Francis X. Bushman 'The King of the Movies'

He was one of the biggest stars of the silent film era.  He was a multi-millionaire, and an early body-builder.  His name was Francis X. Bushman (1883 - 1966) and he is almost forgotten today.  He was a victim of the Talkies.

Bushman's movie career began in 1911, about the same time as the great movie migration to California.  He started work at Essanay Studios in Chicago, about three years before Charlie Chaplin started working there.  As you may know, Essanay was an elongated name for the initials of the founders, George Spoor and G. M. 'Bronco Billy' Anderson.  Other famous stars at Essanay were Ben Turpin, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Beery, Tom Mix and Harold Lloyd.  Louella Parsons got her start at Essanay as a screenwriter before becoming a gossip columnist.

90% of Bushman's titles are silent films.  Most of these have been lost to deterioration of the nitrate film stock, or just plain carelessness on the studio's part.  Who would have thought that a 20 minute short film would need to be preserved?  We can only hope someone has a film vault somewhere with these forgotten films.  It does happen.

Bushman owned a large estate, somewhere near Baltimore, MD.  It is said he was always seen in public with five Great Danes, and he had 295 more of them at home.  He was considered one of the most handsome men in America, and he was also a model.  He was married four times.

In 1925, Bushman was cast as Massala in MGM's Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ.  This was, perhaps, his most famous role.  Ramon Novarro (1899 - 1968) was cast in the title role, and it was possibly MGM's biggest silent success.  The silent version is included with the 1959 release in a box set.

In Ben Hur we also see Betty Bronson (1906 - 1971) who played the first screen Peter Pan in 1924, and Leo White (1873 - 1948) who made a living as a Bit Actor and extra in over 430 films from 1911 (at Essanay) until The Fountainhead was released in 1949 after his death.

He was the only one on the Ben Hur production who could handle driving a team of horses pulling a chariot, without being injured or killed.  When Charleton Heston had to master the same task for the 1959 release, he said "The only one in Hollywood who could drive a chariot was Fancis X. Bushman...and he was too old."

One of Bushman's last silent films was Say it with Sables (1928), a feature film written and directed by Frank Capra.  This was their only work together.

I was unable to find a quick answer to why his popularity waned with the talkies.  Perhaps his voice wasn't clear enough for the mike, or maybe he didn't want to let go of the silent film style of acting.  In sound films you don't need big body language and facial expressions to carry the story as you do without sound.

Bushman would appear in about 20 more big screen films, plus numerous teleplays and TV shows.  His final film was a 1966 Tommy Kirk (b. 1941) vehicle called The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, and his last appearance was as an old man on "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" that same year.

He's a hunk...isn't he?

Skippy a.k.a. Asta

I thought I would write a few quick notes on one of the most talented actors of the 1930s, Asta the dog (b.1931 or 1932 - d. ?).  I just happen to have After the Thin Man (1936) on TCM as background noise.  That may have made me think of Asta.

Asta was originally named Skippy, but after The Thin Man (1934) he was forever known as Asta.  IMDb lists eight titles for Asta, but that has to be incorrect.  The final title is "The Thin Man" television series in 1958, and Asta would have been 26 years old.  Not possible for a wire haired terrier.

A look at Wikipedia shows a more logical glance at his professional career.  Asta probably appeared as an extra in several films before hitting it big.  They also note that one of Asta's trainers was Rudd Weatherwax (1907 - 1985), who made Lassie (or Pal) famous.

In 1937 we see Asta starring in The Awful Truth, with supporting players Irene Dunne (1898 - 1990) and Cary Grant (1904 - 1986).  Asta is the center of a custody dispute in this rom-com.

Asta also appears in Bringing Up Baby (1938) working with Grant again, and also with Katherine Hepburn (1907 - 2003).  Then, the same year, he appears in Topper Takes a Trip, with Constance Bennett (1904 - 1965).  That was a curious entry in the Topper series, as it was absent the George Kirby character.  I must look into that!

Asta's character appears in six Thin Man movies, but Skippy is only in the first two.  There is an interesting quote from an article in The American Magazine in 1938 -

"Skippy, a smart little wire-haired terrier, is one of the leading stars in pictures. He leads a glamorous life—a dog's life de luxe. He is rated as one of the smartest dogs in the world, and when contracts are signed for his appearance in a picture he gets $200 a week for putting his paw-print on the dotted line. His trainer gets a mere $60."

