Book Reviewed: Idols of Modernity by Patrice Petro

The silent stars

This is a collection essays written by American academics specializing in the history of Hollywood. It looks at the careers of several stars of the twenties and it reveals a range of social, institutional and aesthetic issues they faced. The authors illustrate strong connections and dissonances in storytelling and style of this era when movie business was still at an infant state.

A brief summary of this book is as follows: Transitioning to sound movies which occurred around 1927/28 was especially hard for both studios and stars. Studios worried that the artistic element of silent movies will be lost in the sound version, and several stars lost their careers since they could not adjust to the new trend of recording their voices. Actresses like Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo made successful transitions into the sound. But Tallmadge sisters, Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Colleen Moore, Lillian Gish and Al Jolson are a few who almost lost their careers. Ramon Novarro and Marie Dressler were moderately successful. Historians often describe twenties as a decade of great affluence and hardship for varied reasons. Beginning with the end of WWI and the beginning of great depression, the decade sustained a dizzying array of changes and conflicts in American life. The constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote, prohibition, consumer rights, and changes in dress, social behavior and sexual attitudes that clashed with traditional values. It opened a liberal culture as commercial venues, from speakeasies in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, night clubs in Harlem, cabarets in Time Square, and Jazz clubs in Chicago’s south side gave some visibility and acceptability of gay and lesbian life styles among rich and famous. Most studios and gossip columnists knew about such behavior among leading stars of the day but the publicity departments of major studios worked hard to keep this from pubic. It is a long list of names that includes; Alla Nazimova, Rudolph Valentino, Ramon Novarro, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Anna May Wong, Lilyan Tashman, Delores De Rio, William Haines, and many others. Lavender marriages were common and often performed with the blessings of the studios. Sensational murder cases like that of Virginia Rappe and William Desmond Taylor for which Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle and Mabel Normand were respectively implicated. The public perception of the movie industry grew bad and it regarded the film colony as immoral, generally corrupt and bad for families. The movie industry set up a trade association called Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) headed by Will Hays to self-impose moral clauses in the films to prevent government instituted censorship. But this and other efforts failed since there was already a cultural and social revolution underway. Unfortunately racism was also rampant in American society and Hollywood did not abolish institutional bigotry by offering menial roles for African American and Asian actors. Al Jolson, a Jewish actor played the roles of back man on screen and limited the opportunities for black actors. Josephine Baker and Anna May Wong left the country in disgust.

Despite all the negativity of film industry, Hollywood eschewed any explicit representation of sex, but remained strongly erotic and ethnocentric. The American movie industry spread rapidly across the globe and literally defeated the European film making machinery. The success was attributed partly due to some key strategies developed in Hollywood that included importing many talents, both in directorial and acting categories, from across the Atlantic. The combined effect of American and foreign talents made Hollywood a great global success. It tackled a wide variety of stories and social issues and numerous stars glamorized the success. The careers of those explored in this volume includes: Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Buster Keaton, Talmadge sisters, Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow, Colleen Moore, Greta Garbo, Anna May Wong, Emil Jannings, Al Jolson, and Marie Dressler. The chapters look at some key moments in the life and works of these actors. There a great many books written exclusively about these stars but this book does a reasonable effort and cites many references to academic and non-academic publications to illustrate the factuality of the cases discussed. This is a good book and it is recommended to readers interested in silent movies and Hollywood history.