Norma Talmadge.
Say her name today to younger film buffs and you'll get a look that says: who's that?
She was the Meryl Streep of the Jazz Age, one of the super stars whose name on the marquee of a theater would guarantee millions of movie goers around the world to flock to her films.
That's why I was so eager to see her "talkie' debut in this 1929 production because nearly all of her film work has vanished. Or, the very few surviving films of her's are never shown, not only on TCM. One has to scour Youtube or search other film sources to even find a Norma Talmadge movie and when you do, it's so scratched and deteriorated as to be almost unwatchable.
But at least we can both see her and HEAR her in this exciting, very beautifully produced movie that Norma produced herself.
For 1929, the story is typical because MGM's 1929 production of BROADWAY MELODY--which also won the Oscar for Best Picture--set the deluge of backstage musical dramas/comedies.
Here we find Norma playing the wife of a musical composer, Gilbert Roland, whose too fond of drink and partying to be faithful to her. She discovers he's been two-timing her and so she finally throws in the towel and vows to become a party girl to make up all those lonely nights and sacrifices she's made for him over the years.
The movie gets off to an exciting beginning in the very first frame when we find ourselves in a racing police car through the streets of Manhattan. From there, the story speeds along with very few lulls. And we finally see Norma giving an outstanding performance as the dispirited wife. Her voice is fine and she gives off electricity, especially in her big dramatic scenes. She uses her outstanding facial expressions, gleaned from two decades in movie making, to convey her emotions. There's nothing old-fashioned about her performance. She's beautiful, intense and believable. She's also helped greatly by her outstanding wardrobe in the latter part of the film when she's become a good-time gal and attends a party where there's wild dancing and singing and entertaining.
What adds to the enjoyment of this movie are the striking interior sets created by William Cameron Menzies who won a special award for GONE WITH THE WIND. The moody, dramatic photography is by celebrated Ray June.
What makes Norma Talmadge such an iconic performer is that she began making films as a child in 1910 while her mother was taking in laundry to pay the bills. By the late 1900s and especially through the 1920s, both Norma and her blonde sister, Constance, reigned supreme among the silent screen's small handful of super stars that included Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow and Greta Garbo.
While Norma was notable for her dramatic performances, her sister, Constance, was the bubbly, enchanting good-time girl in her box office successes.
But NEW YORK NIGHTS proved to be a huge box office bomb, as did Norma's second "talkie" and with that she retired permanently from movie making. Legend has it that her sister Constance--who never attempted a single sound picture--telegraphed her sister to give up the movies and "be thankful for the trust funds Mama made for us." Yet, another legend has it that one day, in 1930, Norma was leaving the famous Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood when several fans rushed her as she was leaving. Before getting into her chaffeured limousine, Norma pushed their eager pens and pads away, saying: "Get away. I don't need you anymore." Her failure to succeed in the new era of sound has been falsely attributed to her voice but that's totally untrue. In NEW YORK NIGHTS her vocal abilities are normal and rich and vibrant.
Her failure may well be that movie fans wanted fresh, new faces for this new sound medium. Granted, a handful of silent screen favorites did cross over and did well, like Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Clara Bow and Greta Garbo. I think Norma could have succeeded with the right properties but she was already showing her age in this first talkie of her's and there's nothing more deadly for a movie career for a female performer in that era than to show signs of aging. Besides that, both she and her sister were already enormously wealthy, thanks to their mother's shrewd investments in real estate, and some other reviewer noted, the sisters owned nearly all of San Diego.
One wishes some writer or reporter had interviewed both her and her sister for a real sit-down interview to discuss their careers in depth.
Tragically, there's almost nothing to find about Norma today.
At least she gave us NEW YORK NIGHTS to show us what she could do before a camera--and it was magic.
Say her name today to younger film buffs and you'll get a look that says: who's that?
She was the Meryl Streep of the Jazz Age, one of the super stars whose name on the marquee of a theater would guarantee millions of movie goers around the world to flock to her films.
That's why I was so eager to see her "talkie' debut in this 1929 production because nearly all of her film work has vanished. Or, the very few surviving films of her's are never shown, not only on TCM. One has to scour Youtube or search other film sources to even find a Norma Talmadge movie and when you do, it's so scratched and deteriorated as to be almost unwatchable.
But at least we can both see her and HEAR her in this exciting, very beautifully produced movie that Norma produced herself.
For 1929, the story is typical because MGM's 1929 production of BROADWAY MELODY--which also won the Oscar for Best Picture--set the deluge of backstage musical dramas/comedies.
Here we find Norma playing the wife of a musical composer, Gilbert Roland, whose too fond of drink and partying to be faithful to her. She discovers he's been two-timing her and so she finally throws in the towel and vows to become a party girl to make up all those lonely nights and sacrifices she's made for him over the years.
The movie gets off to an exciting beginning in the very first frame when we find ourselves in a racing police car through the streets of Manhattan. From there, the story speeds along with very few lulls. And we finally see Norma giving an outstanding performance as the dispirited wife. Her voice is fine and she gives off electricity, especially in her big dramatic scenes. She uses her outstanding facial expressions, gleaned from two decades in movie making, to convey her emotions. There's nothing old-fashioned about her performance. She's beautiful, intense and believable. She's also helped greatly by her outstanding wardrobe in the latter part of the film when she's become a good-time gal and attends a party where there's wild dancing and singing and entertaining.
What adds to the enjoyment of this movie are the striking interior sets created by William Cameron Menzies who won a special award for GONE WITH THE WIND. The moody, dramatic photography is by celebrated Ray June.
What makes Norma Talmadge such an iconic performer is that she began making films as a child in 1910 while her mother was taking in laundry to pay the bills. By the late 1900s and especially through the 1920s, both Norma and her blonde sister, Constance, reigned supreme among the silent screen's small handful of super stars that included Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow and Greta Garbo.
While Norma was notable for her dramatic performances, her sister, Constance, was the bubbly, enchanting good-time girl in her box office successes.
But NEW YORK NIGHTS proved to be a huge box office bomb, as did Norma's second "talkie" and with that she retired permanently from movie making. Legend has it that her sister Constance--who never attempted a single sound picture--telegraphed her sister to give up the movies and "be thankful for the trust funds Mama made for us." Yet, another legend has it that one day, in 1930, Norma was leaving the famous Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood when several fans rushed her as she was leaving. Before getting into her chaffeured limousine, Norma pushed their eager pens and pads away, saying: "Get away. I don't need you anymore." Her failure to succeed in the new era of sound has been falsely attributed to her voice but that's totally untrue. In NEW YORK NIGHTS her vocal abilities are normal and rich and vibrant.
Her failure may well be that movie fans wanted fresh, new faces for this new sound medium. Granted, a handful of silent screen favorites did cross over and did well, like Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Clara Bow and Greta Garbo. I think Norma could have succeeded with the right properties but she was already showing her age in this first talkie of her's and there's nothing more deadly for a movie career for a female performer in that era than to show signs of aging. Besides that, both she and her sister were already enormously wealthy, thanks to their mother's shrewd investments in real estate, and some other reviewer noted, the sisters owned nearly all of San Diego.
One wishes some writer or reporter had interviewed both her and her sister for a real sit-down interview to discuss their careers in depth.
Tragically, there's almost nothing to find about Norma today.
At least she gave us NEW YORK NIGHTS to show us what she could do before a camera--and it was magic.