Asta's antics in The Thin Man and After the Thin Man have endeared him to dog lovers for decades.  Another line from the magazine article said, "Treat a dog kindly and he'll do anything in the world for you."  Our wonderful dog Sadie has shown us that.  My wife and I rescued her and she has turned into a loving pet.

After the Thin Man also has Mrs. Asta, and is probably the best of the series.  Who needs a murder story when you have talented dogs!

Marie Blake

Marie Blake (1895 - 1978) was a Bit Actress later known as Blossom Rock.  I didn't know her real name was Marie Blake until a short time ago.  And Blossom Rock is best known as Grandmama on "The Addams Family."

She was born Edith Marie Blossom MacDonald, right here in Philadelphia.  Her younger sister, Jeanette MacDonald (1903 - 1965) became a bit more famous, making eight films with Nelson Eddy (1901 - 1967).  Jeanette only made 29 films, but Blossom made 101 appearances in film and on TV.

She worked in vaudeville with her sister, and then married Clarence Rock in 1926.  They moved to New York and worked on Broadway until MGM spotted Marie, er, Blossom and signed her to a contract.  At MGM they changed her name to Marie Blake.

Her first feature film was Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937) which was also the first pairing of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.  She would make another film with Garland and Rooney together, and two more with Rooney.  Her next film, released the same year, was Mannequin starring Joan Crawford and Spencer Tracy.  Not a bad start.

In 1938 she starts work as a switchboard operator with Drs. Kildare and Gillespie.  She stays until the end of that popular series in 1947, making 12 films with either Lew Ayres or Lionel Barrymore (another Philadelphian), or both.  During this period she even finds herself working in a few of the later MGM Our Gang comedies.

In 1940 she has a small part as a waitress in They Drive by Night with Humphrey Bogart and George Raft.  That same year she plays Miss Lulubell in Li'l Abner, a movie that I happen to have on DVD.  I'm not sure why.

She takes uncredited roles well into her movie career, and we can find her in Christmas in Connecticut, a 1945 Barbara Stanwyck film that is well worth owning.  Next time I watch it, I will look for Mrs. Wright, played by Blossom or Edith or Marie...but she isn't credited anyway.

Blossom started working in television in "The Life of Riley" in 1949, with Jackie Gleason in the title role.  William Bendix took over that role in 1953.  My guess is that Blossom was only in a very few episodes, but back then not everyone who acted was recorded by episode.  Did they think that television was a throw away commodity?

Television must have paid the bills because we see her name attached to quite a list of shows.  But nothing regular came along until "The Addams Family" in 1964.  It was a shame that she never appeared in a Jeanette MacDonald film, even though they both worked at MGM.  Now that I think back to Grandmama's speaking voice, she might not have fit in with Jeanette and Nelson!

Her final work is her most famous, at least with today's audiences.  "The Addams Family" has always been one of my favorite shows.  It is right up there with "The Dick Van Dyke Show" for humour mixed with touching and sensible family values.  I can forgive her for making films like Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961), and will remember her for her antics with Morticia, Gomez and Fester.

The Arrival of Charlie Sheen

With all the recent news of Charlie Sheen's (b. 1965) disastrous lifestyle choices, I had to cover him in something.  I didn't want to chose something the he was actually good in, like Platoon (1986), Wall Street (1987) or Major League (1989).  He has 66 titles listed on IMDb, so let's see...how about The Arrival (1996)?  I can't help myself, so if you haven't seen The Arrival, go see it now and then come back to read this post.  I'll wait.  There are spoilers below.

The Arrival is a sci-fi flik about aliens setting up shop in Mexico and trying to prepare the Earth to be more hospitable to them when they finally take over.  It's called terraforming and they are raising the temperature of the atmosphere by shooting great balls of fire into the sky.  (And nobody seems to notice these things for some reason.)

The hero of the story is Charlie "I'm tired of pretending I'm not special" Sheen who is a radio astronomer.  He intercepts a signal from the aliens and is promptly fired by his boss, who happens to be one.  (An alien...not a signal.)  He then sets up his own radio telescope by re tasking all the satellite TV antennas in the neighborhood, for his own use.

The basic story is actually pretty good, but the details cause it to fall apart when you start to think about it in a scientific way.  Just to think that all those satellite TV customers would go without reception for more than a day is impossible!

