Lillian Gish, Burr Tillstrom and Company.with James Patterson as photographer.

 

Their correspondence began in May, 1950 and continued to the mid 1970s. Alex sent several early 1960s era newspaper interviews where Lillian elaborated on her attraction to Tillstrom and Kukla, Fran and Ollie. We're working on the post. Beautiful stationary, isn't it? My Aunt Sally recalled Beulah Witch! If you recall any of the other characters, please comment. We got a nice comment recently in the mail from a Christian Science Monitor reader about an earlier post. And I met a woman whose great, great grandmother wrote a poem on Lillian that appeared in Life and Lillian Gish from the early 1930s. It's digitized and post ready in a day or so as I am off to LA to catch an exhibit at the Grammy Museum.

 

PS: I have a date in a few days with Tom Wopat, whom I saw perform three times in August as the Sheriff in Trip to Bountiful at the Sondheim. He was the only cast member I caught at Stage Door! He's singing at San Francisco's Nikko January 9. We'll have a post.

 

Cheers everybody!

James Patterson soon to be back in New York!

Gish by the Line King

The Line King does Gish! This is from the USO Woman of the Year official program. It was deep, deep in my files. I thought she had signed it but no. Year? Have to check my notes. Maybe '78 or '79. I'll confirm with Larry in LA. What eyes!

BTW, the Line King closes early January. See it while you can!

James Patterson

Lillian Gish Prize Winner Anna Deavere Smith on Art and Human Rights, MArch 9.

Grace Episcopal Cathedral, San Francisco, has just announced this exciting and stimulating program for March:


Art and Human Rights with Gish Prize Winner Anna Deavere Smith, actor and playwright, and Robert McDuffie, violinist Sunday, March 9 at 9:30 a.m. I have my ticket! We'll host the podcast as soon as it goes live. Stay tuned.


James Patterson

Lillian Gish's 100th Film "A Wedding"

 

She was happy to share this. Carol Burnett is in the background. Directed by Robert Altman. It was 1978.

James Patterson and Harry Carey Jr.

August 5, 2006 3:00 am

An unforgettable morning of old Western imagery

By James Patterson

From Mr James Patterson.

Sir, On the morning of July 15, I sat in the historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco watching John Ford's 1917 silent film Bucking Broadway, starring Harry Carey. The actor's son, Harry Carey Jr, was also in the audience.

The film was one of 10 classic silent films screened at the 11th annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival. After the film, the 85-year-old Mr Carey took a seat on stage and talked of his father's long film career.

He also spoke of his roles in Howard Hawks' 1948 Red River and in John Ford's 1956 The Searchers. In both films Carey co-starred with John Wayne.

After his speech, Mr Carey signed his book and posed for photographs. I was delighted to get a photo with him even though I could not keep my eyes open.

Later that morning, I bought my FT to discover Nigel Andrews' Defining Moment column (FT Magazine, July 15/16) on The Searchers. In the film's famous final scene, Wayne stands alone in a doorway, vast western landscape in the background, and grasps his right arm with his left hand.
As Nigel Andrews states in his column, Ford and Wayne paid homage to cowboy Harry Carey who originated the gesture in silent Westerns.

Imagine my surprise to see the column only minutes after speaking with Carey's son. It was a moment and a festival I will never forget.

James Patterson,
Washington, DC 20037, US

(Office was relocating to San Francisco at that time.)

Harry Carey Jr. walked the stairs to get to this stool on the stage. He slipped a bit and said it was "an inelegant entrance." I told him I loved his father in MGM's 1930 "Trader Horn" with the incredibly young and handsome Duncan Renaldo. It was one of the earliest sound films shot largely on location in Africa.

We got to his role as Joshua in "The Whales of August" and he was delighted I recalled him. He as the youngest member of the cast at 66 in 1987. He said it was "a delight" to work with Miss Gish who he called "an outstanding leading lady."

We also recalled his father-in-law character actor Paul Fix, who I met as a child at a Western theme park, of all places, in North Carolina. That story, from the News and Observer, has been digitized and will soon be posted.

Cheers!

