MABEL NORMAND

One of the questions most frequently asked: is there a recording of Mabel's voice? This in fact came up just the other day in a silent film group on Face Book. For those then who also would like to know, below is the answer I gave:

Aside from a reported wax cylinder that has LONG since gone missing from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences library, no one to my knowledge knows of there being such a recording. However the following are some contemporary testimonials regarding how she sounded:

"The Normand speaking voice, which we have all been wondering about, is pretty and a little throaty, but not very flexible which is hardly to be wondered at..."
~"M. H.", from Washington Times, Sept. 8, 1925.

"If Mr. Woods ever finds a play for the comedic talents of the throaty Normand, it will not be 'The Little Mouse.' Indeed, if he finds a play at all for her. Due time must be allowed, of course, for Miss Normand to forget the studied gaggeries of the Mack Sennett school and for her sudden transition from the lot to the stage."
~Harold Phillips, from Washington Times, Sept. 11, 1925.

“...'I’m glad I’m to get right back into regular comedy,' said the star in that rich, throaty voice of hers. 'And do you know I shall be particularly glad to make two-reelers again. I believe there is more laughter per foot in the short comedy, and after all laughter is what a screen comic wants, isn’t it?'"
~Florence Lawrence, from Los Angeles Examiner, March 14, 1926.

"And until near the end passers-by often paused on Camden Drive in the lovely suburb of Los Angeles where so many picture celebrities live, to listen to the throaty voice of Mabel Normand, rising to the swing of an exquisite ballad or romping madly through a rakish song learned about the ribald studios of Hollywood."
~Sidney Sutherland, from MADCAP MABEL NORMAND -- The True Story of a Great Comedienne, Liberty [magazine], Sept. 6, 1930.

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Hardly news coming from me is the re-surfacing/discovery of "Mabel's Adventures" (1912) by the Niles Essanay Film Museum this July 2020. If you don't already know about it, here is is:

["Mabel's Adventures and Useful Sheep - "Lost" Keystone Split Reel PREMIERE!"]

Also, for fun, I snipped a very rare clip, with frame rate slowed down, from Nigel Dreiner's accompanying mini-documentary at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpxm302htAQ

["Now THAT'S Mabel! :)" - w/ Raymond Hitchcock.]

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Eighth edition now available in paperback at:
https://tinyurl.com/y3t9l756

or in Kindle format at:
https://tinyurl.com/y54fl28p

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PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS

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Mabel Normand Source Book ~ Seventh Edition in .pdf format. Last updated: 8 Aug. 2017 (Right click "Save As...")
Or see:
Internet Archive.org:
Mabel Normand Source Book
Or, at Scribd:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/33246652/Mabel-Normand-Source-Book

SITE MAP

MN Films at the Internet Archive and YouTube
Introductory Biography
Essay ~ 'Keystone Mabel' ~
Essay ~ 'Molly O ~ I Love You' ~
Filmography
The William Desmond Taylor Case
Picture Album
Mabel Normand Related Sites in Los Angeles
Interview with Minta Durfee Arbuckle
Interview with Mabel co-star Anita Garvin
Archives
Mabel Normand Sheet Music for MIDI
Links
MNHP Online Video Collection
Where to Find Mabel on DVD

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The One! The Only!