Mr. Mason Remembered

How many performers whose careers began before the advent of motion pictures have had their achievements lost to history? Yes, we remember a select few, but a lack of documentation, and short memories, put the kibosh on too many others.

That's no longer the case for comic actor Dan Mason (1853-1929), thanks to Joseph P. Eckhardt's latest book. The author was granted access to a rich array of photographs, scripts, and playbills, as well as Mason's  uncompleted memoir. With that framework embellished by Eckhardt's exhaustive research, the result is Dan Mason: From Vaudeville to Broadway to the Silent Screen (McFarland).

In many ways, Mason's career illustrates the sweeping changes in the entertainment industry between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We follow along as Mason, a high school dropout, finds his comedic gifts adaptable to variety shows, vaudeville, Broadway, and finally silent movies. Fans of early motion picture comedy will enjoy reading about Mason's work in the Toonerville Trolley two-reelers of the early 1920s. Had he lived a year or two longer, he likely would have sound pictures on his resume as well.

Naturally, there are questions that cannot be fully answered, 100 to 150 years later. When complete details are elusive, Eckhardt is honest enough to say so. Nonetheless, the author gives us an impressively full-bodied portrait of Mason, the man and the performer. There were frequently stresses and challenges in his life, among them a brief early marriage, the death of his first two children before they reached adulthood, and recurring money problems. Not only was he devoted to his daughter Anna, known as Nan, but he also took a young actress, Wilna Hervey, under his wing. Decades ahead of his time, he was completely supportive when the two women became romantically involved, fully embracing them as a loving couple.

Cliched though it might seem, there's a poignancy about a performer who carefully saves yellowing newspaper clippings and memorabilia over a period of some years, clearly hoping that someone, sometime, will care. Luckily for Dan Mason, Joseph P. Eckhardt came along and understood the worth of what he found. Readers will surely do likewise.

NOTE: I was furnished with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

'Mama' at 72

I'm at least a day late, and a dollar short, but belated Happy Birthday to funny lady Vicki Lawrence, born March 26, 1949.

It's a bit disconcerting to realize that Ms. Lawrence has only in recent years come within spitting distance of the right age to play her most beloved character, Thelma 'Mama' Harper, which she introduced on The Carol Burnett Show roughly half a century ago. (Be that as it may, Vicki still doesn't go in much for flowered print dresses, or gray hair, as you can see in the above photo.)

I was sorry to see her recent sitcom The Cool Kids ditched after a single season, but I trust there are still new adventures in her future. After all, who knows more about life as a senior citizen than Mama's alter ego?

Page from History

Anita Page (1910-2008) was a blonde beauty who attained her childhood dream of becoming an actress in Hollywood's early days. Though circumstances cut her starring career short, she's still remembered and admired by many film fans. Anita Page: A Career Chronicle and Biography (McFarland) does a fine job of telling her story.

Co-author Allan R. Ellenberger is a highly respected film biographer whose earlier books on Margaret O'Brien and Miriam Hopkins I have enjoyed. His interviews with Miss Page over some years are at the heart of the book. He teams with Robert Murdoch Paton, a longtime fan and collector of memorabilia from Miss Page's life and career.  Their book offers more than 75 photographs, including rare family snapshots and cleanly reproduced film stills, that cover the entirety of her long life.

Signed to an MGM contract at the age of 17, Anita Pomares, rechristened "Page," soon advanced to lead roles, becoming a popular screen presence in films such as Our Dancing Daughters (1928) and The Broadway Melody (1929). She was named a WAMPAS Baby Star, alongside the likes of Jean Arthur and Loretta Young. Miss Page's career took an abrupt downward turn in the early 1930s, after a falling-out with studio boss Louis B. Mayer. Following her marriage to a military man, she retired from the screen, raising two daughters and having few regrets about leaving Hollywood behind. Late in life, in her eighties, she enjoyed a return to acting in indie films, and attracted a new generation of devotees.

The book is divided into two main sections, with a biography being followed by an extensively annotated filmography. It is a rare privilege in the 21st century to learn so much about an actress whose career dates back nearly 100 years, drawing on her first-hand accounts of films that encompass both the silent and sound eras. Though fans of Anita Page will certainly want to snap this up, the book will also appeal to followers of motion picture history in general, especially of the silent era. 

When reminiscing, Miss Page projects just the sort of aura we expect of a silent movie star -- just a bit high-maintenance, and not overly burdened with modesty, which only makes the book more fun. Her recollections of her film colleagues are candid and opinionated, with a dash of dish. Of co-star Clark Gable, she says, "I thought he was charming ... but he just wasn't my type," while she confides that she wasn't impressed with Joan Crawford's acting ability. ("She didn't seem to be able, in my opinion, to hold an emotional moment.") Other famous names who feature prominently in Anita Page's story are Lon Chaney (Sr.), Buster Keaton, and Jean Harlow, just to name a few.

It's still early in the year, but this bids fair to be one of classic film buffs' most noteworthy books of 2021.

NOTE: I was provided a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.