Pretty Egyptian 'Vamp' Weds Man Accusing Her of Theft

1920 (Click graphic for bigger)

Romantic Beauty Needs but Five Minutes to Persuade Accuser to Drop Charge and Go to Altar With Her — Declares She Is a Descendant of Cleopatra.

SAN FRANCISCO, Cal. — The Princess Della Pattra has made good her claim that she was a champion vamp. Brought here from New York on the complaint of Erich Buehle, a hydraulic engineer, that she had defrauded him out of several thousand dollars, in five minutes she had persuaded him to drop his charge — and marry her. And now [*it's likely there will] have been a little revenge connected with the wedding and that Erich may have more troubles coming.

Erich and the princess met out on the Pacific Coast some months ago. Erich had money. The princess had romance. Erich recounted his accomplishments and expanded upon his prospects. Della confided that she was a niece of the Khedive of Egypt and a descendant of Cleopatra. Her parents, she said. were Hassan El Kammel Bresla and Mardena Salempta, citizens of Alexandria. Pathos entered her story. She was not wanted in her homeland, so she had come to this great America to make a fortune — and to acquaint the world with her much libeled progenitress. To do this she must get into the movies.

Erich Finances Movie Ventures.

Didn't Erich think any director should be glad to employ her? Erich did. Then Della admitted that they weren't. Not a one of those studios out on the coast would give her work. No, but piff! What did she care for them! She would go East. She would become the greatest of Cleopatras. Yes, she would take her charms and her talent to New York. But Meester Erich — it was a delicate matter; she hated to speak of it — the trip, it would cost money. The waiting, that, too, would cost money. And money she had none. She, the niece of the Khedive of Egypt; she, in whom flowed the blood of the Queen of the Nile, was without the necessary.

A happy thought. Perhaps Meester Erich would make her the loan. She hated to ask it. She would pay him back. She would pay him double — threefold, when she should have made the success. Mr. Erich would and did. Several thousand dollars there were in the package he handed her. The princess was overjoyed. She would write him every day. No, she would send him the wire — the mails were too slow.

Erich was at the train when Della — and his money — went away. Weeks passed, and Erich heard from neither. He grew impatient. His impatience developed into anger, and he went to the police. The police listened to his story. It sounded bad for Della, so they wired detectives in New York. It wasn't long till Della was found.

Della Makes Peace.

She was taken before a judge. She heard that Erich was anxious about her — and his money. She laughed. "I want to go back," she said. "I want to talk to Erich. I know everything will be all right after I see him." The judge doubted Erich's reception, but he showed her her ticket for San Francisco.

In San Francisco she was visited by the young engineer. They talked together alone, and Erich obtained her release. For a few days their names were out of the papers. And then one morning Erich Buehle and Princess Della Pattra appeared at the window of the marriage license clerk. They went from there to the offices of Judge Bernard J. Flood, picking up an audience of newspaper men and courthouse employes as they went. And there the ceremony was read.

The Princess wore a sumptuous gown of rose in which she had created a sensation [**] before upon her arrival from New York; under it were silver pumps. An oriental touch was given by a black lace harem veil and great hoop earrings which might have delighted her ancestress.

All Solemn but Della.

The words of the ceremony were solemn; the judge was solemn; more solemn than either was Erich, bur there was nothing solemn about Della. She couldn't keep her eyes from wandering coquettishly toward the little group of newspapermen who composed the audience, while her lips were parted in a smile, which with the dazzling expanse of tiny white teeth it revealed, must have made even the Judge's mind stray.

But what could one expect? Surely, not that the princess should enter matrimony in the same manner as those of less amorous antecedents. Della has inherited too great an understanding of love and lovers to be much impressed by any of love's formalities. It was pretty serious business for Cedric, but for Della it was a lark.

"All lovers quarrel," Della said. "The more they love the more they quarrel. The more 'caveish' the man, the more severe his actions to win the woman he loves."

Under her arm she carried a cookbook. "We go to a hotel for supper," she said. "After that I take my cookbook home and I cook some hotcakes."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 4.

[*] Some words, letters mostly gone. This phrase is partially a guess.
[**] Missing approximately 5 or 6 words.

139 Ask To "Shoot" Niagara In A Boat

1920

MANY ANSWER MOVIE COMPANY ADVERTISEMENT.

Most of Applicants Seek $1,000 Offered — Others Want Thrill or Experience.

NEW YORK, N. Y. — Think of going over Niagara Falls in a houseboat!

Death came to Charles George Stevens when he tried to ride the 153-foot cataract In a barrel.

Yet 139 husky, red-blooded American young men have gone on record as being ready to try the stunt in a houseboat.

