"The girl with the summer-hot lips... and the winter-cold heart" R.I.P Jane Russell

Jane Russell posing for poster art for Howard Hughes' The Outlaw (1943)

The actress best known for starring alongside Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes died today at her home, she was 89. Her career began when she was discovered by Howard Hughes, she was working as a receptionist at his dentist at the time. Immediately Howard Hughes' controversial western The Outlaw got the unknown Jane Russell noticed.  

I always really liked her performance in Gentleman Prefer Blondes, as Marilyn Monroes less flighty dance and singing partner. Me and sister used to watch this movie religiously, her solo olympic pool side number "Ain't there anyone here for love" always gave us a laugh with the half nude back ups, not to mention she was also a really great singer. She made only 29 films in her career that spanned from 1943 - 1986, but she never really got to show off her singing and comedic talent in a movie as good as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which seems like a shame. You will be missed! 

The Wedding March - 1928 film #11

Director: Erich Von Stroheim

Writing: Harry Carr, Erich Von Stroheim 

Cinematography: Roy H. Klaffki, Ray Rennahan (Technicolor Camera) 

Editing: Frank E. Hull, Erich Von Stroheim, Josef Von Sternberg, and Paul Weatherwax.

Players: Erich Von Stroheim (Nicki/Prince Nickolas), Fay Wray (Mitzi), Matthew Betz (Schani - The Butcher), ZaSu Pitts (Cecelia Schweisser), George Fawcett (Prince Ottokar), Maude George (Princess Maria), George Nichols (Fortunat Schweisser), Dale Fuller (Mitzi's mother), Hughie Mack (The Wine Grower), Cesare Gravina (Mitzi's Father), Sidney Bracey (Navratil), Anton Vaverka (Emporer Franz Josef)  

Paramount Production 

“In its entirety an Erich von Stroheim creation.”  - (With Erich Von Stroheim lol at poster) just in case we missed his name on all the major opening credits, we get a courtesy reminder.

Length: 1 Hour and 52 Minutes 

(Erich Von Stroheim reminisces about pre WW1 Vienna) - "One day when I was homesick I felt physically ill.  It is not because I do not love my adopted land -- it is the natural feeling of one far from home, who remembers those happy, carefree days when life flowed at full tide, without responsibility, flashing past one like the drama in a fascinating story of adventure and romance...  How beautiful were the Viennese women -- like magnolia blossom -- and the flowers and music and perfume, and uniforms covered with gold braid!  I can see it all just by closing my eyes -- a panorama of life lived each day at its highest tempo; each morning bursting with all the freshness of a new appleblossom; each night a dream of waltzes, music and joyousness; a Paradise on earth destined to perish like a butterfly at sunset."

The Wedding March tells the story of Prince Nicki (Stroheim); a penniless prince who falls in love with a lower class girl named Mitzi (Wray), but nevertheless chooses to marry another girl named Cecelia (ZaSu) for money. Prince Nicki becomes swayed by the idea of having millions and allows his greed to over power his true love, so he goes down the aisle a fraud. This familiar plot of love vs. the divide between social classes has been put to the screen loads of times, often in comedy, Arthur comes to mind. But here in Erich Von Stroheim’s story, there is no happy ending. I think what drives people to separate this from other spins of melodrama or other films with a similar tale and mark this as the masterpiece, is that it’s been put onto the screen in such an unprecedented fashion which makes it stand out. Stroheim's movies belong in a class of their own. 

I view The Wedding March as a timeless melodramatic love story with all the Stroheim trimmings that make his films unique. It's an honest story, Stroheim chooses to display his aristocrats as vulgar and the poor as mean and both classes are about as greedy as each other.

(Above is Fay Wray as Mitzi)The films opening line "Love** without thee marriage is a sacrilege and mockery" is basically the theme of the film and is obviously pointed out to us throughout the film, which is a good thing. I mean this being a silent film broad story telling is what keeps us engaged since no one can speak.  I've come to expect the unexpected when watching a Erich Von Stroheim film for the first time, especially being used to watching American films that followed the rules by sticking to studio policy. Erich Von Stroheim notoriously didn't follow the rules, and his 1924 film Greed is a prime example of his maverick take on film making, his own final cut of the film was 8-9 hours long, and this was exactly how he wanted it to be shown to audiences. But at a length that could of been made into four separate films the studios had no choice but to cut the film to 2.5hours. When Stroheim saw this cut of the film he said it was like viewing "a corpse in a graveyard". The film has since been restored but not to the same Film Stroheim created. 

