Michael G. Ankerich - The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities Who Bridged the Gap Between Silents and Talkies

ALSO BY MICHAEL G. ANKERICH

Broken Silence: Conversations with 23 Silent Film Stars
(McFarland, 1993; paperback 2011)

MICHAEL G. ANKERICH

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

ISBN 978-0-7864-6383-1

1998 Michael G. Ankerich. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

On the cover: from top Mary Brian, Hugh Allan, Lupita Tovar, William Janney, Billie Dove, Marion Shilling, Barbara Kent

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com

To Billie, Mary and Anita,
and the 13 others
who trusted me with their memories.
And to Charlie, who trusted me with his life.

Film historian Roi Uselton tops the list of those to whom I wish to express my deepest appreciation. He was a source of support from the inception to the completion of The Sound of Silence. He introduced me to four of the subjects included within these covers, and he made himself available to edit the finished manuscript. I am grateful for his advice, his encouragement and his inspiration.

Thanks also go to Pat H. Broeske, Juan Camacho, Jean Porter Dmytryk, Lenore Foote, Leatrice Gilbert Fountain, Eve Golden, Doris Heath, Bob King, Robert Klepper, Pancho Kohner, Donald Ludwin, Erik Madden, Randal Malone, Pat Vilma Marsh, Margaret OBrien, Jim Parish and Michael W. Schwibs.

Michael G. Ankerich
Columbus, Georgia
Spring 1998

It was a rainy afternoon in San Franciscolights glistening in the mist, a tingle in the air in a favorite restaurant high above Union Square, everyone eager to be seated. I had a date with Michael Ankerich, whom I had never met personally and knew only through his book Broken Silence, his magazine articles, and an exchange of letters. However, I had seen his picture accompanying his articles and soon recognized him.

We greeted each other with a hug and then sat down to one of the most delightful luncheon visits Ive ever enjoyed. So much to talk aboutmutual friends, and then the movies, movies, movies...

At that time, he was interviewing for the volume youre reading now, The Sound of Silence. I was more than happy to pass along my Hollywood experiences to him.

With the passing of years, more visits followed. Whenever Michael is in California, he shares some of his precious time with my family and me. How we look forward to his visits. He brings fun and interest to every moment for each one of us, from chatting with my 95-year-old husband to drawing picturessometimes stretched out on the floorwith our nine-year-old granddaughter Tammy Frances, who adores Michael.

Michaels presence never fails to generate excitement. Our telephone is ringing constantly when hes here, usually with calls from celebrities. One I recall with particular fondness. When I answered, a woman asked for Michael. I pictured a lovely face to match that low, velvety voice. My assumption was not unwarranted. I later learned the voice belonged to Billie Dove, the idol of my youthful days. And I had actually talked with her.

Michael often mentions Anita Page, another subject included in The Sound of Silence. I share his enthusiasm for this star of silent and early talking pictures. When I was under contract to MGM in 1929, Anita was the darling of the lot, MGMs young glamour girl. She was everyones favorite, and I shall never forget her kindness to me. Warm and outgoing from my first introduction to her, she invited me to her birthday party at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotela dinner-dance on the famous Roof Garden. For one starry-eyed guest, it was some enchanted evening.

I knew many of those featured in this book so many years ago(I was a Wampas Baby Star with Barbara Weeks in 1931). Through Michaels writing, however, I learned much about my contemporaries I never knew.

Michael once told me his philosophy of relating to people and writing about their lives. He said, Its not what they achieved or didnt achieve in their careers; its [how] they got there that counts. Thats in tune with his straightforward, uncluttered, forceful, pure style. He has a magic way with words.

I feel fortunate that Michael has focused his interest on my era of Hollywood. The choice of films of that period brought a higher dimension to our lives, an enchantment. The wholesome values of those movies, their spiritual uplift, are ever-widening in their influences.

The 16 people featured in this book contributed so much to the art of motion pictures as we know it today. I am pleased to have shared my memories and experiences of what was the finest era of filmmaking. It is often called the Golden Age of Hollywood, and it was. I know for a factI was there!

Marion Shilling

The Sound of Silence is a companion volume to Broken Silence: Conversations with 23 Film Stars (McFarland, 1993), a collection of interviews I conducted with silent film players.

Contained in this book are the stories of 16 film players, compiled from exclusive interviews I conducted by phone, through the mail or in person from 1987 to 1997. The quotes are from those conversations; the other text draws from my research into their lives and careers.

Scattered throughout are photographs from the personal collections of the subjects as well as from my own collection. A filmography of feature film appearances for each subject follows each chapter.

Most of these actors began their careers in silent films or in early talkies (some did most of their work in sound). Most of them have never before spoken this extensively about their work in motion pictures. All the subjects tell honest and fascinating stories about themselves and the Hollywood they lived, worked and played in.

For this volume, I approached a group of film players as diversified as the many roles they played in Tinseltown. Billie Dove was one of the last silent stars and, aside from Mary Brian, the most reluctant interview in The Sound of Silence. Brian and Anita Page started out as ingenues in silent films and soon graduated to leads.

Pauline Curley began her career in the early 1910s and later appeared opposite such silent heartthrobs as Antonio Moreno (in two serials), Harold Lockwood, John Gilbert and Douglas Fairbanks. She retired from the screen at the advent of sound after a decade of appearing in Westerns. Marion Shilling, who began her career as an ingenue at MGM in the late 1920s, later became one of the screens most dependable Western heroines of the 1930s.

Barbara Barondess, Rose Hobart, Barbara Weeks and Esther Muir were on the New York stage before breaking into films at the beginning of sound. Barondess and Hobart developed reputations as character actresses, and Muir was a screen comedienne and vamp. Lupita Tovar, an exotic Mexican beauty, is a film legend in Mexico and is remembered among film fans for her role in the Spanish version of