An advertisement appeared recently in one of the New York daily newspapers calling for a man to go over Niagara Falls in a houseboat for a motion picture film. The reward offered was $1,000. The producer expected that possibly five men might apply.

Imagine his astonishment when 139 applicants put in an appearance. Among them was Allan Law, brother of Ruth and Rodman Law.

Majority ex-Army Men.

The majority of those who applied were ex-service men who were overseas. Having faced German bullets in France, they said they were more than willing to attempt Niagara for a thousand dollars. Another interesting fact was that the average age of the applicants was 23 years. Only a few were over 25. The oldest applicant was 48 years of age.

Practically every nationality was represented, and among them were two men who did not know what Niagara Falls is. Upon being informed and being shown pictures of the falls, one of them backed out. Of all who applied, this man and one other were the only ones who resigned.

Another interesting applicant was Frank Dupree, newspaper correspondent, who made the first long-distance aeroplane flight in 1913 from Dover, England, to Cologne, Germany.

Most of 'Em After the Money.

When asked the reasons for seeking so hazardous a job, the majority said "money." Others were lured by the chance for adventure. Practically all were fatalists, who did not for a moment consider the risk. Another interesting feature was the fact that among them were four bank clerks, three security salesmen and one life insurance salesman.

A specially constructed houseboat was made to be used. It includes the compartment and bulkhead construction principle used in lifeboats and the hulls of ocean liners. Tests of the craft show that its scientific construction has reduced to a minimum the risk incurred by the daredevil who rides over the falls.

Stevens, who lost his life in a barrel try at the stunt. was a barber in England, where his wife and eleven children live. He had made parachute drops, high dives and similar feats many times. He used to put his head in a lion's mouth in a circus.

But the question now is — will the motion picture stunt be called off?

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 3.

Film Star Called as Poker Witness

1920

Norma Talmadge to Testify in Peculiar Case

New Yorker Arrested, Accused of Cheating Celebrities Out of $350,000 at Cards

NEW YORK, N, Y., March 18. — The last card in Broadway's sensational stud poker season was turned down by Justice Kernochan in the Court of Special Sessions.

It was a warrant for the arrest of Louis Krohnberg, wealthy manufacturer of women's wear, at whose home Norma Talmadge and other New York celebrities are said to have lost approximately $350,000 by the use of marked cards.

Discovery of cheating, it is said, was made during the final game of the series played at the home of Joseph Schenck, husband of Norma Talmadge.

Exposed by Actress

Guests at the party, which was held on New Year's Eve, ascribe most of the credit for the detection to Miss Talmadge, whose husband brought about a dramatic denoument by betting wildly into Krohnberg's pair of aces with a pair of kings, and then kicking Krohnberg into the street on the show down.

At the hearing Jacob Silverman, who appeared as complainant, testified that he had lost $7,300 at Krohnberg's home, and, suspecting dishonesty, had taken away one of the decks used in the game. The cards, he said, were later found to be "readers," the fleur-de-lis on their backs being marked in such a way that the player in the secret could recognise them.

Huge Penalty Possible

All the participants in the games, including Miss Talmadge, will be required to testify when Krohnberg is brought to trial. In the event that Krohnberg is found guilty, five times the amount of the players' losses may be collected and distributed among charities designated by the State.

There is some dispute concerning the amount lost by the players. Mr. Silverman says $530,000 is an approximate estimate. Krohnberg's attorneys deny all the charges and display checks aggregating $68,000 indorsed by Mr. Schneck and others as payees, which, they say, represent losses suffered by their client.

Balky Horse Starts a Blaze

1920

Kicks Off Hot Shoe, Sets Blacksmith Shop on Fire

SANDFORDS MILLS, N. Y., Feb. 26. — Upon his arrival in town, Abner Gesner, who lives near here, led his horse into W. A. Wirts' blacksmith shop to be shod. Mr. Wirts prepared the horse's feet without trouble. When he raised the left hind foot of the horse it resented having the red hot shoe applied to its hoof and began jumping and kicking. The horse kicked the hot shoe into a pile of shavings at the end of the shop, igniting them. Wirts had to call out the village fire companies to extinguish the flames.


Blind Coroner Enters Vaudeville

ATLANTA, Ga., Feb. 26. — Paul Donchoo, Atlanta's widely-known blind coroner, has gone into vaudeville. Besides being a coroner and a lawyer, Donchoo is an accomplished musician.


Take 585 Gallstones From Man

HAZLETON, Pa., Feb. 26 — Five hundred and eight-five gallstones were removed in an operation from John Koda, at this place. The man felt much relieved after the operation.


