Fighter Squadron, 1948. "Far more effective is the performance of 15-year-old Jack Larson, making his screen debut in the role of a rookie pilot who grows up in a hurry after scoring his first kill (Larson later gained TV immortality as Jimmy Olsen on Superman)."
Signed 1926 photo that recently sold for $637 on Bonhams Auction. Inscription, "To J.H. Huber / Best Wishes from / 'What Price Glory' Company / Raoul Walsh / Victor McLaglen / Dolores Del Rio / Edmund Lowe."
Walsh on Beery " Raoul Walsh, an early stage actor in New York city in 1909, became a director whose numerous films spanned the silent-to-sound era." "In 1914, Walsh went west with D. W. Griffith, and became a director of silent films such as Regeneration (1915), The Thief of Bagdad (1924), What Price Glory, and others. He also directed early talkies, including The Big Trail (1930), and other films such as They Drive by Night (1940), They Died with Their Boots On (1941), and White Heat (1949). Walsh worked with a range of actors and actresses over the period, from Gloria Swanson, Anna May Wong, and Douglas Fairbanks, to a young John Wayne, Wallace Beery, Marlene Dietrich, George Raft, Ida Lupina, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Errol Flyn and others." "In 1977, Walsh recalled the transition from silent film to sound in Guy Flately’s New York Times piece. “I knew we’d have problems when the actors had to learn lines,” he explained. “They had drama coaches, of course. I don’t know if they had conducted classes in a subway before they came west, or what, but I do know they were terrible. One of the actors who had a hard time was Wally Beery. He got the dialogue all backwards, so he just started ad-libbing. Some of what he said turned out good, but some had to be cut out…” Beery, however, was one of those actors who successfully weathered the silent-to-sound film era, in fact, becoming one the Top Ten box office draws in the early sound era, and winning an academy award for his performance in the 1931 film, The Champ. Beery was also among the stars in Walsh’s 1933 film, The Bowery." Wallace Beery, an actor from the silent film era, initially had trouble remembering lines. But he became a Top Ten box office draw, here with young Jackie Cooper in 1931's ‘The Champ,’ for which Beery won Best Actor.
Singin' in the Rain (3/8) Movie CLIP - The Sound Barrier (1952) HD Roscoe Dexter (Douglas Fowley) coaches Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) through the technical difficulties of sound recording while on set.
The Directors: Raoul Walsh "He got my attention when I was quite young because he directed some westerns I much admired. He also directed many adventure films and crime dramas, two other genres I have always been drawn to. He was a tough guy in real life and as a director but he never minded getting as much as he gave in that department. It's probably one reason he was drawn more to male-driven stories and worked often with actors like Cagney, Flynn and Bogart. He and I also had in common a love of those sassy, smart-mouthed actresses with some of his favorites being Virginia Mayo, Ida Lupino and Jane Russell. " With Bogie & Lupino on the set of High Sierra "Perhaps no one ever fell asleep while watching a Walsh flick. They are so loaded with action. His films were tightly edited, designed to show that action as ever-moving... there is never a dull moment. Each scene has a beginning, middle and end and yet each is woven into the overall fabric of the film seamlessly. The stories always played out in his head and he was able to usually achieve exactly what he wanted as the cameras began rolling. He was so strong about this aspect that he could be tough on those around him, particularly those who disagreed with him. He had no problem reminding anyone who the boss was."
I saw The Champ (1931) long ago on one of the Turner stations on TV. . Jackie Cooper was so good in that movie, I still remember the last scene.
"Women of all Nations" was not one of Raoul's best efforts. It was so bad, that Borgart had his scenes removed from the film, at his own expense! "Marines Flagg and Quirt fought together in WWI and Panama. After some time in New York they go to Sweden and compete for the love of Else. Next they go to Nicaragua and help earthquake victims. Then to Egypt where Else is now in Prince Hassan's harem, (where they tangle with Arab prince Bela Lugosi, who speaks Hungarian in lieu of Arabic). ." "Review:This is one truly lame, incredibly awful film, vapid and empty, with terrible characters, none of whom add anything at all to the ridiculous, nonsensical story! The only reason I watched this film was to see Marjorie White. She's only in one or two scenes near the beginning, then gone, her character is completely undefined,, she's just an extra. But Bela Lugosi meowing like a cat, and El Brendel picking his nose, come on now! And those two entirely talentless Vaudevillians Maglaglen & Lowe, either of them is forgettable on his own, but the two of them teamed together make Wheeler & Woolsey look like the Barrymores! Just Plain bad!! I'm really surprised to see something this poor come from from famed director Raoul Walsh, it's more suited to Ed Wood or John Waters!! (Obviously not one of his best efforts!!) Z-grade shlock on the minus scale of rating, what waste of good celluloid!! It's rumored that Humphrey Bogart was in it, but his scenes cut out at his own expense, he realized it was so bad he wanted nothing to do with it, so as not to ruin his career! A one-word review: NO!"
With a review like that, I have to see it now. .. It's available in 5 parts on YouTube Women of All Nations (1/5 - 1931)
Raoul Walsh (1897-1980) "He was adept at a variety of genres, but he became famous as a maker of Westerns and adventure films with exciting action sequences and classic storytelling of the lone, offbeat hero defining his own moral code and winning against all odds". "He was one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, although, surprisingly, he never won an Oscar, nor was he recognized by the Academy with a lifetime achievement award. For this reason he must be seen as one of the most neglected major figures in the development of Hollywood cinema."
Raoul, together with two extras, Italia and Venezia Frandi, in the days before a killer rabbit stole one of his eyes. Such beautiful, bright eyes too.
From the movie Angel of Contention (1914). .Raoul Walsh on far left with Lillian Gish. Looks like they've got him "strung up to a tree" ?