Charlie acts quite disturbed all through this film.  Maybe it wasn't acting.  He looks very disturbed with a spiky haircut and a silly beard, not to mention those wild eyes.  Even his character's name is weird, Zane Zaminsky.

The rest of the cast is better, and some of the special effects are very good.  The aliens have a cool little ball that they can put in a room and suck everything in sight into it...including a huge radio telescope.  And when they run, they kink their legs backwards.

The short-lived love interest is played by Lindsay Crouse (b. 1948) as another scientist who discovered the same invasion, but she is killed by scorpions while Charlie is taking a bath.  Lindsay has 77 titles, including some very well known TV series' as a regular.  On the big screen you can find her with Paul Newman in The Verdict (1982).

Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen in happier days

The bad guy and former alien boss of Sheen is played by Ron Silver (1946 - 2009).  Silver has 82 titles listed, and was a former president of Actors Equity.  He did lots of TV including "Rhoda" in the 1970s, and his work on the big screen is also extensive with some big hits.  Silkwood (1983), Romancing the Stone (1984), Oh God! You Devil (1984), Mr. Saturday Night (1992), and Timecop (1994).  More recently he had a regular role on "The West Wing."

Most of the cast appears to be Mexican, as the movie was largely shot on location.  In fact, this entire movie is populated by Bit Actors rather than big stars.

As much as I like to let people live their own lives and learn from their mistakes, I do believe that Charlie Sheen should seek professional help.  Please, Charlie, get some help!

Baby Rose Marie

One of the very best TV sitcoms of all time has to be "The Dick Van Dyke Show" made from 1961 to 1966.  It was funny for sure, but it was also smart, and it appealed to every audience.  Dick Van Dyke (b. 1925) had some great one-liners throughout the run of the series, and with Mary Tyler Moore (b. 1936) at his side, it all worked.

In the series, the team of comedy writers played by Morey Amsterdam (1908 - 1996) and Rose Marie (b. 1923), really brought in the laughs.  But it was more than that.  Most of the series was filmed with a live audience.  That gives the actors a better gauge for the timing required for maximum laugh effect.  Plus, the creators and writers were the best.  How can you miss with the names Carl Reiner, Danny Thomas, Sheldon Leonard and Garry Marshall involved?

Rose Marie, who was 38 when the series began, was only three years old when she started performing in vaudeville as Baby Rose Marie.  She was a hit, and also worked in early radio.  Starting in 1929, after the talkies were no longer considered a fad, she made seven short films up until 1938.  She also appeared in International House in 1933 with a huge comedy cast.  She then went to radio full time.

The 1950s brought her back to the screen in Top Banana (1954) starring Phil Silvers (1911 - 1985).  I would imagine she wanted to stretch her wings a bit, and we see Marie in several dramatic TV shows including "Gunsmoke," and "M-Squad" which starred Lee Marvin.

She is a regular on "The Bob Cummings Show" and then in a short lived series called "My Sister Eileen" before her big TV break with Dick Van Dyke.  Many more TV shows would be in her future after that triumph.

Let's look at her movies.  In 1966 she is in a James Coburn (1928 - 2002) film, Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round.  That was a crime/comedy/drama, so she would fit in well.  Her next movie was in 1974 called Memory of Us, with the father/daughter team of Will and Ellen Geer.  I haven't seen it, but I guess it was less than memorable, and Rose only played the housekeeper.

The next year she is in The Man from Clover Grove and that movie had the tag line, "It's Supersonic Comedy, out of Remote Control!" so you can guess how good it was.  She did get to work with her friend Richard Deacon in that one.

Next were two horror films, again in just small parts.  Witchboard (1986) and Sandman (1993).  She also does a voice-over in the 1998 remake of Psycho starring Anne Heche (b. 1969).  Why would ANYBODY try to remake Psycho?!?

I would have liked to see Rose Marie in more dramatic roles.  She has an interesting face that was still photogenic as she aged, and her resume shows that she has all the experience any casting director could want. I guess we will have to be happy with all of her small screen work, which is considerable.  And someday I will pick up the entire "Dick Van Dyke Show" set because that is just about the best thing she was ever in.

Rose Marie now has 71 titles listed on IMDb, plus another huge number of appearances as herself on various TV shows and documentaries.  She is also active on the stage.  After her short life as a child star, she would become a favorite Bit Actress on TV and in film.