At 91 He is a Movie Fan

CALDwELL., N. J., Feb. 26. — Augustus Bogert at his home in Hanford place, Caldwell, passed the 91st anniversary of his birth. Mr. Bogert was born in New York. He is a movie fan.

Woman Traps "Spirit" Hand

1920

Boy "Dip's" Exploit in Movie Show Lands Him in Jail

CHICAGO — While watching a film drama entitled "The Spirit Hand" in a Chicago movie house, Mrs. Samuel Marks felt a phantom mitt steal gently into her purse on her lap. Though aware that the spooks are hard to catch, Mrs. Marks grabbed the hand. The owner, a 17-year-old youth, broke her clutch and danced over many bunions in dashing from the theater. He was finally cornered in a restaurant, where he declared "the picture had made his hand absent-minded."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Feb. 28, 1920, p. 8.


Eight Is Too Many Wives

Last Bride of Ex-Soldier Has Her Marriage Annulled

WORCESTER, Mass. — Mary W. Cooper of Worcester told Judge Lawton in Superior Court that when she married James W. Treat, an ex-soldier in the Army, she never dreamed he was such a much-married man. She learned, she said, after she went through the ceremony, that Treat has gone through a similar ceremony with seven other women, and that he had not taken the trouble to divorce any of them. She asked that her marriage be nullified, and Judge Lawton granted her petition.

Gum Chewing Girls Bother Movie Fan

1920

Their Jaws Work So Rapidly That His View Is Obstructed

UNIONTOWN, N. Y. — Andrew Touser is the movie bug of the village. Touser has not missed a picture since the show was started five years ago, but he threatens to quit if the management does not draw the line on the girls chewing gum during the performance.

Recently Touser entered a protest. He says that every night several young ladies take seats in front of him; that they do not remove their hats and as soon as they are seated commence to chew gum. Touser states that the girls work their jaws so rapidly that their hats bob up and down, thus obscuring his view. He says it is the bobbing of their hats which bothers him.

Manager H. H. Whaley promised Touser that he would talk to the girls and try to get them to give up the practice of chewing gun in the house.


Oldest Dog Is Registered

Canine Aged 19 Now Has Gray Hair Instead of Black

SANDUSKY, Ohio — The oldest dog in Erie County was registered for taxation here recently. It has just passed its 19th birthday, and is the property of H. M. Andress of Vermillon. When he came to the line in the application for registration referring to color, Andress wrote: "He was black, but he now has so many gray hairs that he is an iron gray in color."

City Man, 94, Has Never Seen a Movie

1920

Prefers to Live in Fond Memories of the Past

HARLAN, Iowa — William Blair of this city, 94 years old, and still bright of eye and keen of mind, has never seen a moving picture. For more than ten years he has lived within a few blocks of the local picture show, but could never be induced to attend.

His reasons are unique. He says: "I've lived longer than most men. Maybe I haven't traveled so much nor seen so many wonderful sights, but I've sure seen 'em plenty as far as I went. I suppose I've got as much out of livin' as any man and I don't care for any new fandangles. I just want to set here with my pipe and read the papers, and live over the pleasant places I've passed and forget the hard places as much as I can."

He was born in Virginia in 1825, on Thanksgiving day, and Thanksgiving day has been his birthday ever since, no matter on what date it fell.

Writer Says Age Doesn't Matter, Keep Going for Success

1921

Emerson Hough Says No "Dead Line" at 40, Former S.U.I. Man

By DALE E. CARRELL

There has long been a sort of "unwritten law," or at least common belief, that if a man didn't make his mark in the world or achieve real success by the time he was 40, he never would. After 40, it has been held, a man simply fights to hold his own or start down-grade.

But, along comes Emerson Hough, and proceeds to rip to pieces this so-called iron-clad rule which would end man's climbing of the ladder of fame at the age of 40. Mr. Hough very emphatically says, there is no dead line at two score "milestones," and the noted author points to his own life as an example and illustration to prove his point.

Emerson Hough is well known personally to many Iowans and Iowa City and University people for he is a graduate of S. U. I, having won his degree in 1880, just 41 years ago. The University of Iowa is very proud of her eminent alumnus and he is just as proud of his alma mater. And, those who do not know Mr. Hough personally, know him thru having read his delightful novel, "The Mississippi Bubble," which made him famous, almost overnight. Therefore, Mr. Hough's declaration will make Hawkeyes, especially, sit up and take notice.

Mr. Hough is now 63 years age and his big success in life did not come until he was 45. Up to the time that success came, he had tried numerous occupations and couldn't make good, or keep happy in any of them, but the former S. U. I. man never once gave up. He soon found, in writing, the real star to follow and he hitched his wagon to it. He is now an author and wealthy. He says "It is within your soul — this question of achievement. It is not decided by the clock or the calendar."

