TONICK’s Blog

MARY PICKFORD: MUSE OF THE MOVIES Finally gets its official DVD release! -- By Antonia G. Carey

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:50:29 -0500

The award-winning documentary and film festival darling, Mary Pickford: Muse of the Movies, has finally come out on DVD! My husband, Nick Palazzo, and I had the good fortune to see Nicholas Eliopoulos’s wonderful documentary when it premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and I have to tell you – it was phenomenal!

After spending the past few years being featured and celebrated at festivals all over the world (Telluride, Pordenone, etc. etc.) and unique fundraisers for causes close to Mary’s heart, the great news is that this amazing document of one of the (if not THE) most powerful women ever in Hollywood is finally getting its day in the sun and the public attention it deserves.

Producer/Director Nicholas Eliopoulos & Award Winning Actor,
Michael York at the Pordenone Film Festival Premiere

The film is cleverly broken into chapters that correspond to the classical Nine Greek Muses which allow you -- and more importantly the uninitiated viewer who knows nothing about Mary -- to wrap your head around the many different pieces of her incredible life. (To be fair, if you’ve never heard of Pickford before, there’s a lot of ground to cover in an extraordinary life and still keep it entertaining while being informative.) Eliopoulos, an acclaimed Hollywood film director and editor with a couple of Emmy’s under his belt, accomplishes this task brilliantly.

There’s a reason director Nicholas Eliopoulos and his co-producer Elizabeth Wood Coldicutt received an International Press Academy Honorary Satellite Award for this film; they pulled out all the stops to make this documentary special by taking the time to compile some incredibly rare footage and personal insider touches to bring the story of Mary Pickford to life for new audiences. Unlike most documentaries, the producers intentionally took on the challenge of making sure it was comprised of only first person interviews – (no mean feat given that Pickford died in 1979!). But because the people that speak actually, personally knew Mary the audience is given a unique opportunity to get a sense of the woman behind the legend.

As a silent film fan, frankly, I’m used to a silent Mary Pickford so just having the incredible opportunity to hear her speak in her own words, with her own inflection gave me the feeling she was actually talking right to us in the audience. It was refreshing to see Mary portrayed not so much as an iron butterfly with mind-boggling salary demands, but more as someone who recognized the little girl character she had created had a finite screen life and having been abandoned as a child, took pains to be sure she wouldn’t be left destitute again.

The fabulous Michael York in the studio recording narration for Mary Pickford: Muse of the Movies

Although the documentary is partially narrated by Pickford herself (posthumously – thanks to some amazing sound restoration work on tapes provided by legendary film preservationist and film director, Oscar winner, Kevin Brownlow) it is acclaimed British actor, Michael York, whose sonorous voice provides continuity and shape to the piece. So it was extremely fitting that the International Press Academy awarded Mr. York their highest honor: the Mary Pickford Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment Industry at this film’s debut. (http://michaelyork.net/press/Mary-Pickford-Documentary.html)

Michael York with his prestigious Mary Pickford Award shares a triumphal moment with director Nicholas Eliopoulos at the IPA Awards Ceremony

When I mention rare footage, I’m not kidding. There’s a great staged bit between Mary & Amelia Earhart (and their respective husbands) that is terribly fun to watch. There’s footage of Charlie Chaplin, Pickford & Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and D.W. Griffith I’d never seen before. Shots of Fairbanks, Sr. interacting with Mary’s mother that was really interesting to have the opportunity to see. There are even clips of filmed interviews with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Lillian Gish and Charles “Buddy” Rodgers… aerial shots of Pickfair (couldn’t you just smack Pia Zadora for having it torn down!) and believe it or not, it even contains the only existing, never before seen, footage of an interview with Pickford’s adopted daughter. Amazing stuff!

Behind the scenes with director Nicholas Eliopoulos & Mary’s third husband, Actor/Singer/Musician Charles “Buddy” Rodgers during the filming at Pickfair

Mary’s stepson, legendary actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and her third husband Charles “Buddy” Rodgers gave fledgling director Nicholas Eliopoulos (center above) all of their support in bringing Mary’s story to the screen with first-hand interviews

Before I saw this film, I thought of Mary (based on the films I’ve seen of her and some biographies I’ve read) as a sometimes controlling, uptight woman who drove her husband to infidelity and eventually became a reclusive alcoholic. By the time it was over, I had a completely different take on her. She suddenly seemed a real flesh and blood person. Someone who, against all odds, had scraped her way to the top, was willing to give it all up for love, rode high for a time, dealt with a level of failure to match the greatness of her earlier successes, made human mistakes, tried to retire gracefully and eventually become philosophical in her later years about her life.

