Expert: DM - 3/19/2009

Question
Hi, My sister has several old movie star photos taken by the studios by a famous photographer. I just found this site last night and just told my sister today about it, so she is going to find all her photos she's had stored away, because neither one of us could remember the photographer and all the stars. But I wanted to go ahead and email you to see if you might be the right person to ask about these. Most of them are silent movie stars I think like Mary Pickford. She has several of her with one being a 5x7 hand colored by the studio and I think one is autographed. She also has a Christmas card that was signed by Mary Pickford because it was sent to one of her close friends. She has some of a leading man and his last name I think started with an Nou or Nuv, but I'll know tommorrow. Then she also has Greta Garbo and more. She also has these extremely well drawn character pictures of famous movie stars from that era, but they are not signed, it was like someone was just doodling on pieces of paper, but whoever did these was amazing. Please let me know if you can help us out and I can send pictures tommorrow......Thank you very much !!!...Diane

Answer
Dear Diane,
You would do well to contact Bruce Calvert at this e-mail address: Silentfilm@comcast.net

Bruce Calvert also has a web site called the Silent Film Still Archive at http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com

He might be very interested in these photographs, and he can also be of great assistance identifying exactly who is in the photographs and what they are pictures of. Tell him that David Menefee referred you to him.

Sincerely,
David Menefee
davemenefee@aol.com
Web site: www.thegreatstars.com
Author
Sarah Bernhardt in the Theater of Films and Sound Recordings
The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era
The First Male Stars: Men of the Silent Era
Richard Barthelmess: A Life in Pictures
George O'Brien: A Man's Man in Hollywood

Please get a copy of my book:

The First Male Stars: Men of the Silent Era,
Discover the captivating lives and groundbreaking accomplishments of fourteen men who dared to gamble their reputations by appearing in the first motion pictures, at a time when other actors in the “legitimate theater” scorned the industry. These amazing men not only defied the odds of success, but also received a place at the heights of a fascinating business that was a new form of art. Each made an enduring and important contribution to early cinema, although some are forgotten today. Exhaustive research in every major archive of the world has created this compilation of information and images. In this engaging and educational volume, David W. Menefee reaches into the vaults of history to withdraw countless, unusual details that tell how these men, their roles, and their influence were received in their time, and how their powerful impact still lingers today. The book includes 114 rare scene photos, portraits, reproductions of full-page film advertisements, and lobby cards.

Actors include: John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Richard Barthelmess, John Bunny, Francis X. Bushman, Lon Chaney, Jackie Coogan, William S. Hart, Tom Mix, Antonio Moreno, Jack  Pickford, Wallace Reid, Rudolph Valentino, and Crane Wilbur.

Available in a hard back Limited Collector’s Editon and a softback edition from:
Bear Manor Media
PO BOX 71426
Albany, GA 31708
Telephone: (229) 436-4265      
Fax :  (814) 690-1559  
E-mail: books@benohmart.com
Internet: www.bearmanormedia.bizland.com

More good news!
The second edition of my first book is now available:

Sarah Bernhardt in the Theatre of Films and Sound Recordings
Foreword by Kevin Brownlow
Exhaustive research in every major archive of the world has created this compilation of information and images focusing on Bernhardt’s films and twenty early wax-cylinder and disc recordings. Detailed analyses of the motion pictures include plot synopses, casts, production notes, and contemporary reviews. Complete records of Bernhardt’s work on stage, in films, and recordings are annotated and indexed.

The book includes such rare items as dramatic readings by Bernhardt on early wax cylinders and 78rpm (transcribed in the original French and translated into English for the first time), as well as stills from a previously unknown film (depicting the death scene from the 1921 Daniel).

