm day, they deposited the board outside a pub and went inside to enjoy some well earned pints. Being so thirsty they were inclined to forget that they were dressed as clergymen, until a few shocked glances reminded them of the fact! mf Returning to the cinema, the other two went back to work. But my father had spotted a disturbance on the car park of the cinema. Two irrate motorists were engaged in a very heated dispute over parking that looked as if it might well end in blows at any moment! He hurried forwards and quickly became embroiled in the furore. One of the motorists looked as if he were on the verge of apoplexy. Catching sight of my fathers attire he demanded irritably. “Who asked you to poke your nose into this Padre? Clear off, this is not a religious (sic) matter”. My fathers (sic) highly embarrassed explanation cause caused so much hilarious laughter, from everyone, that their earlier annoyance with each other was soon forgotten. The star system was producing some winners. Audiences warmed to the fresh charm and lovely voice of Deanna Durbin, she became a mega star at the age of only fifteen and still today she is not forgotten by her many fans. The elusive Garbo was unique, there has never ever been her equal. She and Deanna Durbin both walked away from Hollywood at the height of their fame and in spite of all the tempting offers neither has ever returned. mf Marlene shed her glamorous image to play a gypsy in the film GOLDEN EARRINGS, with Ray milland (sic) as her leading man. She lives in Paris and sadly has been confined to a wheelchair for a number of years. Rumour has it that she was sewn into her stage gowns by her dressed, This made walking difficult and a fall from stage ended her career. There were some wonderful screen couples. Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire were admired and adored by millions. Fred was an ultra perfectionist and spent hour after hour getting a step just the way he wanted it. Ginger had her work cut out keeping up with him. Myrna Loy and William Powell were a ‘smooth pair, she with her pert nose and charm, he with his sophisticated wit. With the Asta, they began the successful ‘THIN MAN’ series in 1936, their relationship was amiable off screen as it was on. This was certainly not the case with Jeanette Macdonald and Nelson Eddy, although their voices blended so perfectly and they looked so well together. They detested each other. He flatly refused to attend her funeral even for appearances sake mf The cinema played a large part in keeping people’s spirits lifted in the grey days of the second world war. Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in the “ROAD’ series of films were providing a much needed tonic for cinema goers. Always when Winston Churchill was shown on the news reels giving his famous Victory V sign. A ripple of hope would spread over the entire audience. Even in those hard pressed days it took three projectionists and a rewind boy to run a projection box. Three sometimes four large heavy tins were required to contain a feature film. Now it is the size of a handbag and one man can slot in as many of ten films for different screens. WE sit in our own homes and watch videos of our own choice……. but something vital has been lost. That essential ingredient audience participation. Sharing laughter and sometimes tears, with a large audience ,,,,,,,,,,, adds that champagne touch, to entertainment. Thelma Willard 1080 words. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Text Pages Layout MCBEAN.Indd
    Introduction The great photographer Angus McBean has stage performers of this era an enduring power been celebrated over the past fifty years chiefly that carried far beyond the confines of their for his romantic portraiture and playful use of playhouses. surrealism. There is some reason. He iconised Certainly, in a single session with a Yankee Vivien Leigh fully three years before she became Cleopatra in 1945, he transformed the image of Scarlett O’Hara and his most breathtaking image Stratford overnight, conjuring from the Prospero’s was adapted for her first appearance in Gone cell of his small Covent Garden studio the dazzle with the Wind. He lit the touchpaper for Audrey of the West End into the West Midlands. (It is Hepburn’s career when he picked her out of a significant that the then Shakespeare Memorial chorus line and half-buried her in a fake desert Theatre began transferring its productions to advertise sun-lotion. Moreover he so pleased to London shortly afterwards.) In succeeding The Beatles when they came to his studio that seasons, acknowledged since as the Stratford he went on to immortalise them on their first stage’s ‘renaissance’, his black-and-white magic LP cover as four mop-top gods smiling down continued to endow this rebirth with a glamour from a glass Olympus that was actually just a that was crucial in its further rise to not just stairwell in Soho. national but international pre-eminence. However, McBean (the name is pronounced Even as his photographs were created, to rhyme with thane) also revolutionised British McBean’s Shakespeare became ubiquitous.