The Great Ziegfeld

Here is a movie that, somehow, I had missed seeing.  The Great Ziegfeld (1936) was recently on TCM, so I put it on the DVR.  My wife and I just watched it.  This movie has a huge cast for 1936, and a huge price tag.  It cost $2,000,000 to make, but it took in $40,000,000 and won an Oscar for Best Picture.

No, I won't talk about William Powell, Myrna Loy, or Frank Morgan.  If you are reading a classic movie blog, you already know those names.  Let's look at some smaller parts.

In some very small parts we find Rosina Lawrence (1912 - 1997) and Mae Questel (1908 - 1998) who are both acquaintances of mine.  Rosina played in several Laurel and Hardy films and Little Rascals shorts for Hal Roach.  I attended Sons of the Desert banquets and conventions with her.  A wonderful lady--first class.  Mae was the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl and entertained us at one of the Sons of the Desert conventions.

Look quickly for Vivian Vance (1909 - 1979) in the audience of Anna Held.  It was her second film, and years before "I Love Lucy."  There is also an appearance of William Demarest (1892 - 1983) who has 167 titles on his list, including "My Three Sons."

Another Hal Roach actor in Ziegfeld is Mickey Daniels (1914 - 1970) who was in quite a few of the Little Rascals silent films. 

Nat Pendleton (1895 - 1967) played Sandow the strong man.  Pendleton has over 110 movies on his filmography.  He was in five with William Powell, including the first two Thin Man movies.  He was a strong man in real life and may be the first to display his body as art.  He was an Olympic wrestler for the United States in 1920, winning a silver medal.  In his later career he was in Buck Privates (1941) and Buck Privates Come Home (1947) with Abbott and Costello.

Reginald Owen (1887 - 1972) is cast as Sampston in one of his 142 titles.  Of course, Owen was Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1938 film, A Christmas Carol.  He was also the captain of the ship in White Cargo (1942) with Hedy Lamarr (1914 - 2000).  That must have been a steamy adventure!

Finally Ray Bolger (1904 - 1987) appears as Ray Bolger; and Fanny Brice (1891 - 1951) appears as Fannie Brice, but is credited as Fannie Brice.  Well, that's what IMDb says.

If you are new to classic films, this one is certainly worth viewing.  You can also catch the incredible staging of the song, A Pretty Girl in That's Entertainment (1974).  Could Ziggy have really done that on a theater stage???

Wyatt Earp

I remember from my youth that Wyatt Earp was "brave, courageous and bold."  Last weekend I caught Wyatt Earp on television.  This was the 1994 movie starring Kevin Costner (b. 1955).

I think that this may be the most accurate portrayal of the real Earp, but you have to keep in mind that Earp's real history is very cloudy and many details will never be known.  In both of the recent movies, Wyatt Earp and Tombstone (1993), Morgan Earp dies on a pool table.  In reality he died on a couch where they put him after he was shot.  Also, Josie Marcus, who lived with Wyatt for the rest of his life, was not really that beautiful.  All the actresses chosen to portray her are very definitely beautiful.  And in this movie, Wyatt burns the house where he lived with his first wife, when in reality he sold it for $75.00.  Are the details really necessary?  Take a look at the 'Goofs' link on IMDb for more.

The USA extended version of this film is 212 minutes in duration.  I had the pleasure of watching it on commercial television for over four hours.  Did I say pleasure?  It gave me time to walk the dog and do other chores, since the commercial breaks were close to ten minutes long.

Enough complaining!  This movie had a wonderful cast.  As I may have said before, Costner is best in sports movies, but he also does well in westerns.  All of the major characters are also played by stars including Gene Hackman, Bill Pullman, JoBeth Williams, Tom Sizemore, Mark Harmon, etc.

The real color in this movie comes from the Bit Parts.  Since the cast is so large, let's look at just a few.  Norman Howell played Johnny Ringo.  This was a small part in Wyatt Earp.  In Tombstone, Ringo is much more prominent.  In reality, I don't know how well either of these movies did, but I know that Ringo didn't die at the hands of Earp (as in Wyatt Earp) or Doc Holliday (as in Tombstone). 

Norman Howell is a stunt man.  He is in over 200 movies, but only has acting credits in 20.  I think it was a smart move to cast stunt artists in some of the parts.  His first acting role was in The Cowboys (1972) starring John Wayne. 

