Part IV. Legends of World Cinematography

The most enduring of all Hollywood mystiques is that of the star. “God makes the stars,” as studio head Samuel Goldwyn once put it, “and the public recognizes His handiwork.” There are thousands of film actors and actresses – hundreds of good ones – dozens of stars. But only a handful in each generation become “legends”.

LEGENDS

1910 – 1950s

Rudolph Valentino (1895 - 1926)

Real Name: Rodolpho d’Antonguolla

Data: Valentino was known as ‘the great lover’. Originally from Italy, he appeared in several films before ‘The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse’ made him a superstar in 1921. After that, he played a series of exotic, romantic heroes. When he died in 1926 (at the age of 31), several female fans committed suicide and his funeral was a national event.

Best-known films: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), The Sheik (1921), Blood and Sand (1922), Monsieur Beaucaire (1924), The Eagle (1925), Son of the Sheik (1926).

Quotes: “A man should control his life. Mine is controlling me.” Rudolph Valentino.

“He had youth and fame – and yet he was very unhappy. H.L. Mencken

Charlie Chaplin (1889 – 1977)

Data: Born in London, Chaplin went to Hollywood in 1910. Four years later he created ‘the little tramp’ – his best-loved character, whose bowler hat, cane and moustache soon became internationally famous. Chaplin was one of the silent era’s most successful comics, writers and directors. He left America in the 1950s and spent his later years in Switzerland.

Best-known films: The Tramp (1915), Easy Street (1917), The Gold Rush (1924), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1940).

Quotes: “That obstinate, suspicious, egocentric, maddening”, lovable genius of a problem child.” Mary Pickford.

“I remain one thing and one thing only, and that is a clown.” Charlie Chaplin.

Greta Garbo (1905 – 1990)

Real Name: Greta Gustafson

Data: Greta Garbo’s Hollywood career began in 1925. Beautiful, distant and mysterious, she became a huge, worldwide star in the 1930s, usually in tragic, romantic roles. But she didn’t enjoy living in California and once wrote to a friend… “Americans don’t understand anything about us Europeans.” Her career ended suddenly when she left Hollywood in 1942 declaring “I will never act again.” She didn’t. Until her death, forty-eight years later, she lived alone in New York.

Best-known films: Flesh And The Devil (1927), Anna Christie (1930), Grand Hotel (1932), Queen Christina (1933), Anna Karenina (1935), Camille (1936), Ninotchka (1939).

Quotes: “Subtract Garbo from most of her films and you are left with nothing.” Richard Whitehall.

“I never said I want to be alone. I only said I want to be let alone.” Greta Garbo.

Clark Gable (1901 – 1960)

Data: Known as ‘the King of Hollywood’, Clark Gable was a top box-office star for over 30 years. Tough but also romantic, he was popular with both men and women. In spite of his stardom, though, Gable didn't take success very seriously. He once said “I was just a lucky slob from Ohio who happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Best-known films: Red Dust (1932), It Happened One Night (1934), Mutiny On The Bounty (1935), San Francisco (1936), Gone with the Wind 91939), The Hucksters (1947), The Misfits (1961).

Quotes: “I’m no actor and I never have been. What people see on the screen is me.” Clark Gable.

“His ears made him look like a taxicab with both doors open.” Howard Hughes.

Bette Davis (1908 – 1989)

Real Name: Ruth Elizabeth Davis

Data: Most actresses in the ‘30s and ‘40s played glamorous and feminine characters. Not Bette Davis. The women she played were dominant, difficult and often quite unpleasant. Later, she said about herself during that time…”Nobody knew what I looked like because I never looked the same way twice.”

Best-known films: Jezebel (1938), Dark Victory (1939), The Private Lives of Elizabeth And Essex (1939), The Little Foxes (1941), Now Voyager (1942), The Corn Is Green (1945), All About Eve (1950), Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962), Death On The Nile (1978), The Whales of August (1988).

Quotes: “When I saw my first film-test, I ran from the projection room screaming.” Bette Davis.

“She would probably have been burned as a witch if she had lived two or three hundred years ago.” E. Arnot Robinson.

John Wayne (1907 – 1979)

Real Name: Marion Michael Morrison.

Data: Nicknamed ‘Duke’, John Wayne played cowboys and soldiers in over 150 ‘action’ films between 1928 – 76. His characters were always the same – tough, honest and patriotic. That’s why audiences loved him, though. He represented a hero they could rely on. They made him a top ten box-office star for almost 20 years.

Best-known films: Stagecoach (1939), Red River (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Sand Of Iwo Jima (1949), The Quiet Man (1952), The Alamo (1960), True Grit (1969), The Shootist (1976).

Quotes: “I play John Wayne in every picture, regardless of the character and I’ve been doing all right, haven’t I?” John Wayne.

“He felt that America was the greatest country on the face of the earth.” Michael Wayne (John Wayne’s son).

A. Match the words and the expressions from two columns:

1. a handful	a. annoying
2. maddening	b. international
3. worldwide	c. (here) very few
4. a slob	d. a film audition
5. film-test	e. a lazy person (slang)

B. Looking at the article about film legends (1910 – 1950s), find the actor or actress who:

· often played unpleasant characters;

· had a short, unhappy life;

· believed he just played himself in films;

· was very patriotic;

· created a character which is known all over the world;

· felt that Americans do not understand Europeans.

