When Hollywood came to town

April 28, 8:48 AMSF Silent Movie ExaminerThomas Gladysz

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Just out from McFarland: Silent Film Stars on the Stages of Seattle, by
Washington State author & historian Eric L. Flom.

 by Thomas Gladysz

There is a lot to like about Eric L. Flom’s just published Silent Film Stars on the Stages of Seattle (McFarland). For one thing, the book is an engaging and entertaining combination of film history and local interest. It is also the work of an enthusiastic researcher and writer. And as well, it reveals a wealth of new information about many of the great personalities of early film.

Charlie Chaplin, Lon Chaney, John Barrymore (actress Drew Barrymore’s grandfather) and others all figure prominently in this recommended new book.

Before they became household names, many would-be and soon-to-be film stars began their careers in local theatres and regional playhouses. Some toured the country in dramatic productions now long forgotten, while others honed their craft on the vaudeville circuit. Though only a few earned recognition for their  early efforts before the footlights, the stage did provide many Hollywood hopefuls with experience, and in some instances, their first big break.

Drawing largely on material from the J. Willis Sayre Collection (a collection of theatrical programs housed at the Seattle Public Library), Flom’s groundbreaking book chronicles the Seattle stage engagements of over 30 well known film personalities. Such early film stars as Theda Bara, Roscoe Arbuckle, and Douglas Fairbanks – as well as directors D. W. Griffith, James Cruze and Cecil B. DeMille – can trace their careers through the Emerald City.

Silent Film Stars on the Stages of Seattle is film history seen through the lens of the local.

Take, for example, the great Buster Keaton. The never-smiling comedian appeared in Seattle before he got into the movies. In November, 1916 the Three Keatons vaudeville comedy troupe appeared at the city’s Pantages Theatre. Flom details the time when “Fun’s Funniest Family” appeared for a week as “the first live act following an overture by the house orchestra and an installment of the Helen Holmes serial A Lass of the Lumberland (1916), presented in ‘Pantagescope.’”

One of the local newspapers, the Post-Intelligencer, observed that the “Three Keatons, comedy acrobats, are a real honest-to-goodness scream. Last night’s audience laughed at their antics until tears came.”

Another early star who visited Seattle was Rudolph Valentino. The matinee idol – known for his roles in Four Horseman of the Apocalypse and The Sheik – didn’t appear in a Seattle stage production or vaudeville skit. Rather, he made what was then termed a “promotional appearance.”

At the time, Valentino was in a contract dispute with his studio. Unable to appear before the camera, the immensely popular star went on a nationwide personal appearance tour with his new wife, Natasha Rambova. Their tour brought the actor to Seattle, where on May 30, 1923 they appeared at the Hippodrome to judge a dance contest and a beauty contest. Afterwards, the famed couple thrilled a large crowd by dancing the Tango. What’s remarkable about the incident is that according to Flom’s book, local reporters managed to get backstage, where they questioned Valentino. His answers, along with coverage of the event, were carried in the local papers. These incidents are recounted in Flom's book.

Other stars whose Seattle appearances are detailed in Silent Film Stars on the Stages of Seattle include Stan Laurel, Harry Langdon, Tom Mix, Mary Miles Minter, Alla Nazimova, Francis X. Bushman, Blanche Sweet, Lillian Gish, Ben Turpin, Mary Pickford and others. Each is remembered today in the annals of film history.

Flom’s excellent book also relates the story of longtime Seattle newspaperman J. Willis Sayre and his efforts to find a home for his remarkable collections, each of which helped document the cultural life of a great American city. It’s an interesting story in itself.

The world would be a better place with more books like Silent Film Stars on the Stages of Seattle. Hopefully, its publication will inspire other scholars, researchers, and silent film buffs to explore the history of film in their own cities and towns. Because, when you think about it, history is a conglomerate of the local.

[Some similar books which come to mind include Geoffrey Bell’s The Golden Gate and the Silver Screen (1984), Arnie Bernstein’s Hollywood on Lake Michigan: 100 Years of Chicago & the Movies (1998), Robert Birchard’s Silent-Era Filmmaking in Santa Barbara (2007), Shawn Bean’s The First Hollywood: Florida and the Golden Age of Silent Filmmaking (2008), and others.]

 For more info: Check out the publisher's page on the book. Silent Film Stars on the Stages of Seattle is available on-line and at better bookstores.