‘Its a Wonderful Life’ – the Synopsis
Lovingly ripped from the binding of a 1947 issue of Photoplay Magazine was the attached thumbnail Its a Wonderful Life, […]
Photoplay Magazine
Articles from Photoplay Magazine
‘I’m No Communist”
(Photoplay Magazine, 1948)
Months after his appearance as a spectator at the House Committee on Un-American Activities, actor Humphrey Bogart wrote this article for the editors of Photoplay Magazine addressing the topic of communist infiltration in the Hollywood film industry:
In the final analysis, this House Committee probe has had one salutary effect. It has cleared the air by indicating what a minute number of Commies there really are in the film industry. Though headlines may have screamed of the Red menace in the movies, all the wind and the fury actually proved that there’s been no Communism injected on American movie screens.
During the Depression Unskilled Labor Flocked to Hollywood
(Photoplay Magazine, 1934)
Illustrated with the images of shanties and tents that once surrounded Universal Studios, this article tells the sad story of Hollywood movie extras and the challenging lives they led during the Great Depression:
Tossed out of other work by the recent depression, attracted by the false stories of Hollywood’s squanderings and extravagances, excited by the thrill of living and working in the same town and the same industry with world famous personalities, they drifted to Hollywood and attached themselves to the motion picture industry. They registered with the Central Casting Bureau, and joined the great army of extras.
These people saw no glitter, no romance, no bright mirage of stardom. To them, it was hard work and serious work…
From Amazon: Hollywood Unknowns: A History of Extras, Bit Players, and Stand-Ins
Greta Garbo’s First Impressions of Hollywood
(Photoplay Magazine, 1930)
Greta Garbo (1905 – 1990) was well known for keeping to herself and preferring to act on movie sets free of executives, pals and all sorts of other hangers-on and she was very famous for refusing to grant members of the press corps interviews. With that in mind, it is a wonder that Katherine Albert of PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE was able to piece enough together for this 1930 article:
She has no place in the life of Hollywood. She has never adapted herself to it.
Garbo will continue to remain an enigma…
Click here to read about early cosmetic surgery in Hollywood.
‘I Remember William Powell”
(Photoplay Magazine, 1930)
A magazine article by Leonora Ross in which she recalled her high school days with one of Kansas City’s most famous sons, actor William Powell (1892 – 1984). At the time this article appeared, Powell had some forty-two films to his credit (37 of them silent) with his best work yet to come.
If you would like to read more articles from Photoplay Magazine, click here.
CLICK HERE to read about Powell’s most famous film: The Thin Man…
A Glossary of Terms for Movie Fans
(Vanity Fair, 1920)
During the summer of 1920, Photoplay Magazine ran this glossary of movie terms with cartoons by Ralph Barton and doggerel verses by Howard Dietz.
With new technology came new terms that seemed odd to the ear (it should be remembered that this new technology did not involve the use of one’s ear at all); words to be added to the nation’s vocabulary were fade-out, shooting, box-office and location.
To shoot a scene is nothing new-
Directors should be shot at, too
In Praise of Slapstick Comedy
(Photoplay Magazine, 1914)
A reporter from Photoplay Magazine let all her eager readers in on the excitement from the glamorous set of the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company (Illinois) where the comedy, Actor Finney’s Finnish (1914) was being shot.
The silent short was directed and performed by those who would be participating steadily during Hollywood’s next thirty year spree: E. Mason Hopper (1885 – 1967), Director; Wallace Beery (1885 – 1949), leading man; Eddie Redway (1869 – 1919), co-star; Leo White (1882 – 1948), co-star; Bobbie Bolder (1859-1937) co-star, Ruth Hennesy (no dates), actress.
Norma Talmadge was Different
(Photoplay Magazine, 1923)
As delighted as this Photoplay Magazine journalist was to make the acquaintance of 1920s film star Norma Talmadge (1894 – 1957), she could not help but compare her to the reigning film diva of the period, Mary Pickford:
Mary awakens your love.
Norma awakens your admiration.
Mary makes you long to be of service to her.
Norma makes you long to have her friendship.
Mary Pickford is a sort of divine child, who always seems far away from you, glowing in a soft light…
Norma Talmadge is an intelligent, brilliant woman of the world, with every faculty keyed to the highest pitch…
The interview was conducted by the versatile Adela Rogers St. Johns (1894 – 1988): a veteran journalist from Hollywood’s earliest days, she also made her mark writing screenplays, novels and toiled in the precincts as one of the first woman police reporters.
It’s a Wonderful Life’ – the Synopsis
(Photoplay Magazine, 1947)
A thumbnail review of It’s a Wonderful Life written in the form of a favorable plot synopsis. Oddly, the film was released in March of 1947 – long after Christmas.