Indian Charlie, who is killed by Earp in a creek during the revenge scene, was played by Scotty Augare.  Augare is only in two movies and one TV series, but he was a wrangler for Dances with Wolves (1990) and I bet that is when he came to the attention of Costner.  He is a very handsome man, obviously of Native American lineage.

Ben Zeller played one of the doctors.  If you look closely, you'll find that Zeller was construction coordinator for Dances with Wolves, and was in the cast of Silverado (1985).  Another Costner find?

Did you see Tea Leone (b. 1966)?  She is a dance hall girl in a very small speaking part, only her third movie.  I missed her completely in A League of Their Own (1992), a fact I just noticed while doing this research.

Lastly, at the end of the movie we see young Mackenzie Astin (b. 1973) on the ship in Alaska with Wyatt and Josie.  Astin had the lead role in Iron Will, released the same year as Wyatt Earp.  I liked him in both movies.  He is the son of Patty Duke and John Astin, and now has 46 titles listed on IMDb.

I won't recommend that you put together a list of movies about Wyatt Earp to watch when you are snowed in for a weekend, but that's up to you.  All I know is, "Long may his story be told."

Bond, Jimmy Bond

I suppose that you know by now of my interest in history.  Film history is only one area of research for me.  My wife and I have been studying all sorts of history.  We even had our honeymoon in Gettysburg, PA.

A film series as popular and successful as James Bond had to have a history.  Everyone knows that Ian Fleming (1908 - 1964) wrote the stories about the British super secret agent known as 007.  It is fun to dig a little further.

Fleming wrote 13 novels and two story collections about James Bond.  According to Wikipedia, there have been 22 Bond films released, with a 23rd in the works for release next year.  They also state that the total box office take (so far) has been over $4.8 BILLION.  I'd call that successful.

The very first Bond novel was Casino Royale, written in 1952.  It is also the very first story used for a screen appearance of Bond, but here is where history gets to be fun.  In 1954, Casino Royale was presented on live television, making it Number One of the complete set.  I saw it for the first time this week.

Fleming reportedly sold the story rights for $1,000.  The story was then Americanized.  James Bond became Jimmy Bond, played by Barry Nelson (1917 - 2007), and he was an American spy.  He receives additional help from Clarence Leiter (name changed from Felix Leiter) who was a British spy.  In the later movies and the books, Leiter is American.  You can read my post about Leiter here.

The first Leiter was played by Michael Pate (1920 - 2008), and they spelled his character's name wrong in the credits, as Clarence Letter!  We also see the wonderful Peter Lorre (1904 - 1964) as Le Chiffre, our ruthless villain.  Nelson only took the role as Bond so he could have a chance to work with Lorre.

The female lead was played by Linda Christian (b. 1923).  She gets to kiss Bond, but there is no other hanky-panky.  It was only a one hour program!  She was good in the role as a double agent who lets emotion get involved in her character.  Well done for 1954 television.

Le Chiffre's henchmen were played by Gene Roth (1903 - 1976) who has 267 acting credits, and Kurt Katch (1896 - 1958) with 88 titles.  I suppose I have two more Bit Actor names for research!  These guys and the unidentified third bad guy were nasty!

The special edition set shown in the Amazon link above includes the 1966 spy spoof, Casino Royale, and also the 1954 TV presentation.  It is well worth owning.  It also has an interview with director Val Guest (1911 - 2006) who tells about the confusion of making the psychedelic movie.

In 1954 we had a lot of teleplays presented, and they included some big stars from Hollywood.  "Casino Royale" was one presentation of a series called "Climax!" which aired from 1954 to 1958.  The only problem is that video tape wasn't perfected yet.  Shows were either filmed for later editing and then broadcast, or they were presented live.  Most live shows were recorded on kinescope.  It is a rather crude process where a film camera is aimed at a television monitor.  The results are usually contrasty and have dark halos around some subjects.

The kinescope of this teleplay was lost until 1981 when Jim Shoenberger found it in his collection.  It was labeled "Casino Royale," but he thought it was the 1966 film.  When he saw it was black and white film, he looked more carefully.  Lucky for us this piece of history was re-discovered.

The copy has been released and is worth watching.  The story moves quickly, and it has the telltale signs of being a kinescope, but I enjoyed seeing it.  It is typical of teleplays in the 1950s.  You can tell that the sets are small and whenever you have something live on TV, someone will drop a line or fumble a word.  That's what makes it all so special.

