Expert: DM - 7/7/2009

Question
What can you tell me about a movie called "Riders of the Purple Sage" filmed in Augusta Maine.  My great uncles had roles in it.  Is there any copies of it available

Answer
Dear Barbara,
Thank you for your very interesting question. There have been many versions of this film made over the years. Please inform me which specific version you need to know more about. If you can include the year, the name of one of the stars or directors, or any other related information, I will be happy to research the film for you.

I have recently researched the early sound version starring George O'Brien for my new biography about him, which is coming out in August 2009.

Thank you in advance for your reply.

After nearly fourteen years of painstaking research, work is finally complete on the first full-length biography of actor Richard Barthelmess. I hope you will find the book as pleasing to read and share as I found the research and writing. For more information, either visit my web site www.thegreatstars.com, or visit the publisher at www.bearmanormedia.com.

Sincerely,

David Menefee
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
Texting Harry (with Connie Podesta)
A Craving for Travel (with Jim Strong)
George O'Brien: A Man's Man in Hollywood
Buckwheat (with William Thomas, Jr.)
The Unflappable Irving Link (with Ferdinand Hauslein, Jr.)

Richard Barthelmess: A Life in Pictures

No one will ever forget the scene in D. W. Griffith’s Way Down East where Richard Barthelmess as David rescued Anna Moore from certain death on an ice floe as it was about to plummet over a waterfall. The exciting sequence still thrills audiences to this day. Richard went on to be nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor for The Noose and The Patent Leather Kid, and he won an Academy Award Citation for "Special Achievement" in producing The Patent Leather Kid.

His signature roles are in many of D. W. Griffith’s silent films including Broken Blossoms, Scarlet Days, The Love Flower, and The Idol Dancer. Few people are aware that he was nearly felled by 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 setback, his transition to talking pictures and work in The Dawn Patrol, Cabin in the Cotton, and Only Angel’s Have Wings proved that his talent was enduring.  

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 assist in the fight against Nazi aggression in World War Two. Richard retired to a happy life as a senior citizen after appearing 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.

Published exclusively at www.bearmanormedia.com

For more information, contact:

Ben Ohmart books@benohmart.com

www.bearmanormedia.com


 
Other books by David W. Menefee

The First Male Stars: Men of the Silent Era

E-mail: books@benohmart.com
Internet: www.bearmanormedia.com
www.amazon.com (free shipping)
www.barnesandnoble.com
www.borders.com
www.walmart.com


Sarah Bernhardt in the Theater of Films and Sound Recordings

Internet: www.mcfarlandpub.com
www.amazon.com (free shipping)
www.borders.com    
www.barnesandnobles.com
www.walmart.com

In Europe, order from:
www.eurospanonline.com

 
The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era

E-mail: orders@greenwood.com
Internet: www.greenwood.com
www.amazon.com (free shipping)
www.barnesandnoble.com
www.borders.com
www.walmart.com
 
Also coming soon in 2009,
George O'Brien: A Man's Man in Hollywood