Voices of Silent Film Actors

[Kitty]

I know you all need this in your lives! Here is a lovely radio interview from 1959 of Mary Pickford.
https://youtu.be/xtn2sKhOEHs

[donnie]

I made a reply to this earlier and apparently forgot to hit send. Again. Anyway, this was very interesting!

I was saddened during the part where she was so affectionately describing Pickfair, considering it’s eventual fate. What an abhorrent thing that was!

But this was a wonderful interview. I’m actually somewhat surprised she granted it this late, but perhaps that was before she became so reclusive.

[Kitty]

I was saddened during the part where she was so affectionately describing Pickfair, considering it’s eventual fate. What an abhorrent thing that was!

But this was a wonderful interview. I’m actually somewhat surprised she granted it this late, but perhaps that was before she became so reclusive.

She sounded very wistful about her old Toronto, too. Doesn't she sound very proper? And isn't it amazing that she had basically no formal schooling?

I discovered this because it was going to be playing on Classic Drama Radio, and I looked for it on YouTube to share here. By the way, it was originally aired on December 28th, 1959, so we got to listen to it on the anniversary of the broadcast! They try very hard to air the shows on or close to the date of original broadcast to create an authentic feel. The program was called Face To Face.

[donnie]

She sounded very wistful about her old Toronto, too. Doesn't she sound very proper? And isn't it amazing that she had basically no formal schooling?

Yes, I think having the Canadian interviewer probably brought out that nostalgia about Toronto, especially. And yes, I was surprised about the schooling.

By the way, it was originally aired on December 28th, 1959, so we got to listen to it on the anniversary of the broadcast!

That's great!

I was particularly interested in her comments about D. W. Griffith and her experiences at Biograph. I would like to have heard to have heard her go into more detail on what it was like to work there for Griffith. Also, listening to both her and the interviewer's remarks about Griffith makes it obvious how much his reputation has suffered since 1959.

[BettyLouSpence]

Just finished listening. Thanks for sharing, Kitty!

Mary touched upon one of the main reasons I'm so fascinated by this era. Motion pictures were a brand new medium, and everyone involved was a pioneer; not just the players, directors and writers, but the people behind the scenes who were almost never credited: the cameramen, prop department, set designers, the people in the lab, etc. It really seemed like such an exciting time of innovation with silent films, so I'm always so interested in what the people who experienced it first hand have to say about it.

I was saddened during the part where she was so affectionately describing Pickfair, considering it’s eventual fate. What an abhorrent thing that was!

I never knew that Mary was considering turning Pickfair into a museum... somehow that makes it feel even worse.

[donnie]

Mary touched upon one of the main reasons I'm so fascinated by this era. Motion pictures were a brand new medium, and everyone involved was a pioneer; not just the players, directors and writers, but the people behind the scenes who were almost never credited: the cameramen, prop department, set designers, the people in the lab, etc. It really seemed like such an exciting time of innovation with silent films, so I'm always so interested in what the people who experienced it first hand have to say about it.

Yes! You can almost feel the excitement of new discovery, a palpable sense of everyone involved being in the midst of creating a new art form on the fly. That's particularly so for me in a lot of the Biographs, but also in the Thanhousers, Keystones, and others. I think I remember Linda Arvidson talking about that a good bit in When the Movies Were Young.

[Kitty]

Biographs, but also in the Thanhousers, Keystones, and others. I think I remember Linda Arvidson talking about that a good bit in When the Movies Were Young.

Did you notice the way she said Thanhouser like Tanhowser? I always called it with the th sound!
And I thought it was interesting and kind of funny when she couldn't remember the name of the Lubin company, calling it Rubin. Shows how much of an impression they made on her!

[donnie]

Yes, I did notice that pronunciation. I wonder if the h is indeed silent.

[BettyLouSpence]

Yes, I did notice that pronunciation. I wonder if the h is indeed silent.

It's pronounced with the th by everyone including Ned Thanhouser in the 2015 documentary on the studio. But I'm certain the Thanhouser site said it was pronounced with a t, at least when the studio was still extant (which would explain Pickford's pronunciation). It was either in the encyclopedia or the research section.

You can watch the whole documentary for free on Vimeo, courtesy of Ned's channel: The Thanhouser Studio and the Birth of American Cinema

[donnie]

Thanks for the info! I think I'll say it Ned and Mary's way, then.

I wonder if the name has any connection with the German name Tannhäuser . And if so, if that might account for the absence of the h sound? (I've usually heard Tannhäuser pronounced like tahn-hoy-zer by English speakers, at least as far as the Wagner opera is concerned.)

Edit: I see from the films link that the founder's parents were German immigrants. So I guess that could well have been an anglicized version of Tannhäuser that happened when they came to America.