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8/9/2014

Florence Lawrence in 'The Country Doctor' - #4 of #100silent films

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I did another search on YouTube (oh, the glorious things you can find on there ... and some frightening stuff, as well), this time for Mary Pickford films. I hate to admit I've never seen a complete movie of hers. What came up was "The Country Doctor," a 1909 Biography film. While Pickford is in it, she's not a lead. The female lead is Florence Lawrence.

While Mary Pickford's name is familiar (at least to film buffs and fans of old Hollywood), Ms. Lawrence is less known--at least in general. She is known as the "first movie star" because actors were uncredited in movies before her. She was uncredited for a while, too, until she gained popularity with audiences and they wanted to know who "the Biograph Girl" was. The Biograph Company made films from 1895 to 1928. It was the first company devoted to only making films (source).


The cast and even director (D.W. Griffith) are uncredited, but you can view them here.


Florence Lawrence (1890-1938)
Buried in Hollywood Forever
She did not have a grave marker until 1991, when actor Roddy McDowall purchased one for her and had it placed.

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Hollywood Forever - Photo from http://www.northernstars.ca/actorsjkl/lawrence_florence_bio.html

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8/3/2014

Current list of silent film stars for book

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This is my current list of the silent film stars I am considering for inclusion in my book "Forever Silent." Who else should I consider including? Is there any information or anecdotes you'd like to share about any of the ladies?

Renée Adorée
Gertrude Astor
Agnes Ayres
Theda Bara
Belle Bennett (I don't have any information collected on her yet)
Clara Bow
Grace Bradley
Gladys Brockwell
(location of remains unknown)
Louise Brooks
June Caprice
Jewel Carmen (location of remains unknown - scattered)
Betty Compson
Viola Dana
Myrna Darby
Bebe Daniels
Marion Davies
Priscilla Dean
Dorothy Donnelly (location of remains unknown)
Julie Faye
Flora Finch
Paula Frederick
Mary Fuller
Janet Gaynor
Camelita Geraghty
Dorothy Gish
Lillian Gish
Corinne Griffith
(location of remains unknown - scattered at sea?)
Wanda Hawley
Florence La Badie
Carla Laemmle
Barbara La Marr
Laura La Plante
Florence Lawrence
Enid Markey (location of remains unknown)
Mia May
Mary Miles Minter
Colleen Moore
Mae Murray
Pola Negri
Seena Owen
Mary Pickford
Marie Prevost (location of remains unknown)
Jobyna Ralston
Virginia Rappe
Dorothy Sebastian
Norma Shearer
Gloria Swanson
Constance Talmadge
Natalie Talmadge
Norma Talmadge
Estelle Taylor
Lois Weber (location of remains unknown)
Fay Wray
Clara Kimball Young


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8/3/2014

Georges' Haunted Castle - #3 of #100silentfilms

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If you're like me (and I know I am), you were familiar with Georges Méliès before you even knew who he was. Why? Because the iconic image of the moon with a rocket in his eye has been part of pop culture for more than 100 years. So even if you hadn't seen one of this early filmmaker's films, you had seen a smidge of one.

For those of you who have seen the movie "Hugo," you now know a lot more about
Méliès (1861-1938) and his amazing talents for creating worlds. Before he made films, he was an illusionist, which makes perfect sense. Just watch "The Haunted Castle" ("Manoir du Diable") and you'll see what I mean.

 I did a search on YouTube for silent films, and the title caught my eye. I love anything spooky! Now I don't know if what I saw was the entire film, but it's pretty great nonetheless. People turning into bats, cauldrons appearing out of thin air, a circle of ghost paying ring-around-the-rosie. Fantastic! It's very playful and fun to watch. I love the tricks and humor of the story. It's really quite flawless in its execution, and it was made in 1896.

It's only 3:18 minutes long. Definitely check this one out!

-Minda


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Georges Méliès is buried in beautiful, gothic Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise in Paris, France. This photo was taken by Dean Carnegie and was originally posted on his blog, The Dead Conjurers. Please visit his blog to learn more.

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    Minda Powers-Douglas

    I'm the author of a number of cemetery books and am now writing one about the graves of silent film stars, starting with the ladies. Who would you like to see included?

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