I found Eliopoulos’ juxtaposition of her words/voice and the chosen footage to be really soul-stirring – particularly the older Mary’s ideas about life and afterlife and her personal beliefs. It completely took me by surprise to be so moved. Embarrassing to admit it but by the end of the film I had gone from “hard hearted Hannah” to a puddle of tears. The experience I had watching this documentary was really something special!

So friends and fellow silent film admirers why not see this film and come to your own conclusions. As for me, I’m so grateful that the brilliant producers at White Castle Productions (Executive Producer Thomas Coldicutt, Jr. and Producer Elizabeth Wood Coldicutt) and Earthlight Inc. (Producer/Director/Editor Nicholas Eliopoulos) had the insight to see the value in creating this wonderful, insightful, document of one of the most powerful women in the world.

Eliopoulos & the Coldicutts at the Mary premiere fundraiser
for the World Research Foundation

LINKS:

For more information on where to get a Mary Pickford: Muse of the Movies DVD, check out:

http://store.cinemalibrestore.com/marypickforddvd.html

Also, Nicholas Eliopoulos was interviewed by Betty Jo Tucker about the making of “Mary” here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/movieaddictheadquarters/2012/06/19/mary-pickford-documentary

Last Napoleon Showing - or Why We Love Kevin Brownlow By Antonia G. Carey

Sat, 12 May 2012 14:49:00 -0500

In 1979, this was us ...

Future Film Geeks in the making ...

Just trying to survive the slings and arrows of senior year of high school. Little did we know that cinematic history was being made around the country with limited screenings of the epic – semi-restored (cut down version) of Napoleon.

It would be another 6 years before I met my husband, Nick Palazzo, (pictured above) and, coincidentally experienced the magnificence possible in silent film thanks to a local public television screening of the Kevin Brownlow/David Gill restoration (with music by Carl Davis) of Douglas Fairbanks Sr.’s classic fantasy epic, The Thief of Baghdad.

As we cowered on a rainy Chicago Saturday afternoon in my sad little basement apartment, a random flick of channels brought us face to face with a kind of heart-stopping beauty in film we had never experienced before. We were immediately mesmerized by Doug’s romantic bravado as he fought for the princess he loved aided by amazing special effects and gorgeous sets until eventually, overcoming all odds, became the Prince.

Kevin Brownlow & David Gill - Our Heroes!

Shortly thereafter we became aware of Kevin Brownlow thru his work with David Gill on the incredible “Hollywood” series, and fell in love with early silent film. We bought the laserdisc version of Napoleon when it was available and watched it with reverence that such amazing technology was in use at much earlier than anyone had originally thought possible.

Kevin Brownlow and Abel Gance in Telluride

Over the years of our growing into full fledged film geeks, Kevin Browlow, became our hero. He was the exemplar to whom all classic film fans owe an unpayable debt of gratitude. As a child, he was one of “us” begging for his first projector at the age of 9 or 10, … showing 9.5 films in his bedroom to family friends (after handing out elaborately hand-written program notes), …reluctantly discovering the 9.5 reel of Napoleon fragments only after exhausting every other film in the library’s catalog. His work restoring this film and the lengths he went to are awe-inspiring (and covered his fantastic book, Napoleon).

In 2000 we learned that the Carl Davis scored, Brownlow/Gill full 5 ½ hour restoration would only be shown one more time. Alas, it was in London and our pocketbooks could not survive such a trip. It was one of the great disappointments of our lives that we would never get the chance to experience the film, due to a Gordian Knot of ridiculous and incomprehensible copyright claims. We gave up hope of ever getting to see Kevin Brownlow’s restored version.

In 2002, Nick and I had the incredible good luck of running into Kevin Brownlow for the first time on main street at the Telluride Film Festival. We had to compose ourselves not to run the poor man over as we approached him, excitedly and introduced ourselves. Much to his credit, Kevin, kindly remembered us from a fan letter we had written him along with a screenplay we had written based loosely on Abel Gance’s “J’Accuse” (in our screenplay it is the dead of Hollywood who come back to wreak their revenge on the corporations who have co-opted our beloved film industry) in which we named our film collector character and mentor to the protagonist Brownie Lowe in honor of Kevin. He was so genuine and kind to us, we just floated on air the rest of the trip.

It would be another year or so before we came up with the idea of putting together a documentary of our own based on some of our amazing, knowledgeable, and unselfish film collector friends, currently in post-production.