Mr. Hough's statement should hearten a lot of fellows who haven't really found themselves after the 40 mark has been passed, and his own career should serve to inspire confidence and instill new energy in some of the faithful plodders who have almost given up hope. Hough didn't give up during the days of adversity — that is the main thing to remember. Keep on trying and even if you are nearer 60 than you are 40, you can still strike, in the vernacular of the oil field, a "gusher" in some field of endeavor, that means real success. Let no one set a "dead line" for you — you have everything to say about that yourself. The movie director continually yells for "action" when he is making the film you are soon to enjoy on the screen. If you can provide plenty of "action" in your struggle for success, you will not only achieve it, but keep pushing that "dead line" farther and farther away. There is no "dead line" at 40!

—Iowa City Press-Citizen, Iowa City, IA April 11, 1921, p. 1.

Theda Bara Says She is Going To Quit Vamping

1920

Famous Movie Vampire Says Everybody is Some Sort of a Vamp But She is Tired of the Business

New York — Theda Bara, she of celluloid fame, who has had the unique experience of vamping herself into fame, vamping herself out of fame, and now intends to outvamp herself — as it were — expects greater success on the stage than she ever found on the screen.

Seated in a little dressing room off the stage suite of Al H. Woods, her new producer, she told me of her new ambitions. She confided that when she appears in "The Blue Flame," under the direction of Woods, America will see not the old Theda Bara, not the new Theda Bara, but "The old Theda Bara and the new Theda Bara and the real Theda Bara."

The interview was not a minute old before I discovered that Theda Bara has a voice extremely well suited to the stage.

"I have given myself up to this new thing to a greater extent than I ever did before," she said. "Practically every minute of every day since my rehearsals have started has been devoted to work, and, with the exception of the theater, I have almost given up amusement, for the time being. My new play — my first on the stage — is everything I could desire, for it gives me a chance to show a woman of modern times as many of them are, entirely conscienceless and hardened at times and yet as lovable at others, changeful brilliant, and yet just a woman."

"Then, said I, "you believe every woman is more or less of a vampire, and that this is particularly true in these days of fur coats, automobiles, and $1,000 evening gowns?"

"Surely," said she. "And by saying that, I don't mean there is anything wrong in being a vampire — at least, not in the way I mean. Doesn't every wife do the vampirish tricks to please her husband? Doesn't every girl strive to appear at her best? And shouldn't they? Surely. The parts I portray only show that trait in an exaggerated, or rather extreme form."

—Appleton Post Crescent, Appleton, WI, Feb. 9, 1920, p. 8.

Movie Theater Orchestras Developing Taste for Classical Music

1926

GOOD MUSIC IS MORE POPULAR

MOVIE THEATER ORCHESTRAS HAVE TENDED TO DEVELOP TASTE FOR BETTER CLASS OF MUSIC

Chicago. — Disguised as hand maiden of the cinema, classical music is becoming popular.

Popular, "that is, compared with the classical taste in this country ten years ago. In Chicago, the change is perceptible in all the larger picture houses. One company for instance, which operates six of the largest houses, has announced it has already spent more for music this year than for pictures.

Boon For Good Music

Adolphe Dumont, former Chicago grand opera conductor now directing music in one of the theatres, evaluated this changing public taste as a boon not only for good music but also for good musicians. His own orchestra, he said, has just been increased to more than fifty pieces.

"More grand opera music is played in the large motion picture houses each day," he said, "than played by grand opera orchestras in week. We play grand opera four times a day, week days, and five times Sunday. The grand opera orchestras and Symphony orchestras hardly ever play a program more than three times a week.

Opera Interprets Emotions

"A public demand for more and better music has been recognized. Eight years of patient work, interpreting the emotions of the movies, as only grand opera music can do, created the demand.

"Day after day, showing sometimes slapstick comedy to the tune of the Ride of the Valkyries; love scenes to strains from Tristran and Isolde and Charlie Chaplin's antics to Debussy's 'Girl of the Flaxen Hair,' the moving picture orchestras have given audiences a taste for classical music that many of them would have formerly disavowed. Great music consequently has found a new significance, and importance. It gives motion pictures dramatic intensity."

—Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, Aug. 12, 1926, p. 12.

Housemaid Stabbed by Enraged Suitor

1920

Assault Follows Her Refusal to Attend Movie Show

BOSTON, Mass. — Agnes Logan, 24, a maid in the home of A. Glouchester Armstrong, Back Bay resident, was taken to the City Hospital suffering from multiple stab wounds which it is alleged she received when she was set upon by a male escort who became enraged when she refused to attend a moving picture show with him.