Four years after Greed was released Sroheim was still working to the beat of his own drum. The Wedding March was intended to be much longer than its 113 minutes. It was cut in half before release and luckily instead of the trashing half of it, the film was used in The Wedding March's sequel called The Honeymoon. Sadly the only known print was burnt in fire in 1950.

(Above Erich Von  Stroheim and his Mama played by Maude George).The Film begins on the morning of corpus christi, in 1914 pre war vienna. Its anything but a glorious morning when we enter the bedroom of Princess Maria and Prince Ottakar Wildeliebe-Rauffenburg. We are introduced to the married couple as Prince Ottakar is wearing a mustache protector tightly worn around his face looking like a surgical patient and Princess Maria looking not much better, the two greet each other with the routine morning bicker "You Ugly Fool"  and his reply  "If you could only see yourself". 

In the next bedroom is their "love child" Prince Nicki. He is immediately shown as a playboy as he sneaks a kiss with the maid while still in bed. Nicki is in a "terrible hole", broke from spending all his money on "fancy" ladies and extravagant parties he goes to his father to tell him about his money troubles in hopes for a handout. "Blow out your brains,  - or Marry Money" are his fathers suggestions. He isn't thrilled by either option, but thats until he goes to his mother who tells him again to Marry Money. Convinced by his parents there is no other alternative he allows his mother to arrange the marriage, his mother finds the potential bride in Cecelia Schweisser, heiress to her father's large fortune.As the city waits for the procession to begin, out on the streets Prince Nicki is in full uniform gallivanting on his horse amongst the crowd. Mitzi, a poor inn keeper’s daughter spots Nicki and is immediately taken by him. For an extended amount of time the two make eyes at each other, smiling and giving little hand gestures to know if either are married. Accompanied by Mitzi in the crowd are her mother and Schani, an aggressive grease ball butcher. Mitzi is not at all taken by Schani, much to her mother’s dismay; she wants her to marry Schani for money and doesn’t want anything getting in the way of that happening. Prince Nicki is attracted to Mitzi’s innocents and beauty, although by no means is he about to restrain his corruption of her. Mitzi in turn is taken by Nicki’s charm and nobility, given she was groomed by her mother to stick to suitors with money.

(Above are scenes cut from the wedding march and put into its sequel The Honeymoon with ZaSu Pitts and Stroheim). After Mitzi takes a fall in the stampede of people awaiting the procession, Nicki visits the injured Mitzi in hospital bringing her a gift of extravagant chocolate, the kind only the rich can enjoy. The two then arrange to go on their first date. The scene between Nicki and Mitzi sitting under the appleblossom is the loveliest, where the couple show a genuine love for each other. Something they both would have thought to be impossible, after all they were both brought up by immoral parents with insatiable greed, and surrounded by crooked people. The film never returns to such a scene. Prince Nicki’s mother Princess Maria (who looks as though she was born at the same time as her son) seduces Nicki into going ahead with the marriage. As the wedding takes place Mitzi and Schani are in the crowd, and I can assure you there is no heroic interruption on the marriage, the ending folds as a major tear jerker. Mitzi is crying hysterically in the crowd as her future husband Schani forces her to watch her love ride away with his bride. The Bride, Cecelia asks “who was that sweet girl in tears, and that awful looking man?” Prince Nicki replies “how do I know I never saw them before”. He goes his way, leaving Mitzi to marry a despicable human being. And they all live unhappily ever after.

Stroheim was a stickler for detail, making everything seem totally realistic, bringing to life the old Vienna he was always pining for. He pulled a great cast together for this production: ZaSu Pitts as the bride to be, she has a few brief scenes that show her character to be genuinely kind. It would be so great to see her character grow, if it were only possible to see The Honeymoon! Damn flammable nitrate. Stroheim "the man you love to hate" got that name by always playing villains in his earlier career, throwing babies out of windows, that sort of thing, here you don't hate him so much. Still he is kind of sleazy, that being the way he approached his roles in his own films. Fay Wray who became a star because of her role as Mitzi, she was only 19 when she played the part. She is really fantastic here, delivers a downright believable emotional performance. 