    [Show full text]
  • Orourke JBCTV Article
    Exploiting Ambiguity: Murder! and the Meanings of Cross-Dressing in Interwar British Cinema Chris O’Rourke Journal of British Cinema and Television – accepted manuscript Abstract: The crime film Murder! (1930), directed by Alfred Hitchcock for British International Pictures, and based on the novel Enter Sir John (1929) by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson, has long been cited in debates about the treatment of queer sexuality in Hitchcock’s films. Central to these debates is the character of Handel Fane and the depiction of his cross-dressed appearances as a theatre and circus performer, which many critics have understood as a coded reference to homosexuality. This article ex- plores such critical interpretations by situating Murder! more firmly in its historical context. In particular, it examines Fane’s cross-dressed performances in relation to other cultural representations of men’s cross-dressing in interwar Britain. These in- clude examples from other British and American films, stories in the popular press and the publicityACCEPTED surrounding the aerial performer MANUSCRIPT and female impersonator Barbette (Vander Clyde). The article argues that Murder! reflects and exploits a broader fascin- ation with gender ambiguity in British popular culture, and that it anticipates the more insistent vilification of queer men in the decades after the Second World War. Keywords: Alfred Hitchcock; British film; cross-dressing; queer film; queer history 1 Introduction Murder! (1930), a mystery-thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock for British In- ternational Pictures, and co-written by Walter C. Mycroft and Alma Reville, was pro- duced in the midst of the British cinema’s transition to synchronised sound.
    [Show full text]
  • London Musicals 1920-1924.Pub
    1920 1 MEDORAH London run: Alhambra, January 22 nd – March 13 th (60 performances) Music: Vada Ennem Book & Lyrics Denn Spranklin English adaptation: Rupert Hazell English lyrics : Adrian Ross Additional numbers : John Ansell Director: E. Dagnell Choreographer: Will Bishop Musical Director : John Anstell Cast: Leo Stormont ( Sultan), Ada Reeve (Medorah), W.S. Percy ( Dadoolah), Jamieson Dodds (Vernon Grant ), Leslie Stiles ( Ambassador Manston), Margaret Campbell ( Mrs Manston) Songs: Tomorrow’s Another Day, There’s Always a Drawback, Like a Dream. Wonderful Joy, Hope Again, Love and My Soul Alone Story: In Caravanistan beauty is measured in physical bulk, the heavier the better. The Sultan’s eldest daughter, Medorah, is thin, too thin to be an eligible bride. Chancellor Dadoolah suggests she is sent to America for the purposes of putting on weight – a suggestion that delights her because she has fallen in love with Vernon Grant, the man who accompanied the American ambassador and his wife to a reception in the Sultan’s palace. They meet again in Washington, and when she is summoned back to Caravanistan , Vernon secretly follows. Meantime, after various adventures, Vernon is captured and forced to work as a slave in the Sultan’s household. With no hope of marrying his underweight daughter to a prince, the Sultan condemns her to marry his new slave – and thus Medorah and Vernon are happily united. Notes: The original publicity declared that “Medorah” was jointly produced by Mr. Bernard J. Hishin and Sir Oswald Stoll, but within a week of opening, the show was subject to a legal dispute in the Court of Chancery, with Violet Melnotte claiming (and winning) half-ownership in the copyright of the English version of this Dutch original.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Hp0103 Roy Ward Baker
    HP0103 ROY WARD BAKER – Transcript. COPYRIGHT ACTT HISTORY PROJECT 1989 DATE 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th, October and 6th November 1989. A further recording dated 16th October 1996 is also included towards the end of this transcript. Roy Fowler suggests this was as a result of his regular lunches with Roy Ward Baker, at which they decided that some matters covered needed further detail. [DS 2017] Interviewer Roy Fowler [RF]. This transcript is not verbatim. SIDE 1 TAPE 1 RF: When and where were you born? RWB: London in 1916 in Hornsey. RF: Did your family have any connection with the business you ultimately entered? RWB: None whatsoever, no history of it in the family. RF: Was it an ambition on your part or was it an accidental entry eventually into films? How did you come into the business? RWB: I was fairly lucky in that I knew exactly what I wanted to do or at least I thought I did. At the age of something like fourteen I’d had rather a chequered upbringing in an educa- tional sense and lived in a lot of different places. I had been taken to see silent movies when I was a child It was obviously premature because usually I was carried out in scream- ing hysterics. There was one famous one called The Chess Player which was very dramatic and German and all that. I had no feeling for films. I had seen one or two Charlie Chaplin films which people showed at children's parties in those days on a 16mm projector.