More Marjorie Beebe

A guest post by Ian Craine -

MARJORIE BEEBE is largely forgotten today but in her time she was quite a star. Mack Sennett is on record as saying he believed she had the potential to be the greatest movie comedienne of them all. That’s praise indeed coming from the King of Comedy.

Beebe was a Missouri girl and the family moved to California when she was in her teens. She quickly became known at local cinemas and then at the studios; she was determined to become a movie star. She started out at Universal but soon moved to Fox and appeared in a number of their silent features. At first she played support to other actresses, particularly Madge Bellamy, but her talent for comedy was becoming apparent and she was given her own vehicle in 1928, The Farmer’s Daughter (Arthur Rosson, dir.). She got rave reviews for this; more than one newspaper suggested that she was the best comic actress seen for a very long time.

Mack Sennett was similarly impressed and within the year Beebe had left Fox and joined him. Her work with Sennett was different in two significant ways. Firstly with one solitary exception she stopped appearing in features. Sennett’s speciality was the two reel short and she appeared in at least forty over the next four years. Secondly and perhaps more importantly she was now in talkies. Sennett was experimenting with the new form and Marjorie Beebe was highly versatile. She was adept at old-style slapstick and a mistress of the pratfall. But she was also great with a wisecrack or a put-down.

Photo courtesy of Ian Craine

She would become Sennett’s star turn and two reelers would be written and named for her. She had her own screen persona, Marge Martin (daughter to Andy Clyde’s Pop Martin) but played any number of other roles too, usually on the sassy side…intrepid reporters, flirty wives, gangsters’ molls, club hostesses. Of particular interest are Cowcatcher’s Daughter (1931, Babe Stafford, dir.), Sennett’s nod to The Farmer’s Daughter, which is regrettably lost, with Beebe as a sassy cowgirl; and Doubling in the Quickies (1932, Babe Stafford, dir.) where she plays a Hollywood wannabe much as she had once been herself.

Mack Sennett went bankrupt in 1933 and Beebe’s career went into freefall with him. She went back to features and acted support in a few Westerns but her talents were wasted. She had always been a party girl and a drinker and Sennett had been the one man who seems to have been able to handle her. The second half of the 1930s were not a happy time for her; she had at least three unsuccessful marriages. She retired permanently in 1940 and finally began to find contentment again with her last husband well away from the spotlight.

 
Many thanks to Ian for his insight into ages past and a star who's light would only shine for a short time on the silver screen.

Marjorie Beebe, Part 1

Today I will cover the films of a silent movie star, Marjorie Beebe (1909 - 1983).  Your reaction may be similar to mine when I heard the name.  I said, "Who?"  Here is how this came about.

A few months ago I posted about Andy Clyde (1892 - 1967).  His is a well known name in film and TV.  I received an e-mail from a chap in London who told me about Beebe.  He was actually writing a short bio of her for a magazine at the time, which has since been published in the Journal of Popular Culture.  His name is Ian Craine. 

Marjorie Beebe appears in 79 titles from 1926 to 1939, and was a staple in over 40 films with Mack Sennett, who gave her a real chance starting in 1929.  She made 17 films with Andy Clyde, and played his daughter in many of the 'Pop Martin' movies. 

Her first talkie was a Fox film called Four A.M. made in 1927.  It starred Tyler Brooke (1886 - 1943) who was in several Hal Roach movies, including some with Laurel and Hardy. 

Beebe moved to Sennett in 1929 and her first film there, also with Andy Clyde, was called A Hollywood Star.  About ten of these early films also starred Harry Gribbon (1885 - 1961) who had a long movie career of over 150 films.

Beebe only made one feature while at Sennett.  Hypnotized in 1932 starred the comedy team of George Moran and Charles Mack, a vaudeville act who worked in black face as the Two Black Crows.  Marjorie played a maid, so it must have been a Bit Part for her.  The movie does not get very good reviews.

Photo courtesy of Ian Craine

Her last films with Sennett were released in 1933, and she made a few pictures with other studios until her last appearance on film in Hollywood Cavalcade (1939) starring Alice Faye and Don Ameche.  She played a silent film telephone operator.

So there are the 'nuts and bolts' of Marjorie Beebe to give you some background.  On Thursday I will post a bio of her that was written by Ian Craine specifically for me (and you).  I am sure you will find it interesting and informative.

Actors like Beebe should be remembered for their contribution to the film industry.  Who knows how many people she may have influenced?