Warner Baxter

Rediscovering a Forgotten Star of Hollywood's Golden Age

    When I visited Rio a few years ago I happened to find myself in a bar and was surprised to see the walls adorned with large photos of old Hollywood movie stars mostly dating from the inter-war years. Among the famous names were some less familiar faces, and prominently displayed was Warner Baxter with his pencil moustache. I had not realised until then how big a name he had been, but as Dan Van Neste expertly displays in his definitive biography, The Accidental Star: The Life and Films of Warner Baxter, he was one of the biggest.

    Although Baxter came to prominence in the silent 1925 version of The Great Gatsby he made his name in talkies with The Cisco Kid, receiving an Academy Award for the follow-up In Old Arizona. Thereafter he had a string of successes and was outstanding in John Ford's The Prisoner of Shark Island as Dr Mudd. By 1938 Baxter was the highest paid actor in Hollywood. On the face of it, he had everything going for him - professional success, a stable marriage, beautiful houses, the esteem of his peers, and the dedication of his fans. Despite everything, he never found personal happiness and was beset by doubts and insecurities, not to mention a series of unfortunate accidents and brushes with death. The author's long experience as a film historian shines through. His research is impeccable and he writes with great insight and understanding, balancing admirably the professional and personal aspects of Baxter's life. The second half of the book is dedicated to an in-depth guide to his films, including valuable information about the many silents which are sadly lost. The text is adorned with numerous excellent photos throughout. 

    As the author acknowledges (and I know from experience) there are numerous difficulties associated with taking the road less travelled in biography and film scholarship, but long may he continue to do so. Dan Van Neste deserves the appreciation of all for bringing back to life for current and future generations an unfairly forgotten star of the Golden Age. The Accidental Star is, like his previous works, another lasting contribution to film history.

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Malcolm Scott "The Woman Who Knows"

Belated tribute to a forgotten star of music hall

   Malcolm Scott was a leading comedian in the Edwardian era who developed a highly satirical act dressed as a female figure of history, be it Elizabeth I or Katherine Parr. Highly popular in his day, he is now practically forgotten, but over ninety years after his death I hope to rekindle interest in him, with my book now published by Bear Manor Media. 

Scott in his send up of the Directoire style

   Scott came from a good family with a brother who became a famous admiral. However, when he was orphaned at 13, he was forced to take his fate in his own hands and eventually made his way to the stage, where he became a successful actor and found his metier in comedy dressed in female attire. He was a hugely successful pantomime dame, and by 1903 a star of music hall. His approach was far different to that of his fellow female impersonators in that he was not trying to fool anyone, but effectively sending himself up - along with everything else. Nothing was off-limits to him and he made a hit in London and New York with his satire of Maud Allan as Salome, at a time when the play was still banned. Throughout his career he was the doyen of Pierrot shows and later found fame on radio before his untimely death in his fifties.

   

   His recordings are sadly few and his sole film would appear to be lost, but I hope this belated tribute elevates him to share the limelight with the other greats of music hall. My book is the first to cover his life in some detail, and includes extensive lists of his performances, songs and monologues. It is available in hardback, softback and ebook directly from Bear Manor Media and other outlets. See details here A review here

https://bearmanor-digital.myshopify.com/products/malcolm-scott-the-woman-who-knows-hardback 

 Alfred Lester "Always Merry and Bright"

One of the subjects of my forthcoming book The Lost World of Music Hall (Bear Manor Media, 2021). Excerpt below:

"Alfred Lester was a lugubrious comedian who avoided the jolly idiot approach and perfected the persona of the ultimate pessimist. It could be argued that he channelled the underlying fatalism of Music-Hall into his stage characters, although much of that outlook was decidedly his own. He found his greatest popularity in Britain on the revue stage from the Great War up until his sudden death in 1925. If he had been reincarnated as a film comedian it would have been one in the Buster Keaton mould. Unlike Keaton, Lester is almost completely forgotten and liable to remain so. However, he was a good example of a different type of comic approach and one who successfully straddled the music hall and revue stage, pointing the way forward for others."

Follow link below:

https://bearmanor-digital.myshopify.com/products/the-lost-world-of-music-hall-hardback?_pos=1&_sid=6c569452b&_ss=r&fbclid=IwAR1Zo-gL_faEJ9COYHHjxUDED2ml5DiGF0joKO_35d4d6QI5lpjecz21ybU

Lily Morris 

Much-loved Cockney Comedienne 

Lily Morris was one of the great Variety artistes who is celebrated in my forthcoming book, The Lost World of Music Hall (Bear Manor Media, 2021)

"Lily Morris was a great Cockney comedienne. On stage from childhood, she was something of a teenage phenomenon. She was a doyen of pantomime and enjoyed her greatest popularity on the variety stage in the immediate post-war era. In her prime she presented a blousy figure and had a great way with a song, in the tradition of Marie Lloyd, with whom she was often compared. Usually, Morris in character was one over the eight, and delivered her songs in a disarming way but they were true gems of social comment, and she did full justice to them."  

(From the introduction)

Above right: Lily in character, c1922. Left: A young Lily during her years as a pantomime favourite.

See link:

https://bearmanor-digital.myshopify.com/products/the-lost-world-of-music-hall-hardback?_pos=1&_sid=6c569452b&_ss=r&fbclid=IwAR1Zo-gL_faEJ9COYHHjxUDED2ml5DiGF0joKO_35d4d6QI5lpjecz21ybU

 

A book trailer for The Life and Times of Sydney Greenstreet (Bear Manor Media, 2018) which features many rare photographs. http://www.bearmanormedia.com/life-and-times-of-sydney-greenstreet-hardcover-edition-by-derek-sculthorpe

"A man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk."

 The Life and Times of Sydney Greenstreet

 Sydney Greenstreet made one of the most memorable debuts in film history when he played the grasping Kaspar Gutman in John Huston'sThe Maltese Falcon (1941). The film encapsulated much of the spirit of Dashiell Hammett's novel and became an instant classic, ushering in a new age of film noir. Greenstreet was sixty-one and had hitherto withheld his talents from the big screen. His career stretched back to 1899 when he first played in amateur dramatics and ended in 1951 with The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe. In between he played everything from Shakespeare to musical comedy, via farce and some of the most acclaimed plays of the 1930s.

   Greenstreet had a career like no other and I hope my book about him does justice to one of the finest character actors of his era. Included are well over 100 photographs, many of which have never been seen before.

   The Life and Times of Sydney Greenstreet is published by Bear Manor Media and will be available as a softcover, hardcover, ebook and audiobook. See the link below:

http://www.bearmanormedia.com/life-and-times-of-sydney-greenstreet-softcover-edition-by-derek-sculthorpe