1950 – 1990s

Marilyn Monro (1926 – 1962)

Real name: Norma Jean Baker

Data: Marilyn Monro was a model before she became an actress. Her first film appeared in 1948. After that she made 28 more – usually cast as a ‘dumb’ blonde. But Marilyn herself was far from dumb. She was, in fact, a very talented actress. After her early (and mysterious) death in 1962, movie fans quickly turned her from a star into a legend.

Best-known films: The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Niagara (1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Some Like It Hot (1959), The Misfits (1961).

Quotes: “The best way for me to prove myself as a person is to prove myself as an actress” Marilyn Monro.

“A professional amateur.” Laurence Olivier

James Dean (1931 – 1955)

Data: Youth culture began in American during the ‘50s and its first screen hero was James Dean. Moody, mixed-up and energy, he represented a new generation of teenagers – especially in his second film, ‘Rebel Without a Cause’. That was the movie which made him a major star. Tragically, though, he died in a car crash before it was released.

Best-known films: East of Eden (1955), Rebel Without a Cause (1956), Giant (1956).

Quotes: “We cannot speak of cinema without mentioning James Dean.” François Truffaut

“I’m not going to live past 30.” James Dean

Elizabeth Taylor (1932 -)

Data: Born in London, Elizabeth Taylor moved to California with her parents during World War Two. There she became (a) one of Hollywood’s most successful child stars in the ‘40s (b) one of its most beautiful and gifted actresses in the ‘50s and ‘60s. She has been married eight times and won two Oscars (for ‘Butterfield 8’ and Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?’) in a career that’s lasted over 40 years.

Best-known films: National Velvet (1944), Giant (1956), Raintree Country (1957), Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958), Suddenly Last Summer (1959), Butterfield 8 (1960), Cleopatra (1962), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), The Mirror Crack’d (1980) The Flinstones (1994).

Quotes: “I don’t pretend to be an ordinary housewife. Elizabeth Taylor.

“I live in the present and look forward to the future.” Elizabeth Taylor.

Paul Newman (1925 -)

Data: Unlike many screen legends, Paul Newman is extremely popular in the film industry. He’s popular with movie fans, too, and has been ever since he first appeared in ‘The Silver Chalice’ in 1954. Since then there have been over 50 other films (including some which he directed). Off-screen he is married to actress Joanne Woodward, enjoys motor racing and is active in Democratic politics.

Best-known films: Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958), The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969), The Sting (1973), The Verdict (1982), The Color of Money (1988), Blaze (1990), Mr and Mrs Bridge (1991).

Quotes: “Acting is a question of absorbing other people’s personalities and some of your own experience.” Paul Newman.

“You don’t stop being a citizen just because you’re a movie star.” Paul Newman.

Meryl Streep (1951 -)

Real Name: Mary Louise Streep

Data: Maryl Streep acted at university and on the New York stage in the 1970s. Her early movie roles were small parts in ‘Julia’ (with Jane Fonda), ‘The Deerhunter’ (with Robert De Niro), and ‘Manhattan’ (with Woody Allen). Then came her first leading role, and an Oscar, in ‘Kramer Versus Kramer’. A second Oscar followed three years later for ‘Sophie’s Choice’. Since then, Maryl Streep has starred in a series of major international hits. Intelligent and cool on-screen, she is also famous for the many different accents she has used in her career.

Best-known films: The Deer Hunter (1978), Kramer Versus Kramer (1979), The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981), Sophie’s Choice (1982), Silkwood (1983), Out Of Africa (1987), A Cry In The Dark (1989), She-Devil (1990), Postcards From The Edge (1991), The River Wild (1994), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Before And After (1996), Marvin’s Room (1996), One True Thing (1998), Music of the Heart (1998), Adaptation (2002), The Orchid Thief (2002), The Hours (2002).

Quotes: “I don’t believe performances should be out up against each other for awards. It’s insane to have winners and losers in art.”

“Maryl Streep is an acting machine in the same way that a shark is a killing machine.” Cher.

Mel Gibson (1956 -)

Data: Mel Gibson was born in America but moved to Australia with his family when he was twelve. His first movies (including ‘Gallipoll’ and the action-packed ‘Mad Max’ series) were all made in Australia. By the mid-80s, though, he was an international star and had begun making films in Hollywood, too. Often described as ‘the most handsome man in the world’, Mel Gibson is one of today’s most popular box-office names.

Best-known films: The ‘Mad Max’ series (1978 – 1985), Gallipoll (1981), The Year Of Living Dangerously (1982), Mutiny On The Bounty (1984), Lethal Weapon (1987), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Hamlet (1991), Maverick (1994), Brave Heart (1995), Lethal Weapon-4 (1998), Patriot (2000), What Women Want (2000).

Quotes: “Being labelled a star isn’t necessarily a choice you make yourself.” Mel Gibson.

“When I was growing up I often thought about being an actor. I never believed it would really happen, though.” Mel Gibson.

C. Match the words and their synonyms:

1. dumb	a. mad
2. mixed-up	b. works for
3. off-screen	c. given a name or identity by other people
4. is active in	d. confused
5. insane	e. stupid (slang)
6. labelled	f. away from the screen. The opposite is ‘on-screen’

D. Looking at the article about film legends (1910 – 1950s), find the actor or actress who:

· died a mysterious death;

· has been married 8 times and won 2 Oscars;

· is famous for the many different accents used in the career;

· stated that “being labelled” a star isn’t necessarily a choice you made yourself;

· has starred in more than 50 films.

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