The girl, who is not fatally wounded, says she left the Armstrong home through the servants' entrance, which is on a public alleyway in the rear of the house. She met a man who wanted her to go to the "movies," but she refused to go.

It is claimed the man then drew a small penknife from his pocket and stabbed the girl in the neck, narrowing missing the jugular vein, and also stabbed her in the abdomen. Miss Logan tried to fight off her assailant and in the mix-up which followed he stabbed her several times in the hands. He then escaped through the alleyway.

If They Prohibit Booze in Movies, No More Drunken Bullies to Fight

1919

WILL THE DRY WAVE AFFECT THE MOVIES

Here's Henry Lehrman's Humorous Account of Substituting Tea for Booze

The recent intimation that the depiction of intoxicating liquors and their effect on the consumers thereof will in future be taboo in motion pictures has brought consternation to the hearts of producers, who have already begun to wonder what will happen when the reels are really removed from the films. Henry Lehrman, the noted comedy producer, having duly sworn, deposes and says:

If wet goods must disappear from film comedy, bald-headed theatre patrons may find comfort in the fact that dry goods are following in the same pathway.

Many a film actor will sprain his ankle within the next few months, when he strides up to a coffee counter and reaches for the rail.

It is a sad thing to realize that the kick in comedies must now be registered entirely with the feet.

Picture the hero, disappointed in love, rushing off to a tea room and making a beast of himself on Lipton's Best.

How can he save the heroine from the drunken bully, if there are no drunken bullies?

We will now be confronted with the spectacle of the weak but willing hero going west to fight off an inherited craving for orange phosphate, and clapping on a gas mask every time he approaches a fruit stand.

If a ship captain can't take a schooner over the bar, will they even prevent his making port in a storm? Can we show a horse's neck or a bier? How about the old parlor wood-box, if there happens to be a stick in it?

We are ruined! They're going to take the punch out of the pictures!

—Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne, IN, Aug. 10, 1919, section 4, p. 5.

This Is Dorothy Parker!

1929

This Is Dorothy!

Milwaukee Journal: When we saw Dorothy Parker at her East Sixty-third street apartment She had just returned from Hollywood, where she had gone to write a series of conversations for the talkies. She was passionate in the expression of her antipathy toward Hollywood and movie folk. She vows that she will never go there again. The Dorothy Parker of her two volumes of verse, "Enough Hope" and "Sunset Gun," is not the Dorothy Parker of real life. It is apparently her idea that life has pulled some sort of dirty trick her and she contemplates establishing a colony for "frustrates" somewhere along the coast of France. "But it all comes around to the fact that I don't like work," she confesses. "And — well, people must live."

Dorothy Parker claims that she is one of those rare creatures in New York — a born New Yorker. "Or I would have been," she amends her statement, "if my parents hadn't gone to New Jersey for the summer." She is short, dark and slender, and not nearly so full of Dorothy Parkerisms as one might be led to suspect from her verse.

She is at work on a play which has been contracted for by a Broadway producer. "But I don't know anything about the technique of writing plays," she says. "For instance, I don't know how to get an actor gracefully off or on the stage. The most obvious thing to me for an actor to do is to enter casually and say, 'Well, there seems to be a second act going on here.'" And she is soon to write a book in collaboration with Donald Ogden Stewart — "just as soon as Stewart gets through with the part he is playing in Philip Barry's comedy, 'Holiday.'" The book will be made up of a series of love letters and ought to create a riot — if we know anything about the origins of riots.

--(reprinted 3-25-1929, Evening Tribune, Albert Lea, MN, p 2.)

Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, in "Maytime" (1937)

1937

The ad for the film is from The Ogden Standard-Examiner, Ogden City, Utah, May 9, 1937, page 13-B.

If you click it, it comes up bigger.

My review (2007):

I just got this movie on VHS tape at Goodwill a few days ago. I'm usually real reluctant to buy any more VHS tapes, but it seemed like a good thing to do in this case, for once. And I'm glad I did, because for the most part I liked the film.

I read a blurb about it somewhere on the internet, in which the writer said it was originally meant to be in color. But one of the main promoters died and the head of the studio, Louis B. Mayer, cut the budget in half and so it ended up in black and white. That is the worst thing about the film. There are so many flowers, so many beautiful scenes that are just crying out for color. Not to mention the beautiful female star, Jeanette MacDonald. And you simply know there is no artistic reason, no pressing need for this movie to be in black and white. A lot of movies, that's exactly OK, the way it should be. Casablanca, something like that. But not this one; it's a crying shame.