    [Show full text]
  • In the Nest Free
    FREE IN THE NEST PDF Anna Milbourne,Laurence Cleyet-Merle | 24 pages | 01 May 2012 | Usborne Publishing Ltd | 9781409546986 | English | London, United Kingdom The Nest Reviews - Metacritic It was first given at the Aldwych In the NestLondon, the second in the series of twelve Aldwych farces presented by the actor-manager Tom Walls at the theatre between and Several of the cast formed the regular core cast for the later Aldwych farces. The plot concerns two friends, a man and a woman, who are each married to other people. While In the Nest together, they are obliged by circumstances to share a hotel bedroom. Everyone else assumes the worst, but the two travellers are able to prove their innocence. The piece opened on 22 July and ran for performances. Travers made a film adaptation, which Walls directed inwith most of the leading members of the stage cast reprising their roles. The actor-manager Tom Wallsinitially together with Leslie Hensonproduced the series In the Nest Aldwych farcesnearly all written by Ben Traversstarring Walls and his co-star Ralph Lynnwho specialised in playing "silly ass" characters. Walls assembled a regular company of actors to fill the supporting roles. For the first few productions, the company included Yvonne Arnaud as the leading In the Nest Robertson Hareas a figure of put-upon respectability; Mary Brough in eccentric old lady roles; and the saturnine Gordon James. Walls and his team had enjoyed a substantial hit at the Aldwych, with It Pays to Advertisewhich had run for performances. Barbara Wykeham's parents, Major and Mrs Bone arrive.
    [Show full text]
  • By Ben Travers
    NOONOOKK RY E K OO R BY BEN TRAVERS Presented by NOVEMBER 3 19, 2011 Rookery Nook by Ben Travers CREATIVE TEAM Director Bindon Kinghorn Set Designer Jessica P. Wong Costume Designer Kat Jeffery Lighting Designer Bryan Kenney Sound Designer Neil Ferguson Stage Manager Caitlinn O’Leary Vocal Coach Linda Hardy Assistant Lighting Designer Denay Amaral CAST (in the order of appearance) Gertrude Twine Hayley Feigs Mrs. Leverett Breanna Wise Harold Twine Lucas Hall Clive Popkiss Jonathan Mason Gerald Popkiss Derek Wallis Rhoda Marley Taryn Lees Putz Alex Frankson Admiral Juddy Simon Walter Poppy Dickey Brooke Haberstock Clara Popkiss Alysson Hall Mrs. Possett Chelsea Graham The Cat* Played by Itself *For your peace of mind, please note that no animals were harmed during the making of this play. There will be one 3-minute scene change between Act I and Act II and one 15-minute intermission following Act II. Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. New York City Presented by: Industrial Alliance Pacific Insurance and Financial Services Inc. Season Community Friend: Cadboro Bay Village Director's Notes Why does a director choose a particular play to direct? Well, not all directors are so lucky as to be able to choose. Most may be asked to direct a play already chosen; it may even be cast for them. I was lucky. Not only was I able to choose Rookery Nook and cast it, but I’ve had the support of colleagues throughout. Before I came to the University of Victoria in 1973, Rookery Nook was one of the first plays I worked on professionally in England, so it seems appropriate at this stage in my career to direct it.