When I saw Stroheims earlier movie Foolish Wives (1922) I found it kind of prolonged which lead me to space out while viewing some of it, didn't excite or engage me. Don't give me wrong it has its good points, one being it has a great plot, but there were too many scenes that seemed like there was little if any point to them and if they weren't there it would have made the plot tighter. Point is I think The Wedding March is a much superior Erich Von Stroheim audience friendly film.

Faces - Jeanne Eagels

"I'm the greatest actress in the world and the greatest failure. And nobody gives a damn."  

Jeanne Eagels has been my obsession of late,  I haven't done a "Faces" post in a long long while, so its a look into actors who may not be familiar to people today and to basically shed some light. Focusing on performers who had their hay day in times before sound, but I think I will mix it up, starting now. I thought of Jeanne Eagels just because her performance in The Letter has been weighing on my mind. She made a big name for herself on the stage when she turned W. Somerset Maughms fictional character of Sadie Thompson into a household name. Today although only around three of the nine films she made in the 10's and 20's survive, she is still regarded as an actress of legendary proportions. 
The two roles she is best remembered for were originally written by W. Somerset Maughm, one being Sadie Thompson and the other is Leslie Crosbie for the 1929 talkie The Letter. I recently viewed The Letter for the first time and it was immensely enjoyable. The part of Leslie Crosbie in the 1940 remake was performed by none other than Bette Davis. I was pleased to hear Jeanne Eagels deliver that astounding climax  "with all my heart and all my soul, I still love the man I killed". Bette Davis delivers basically the same vigorous line (without the Soul part) and I can honestly say that Bette's performance is amazingly tame in comparison with  Jeanne Eagels. She was a great actress just judging by this one performance in The Letter, the film in which Eagels holds together. The picture itself is not as sharp, as well made or in great condition for that matter as William Wyler's stylized later version but Eagels keeps the nitty gritty 1929 adaptation of the short story fascinating. 
I am sure if her life wasn't cut so sadly short she would be more well known for her career rather than her racy lifestyle. In film she could of definitely gone on to play reckless women in pre-codes, like Ruth Chatterton or Helen Hayes perhaps. The Letter was her first talkie and her second was a film also released in 1929 called Jealously with Fredric March playing opposite. She died just weeks after Jealousy was released on October 3rd 1929, aged 39. Her death was caused by an overdose of several toxins. 
The actress was born Eugenia Eagles in Kansas City, Missouri, June 26th 1890. She caught the acting bug at a very early age, and at the age of 11 she left her formal education behind her to pursue her ambition to be a great dramatic actress. At the age of 12 she joined The Dubinsky Brothers traveling theatre company, who showcased productions of the periods most popular comedies, dramas and musicals. Eagels began as a dancer for the stock company and quickly had her dreams come true as she became a lead actress in the stock companies dramas such as Little Lord Fauntleroy, Camille and Romeo and Juliet. She later moved to New York where she had her sights set high revamping her look, name, adopting a British accent and making up her own heritage, writing this down she sounds more like a fugitive than a ingenue. The history of her time with the Dubinsky Brothers company is sketchy, but she is said to have married the eldest Dubinsky Brother when she was a teenager, and to have had a baby boy. One account says she gave him up for adoption and another says the baby died at infancy which caused Eagels to have a nervous breakdown. She and Dubinsky divorced which lead her to move to NYC. Something tells me that her identity revamp could have something to do with escaping from her past aswell as fitting the mold as a actress on her way up. In New York much like her beginnings with the Dubsinky Bros she started out as a dancer, only this time with the Ziegfeld Follies. Her Stint with Ziegfeld past quickly as she put all her efforts into becoming a actress and took time to study the craft in Paris. After six years of successive plays on Broadway, Eagels landed a break of a lifetime in 1922 playing free wheelin' prostitute Sadie Thompson in the stage production of Somerset Maugham's short story Rain. Eagels played her favourite role a total of 904 times on the stage, obviously very successful, her performance though impossible for us to see, is still the most legendary role of her career. 