National Film Registry 2013 Results No Gish

December 19, 2013

 

Dear Readers,

 

The Library of Congress has announced its 2013 choices for the National Film Registry. Among the 25 films selected selected for preservation are three from the silent era: 1919's Constance Talmadge classic “A Virtuous Vamp,” 1920's all-Native American“Daughter of Dawn,” and 1926's Colleen Moore classic“Ella Cinders.” (I've always thought this was Colleen's best film.) Sound films selected include “Forbidden Planet,” a 1956 science fiction production starring my late friend Anne Francis, 1961's Oscar winning “Judgment at Nuremberg,” and Tarantino's 1994 “Plup Fiction.” (Maybe I'll post images of some of Anne's letters.)

 

Not selected this are two classic films I've lobbied with the Library about for many years. “An Unseen Enemy,” the 1912 screen debut of the Gish sisters was directed by D. W. Griffith. A siumple film accessible on YouTube, the movie is historic with its stars and director. Lillian Gish and sister Dorothy began their long and historic screen careers in this film and it should have been selected for perservation during Lillian's lifetime.

 

The second film I lobbied for is Lillian Gish's last film “The Whales of August.” Filmed on remote Cliff Island, off the Maine coast in the Casco Bay, it has been descriubed as a poetic film of two eldery sisters, Gish and Bette Davis, resolving longheld differences as they decide to winter yet again on the island of their youth.

 

“The Whales of August” is historic for many reasons beyond it being Lillian's last film. The casting of Gish, Davis, Ann Southern, Vincent Price and Harry Carey, Jr. in the film was inspired and unforgettable. It was daring in that it did not discuss age via a young actor or actress but actual film elders. Publicity for the included a close up of Gish and Davis with the caption, “Their coming together makes this film stand apart.” (Image below courtesy Columbia Film Department.) It is a beautiul film deserving of Registry status.

 

Interested readers and fans should consider nominating “An Unseen Enemy” and “The Whales of August” for inclusion on 2014's National Film Registry. This can easliy be done by email to dross@LOC.gov and you can make your nomination as simple or as elaborate as you wish. Maybe this time next year, legions of Gish fans will be celebrating even on remote Cliff Island, Maine.

Here's Anne Francis. I miss her! She gave me some great advice in 2005.

I had a great time at Columbia University's Butler Library. I'll post the library mural later as it currently resides on cell. Library was breathtaking as was Rodin's pensieur at Philosophy Hall. It was cold but Ollie's and UNI kept me warm inside.
 

Sincerely,

James Patterson

766 Harrison Street Suite 211

San Francisco CA 94107

(415) 516-3493 JamesPatterson705@gmail.com

National Film Registry Nominations 2014 Feel Free to Copy and Email

                                                             James Patterson, Journalist

Writer/Speaker/Educator

766 Harrison Street Suite 211

San Francisco CA 94107

(415) 516-3493 JamesPatterson705@gmail.com

 “A happy life is one spent learning, earning and yearning.” Lillian Gish (1893-1993)

December 19, 2013

Ms. Donna Ross, Boards Assistant

National Film Preservation Board
Library of Congress
Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation
19053 Mt. Pony Road
Culpeper, VA 22701-7551

Dear Ms. Ross,

I nominate two historic films starring Lillian Gish for the 2014 National Film Registry. The two films span Miss Gish’s historic 75 year screen career.

The Gish sisters, Lillian and Dorothy, made their screen debuts in D. W. Griffith’s 1912 “An Unseen Enemy.” In this short film the Gish sisters demonstrated their abilities to effectively express danger in response to menacing robbers.

In 1987 Lillian Gish made her last film, “The Whales of August,” when she was 93. “Their coming together makes this film stand apart,” the publicity went for this late in life screen pairing of Miss Gish and Bette Davis as two elderly sisters finally resolving their lifelong differences as winter approaches. This film is historic because of its cast of elderly veterans and its honest and beautiful depiction of elder dignity.

I hope to see both of these eligible and historic films selected for preservation on the 2014 National Film Registry. If I can provide any additional information, please contact me. Thank you for your work preserving our rich and rewarding film history. Please acknowledge nomination of these films.

Sincerely,

 
James Patterson