Fourth Place in the People’s Choice Awards
(Photoplay Magazine, 1948)
When the most popular movies of 1947 were tallied up in Photoplay Magazine‘s People’s Choice Award, It’s a Wonderful Life clocked in at number four, having been trounced by The Jolson Story, The Best Years of Our Lives, and Welcome Stranger
Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey
(Photoplay Magazine, 1939)
The appeal of James Stewart, the shy, inarticulate movie actor, is that he reminds every girl in the audience of the date before the last. He’s not a glamorized Gable, a remote Robert Taylor. He’s ‘Jim’, the lackadaisical, easy-going boy from just around the corner.
The above line was pulled from the attached article which was one of the first widely read profiles of Jimmy Stewart (James Maitland Stewart 1908 – 1997). Written four years after his arrival in the California dream factory and printed during the same year as his first encounter with the director Frank Capra in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, this article reveals that Stewart had a small town upbringing and was essentially the same character he played in It’s A Wonderful Life.
Booth Tarkington might have created Jim Stewart. He’s ‘Little Orvie and Billie Baxter’ grown up ‘Penrod’ with a Princeton diploma.
From Amazon: It’s a Wonderful Life: Favorite Scenes from the Classic Film
Where the Stars Shopped…
(Photoplay Magazine, 1938)
ONE MILE EAST of Sunset Plaza was a Hollywood hangout called Schwab’s Drugtore – read about it here…– from Amazon:Read
When W.W. II Came to Hollywood
(Photoplay Magazine, 1948)
The attached article is but a small segment addressing the history of Hollywood during the war W.W. II years; clipped from a longer Photoplay Magazine piece that recounted the illustrious past of Hollywood some thirty-five years earlier.
After Pearl Harbor, the men really began leaving town. David Niven was gone now. So too, was Flight Officer Laurence Olivier. And more and more from the Hollywood ranks kept leaving. Gable, Fonda, Reagan, the well-knowns and the lesser-knowns. Power, Taylor, Payne, Skelton and many others…More Hollywood regulars went away, so other, newer newcomers had to be found to replace them because the box office was booming.
Who in Hollywood Received Draft Deferments
(Photoplay Magazine, 1942)
This article first appeared at the end of America’s first full year of war and it is composed of the names and pictures of Hollywood’s leading men who were absolved from fulfilling their military obligations during the war.
The personalities of the fabulous films are on the spot in the matter of serving their country. It is useless to deny that the motion picture stars have been getting the best of it. Some have been given special draft deferments and choice assignments and often have been allowed extra months to finish their pictures before having to report for duty.
Click here to read about the American draft-dodgers of the Second World War.
Should Movie Stars Be Expected to Fight, As Well?
(Photoplay Magazine, 1942)
We were very surprised to read in the attached editorial that the whole idea of draft deferments for actors and other assorted Hollywood flunkies was not a scheme cooked-up by their respective agents and yes-men, but a plan that sprung forth from the fertile mind of the executive officer in charge of the Selective Service System: Brigadier General Lewis Blaine Hershey (1893 – 1977) in Washington.
Always one to ask the difficult questions, Ernest V. Heyn (1905 – 1995) executive editor of Photoplay posed the query Should Stars Fight? and in this column he began to weigh the pros-and-cons of the need for propaganda and an uninterrupted flow of movies for the home front, and the appearance of creating a new entitled class of pretty boys.
Actor Ronald Colman
(Photoplay Magazine, 1930)
A Photoplay Magazine interview featuring British actor Ronald Colman (1891 – 1958) in which the journalist attempted to dispel all preconceived notions that the actor was some sort of male Garbo and was, in fact, a regular guy.
Vivien Leigh to Play Scarlet
(Photoplay Magazine, 1939)
A short notice from a Hollywood fan magazine announcing that Vivien Leigh (born Vivian Mary Hartley: 1913 – 1967), an actress largely unknown to U.S. audiences, had been cast to play the roll of ‘Scarlet’. Accompanied by two breathtakingly beautiful color images of the actress, this short announcement outlines her genetic makeup, her previous marriage to Leigh Holman, and her thoughts concerning the upcoming roll.
Click here to read magazine articles about D.W. Griffith.
Behind the Scenes with Clark Gable…
(Photoplay Magazine, 1940)
In this article from a 1940 fan magazine, Clark Gable puts to rest some disturbing concerns numerous fans had concerning the human affairs that existed on the set during the production of Gone with the Wind. He additionally expressed some measure of gratitude for having landed the juiciest role in Hollywood at that time:
‘Rhett’ is one of the greatest male characters ever created. I knew that. I’d read the entire book through six times, trying to get his moods. I’ve still got a copy in my dressing room and I still read it once in a while, because I know I’ll probably never get such a terrific role again. But what was worrying me, and still is was that from the moment I was cast as ‘Rhett Butler’ I started out with five million critics.