"Artists and Models (1937) was one of a string of middle-of-the road musicals for which Raoul Walsh was given the title, Director of Mediocre Musicals, for a short while. A hat he could not take off soon enough. By now he could do lively in this sleep.... He directed the musical Hitting a New High [the one with Lily Pons, the Bird Woman] at RKO and later said of the picture, I didn't know what the hell it was all about---this girl singing her head off. Andre Kostelanetz using footage and stuff. 'What the hell,' I said, 'let 'em do what they want. I don't know what's going on.' But when Warner Bros released Strawberry Blonde (1941), the studio knew it had a hit on it hands. Walsh received accolades, with most critics scratching their head wondering how a fast action director could take a sentimental tale and keep it so poignantly on target. In one interview after another Walsh said that Strawberry Blonde was his favorite of all the movies he directed during the sound era." —Raoul Walsh: The True Adventures of Hollywood's Legendary Director, By Marilyn Moss The Turner Classics Movie version ran 99 minutes. The extra two minutes was due to a 'follow-the-bouncing-ball' sing-along after The End and before the credits. I like this song. All Right Folks, Let's Go!
Father Walsh The Revolt of Mamie Stover was directed by Raoul Walsh whom Jane adored. She called him Father Walsh and stayed in touch for the rest of his life, sending him telegrams every year on Father’s Day
September 18, 1937 "Thomas W. Walsh, retired. clothing manufacturer, died yesterday of a heart attack at his home, 141 West Ninety-fifth Street, at the age of 84. Mr. Walsh was born in Sheffield, England, and came to this country when he was 14 years old. He started as a clerk in a small clothing establishment and later established the firm of Lange Walsh, men's clothiers."
The Monkey Talks (silent) 1927 Directed by Raoul Walsh "A bankrupt circus act plans to revive its fortunes by disguising a diminutive acrobat as a talking chimpanzee. When the acrobat falls in love with a beautiful tight-rope walker, Olivette, things go awry. And last but not least, the friend of the fake monkey also falls in love with Olivette. Director Raoul Walsh keeps the action going, but he can't inject plausibility into this orangutangle. " There is a video of this movie available on YouTube. Some parts are so deteriorated you can't make them out, but you can get the gist of it. The plot is so bizarre you get kind of hooked wondering what will happen next. JACQUES LERNER, the "greatest delineator of animal roles in the theatrical world" with Acker, the noted chimpanzee actor, who he based his make-up on, for his role in Raoul Walsh's THE MONKEY TALKS
"Raoul Walsh was a breeder and owner of Thoroughbred racehorses. For a time, his brother George Walsh trained his stable of horses. Their horse Sunset Trail competed in the 1937 Kentucky Derby won by War Admiral who went on to win the U.S. Triple Crown. Sunset Trail finished sixteenth in a field of twenty runners."
Cover of Films in Review magazine I think that's Delores del Rio and Charles Ferrell (The Red Dance, 1928).
I finally got to watch The Big Trail (1930). from start to finish last night. Two hours. It was worth it. Not for the plot but the scenery. So much going on in every corner of the screen. It seemed so realistic I almost couldn't watch the river crossing scenes. One woman, who makes several appearances with an axe, reminds me of my great-grandmother. The cliff scene has been pictured already in previous posts. "Not content to just have one wagon at a time hauled over a cliff, Walsh stages all the wagons going over at the same time.... And to "top" the sequence, he has the settlers scuttling down a long rope amid the wagons. It's a tremendous visual, one that impresses as much for its feat of engineering as for its thematic energy." Tully Marshall and Raoul Walsh on the set.
In Old Arizona (1929) Directed by Irving Cummings / Raoul Walsh Synopsis by Hal Erickson "Warner Baxter, sporting a black mustache and a musical-comedy Mexican accent, stars as the Cisco Kid, the "Robin Hood of the Old West" created by O. Henry. Edmund Lowe co-stars as Cisco's "friendly enemy" Sgt. Mickey Dunne, the role that was originally to have gone to Raoul Walsh. Both men are madly in love with dusky beauty Tonia Maria (Dorothy Burgess), and in fact Cisco is so "far gone" that he composes a song in the girl's honor (actually, "My Tonia", first heard during the opening credits, was written by Fox studio tunesmiths Lew Brown, B.G. DeSylva and Ray Henderson)." My Tonia (Recorded 1928) "Alas, Tonia ends up betraying Cisco to Sgt. Burke. But the crafty, cold-blooded Cisco arranges for Tonia to be killed in the trap set for him (this plot resolution is faithful to O. Henry's original conception of the Cisco Kid, who wasn't really meant to be a "good guy")."