OK, the biggest complaint out of the way for now. The film is set up to be a tragedy from the start. Marsha Mornay is living in a small town under a different name, Morrison, and has not told her story to anyone. As Mornay she is extremely famous, a world known opera singer. But something has happened to change all that, and today it happens to be May Day, and she's a little down in the mouth, to say the least.

I won't step through the entire story, but she helps a young lady who has a choice of going to New York to pursue a singing career or staying here and making a life with her boyfriend. "Let me tell you my story, child," she says, or words to that effect. And with that we dissolve into flashback mode for most of the rest of the movie.

It's the 1800s, France, and Marsha Mornay is the toast of the world. Lots of great opera scenes and songs abound through this section. Also in France is Paul Allison, played by Nelson Eddy. We have a lot of different customs in the romance stuff than we're used to today. But Marsha makes a commitment to her not-so-evil manager, played by John Barrymore, that she will marry him, so she will. And mostly she feels she owes him because of all he's done for her. He has her solidly under his thumb, but she goes out to clear her head and ends up in a little nightspot where Paul is singing with the drunken common folk. All this is very nice. He presses to see her again and again, and she reluctantly gives in.

I must cut to their one big day of love. They're in the country somewhere. They've been to a big May Day festival. Then they're alone, the two of them, for some serious love. It would be beautiful in color. They sing the overall theme song to each other, known as "Sweetheart, Sweetheart, Sweetheart," and it's all very glorious. They have one big kiss (and a smaller one), she remembers her commitment to her increasingly-evil manager, so she must leave. They will marry. They do marry.

The years pass, and there's some excellent dissolving images marking this. The movie does a lot of quirky, oddball, novelty camera work, which I like.

The big climax is coming, in which, by a fluke of fate, they will perform together in New York, Paul and Marsha. Naturally when they express their emotions on stage in one another's arms, to them it's all real. And the folks think they're just good actors. So they get good reviews. But her now entirely-evil manager, and husband (you have to give him that, we are rooting for adultery), also notices the sparks between them. As to what happens next, you can probably guess. But, hey, they'll always have that day in May...

Then, back in the present day, back in the small town, the full tragedy plays out to the bitter end, which becomes a sweet ending for all concerned.

The flowers for the film must have cost a fortune, because they definitely have them everywhere. And what a shame that it wasn't in color. (Shaking fist at Louis B. Mayer).

Pat Priest of Munsters Fame Turns Glamorous in Elvis Film

1967

MUNSTER TURNS GLAMOROUS
Bikini Changes Pat Priest's Film Career

By ALI SAR

Changing an already established "image" has been a problem for many performers, unless they prefer to excel only as "character" players.

"Once you're type cast, you're in trouble. If you don't think so, just ask any actor." So believes Pat Priest, who is out to capture a new image for herself in her first motion picture, "Easy Come, Easy Go."

Stands Out

Many viewers will remember Pat from her role as Marilyn Munster in the popular television show "The Munsters." She says, "I'm the only normal one in the cast."

After nearly 80 episodes of "Munsters" Pat found out that it could be pretty hard to convince moviemakers that she could play roles other than Marilyn Munster.

Finally she got her break from veteran producer Hal Wallis, who, after having Pat read to him a few lines from a script, signed her to play opposite Elvis Presley in "Easy Come, Easy Go."

The Presley movie, currently in citywide release, provided Miss Priest with an opportunity to get away from the spell of Marilyn Munster.

Outlook Improves

Unlike the appearance of her television counterpart, the part, like in all Elvis productions, called for the actress to make her debut on the big screen clad in a bikini.

After viewing the finished product, Miss Priest is convinced that she no longer resembles Marilyn and from now on she won't have so difficult a time.

However, she admits the video series has provided her a training ground in addition to supplying her with sizable checks. In fact, she will be collecting residuals from those 80 episodes for a long time.

Of Elvis, with whom she worked with about six weeks, Miss Priest says, "He deserves everything he has ... Success hasn't gone to his head."

In addition to being a television and screen personality, Pat is also a different kind of celebrity. Her mother is former U.S. Treasurer Ivy Baker Priest, who is now the state treasurer.

The actress says that being Mrs. Priest's daughter has helped her career.

"...Having a famous mother only can open the door for you. After that you must prove yourself," she says.

Now that she has broken into movies after being a successful video star, will she concentrate on films?

"I prefer movies," she admits, adding, "but I have to keep busy ... And television allows you to broaden your whole scope of acting."


Capsule Reviews of Current Movies
By WAYNE WILSON

Like a cat with nine lives, Paramount producer Hal Wallis parlayed the limited talents of Elvis Presley into eight money-making movies. His latest, "Easy Come, Easy Go," doesn't seem likely to turn the tide.

