Expert: DM - 7/19/2007

Question
Hi David -- I'm a pop culture freak so I check out a number of different websites including Entertainment Weekly (www.ew.com)which often has themed photo galleries to Hollywood history & its stars.  I'm 40 & really enjoy learning about classic film history.  Anyway, their latest photo gallery online today is about small roles that actors performed with big impact.  Yet, it is somewhat disappointing because they only go back to the 70's with Ned Beatty.  What comes to mind for you that goes back before the 70's?  Chances are NetFlix will have it & I'll be able to check it out.  Thanks!

Jim


Answer
Dear Jim,

It often is astounding how few people know that there were motion pictures made before the 1970s, and I'm glad that you are not one of them. Many of these classic films are still being sold and broadcast today, and they are worth viewing.

Film history is full of outstanding, great actors and actresses, who were cherry-picked by directors and producers to etch memorable and often pivotal characterizations in films even though the roles were small in terms of the length of time they were on screen, or even powerful "bit parts." They were chosen because they were once great stars, had magnificent talent, and they had enormously powerful impact every second they were on screen.

Here are a few major examples from 1930 to the late 1960s,(but there are many more that go back as far as the silent era):

Henry B. Walthall in Noah's Ark (1928)
Henry B. Walthall in Abraham Lincoln (1930)
Marie Dressler in Anna Christi (1930)
William Farnum in The Spoilers (1930)
Pauline Frederick in This Modern Age (1931)
John Gilbert in Queen Christina (1933)
Thomas Meighan in Peck's Bad Boy (1934)
Elsa Lancaster in Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Maria Ouspenskaya in every role she played
Chester Conklin in Modern Times (1936)
C. Aubrey Smith in Hurricane (1937)
Ona Munson and Laura Hope Crews in Gone With the Wind (1939)
Billie Burke in The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Alla Nazimova in Escape (1940)
Alla Nazimova in Blood and Sand (1941)
Alla Nazimova in Since You Went Away (1944)
Dorothy Gish in Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944)
Ethel Barrymore in The Spiral Staircase (1946)
Lillian Gish in Duel in the Sun (1946)
Ethel Barrymore in The Paradine Case (1947)
Lillian Gish and Ethel Barrymore in Portrait of Jenny (1948)
Ramon Novarro in The Big Steal (1949)
Jane Cowl in Once More My Darling (1949)
Erich Von Stroheim in Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Buster Keaton in Limelight (1952)
Jane Darwell in Mary Poppins (1964)

Mae Marsh, a great star of dozens of silent films, made a later career out of playing memorable bit parts in nearly every John Ford picture, as well as many other films.

I hope this helps you.

Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,
David Menefee
davemenefee@aol.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 (coming out October 2007)