Nick Palazzo shooting interviews at Cinevent

In 2008, after getting some great interviews under our belt, we screwed up our courage and asked Kevin if he would allow us to interview him. Much to our surprise, he agreed and we flew to the UK where we spent a magical afternoon with him. It was a dream come true for us. He was so candid, so knowledgeable, so FUN! It is a day, the memory of which Nick and I will treasure forever.

Kevin Brownlow in his London office
(check out that Napoleon statue on the shelf!)

In 2010 we watched Kevin receive the FIRST EVER Oscar given for Film Preservation by the Academy on the biggest screen tv I’ve ever seen in a private home as we spent Oscar night with Academy Member, (Producer, Director, Editor, of “Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies”) Nicholas Eliopolous (pictured below) after having met up with him at the Kansas Silent Film Festival. The three of us stood and screamed and applauded as Kevin walked the stage with Francis Ford Coppola and Eli Wallach. I remember pissing about Coppola not allowing Kevin’s Napoleon to be shown here and Nicholas E. saying he predicted the way they both happened to receive Oscars at the same time, might allow the discussion of a Napoleon showing to be revisited. (Yeah, maybe but I wasn’t holding my breath.)

Director, Nicholas Eliopolous at the Kansas Silent Film Festival 2011

The eloquence of Kevin’s Oscar speech cannot be underestimated and if you haven’t seen it yet, please go to the Academy site and watch it online. One thing he said that I thought was so perfect had to do (and I’m paraphrasing here) with the fact that silent film requires participation by the audience member. The viewer brings something of themselves to the experience. In other words, it’s a lot like love, you have to have something inside you that recognizes that something special in the other person (or in this case, film). It was a lovely way to express that all of us film fans, are romantics at heart.

In November, 2011, I was online looking up antique mutoscope equipment (like any normal person would be, right?) and stumbled upon the announcement that the impossible was actually happening: WE WOULD GET THE CHANCE TO SEE BROWNLOW’S NAPOLEON!!!!!

Thank you San Francisco Silent Film Festival!

My credit card was steaming from the speed with which I pulled it out and bought those tickets. My heart was pounding as I excitedly left Nick 6 phone messages at work (that will teach him to be in a meeting ). Eventually, he called back and I told him WE WERE GOING TO SEE NAPOLEON!!!! He was screaming and laughing on the other end of the phone. It was an early Christmas and a welcome change of fortune as 2011 had been the worst year of our lives as we lost both of our mothers to mortality.

So, now, after roughly 30 years of waiting, a six hour plane ride and a half hour drive to Oakland, we arrived to find swarms of people – OUR people, classic and silent film loving people, people who weren’t afraid to bring part of themselves to this meeting of the minds within the elegant confines of the Paramount theatre.

And as the lights dimmed, the electricity of anticipation was palpable throughout the audience as we settled. The music of Carl Davis and the amazing Oakland Bay Symphony Orchestra slowly built to the first magnificent crescendo of the score, the curtains parted and the audience erupted in applause at the start of our joint adventure. We all settled back to experience a once in a lifetime moment.

Outsiders all (as, let’s face it, we film collectors, historians and silent film geeks are) we could relate to the struggles of Napoleon as a youth, derided and bullied by less sensitive, less intelligent students; his overly-romanticized notions of the all-too-human Josephine; his devotion to his mother; and his struggles to make his dreams come true in the face of armies of opposition.

This was the Napoleon, not so much of history, but of Abel Gance’s romantic imagination. A tall, thin, handsome, idealistic outsider with a unique vision, an indomitable drive to succeed and an enormous heart...

He reminded me an awful lot of Kevin Brownlow.

Reflections on Seeing Kevin Brownlow’s Restoration of Abel Gance’s Napoleon - by Nick Palazzo

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:31:32 -0500

If the events of April 1, 2012, were the result of an April fool’s joke, they couldn’t have been more tailor made for me. On that day, I saw for the first and probably last time in U.S. Cinema history, the fully reconstructed, 5-½ hour version of Able Gance’s 1927 masterpiece, Napoleon. If I were to hold up a sign at the opening of this article, it would read: Warning - hyperboles approaching. For that’s just the type of experience I was lucky enough to have that weekend with my wife who shared in this wondrous experience with me.

I first learned of the screening as far back as November 2011, when my wife one day was trying to reach me at my office. I was running late that day, and swamped with meetings; and after responding to a voice mail from my wife, I called her to learn she had my “Christmas present”, and that I’d never guess what it was. Once she told me, I had to do everything in my power not to scream in triumphant joy for fear of scaring everyone on the floor within earshot of my office. So instead of screaming (and possibly scaring my co-workers), I let the thought of this upcoming event sink within me, as tears welled up in my eyes; and I just laughed. Laughed because I couldn’t believe that after all this time (nearly 30 years), a dream of mine was finally coming true.