Available online from the publisher at:
www.mcfarlandpub.com

Available by mail from the publisher at:
McFarland Publishing
Box 611
Jefferson, NC 28640
USA

Telephone (336) 246-4460
Fax (336) 246-5018
or toll free Telephone Order (800-253-2187)

Also conveniently available online from:
www.amazon.com (free shipping)
www.borders.com    
www.barnesandnobles.com
www.walmart.com



In France or Europe, order from:

Eurospan

3 Henrietta St.

Convent Garden

London

WC2E 8LU United Kingdom



Also in Europe, you can order online from this web site:

www.eurospanonline.com


The second edition of my second book has also just been released:


The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era, rediscovers the fascinating lives and pioneering achievements of 15 women who dared to venture into early motion pictures, an industry dominated by men, and who not only succeeded but became the focal points of the industry. Each star earned a position at the height of her profession, and though many are largely forgotten today, made a lasting and significant contribution to early cinema. This entertaining and informative volume reveals these women and their signature roles, drawing on many original sources to show us how such actresses as Theda Bara, Sarah Bernhardt, Dorothy Gish, and Norma Talmadge were received in their time, and the many ways in which their influence remains important today.

Each profile contains a biographical treatment, an analysis of key films from her career, a discussion of the actress's influence on the medium, and selected filmography. Each also includes two photographs, most often one of the actress herself and a still from a film.

Actresses include Theda Bara, Beverly Bayne, Sarah Bernhardt, Pauline Frederick, Carol Dempster, Gene Gauntier, Janet Gaynor,
Dorothy Gish, Mae Marsh, Mae Murray, Alla Nazimova, Constance Talmadge, Norma Talmadge, Laurette Taylor, and Pearl White.

Order on-line from Greenwood Publishing at www.greenwood.com
or U.S. telephone 1-800-225-5800
or U.S. fax 1-603-431-2214
Order by email: orders@greenwood.com
Order by mail:
Greenwood Publishing
88 Post Road West
Westport, CT 06881-5007

Also conveniently available from:
Amazon.com
Barnesandnoble.com
Borders.com
Walmart.com

Finally, I am very pleased to announce that the first edition of the first biography ever written about Academy Award winning star, Richard Barthelmess, is scheduled to release in 2008. Please contact the publisher for your advance copy:

Richard Barthelmess: A Life in Pictures

Richard’s struggle to survive against all odds took place in real life as well as on motion picture screens. No one will ever forget how he rescued Lillian Gish from certain death on an ice floe as it was about to plummet over a waterfall in Way Down East, a stunt that went terribly wrong and nearly cost both actors their lives when it was captured on film, but his effort to fight back and live on became more than the stuff of Hollywood legend. Richard went on to be nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor for The Noose and won an Oscar for one of the last silent films, The Patent Leather Kid. His signature roles are in many of D. W. Griffith’s silent films including Way Down East and Broken Blossoms, but few people are aware that he nearly fell victim to the chaos of Hollywood’s transition from silent to talking pictures when he used a voice double to sing for him in Weary River. Despite the minor setback, his later work in The Dawn Patrol, Cabin in the Cotton, and Only Angel’s Have Wings secured his position in talking films, and they have proven to be popular favorites to this day.

For the first time, the story is fully told how Alla Nazimova, a famous Russian star, plucked him from obscurity to play in her first film, and how his worldwide fame was nearly snuffed out when he followed America’s call to arms and gave up his movie career to fight Nazi aggression in World War Two. By the time the honored veteran returned, his career had taken a nearly tragic turn, but his determination to succeed against all odds regained his status as one of Warner Bros. top stars and proved that his appeal was enduring. Richard appeared in more than 80 films, and this book reveals them with a richly researched biography, an extensive Filmography, and hundreds of rare portraits, posters, and lobby cards that capture the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Era.

Coming March 2009 in a Limited Collector’s edition from:
Bear Manor Media
PO BOX 71426
Albany, GA 31708
Telephone: (229) 436-4265      
Fax :  (814) 690-1559  
E-mail: books@benohmart.com
Internet: www.bearmanormedia.bizland.com