It's attractively mounted in a nautical setting which makes for plenty of opportunities to ogle the pretty, bikini- clad girls that have become a trademark of Presley pictures.

Two especially appealing young ladies dress up the proceedings in this production, leggy Dodie Marshall, a bit-part player in Elvis' "Spinout," and Pat Priest, a healthy blonde who made her entertainment mark as Marilyn in "The Munsters" television series.

Presley plays an underwater demolition expert who discovers on his last assignment as a U.S. Navy frogman what appears to be a sunken treasure.

When he gets his separation papers, he raises enough money to dive for the treasure chest, but is thwarted, temporarily, by a beautiful playgirl (Miss Priest) and her money-grubbing traveling companion (Skip Ward).

Best tune is sung by Elsa Lancaster, an eccentric yoga instructor named Madame Neherina.

—The Valley News, Van Nuys, California, March 23, 1967, page 41, maybe. The page has five different page numbers depending on which edition it is.

My Comments (2007): I got this DVD a few months ago and watched it then. I wasn't taking notes to write a "review" but just going by memory now, I thought it was pretty good. Pat Priest's role is in opposition to Elvis getting whatever treasure is supposed to be down there in the wreck. He's just about out of the service, doing bomb-defusing work underwater. He's down there and finds a treasure. He arranges to go back and investigate, and Pat Priest and this "money-grubbing traveling companion" are competing for the loot.

The whole bit with Elsa Lancaster, the yoga class, is pretty funny, but very heavy-handed as a satire on the groovy youth culture of the time. The young people say a lot of far-out, groovy things, deadpanned, profound and pretentious, and of course of no consequence. Elvis looks like he has his doubts about the whole scene, man.

The absolute worst song on the soundtrack album, "Yoga Is As Yoga Does," is actually quite cute in the movie. It's one to skip on the CD, but colorful, funny, and a keeper in the movie. There's some very colorful stuff with this one cat who crazily takes apart Elvis' whole car and has the parts lying around. But he has another crazy car that they're able to go out in.

There's a very humorous sea-captain who runs a scuba-diving shop and is afraid of the sea, and must be a former children's show host because he also does that, pretending, in the back room of his shop. Very crazy stuff.

Then, going way back earlier in the film, when Elvis is with his Navy buddies, there's an excellent number, "The Love Machine," in which they spin a wheel that has girls and their phone numbers on it. They don't exactly know who the wheel will land on, but they can tell the choices are all good. I love this song.

The colors are great, Elvis is excellent, the youth culture stuff is sappy but pleasant, Elvis' love interest is very a perky do-gooder that you're rooting for. The only down thing about the film I can think of is the extended underwater scene toward the beginning. Too much of that.

Buxom Mae West Gives Trial Deposition

1937

Buxom Mae Gives Trial Deposition

LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 8.—(AP)—Buxom Mae West, colorfully attired in a typical Hollywood outfit of lounging-pajamas, gave a deposition today preliminary to trial of the suit of Frank Wallace, who claims she is his wife.

Miss West gave the deposition behind closed doors in the office of A. M. Blount, counsel for Wallace.

She was dressed in blue lounging pajamas, blue silk sandals, white hat and carried a white handbag.

Laurel, Hardy Make Comedy Team Again

1935

HOLLYWOOD, April 6 (UP).— Stan Laurel, who broke up the famed screen comedy team of Laurel and Hardy recently when he walked out after a row with Producer Hal Roach, has been lured back with a new contract. Laurel didn't like a picture, "McLaurel and McHardy," which he and his rotund teammate were making, so he quit. Roach cancelled his contract. The public heard about it and deluged the studio with telegrams and letters of protest.

So Roach got busy on a new contract, Laurel signed it and everybody appeared to be happy — except, perhaps, Patsy Kelly and "Spanky" McFarland, who were to have appeared in a series of shorts with Hardy. Evidently they were left out in the cold.

Notes Around Town – Motion Pictures, Fobs, and Fish

Stevens Point, Wisconsin, May 29, 1907

A. W. Carle, proprietor and manager of the Ideal theatre, will give the usual program of moving pictures, illustrated songs and musical numbers on Sunday afternoons and evenings.

Benjamin Sias, of Sparta, who won the district declamatory contest in this city a couple of weeks ago, was named the best speaker at the state contest, held in Madison, last Friday evening.

Chas. U. Conlisk left for the Sacred Heart Sanitarium, Milwaukee, Monday morning, to take a course of treatment, he not having been feeling well of late. He will no doubt return in a short time fully recuperated.

The latest fad! Gold plated signet Normal and High school fobs. Call and see them at French, Campbell & Co.

