Book Reviewed: Broken Silence - Conversations with 23 Silent Film Stars, by Michael G. Ankerich
This is a book of recorded memories of film stars from silent era. There are few notable stars in this book that includes; Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Lew Ayres and Eleanor Boardman. The rest of them are less known actresses which includes; Lois Moran, Madge Bellamy, Ethylene Clair, Dorothy Revier, Patsy Ruth Miller and many others. Each star is discussed in a separate chapter and part of their biographies is also described. The book is an interesting read and does not go into depth to any degree.
Over the years, I have seen many movies of 1920s and 1930s on TCM and have become familiar with many less known stars, but I have not been able to read about them as there are no books about them. They did not dazzle like Mary Pickford, Joan Crawford, or Gloria Swanson, but offered commendable performances in the movies, and it is refreshing to read about them in this book and relate to their movies I have seen on TCM.
Some of the interesting facts about these stars may be summarized as follows: For example, actors like Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Eleanor Boardman, and Ethylene Clair did not have any ambitions to become film stars. But Lew Ayres, Marion Mack, and Dorothy Gulliver had burning ambition to be the stars of the silver screen. Lois Moran, Joyce Compton and others were pressured by their mothers to go into acting. But Gladys Walton, Patsy Ruth Miller and Dorothy Janis were discovered by talent scouts during their visits to Hollywood.
The Kiss, the last silent film of MGM starred Greta Garbo with Lew Ayres who was supposed to be a college student with whom Garbo had love interest. He recalls that she was intensely shy and was "charming in almost maternal way." Lew Ayers was married to actress Ginger Rogers for eight years and Janet Gaynor and Mary Brian were bridesmaids at their wedding.
Actress Eleanor Boardman and Greta Garbo were great friends. When Boardman was going to marry director King Vidor in August 1925, Garbo and John Gilbert were also to wed to make it double wedding. At the last minute Garbo got cold feet and never showed up for wedding. In this book Boardman recalls as how Louis B Mayer, head of MGM spoke lightly of Garbo after she didn't show up, and Gilbert was so irked by the insults about Greta Garbo, he slugged the guy. That was the end of his film career. Boardman vividly recalls this incident in the book.
Actress Ethylene Clair was almost abducted at gun point across the border to Tijuana, Mexico so that her friend Hinshaw could marry her. She refused his proposal, but apparently the fear of being killed by a gunshot; she went along and tied the knot at the office of the justice of peace. She was crying throughout, but the minister married her anyway and later told her that she was happiest bride he had ever seen. He thought she was crying out joy and happiness. Clair also recalls working with actress Louise Brooks and calls her as the "nastiest gal" she has ever seen.
Actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., describes how he met Joan Crawford; he marries later but to the objection of his father Doug Fairbanks, Sr. He narrates another interesting fact as how he comes in the middle of on-again-off-again romance between John Gilbert and Greta Garbo while doing the 1928 movie, "A woman of affairs" in which both Gilbert and Garbo are the main stars. Gilbert would ask him to deliver love message to sulking Garbo. He recalls that Garbo was "absolutely charming, and very friendly." Referring to his step-mother Mary Pickford, "She was very thoughtful and just absolutely charming." He was close to her until her death in 1979. He never forgot her unselfish attempts to bring the father and son together in friendship. There are numerous stories like that you can read in this book and it is definitely a fun read.
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