2011 hadn’t been a great year for my wife and I, having spent most of that time in hospitals, nursing homes, and eventually cemeteries, bidding both of our Moms a sad (but relieved) farewell, as they passed away into their next lives, into the invisible realm our feeble minds are not hard-wired to see. And having this unexpected “present” fall into my lap at this time made me wonder whether my Moms were pulling some strings from the beyond. Perhaps physicists don’t call it String Theory for nothing ;-D The tickets were bought, the seats were perfect, and all was set to go. Only thing was I had to wait roughly another six months before I could finally see Napoleon as it was truly meant to be seen.

Fast-forward five months later, as the date was soon approaching; all the usual preparations were made: plane tickets, rental cars, hotel, etc. And other plans were coming to fruition: we learned that our friend, colleague and fellow film historian/preservationist Eric Grayson was given the happy chance to attend both the previous night’s lecture given by Mr. Kevin Brownlow, as well as attending one of the Napoleon screenings. Additionally, we had been corresponding with another friend, colleague and documentary filmmaker Nicholas Eliopolous to see if he would be able to attend the screening; and it turned out that he was able to get a ticket for the same showing we would be at.

I’d like to take a detour here, not so much to cross-pollinate one cultural experience with another, but something which I feel played a significant role in this overall experience…it was shortly before the screening that my wife discovered a particular work by the philosopher Eckhart Tolle. It was called Living Your True Purpose, a lecture that we purchased from iTunes to take along with us on our trip. I knew of this author’s work from his first and most popular book: The Power of Now; but that’s all I knew about him. I thought it was going to be one of those lectures about how to figure out what to do with your life; you know, the do what you love kind of message (one I completely support, in spite of the fact that it’s a pretty rare occurrence for most of us). So once we were settled in on the plane, respective iPods at the ready, we listened together to this lecture. At first, my initial reaction at the lady’s introduction of Mr. Tolle was one of “Oh Brother, this is going to be weird”; but once Mr. Tolle was introduced and he began to speak about what living your true purpose really means, I soon realized so many things about myself and my life that were preventing me from, not only getting the most out of life, but why I wasn’t reaching my own goals. Long story short, I realized that being aware of NOW, of being in the present moment, and accepting it for what it is, is what living your true purpose is all about. That was the necessary fuel which helped to propel my wife and I further into this experience.

The night before the April 1 screening, my wife and I attended a book signing at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, followed by a lecture given by Mr. Brownlow on the back-story behind the restoration of Napoleon. It was wonderful to see a sign posted outside the hall advertising the event as SOLD OUT, as well as the crowd of people waiting in line for a signature from Mr. Brownlow, and a chat about all manner of silent film topics. Waiting in line with my wife, I felt kind of home in a way in that I was happy to be surrounded by people who were just as excited to see this film as me; that I wasn’t the only Napoleon “nerd” out there. There was even a guy who brought a program from one of the previous showings in England from a few years back to be signed by Mr. Brownlow. How great is that? Anyway, once it was our turn to meet the man of the hour, we warmly greeted him and thanked him profusely for all his efforts to bring Napoleon to the U.S. We had the good fortune to interview Mr. Brownlow right in his London flat a couple of years ago in connection with our ongoing documentary about the underground world of film collectors and film preservationists. That was a magical day for us in that we never thought we would meet one of our heroes. It’s because of him and his efforts that we were introduced to the wondrous world of silent cinema, especially Napoleon. Once we started chatting with him, we were relieved that he remembered us. And here we were, noticing Mr. Brownlow’s pre-lecture “dinner” which consisted of a small paper plate on which there were some veggies and cheese. I’m sorry, but an epic presentation requires appropriate sustenance, so with a little arm-twisting, and reservation juggling, Mr. Brownlow agreed to have dinner with us after his talk.

The talk itself was a wonderful introduction to not only the film, but to Mr. Brownlow himself, for as he told his tale, I could see why he loved this film so much, enough to devote most of his life and professional career to it. An epic film deserves an equally epic devotion, and Mr. Brownlow’s story bore that out from the discovery of the famous snowball fight on 9.5 mm film when he was just a boy, devoting his life to putting all the pieces of this cinematic puzzle together, to resurrecting Able Gance’s place in world cinema, and the triumphal screenings that took place those last days of March 2012.