    [Show full text]
  • British Newspapers and Films in the Interwar Period: a History and a Review
    ORBIT-OnlineRepository ofBirkbeckInstitutionalTheses Enabling Open Access to Birkbeck’s Research Degree output The representation of London nights in British popu- lar press and film, 1919-1939 https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/40490/ Version: Public Version Citation: Arts, Mara (2020) The representation of London nights in British popular press and film, 1919-1939. [Thesis] (Unpublished) c 2020 The Author(s) All material available through ORBIT is protected by intellectual property law, including copy- right law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. Deposit Guide Contact: email The Representation of London Nights in British Popular Press and Film, 1919-1939 Candidate name: Mara Arts Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Birkbeck, University of London 1 Declaration of original work I hereby confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. 2 Abstract This thesis explores the representation of night-time activities in the capital in popular British newspapers and films of the period. It argues that, whilst an increasingly democratised night allowed for more opportunities for previously marginalised groups, popular media of the period largely promoted adherence to the status quo. The thesis draws on extensive primary source material, including eighty British feature films and newspaper samples of the Daily Mail, Daily Express and Daily Mirror to systematically analyse the representation of London’s nightlife in the British interwar period. This period saw the consolidation of the popular daily newspaper industry and, after government intervention, an expansion of the domestic film industry. The interwar period also saw great social change with universal suffrage, technological developments and an economic crisis.
    [Show full text]
  • The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations.TXT
    The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations PREFACE Preface =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This is a completely new dictionary, containing about 5,000 quotations. What is a "quotation"? It is a saying or piece of writing that strikes people as so true or memorable that they quote it (or allude to it) in speech or writing. Often they will quote it directly, introducing it with a phrase like "As ---- says" but equally often they will assume that the reader or listener already knows the quotation, and they will simply allude to it without mentioning its source (as in the headline "A ros‚ is a ros‚ is a ros‚," referring obliquely to a line by Gertrude Stein). This dictionary has been compiled from extensive evidence of the quotations that are actually used in this way. The dictionary includes the commonest quotations which were found in a collection of more than 200,000 citations assembled by combing books, magazines, and newspapers. For example, our collections contained more than thirty examples each for Edward Heath's "unacceptable face of capitalism" and Marshal McLuhan's "The medium is the message," so both these quotations had to be included. As a result, this book is not--like many quotations dictionaries--a subjective anthology of the editor's favourite quotations, but an objective selection of the quotations which are most widely known and used. Popularity and familiarity are the main criteria for inclusion, although no reader is likely to be familiar with all the quotations in this dictionary. The book can be used for reference or for browsing: to trace the source of a particular quotation or to find an appropriate saying for a special need.
    [Show full text]
  • Rookery Nook (1930)
    The 19th British Silent Film Festival Rookery Nook (1930) Thursday 14 September, 9am Introduced by Geoff Brown 76 mins, UK, 1930, sound, Genre: Comedy / Stage farce Production companies: British & Dominions Film Corporation / The Gramophone Company, “His Master’s Voice” Directed by: Tom Walls Producer: Herbert Wilcox Supervised by: Byron Haskin Screenplay: Ben Travers, W.P. Lipscombe based on the novel (1923) an play (1926) by Ben Travers Photography: Freddie Young Editor: Maclean Rogers Art Director: Clifford Pember Sound: A.W. Watkins Studio: British and Dominions Studios The Aldwych Farces were a series of 12 comedies that ran in the Aldwych Theatre London between 1923 and 1933. Mostly written by Ben Travers, they were characterised by clever word play Cast: Ralph Lynn (Gerald Popkiss), Tom Walls (Clive Popkiss), Winifred Shotter (Rhoda Marley), Mary Brough (Mrs Leverett),Robertson Hare (Harold Twine), Ethel Coleridge (Gertrude Twine), Griffith Humphreys (Putz), Doreen Bendix (Poppy Dickey), Margot Graham (Clara Popkiss). The Bioscope, 12 February 1930, p.29: IN BRIEF: Brilliant adaptation of Ben Travers’ enormously successful farce, excellently played by the members of the original cast. Plot: A young married man goes to a country cottage for a rest-cure, where he has to give shelter to a pretty girl who wanders in clad in pyjamas and tells a piteous story. Gerald’s sister-in-law, and later on his wife, discover the intrusion and make a great deal of trouble. Gerald is saved by the action of a friend who is glad to take the girl under his own care. Comment: This delightful comedy, which had such a successful run at the Aldwych Theatre, has been adapted to the screen with perfect success, and with the original cast is certainly the most amusing farce that has yet been shown on the screen.