Photo by Baron Adolph de Meyer

In her early years on Broadway she played in three productions opposite popular British stage/screen actor and monocled old timer George Arliss, he is credited to have given Bette Davis the promotion she needed in Hollywood, just before she was set to give it all up. Bette Davis was a huge admirer of Jeanne Eagels, she even reprised two major roles Eagels had previously played in The Letter and Jealously which was retitled Deception (1946). Davis also followed in her heroes footsteps when she starred in a remake of The World and the Woman (1916) which was retitled The Girl from 10th Avenue (1935). And lastly to add even more career connections between the actresses in 1936 Davis won her first Oscar for her portrayal of Joyce Heath, an actress who spirals into alcoholism in Dangerous, this was a role modeled on Eagels. In 1957 Columbia studios actually made a film called Jeanne Eagels with Kim Novak portraying the actress, though it is quite fictional. 

Eagels was posthumously nominated for the 1928/1929 best actress award for her role in The Letter but Mary Pickford won. Lots of negative things have been said about Pickford winning. But I can't say anything bad because I haven't actually seen her performance in Croquette, but I do know she basically won by rallying for the award, which doesn't seem like a very gracious way to blow your own horn, it also helped that her ex husband Douglas Fairbanks was a founding member of The Academy.

During Jeanne's film career she made a total of 9 films, her first was in 1915 named The House of Fear, which is now lost. In 1916 she stared as a unnamed prostitute wanting to change her ways in The World and The Woman. By 1919 she had worked in 6 movies, her stage career was still much more lustrous. It wasn't until 1927 eight years later she would work on another film. In much of that time she performed in Rain to packed out theaters around the U.S until March of 1926. She soon returned to broadway in 1927 and worked with director George Cukor and actor Leslie Howard for the comedy Her Cardboard Lover this production ran 152 times. During this time it was Leslie Howard's performance that was highly regarded by critics and audiences rather than Eagels. Eagel's the glorified talent was waning as her alcohol dependency literally interrupted some of her stage performances in Her Cardboard Lover. Actor Leslie Howard dismissed the talents of his co-lead, viewing her as a raw untrained talent who just happened to light up on the stage (he had a similar snobbery towards Bette Davis). Before The Cardboard lover began to tour she filmed the 1927 silent film Man, Women and Sin, she was reportedly such a nuisance while filming that director Monta Bell got MGM studios to terminate her contract. 

Thanks to the advent of sound Hollywood had a urgency for trained theatre actors and so she gave her last hurrah to the world on film. Monta Bell the man who urged MGM to get Eagels out of her contract ironically was the man who got Eagels to work for Paramount and to star in The Letter a film which Bell produced. Her final years were tough, her drug and alcohol abuse prevailed her very successful career. When she died the autopsy showed an overdose of alcohol, the tranquilizer chloral hydrate and Heroin. You can read much more thoroughly about her life here.

If you are interested in looking up some of her movies, here are some links:

• The Letter (1929)- Herbert Marshall who plays Bette Davis husband in 1940s the letter also appears in this earlier version as the doomed lover! This film is nearly impossible to come across and is in desperate need to be restored and dvdeed, its also not available on the internet archive so I am afraid the only way to watch it for now if you want to, is to torrent it. oh the woe is me, sorry faithful movie industry patrons.  
• Man, Woman and Sin (1927) - with John Gilbert
• Jealousy (1929) - Opposite Fredric March directed by The Letter's director Jean de Limur, this movie is now among the lost. 
• The World and The Woman (1916) - Based on the 1914 play Outcast with actress Elsie Ferguson in lead. This was later remade 4 more times. Titled Outcast for the 1917 version directed by Dell Henderson, a 1922 version starring Elsie Ferguson and again in 1928  starring Corrine Griffith.  The last adaptation of the stage hit was 1935's  The Girl from 10th Avenue (starring Bette Davis). 

John Gilbert talking about Eagels: "She seemed to hate the movies for a popularity they could not give her....[The] blind, unreasoning adulation of the movie fans was a type of popularity she spurned. Fundamentally, Jeanne was much superior to us. Movie actors are crazy to be worshiped. Jeanne Eagels wanted to be understood and appreciated."