The Passion of Former Days: entertainment

Showing posts with label entertainment. Show all posts

16 December, 2014

"Coming Attractions," Tinted

A couple months ago, Slate's wonderful history blog, The Vault, posted on the earliest "coming soon" advertisements on cinematic screens. These were hand-tinted lantern slides which would be projected before and between films. The post reproduces a number of these slides from an extensive collection held by the Cleveland Public Library. With my love of both hand-tinting and the 1920s, I was terrifically excited to discover this trend, and even more to discover the library's digitized collection of the slides exceeds 700. So I just had to share a few more, with many thanks to Rebecca Onion of The Vault. Some are for movies that are still known; others are delightfully obscure. All are very, very colourful.

Cleveland Public Library

Orphans of the Storm (with Lilian Gish and her sister Dorothy), 1921. Source

Cleveland Public Library

Strictly Confidential, 1919. Source

Cleveland Public Library

The Runaway, with Clara Bow, 1926. Source

Soldier Singalongs

Back in the days before recorded music was easily portable (or even extant), getting a group together to sing around the piano was a popular form of entertainment. In accumulating photographs of this activity (which will probably still be in a future post), I was struck to see just how many there were of soldiers having a good sing at the piano. In the earlier twentieth century, pianos were, of course, much more ubiquitous than they were today, and a common feature of recreational spaces. Even today, an open piano seems to be pretty irresistible--how much more so to fellows who really need a chance to unwind. And, of course, wartime photographers, particularly official ones, tend to flock to the more reassuring types of images, ensuring the capture of some of these spontaneous moments of fun amidst the turmoil and uncertainty of war.

RAF men sing around a piano in a billet in France, December 1939. Source

Officers sing after dinner onboard the battleship HMS Rodney, 1940. Source

Trainee airmen singing at a piano, WW2. Source

Homes of the Stars

Among the over 900 postcards of 1930s-40s California held by the Boston Public Library, a distinct set stands out. Apparently in this period it was very popular to print postcards depicting the private homes of movie stars. Many are even verifiable as having belonged to the named celebrity. Even then, the line between the private and public lives of celebrities was certainly blurred.

These aren't dated (beyond the vague ca. 1930-1945 range given to the entire collection), but based on the celebrities, they seem to come from the mid to late thirties. The first postcard below, the home of Bing Crosby, was certainly created between 1936, when the house was constructed, and 1942, when it burned down.

Boston Public Library

Home of Bing Crosby, 1936-1942. Source

Boston Public Library

Home of Gary Cooper. Source

Boston Public Library

Home of Ginger Rogers (I). Source

An Air-Ship Built For Two: Songs of the 1910s

Before there were records, there was sheet music. Popular songs could be enjoyed over and over again at home, if only you had someone who could play the piano and sing all right. Thanks to the New York Public Library's collection of popular American sheet music, we can still enjoy these songs over and over again. Or at least the titles and covers, which are pretty great.

In February we had a look at love songs of the 1890s; this time around the decade is the 1910s. By then, of course, there were also records, and of course, by now, there's Youtube, so, amazingly, a few of the selections below come with the chance to listen, too.

So what did people like in their songs in the 1910s? Apparently rags, romance, and air travel.

New York Public Library

Published 1910. Source

New York Public Library

Published 1913. This one actually stayed popular for a long time, at least into the 1950s. You can listen to a 1913 recording, although it doesn't have the words. Source

New York Public Library

Published 1912, and apparently a classic rag. On Youtube. Source

Pictures from the Pictures, 1912-1915

An assortment of early film stills/ production photographs from this blog's buddy the New York Public Library. Very little information can be found about most of these films (I've included links for the rare exceptions); probably most of them were lost a long time ago, like thousands of other early films. I find it quite interesting, really, to get this one moment (or a couple moments, for films with more than one photo) and nothing else, leaving the rest of the story to your imagination.

As noted, photos come from films released 1912-1915 (I'm not sure why these specific dates, exactly; the NYPL sadly has no blurb about their selection (of about 100; this, of course, is my selection from their selection!)).

New York Public Library

"The Harvest," 1913. Source

New York Public Library

"Dr. Polly," 1913 [very obviously from another time...]. Source

New York Public Library

"The New York Hat," 1912 (you can watch this one on youtube). Source

Love Songs of the 1890s

For Valentine's Day! A selection of illustrated covers to popular love songs of the late 19th century (and 1901).

Back in the days before any form of recording, sheet music was the popular way to take music home for repeated enjoyment. The amazingly diverse collections of the New York Public Library include an immense collection of American sheet music spanning the 19th and 20th centuries-- thousands (from 1890 to 1922) have been digitized. Though this post only includes covers, all the sheet music itself can be accessed-- follow the source links if you are interested!

Since I"m a romantic, I've chosen the more romantic kinds of love songs for today. If you are feeling less than romantic, just have a browse through the 'love song' heading of the collection--there's plenty of heartbreak and cynicism as well, don't worry (I'm single too!).

New York Public Library

1901. Source

New York Public Library

1894. Source

New York Public Library

1891. Source

Forever Blowing Bubble Gum

Mid-century photos of people enjoying bubble gum!

Cornell Capa, LIFE © Time Inc.

1947. Source

Cornell Capa, LIFE © Time Inc.

1947. Source

Cornell Capa, LIFE© Time Inc.

Andrew J. Paris, the "Bubble Gum King," the first businessman to mass produce bubble gum after WWII (apparently he even has his own documentary!). 1947. Source

Montgomery Clift Watches Himself Onscreen

A series of photographs taken by J. R. Eyerman of actor Montgomery Clift while he watches himself onscreen. I love the concept of this series--taken on infrared film, so unobtrusive-- and Clift's range of expressions and poses in what's maybe two hours.

Taken in 1948, right at the start of Clift's movie career (though he was already a Broadway veteran). In 1949 he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his first movie, The Search. From the one shot of the screen this film looks like it might be The Heiress, released in 1949.

J. R. Eyerman, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

J. R. Eyerman, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

J. R. Eyerman, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

When You're a Jet

Photographs of West Side Story, today-- but not film stills, rather a set taken by photographer Gjon Mili at filming of the movie, during the opening and rumble scenes. So we have different views, different compositions, and some different shots entirely, all by a master photographer.

From the LIFE archives, 1960 (the tag is 40s/50s because the original musical premièred in 1957).

Riff leads the Jets in a dance down a New York street. Source

Source

The Sharks (with Jets close behind). Source

Nightlife in Paris, 1949

All kinds of clubs for all kinds of tastes, Paris, 1949.

Photos by Gjon Mili for LIFE.

Content advisory: partial nudity

Jitterbugging and saxophones at La Rose Rouge. Source

Inside La Scheherazde. Source

Clowns performing among patrons at Caveau des Oubliettes. Source

New York Public Library

Alfred Eisenstaedt at it again, this time snapping candid shots at the New York Public Library, 1944.