    [Show full text]
  • For Valour Free
    FREE FOR VALOUR PDF Andy McNab | 432 pages | 23 Oct 2014 | Transworld Publishers Ltd | 9780593073704 | English | London, United Kingdom Victoria Cross - Wikipedia Looking for a movie the entire family can enjoy? Check out our picks for family friendly movies movies that transcend all ages. For even more, visit our Family Entertainment Guide. See For Valour full list. In this British comedy, set during the Boer War, a foot For Valour saves his major's life. The officer is most grateful and puts the soldier in line for a Victoria Cross a medal for For Valour. Unfortunately the well-meaning major's actions cause the soldier to be extradited back to England where he must stand trial for a series of crimes he committed before he joined the military. Later the major scours the For Valour jails in search of the heroic lad. He finally finds him recruiting soldiers for WW I. Both Walls and Lynn played dual roles of two Boer War veterans and their son and grandson respectively. It was the For Valour time the two actors, who had been one of the most popular film comedy teams of the decade, appeared together on screen. For Valour for some great streaming picks? Check out some of the IMDb editors' favorites movies and For Valour to round out your Watchlist. Visit our What to Watch page. Sign In. Keep track of everything you watch; tell For Valour friends. Full Cast and Crew. Release Dates. For Valour Sites. Company Credits. Technical Specs. Plot Summary. Plot Keywords. Parents Guide. External Sites. User Reviews.
    [Show full text]
  • Lar Press and Film, 1919-1939
    ORBIT - Online Repository of Birkbeck Institutional Theses Enabling Open Access to Birkbeck’s Research Degree output The representation of London nights in British popu- lar press and film, 1919-1939 https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/40490/ Version: Public Version Citation: Arts, Mara (2020) The representation of London nights in British popular press and film, 1919-1939. [Thesis] (Unpublished) c 2020 The Author(s) All material available through ORBIT is protected by intellectual property law, including copy- right law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. Deposit Guide Contact: email The Representation of London Nights in British Popular Press and Film, 1919-1939 Candidate name: Mara Arts Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Birkbeck, University of London 1 Declaration of original work I hereby confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. 2 Abstract This thesis explores the representation of night-time activities in the capital in popular British newspapers and films of the period. It argues that, whilst an increasingly democratised night allowed for more opportunities for previously marginalised groups, popular media of the period largely promoted adherence to the status quo. The thesis draws on extensive primary source material, including eighty British feature films and newspaper samples of the Daily Mail, Daily Express and Daily Mirror to systematically analyse the representation of London’s nightlife in the British interwar period. This period saw the consolidation of the popular daily newspaper industry and, after government intervention, an expansion of the domestic film industry. The interwar period also saw great social change with universal suffrage, technological developments and an economic crisis.
    [Show full text]
  • Regional Distinctions in the Consumption of Films And
    Regional Distinctions In The Consumption Of Films And Stars In Mid-1930s Britain by John Sedgewick | Institute of Historical Research View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by SAS-SPACE Home » Publications » E-seminars in history Regional Distinctions In The Consumption Of Films And Stars In Mid-1930s Britain John Sedgwick, University of North London Stars sell films. Who they are, what they might contribute to a project in terms of distinction, additional box-office revenue, and cost are clearly important questions facing film entrepreneurs. They also tell us something important about viewing preferences and thence social attitudes. Such evidence is important to the historian. Jeffrey Richards (1984) writing about British Cinema during the 1930s, advances the case that "(the) study of stars and their images and their popularity is central to an understanding of how cinema works in the context of society."[1] He argues that: Audiences are primarily attracted by stars rather than story lines. He supports this contention by reference to the importance of fan clubs, the plethora of fan magazines and the manner in which "stars were ...assiduously promoted by the studio publicity machines"[2], during the classical period. In representing an ideal, stars need to be "both ordinary for the purposes of identification and extraordinary for purposes of admiration."[3] Stars, like films, operate as ideological tools. In promoting a pattern of behaviour concordant with the perceived interests of the
    [Show full text]