Okay... so today's post may have been more suitable as part of a Ranged Weapons Wednesday series, but since this is Friday and Valentine's Day, I couldn't pass on the chance to present these pics of Dolores Brinkman hamming it up as a gender-reversed Cupid.
Born in 1910, Brinkman began acting as a young teenager. Her brief film career consisted of appearances in roughly a dozen movies made over the six year period from 1924 to 1930. Her final film appearance was in the comedy "Whispering Whoopie". She held her own opposite comedy legends like Charley Chase and Thelma Todd, and it shows that she had plenty of talent.
But, in 1930, Brinkman walked away from performing and spent the rest of her life trying to avoid the public eye. She was so intent on anonymity that she requested no obituary be published upon her death.
Dolores Brinkman passed away in 2003. You can read what may be the most complete biography of her that anyone will ever be able to write by clicking here.
Steamboat Willie (1928)
Starring: Walt Disney (as the voices of all characters)
Directors: Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
Mickey and Minnie perform "Turkey in the Straw" using barnyard animals as instruments while on a riverboat.
Thanks to Disney Plus, I've finally seen "Steamboat Willie" (1928). If not for the place it holds in the history of animation and the film industry in general, I wonder if "Steamboat Willie" would be remembered at all. It's the first appearance of Mickey and Minnie Mouse... and it's first cartoon with sound. All those are, of course, enough to secure this film's place in history, but compared to other cartoons of the period, and certainly to ones that followed from Walt Disney's production house and his competitors, this is pretty unremarkable.
Maybe it's because I'm not a kid, or maybe because it's not 1928, but I found the story and the gags to be cute but not much more than than. My favorite bits were Mickey creatively using the crane to get Minnie aboard the boat, and the goat turning into a musical instrument after it eats some sheet music and a ukulele. The second incident is the foundation for the second half of the film which is a performance of "Turkey in the Straw" on various items and animals. On the downside, though,, this part of the film became less amusing as it went on, because it's a festival of animal cruelty. By the end, I was happy to see Mickey get punished by the steamboat's angry cat captain.
On the other hand, I've had "Turkey in the Straw" lodged in my head since I watched "Steamboat Willie"... and I think after listening to this, it may be stuck there forever.
(It should be noted that for the Disney Plus release, "Steamboat Willie" has been restored to how it was when it was first released. It was edited in the 1950s for its theatrical re-release, removing part of the bit where piglets and a mother pig are used as instruments by Mickey. I also noticed that Disney has uploaded the restored version to their YouTube Channel. I've embedded it below, so you can check it out, in case you have a hole like mine in your film history knowledge.)
Hillary Swank is cheering, because she's joining the ranks of great actresses--like Bessie Love, Milla Jovovich, and June Collyer--who've been featured as Quarterlies here at Shades of Gray.
Born in 1974, Hilary Swank was an accomplished high school athlete who began acting professionally in her teens, with roles on a variety of television series during the early 1990s, with her starring role in "The Next Karate Kid" (1994) being the film that first garnered her lots of public attention. After starring in a string of thrillers and horror movies during the late 1990s (as well as recurring roles on a number of television series, such as "Beverly Hills 90210"), she earned an Academy Award for "Boys Don't Cry" in 1999. Today, Swank continues to split her time between television and horror/suspense films. Her forthcoming projects are the horror film "The Hunt" and the sci-fi television series "Away" (neither of have projected released dates yet).
Will the future just hold pretty pictures of Swank, or will she be revealed to be a secret superhero or robot-fighter? Stay tuned!a
"Single Ladies" is Beyonce's 2008 smash hit that is still well worth listening today; it's a song that will have you dancing your way into your work week. Meanwhile, the video for the song is another perfect illustration of this blog's unifying theme. Enjoy, and Happy Monday to you!
(Valentine's Day is coming up later this week, so maybe someone out there will find this song inspiring and "put a ring on it"!)
His Royal Slyness (1920)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Gaylord Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Harry Pollard, Marie Mosquini, Noah Young, Gus Leonard, and Helen Gilmore
Director: Hal Roach
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
A door-to-door salesman (Harold Lloyd) with an uncanny resemblance to the crown prince of a small European nation (Gaylord Lloyd) is convinced to take his place after the prince decides he'd rather stay in America with his sexy girlfriend (Mosquini) than return home for an arranged marriage with the princess of a neighboring kingdom (Davis).
"His Royal Slyness" is a fun twist on the old "Prince and the Pauper"-type tale, as well as a spoof of the Communist revolution. It's a supremely silly film without a single straight-man in sight. Just about every character is goofy, horny, dimwitted, or some combination of the those. The only character who has the slightest bit of class and integrity in the film is the princess played by Mildred Davis... and that might just be because there wasn't time for her to reveal another side to her.