After the lecture, a crowd of people gathered in the lobby of Pacific Film Archives for a meet and greet with Mr. Brownlow. It was really heartwarming to see so many people mob him. All the while in the background, my wife and I felt like a couple of line producers setting up a location for a shoot, contacting the restaurant, shifting the reservation around, contacting the concierge at our hotel for a backup plan, etc.

Afterwards, we took our friend Eric and Mr. Brownlow out to dinner back in San Francisco where we enjoyed some real food and conversation about film history and preservation. I also had the opportunity to personally thank Mr. Brownlow for his Oscar speech in which he basically tore into Hollywood for their apathy regarding film history and preservation with all the British charm of a Mr. Chips.

The following day was the screening. It was a beautiful day to spend nearly six hours inside the art deco movie palace of the Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA. People were actually lined up on both sides of the block to get into the theater! Once inside, I noticed the magnificent lobby rising above our heads; and all the promotional material for sale, such as posters, programs and a CD of the soundtrack by Sir Carl Davis himself! Some guy actually showed up dressed in a Napoleonic hat and cape because he was so thrilled to be seeing this film! We were able to capture some footage of the crowds outside the theater, as well as a few people who expressed their excitement about what they were going to see.

Once everyone was settled in their seats, a round of applause greeted Sir Carl Davis who lead the film off with a rousing score to accompany what is arguably the most exciting snowball fight ever put to film. Here we see the young Napoleon, an outcast to classmates and teachers, becoming a leader in the making. It was so breathtaking to see all the classic scenes of the film I was already familiar with in the previous 4-hour version beautifully scored by Francis Ford Coppola’s father (Carmine), with a new live score of equal power and scope. Scenes such as Napoleon and Josephine’s first meeting, Napoleon escaping from Corsica, the storm sequence in which Napoleon is adrift at sea, while another “storm” is brewing among the National Convention, the creation of La Marseillaise, the French Revolution, and of course the final triumphal entry into Italy. Here is where the curtains parted, revealing two additional screens. There, Napoleon’s army is literally in rags, hungry and completely demoralized, ready for rebellion. When Napoleon storms into the scene, and rides his horse across all three screens, a gasp rose from the audience at the sheer magnificence of the spectacle. And then the film ends on such a poetic level with Napoleon looking off into the sky, contemplating his destiny, as simultaneous images of Josephine’s face superimposed on the world, flash across the triptychs, along with oceans, mountains and skies.

On a side note, this version revealed additional storylines about the scullion’s daughter who developed a lifelong crush on Napoleon, even creating a shrine to him in which she prayed for his love. We also see Josephine in a new light, as someone who just does whatever she can to preserve her status (and her life!) by becoming a general’s wife.

Here was the cinematic figure of Napoleon at his highest; here was the highest experience of cinema, poetry and music all coming together to move hearts and minds to new levels of being; here were the dreams of a filmmaker (Gance), the life’s achievement of a film historian/preservationist (Brownlow), and an unassuming film-lover (yours truly), all fused together in one moment!

And after the triptych faded from the three screens, the crowd (perhaps knowing that this was the last day this film would ever be shown in the U.S.) erupted into a roaring wave of applause, whistles and cheers (and standing ovation, of course). After the at least 5 minutes of this wave of gratitude faded, my wife and I went down to the front to thank Mr. Brownlow personally.

When it came my turn, I was so emotionally moved. I shook his hand, and said, “thank you” for at least 3 or 4 times. Then I said: “Can I hug you?” and we hugged. I then tried to express my gratitude to him, tears welling in my eyes. I said: “Thank you for one of the most terrific experiences of my life…” and there was just a moment where he saw me all choked up and just understood. He replied: “keep in touch” in the friendliest manner.

Dreams do come true. They may take some time (even 30 years); but know that when a dream does come true, it comes at a time when you least expect it, and when you’re at a stage in your life when you’re most ready to receive it. I apologize if this review has veered off into warm fuzzy land or new-age territory; but I hope readers of this article understand that I just didn’t see a movie; a whole series of events came together to bring this film to the Paramount theater, many dreams were coming true for many people that day, and it changed me for the better.

(VIDEO) Abel Gance’s Napoleon - Final U.S. Showing in Oakland, California

Sun, 1 Apr 2012 12:19:15 -0500

The final showing of Abel Gance’s Complete Silent Film Masterpiece, amazingly reconstructed and restored by the lifetime work of film preservationist, Kevin Brownlow.

For those film fans unable to attend, here’s some footage. Enjoy! - Toni & Nick