We just learned at the tail end of December that the 1914 Keystone short, "Mabel's Blunder," has been selected as one of the 2009 entries to the Library of Congress' Film Registry. To be frank, there are any number of Mabel's other Keystone (or for that matter Biograph) shorts I myself would have chosen instead -- even so, this is certainly and of course an honor and pleasant surprise indeed. For more on the LOC film registry and their selections for 2009, see HERE (.pdf)
Here's a little something off the beaten path for you who may have as yet missed it -- Mabel's friend Rudolph Valentino singing two songs recorded in 1923. (Now wouldn't it be something to have something like this with Mabel's voice? Who knows? Perhaps one day such will turn up.)
In just this last month's DVD catalog, Grapevine Video announced their release of a disk which includes both the 67 and the 100 minute versions of "Mickey" (1918). If then in case you missed either, see: http://grapevinevideo.com/new_releases.htm
Later Note. The Grapevine DVD of "Mickey" is mostly for completists who want all available versions. For a more standard, and better print quality, Unknown Video's "Mickey" is, of course, the DVD to go with (at present.)
Bruce Long in the past few weeks or so has been adding more articles and clippings to his archive at Taylorology.com Below is one such, and which comes from The Emporia Gazette (Kansas) for Feb. 4, 1922, showing a compilation of promos and tie-ins for "Molly O'."
"NEW ISSUE [Chaplin at Keystone] n'20 AVAILABLE
His Prehistoric Past
No. 20 : 176 pages ; 132 illustrations ; 5.6 x 8.1 inch. ; 10 euros
Orders and informations : t.g.mathieu@wanadoo.fr
Web site :
http://www.chaplin-at-keystone.com
( secure payment through PayPal.com )"
Quite the line-up it is at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont, Californian (just outside San Francisco) this month -- i.e. September 5th, 13th, 19th and 26th. While some Mabel Keystone shorts are among the fare, there's much more to choose from as well, including Mary Pickford, Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang and Jackie Coogan.
For more, see S.F. Examiner article and http://www.nilesfilmmuseum.org/september_2009_schedule.pdf
(Thanks Marilyn Slater, as usual, for keeping us posted!)
Stephen Normand not long ago launched his new website, and very nice it looks we might add! For which, see http://www.mabelstephennormand.com/
This just in from the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles. Tickets are $10.00.
"August 5 @ 8pm / SERIES: Silent sirens
The Extra Girl (starring Mabel Normand)
Though she had the doe eyes, thousand-watt smile, and cascading curls of a classic Silent ingenue, Mabel Normand set herself apart from a generation of starlets with a whole tabloid's worth of Hollywood Gothic scandals. By 1924, Normand had starred in over 200 films, written and directed dozens more, and was publicly linked with the shootings of two men. At the height of her career, Normand starred in The Extra Girl, a film which steeled her reputation as a comedienne as brilliant as she was beautiful. The film follows a small-town sweetheart who ambles into Hollywood, much as Normand did as a teenager. Her performance is just one in a career that included countless collaborations with Mack Sennett, Fatty Arbuckle, and Charlie Chaplin, and fortunately for us, she sparkles like a gem.
Dir. F. Richard Jones, 1923, 16mm, 68 min."
For more, see http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/71322
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