The film is in many ways a caricature of the peasant/worker revolution that was unfolding in Russia when it was made, with its cartoonish nobles and peasants, but it's also a great vehicle for Lloyd's standard womanizing character. One of the film's funniest running gags involves him taking down phone numbers in his Little Black Book for every woman he meets, including that of the austere queen to whose daughter he is to be married. (On a perhaps purely personal level, borne from my years developing fictional settings for roleplaying games, I was fascinated by the fact that the royal court of Thermosa exclusively employed young women instead of boys as pages. I found myself wondering what the greater society in that nation might be like as a result. Of course, the real reason for why producer/director Hal Roach made this choice was to have plenty of women in short skirts wandering around the scenes... but I still wonder what went on in Thermosa to make it so different from the norm.)
As I post these comments, it's exactly 100 years since "His Royal Slyness" was first seen by audiences in movie theatrers. Considering that, it's obvious to wonder if it's still worth seeing today... and my answer is an emphatic YES! The humor in this fast-paced comedy has held up extremely well, and the political undertones may resonate a little differently than they did in 1920, but they still feel fresh and relevant--which may be a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the 21st Century.
But don't just take my word for it! You can watch the movie below, embedded here in this very post, and make up your own mind.
Here are lists of the actors and actresses who've been covered the most here at Shades of Gray, as of the beginning of 2020. The number behind their name reflects the number of posts with reviews of movies they've appeared in, or with photo galleries featuring them. Those numbers will, of course, change as we move forward into the next decade.
The Mysterious Knight (aka "Le Chevalier Mystère") (1899)
Starring: Georges Méliès
Director: Georges Méliès
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
A sorcerer (Méliès) brings a chalk drawing of a head to life.
During the earliest days of filmmaking, Frenchman Georges Méliès made dozens upon dozens of short fatasy films that pioneered cinematic special effects. Some have plotlines and tell weird, phantasmagorical stories, while others are created for no reason other than to show off trick photography.
"The Mysterious Knight" is in this latter category. While most 21st Century viewers may not be "wow'ed" by this little film, the straightforward, exuberant presentation makes it a joy to watch. My favorite part of the film are the transformations of the head, as well as the way the character "proves" to us that it really is a disembodied head.
But don't just take my word for it. Why don't you brighten your day and take a minute to check out "The Mysterious Knight", right now from this post?
In February of 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs gave the world its first introduction to John Carter and the love of his life, the Martian Princess Dejah Thoris. Here are some portraits in honor of that anniversary.
L.L. Hundal (of NUELOW Games): So you're posting a music video every Monday. Cool. Steve Miller (of Shades of Gray): I think so. There are lots of great black-and-white music vids to spotlight! Hundal: You still do that 'The Unifying Theme' bit with pics? Miller: Yep. Hundal: I wonder if there's a 'Unifying Theme' video out there. Miller: … The Correspondents: Hold our tray of tiny masked dancers and watch this.
The Correspondents is British music duo consisting of front-man Ian Bruce and keyboardist/DJ Tim Cole. They have a sound all their own that's best described as a cross between electronica, blues, jazz, funk, and whatever else happens to strike their fancy at any given moment. Their first appearance here at Shades of Gray has them performing their 2016 song "Inexplicable", with a video directed and produced by Christina Hardinge. The entire package that mixes old and modern and weird sums up this blog perfectly... and we hope this bit of supreme weirdness gets your work-week off to a fun and funky start!
The Correspondents will be filing other reports here at Shades of Gray on future Musical Mondays, so stay tuned!
The Phantom of Crestwood (1932)
Starring: Ricardo Cortez, Karen Morely, Anita Louise, Matt Kemp, H.B. Warner, Pauline Frederick, Ivan Simpson, and Richard "Skeets" Gallagher
Director: J. Walter Ruben
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
A high-class prostitute, Jenny Wren (Morely), decides to fund her retirement by shaking down five rich and powerful men who have been regular :clients". When one of them murders her rather than submit to blackmail, infamous gangster Gary Curtis (Cortez) must identify the killer before the police arrive and pin it on him.
"The Phantom of Crestwood" is a much better movie than its gimmicky origins leads one to believe: It's a film version of a radio-play that ended on a cliffhanger and an invitation for listeners to submit their ideas for who committed the murder. (That makes this film a literal Radio Picture!)
It didn't really matter what listeners submitted, because the entire script was already done--something that was made clear in the contest--but I was still surprised at how dark, gruesome, and adult-oriented the film was, given the way it was promoted. The film is populated almost entirely by shady and unpleasant characters; the murder method is particularly vicious--and the death happens on screen (!); and the closest thing to a hero we have is a coldblooded killer who is only trying to solve the crime so he can save his own neck. It's what I imagine a film by the likes of Quentin Tarintino might have been if he'd been around in 1930s, with its dark nature and lively, non-stop stream of witty dialogue.
If you like your 1930s mysteries on the dark side, I think you'll find the 75-minutes you'll spend watching "The Phantom of Crestwood" to be time very well spent. The performances given by Ricardo Cortez and Karen Moreley almost make watching the film on their own. There's an added bonus in that the mystery surrounding the murder of Jenny Wren is both complex, a little tragic, and makes perfect sense when all the pieces come to light... a combination of elements that aren't often found in these old pictures.
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