The machine shop of F. A. Sustins, on North Third street, was entered through a window Friday night and a number of valuable tools stolen. A bar was pryed off a window after a pane of glass had been broken.

Mrs. E. I. Tozier, who resides just west of the city in the town of Linwood, has been afflicted with blood clots in the veins and tissues for the past few years, and will leave next week for the Sacred Heart Sanitarium, Milwaukee, to remain some weeks under the care of the able physicians and nurses there.

J. W. Moxon and son, Arnold, returned Monday morning on train No. 1 from Gills Landing, where they had spent Saturday night and part of Sunday on the Wolf river, catching bass. No bass offered to take their bait, but a huge rock sturgeon, weighing 47½ pounds was secured by Arnold. His father assisted in landing the big fish.

Judge Murat has ordered Willie Koslowski, of Junction City, to be committed to the Boys' Industrial school at Waukesha. The boy refused to obey his parents and was given into Sheriff Guyant's charge, Thursday, he being taken to that institution thereafter.

Jack Carkeek, who in years gone by was one of the best known wrestlers in this country, but who has spent the past few years across the ocean, has been renewing acquaintances in this city for a few days.

Geo. L. Rogers and John Martini left here Tuesday morning for Mt. Clemens, Mich., to remain about three weeks and enjoy the health-giving baths of that resort. Both gentlemen have been troubled with rheumatism for some time.

Rev. Russell Wilber, archdeacon of Fond du Lac, conducted services in the Episcopal church here Sunday morning and evening. The visiting clergyman made a fine impression, he being a speaker of unusual ability, with a pleasing manner and a convincing form of expression.

—The Gazette, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, May 29, 1907

At 84, He's the Oldest Western Union Messenger "Boy"

1920

IS OLDEST MESSENGER 'BOY'

Snowy Haired "Uncle John" of Luting, Tex., Speeds With Telegrams at Eighty-Four

Luling, Tex. — J. E. Palmer of this city probably enjoys the distinction of being the oldest messenger "boy" in the world. At the age of eighty-four he works for the Western Union from 8 a. m. until 6 p. m., delivering messages from one end of the city to the other.

Palmer was born in Flemingsburg, Ky., January 29, 1832, and fought all through the Civil war.

"Uncle John," as he is better known, came to Caldwell county in 1836. He is snowy haired and slightly bent.



She Was a Movie "Fiend"

Logansport, Ind. — Mrs. Manando McCabe, thirty-eight years old, was declared insane by a commission in Justice Reid's court here. She had been a regular attendant at the moving picture shows, and during the last few weeks has been under the hallucination that she is "Queen of the Movies."



Stole Her Gold Tooth

Bellaire, 0hio — While she was sleeping quietly several nights ago, someone entered Mrs. Russell Gordon's room and took a gold tooth from her mouth, deftly prying it from the crown. Police are looking for one of her boarders.

—The Appleton Daily Post, Appleton, Wisconsin, January 7, 1920, page 3.

Charlie Chaplin's Wife Will Seek Divorce

1920

FILM STAR AND BRIDE REPORTED AT OUTS.

Desertion Is Principal Charge Filed Against the Screen's Most Famous Fun-maker

LOS ANGELES, Cal. -- Mildred Harris Chaplin, youthful secret bride of Charlie Chaplin, has found marriage with her film comedian husband a failure. Mrs. Chaplin admitted her intention to file suit for divorce.

And with her confession, made at her home, that Chaplin and she had separated several months ago, came a story of heartaches, alleged cruelty, neglect and charges of persecution. It is on one of these grounds that Mrs. Chaplin will seek her freedom.

Desertion Is Charged

Without cause and so frequently that it has made life unbearable, Mrs. Chaplin asserts her husband has left her alone and neglected, while she waited for him in vain at her home, finally deserting her altogether and making his residence at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Several times since, she says, he has appeared at her Oxford street home with declarations that unless she accepts $25,000 and file suit for divorce in Nevada on "nominal grounds" he would institute a divorce action against her.

After these threats, she said, detectives followed her constantly from home to studio, from studio to the homes of friends, making inquiries and making life unpleasant.

Weeps as She Tells Story

Pleas, she said, were in vain. Finally, unable to stand the strain of persistent worry and the pity of her friends, Mrs. Chaplin asserts she placed her case in the hands of a lawyer, with instructions to bring action for divorce.

When informed that her plans had become known, Mrs. Chaplin, showing the effects of the strain of trying to keep her marital troubles a secret, broke down and wept. She said she had hesitated at divorce because of the publicity certain to follow and because of a dislike of exposing her family secrets.

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 27, 1920, page 3.