Walter Ruttmann. Opus No.2 and 3 The first substantial flowering of avant-garde cinema occurred during the 1920s in Western Europe, most notably in France and Germany, and in the postrevolutionary Soviet Union. In Germany and France, the cinematic apparatus was seen as tool with which artists working in the fine arts could expand their repertoire, and, by doing so, attract more of the public than visited art galleries and salons.
Hans Ritchter. Rhytmus 21
One group of filmmakers questioned the commercial cinema’s failure to minister directly to spiritual needs in the way music often does and abstract painting was attempting to do.
Please enjoy avant-garde from 1921
Clara Bow (more photos of Bow) survived a brutal childhood, marred by poverty and her mother’s severe mental illness. Bow found comfort in the movies and dreams of stardom, especially after winning a beauty contest that gave her a small movie part as a prize and took of her career. Typifying the flapper girl image, Bow enjoyed a life style beyond her means. She tore around Hollywood in a bright red convertible with pet chows dyed to match her flaming red hair.
Clara Bow (more photos of Bow) was perhaps one of the first silver screen sex sirens, flaunting her sexuality in an age when such behaviour was still shocking. She was a pioneer of sexual freedom long before the likes Marilyn Monroe. She personified the roaring twenties and was the number one film star for nearly a decade, but years of abuse, mental instability and weight problems saw her 'retire' aged 26.
Josephine Baker (more photos of Josephine) Overcoming the limitations imposed by the color of her skin, she became one of the world's most versatile entertainers, performing on stage, screen and recordings. Josephine was decorated for her undercover work for the French Resistance during World War II. She was a civil rights activist. She refused to perform for segregated audiences and integrated the Las Vegas nightclubs. She adopted twelve children from around the world whom she called her "Rainbow Tribe."
Dolores Costello by Alfred Cheney Johnston sometime in 1920’s
Alfred Cheney Johnston was born in New York City on April 8, 1885. He started experimenting with photography by taking portraits of friends and fellow students attending his art classes at National Academy of Design in New York City where he studied to be an illustrator. Alfred applied the knowledge and principles he'd absorbed from his painting classes to his portrait photography. Johnston's photographs were indeed very painterly and throughout his life many would compare his photographic technique to that of fine art painting.
Dolores Costello was once known as the Goddess of the Silent Screen but is probably best remembered today as Drew Barrymore's grandmother. Dolores appeared in numerous pictures throughout the 1910s and the early 1920s, mostly with her father - Maurice Costello and sister - Helena Costello. She later appeared on the New York stage with her sister in "George White Scandals of 1924". They were then signed by Warners Bros. where Dolores met future husband John Barrymore
Reminiscient of Olive Thomas, somehow.
Leslie Jones (1886 - 1967) , “Cats with lobster,” ca. 1917-34. Source: Boston Public Library on Flickr.
Modest about his abilities as a photographer (he called himself a camera-man, not a photo-journalist), Jones quietly built an unrivaled collection of photographic negatives, almost 40,000 of which were given to the Boston Public Library by his family in the early 1970s. The collection is a stunning pictorial document of the history of Boston in the 20th century, and a tribute to the craft and artistry of a man who by doing his job preserved the past on glass and film.
Charles Chaplin
British comedian, producer, writer, director, and composer. Born Charles Spencer Chaplin on April 16, 1889, in London, England, to parents Charles and Hannah Chaplin. Famous for his Little Tramp character, the sweet little man with a bowler hat, mustache, and cane, Chaplin was one of film's first superstars, elevating the industry in a way few could have ever imagined.
This photo by Ruth Hollick (17 March 1883 - 1977 ) shows a young girl, Sonia Landale, sitting on garden seat reading a book, with a small dog under the seat. Ruth Hollick was a commercial photographer who became famous for her portraits of children. She worked from about 1910, occupying a studio at 167 Collins Street, Melbourne from 1920 to about 1929, and later at Moonee Ponds, Melbourne.
“Known as the Motorcycle Queen of Miami, Bessie Stringfield started riding when she was 16. She was the first African-American woman to travel cross-country solo, and she did it at age 19 in 1929, riding a 1928 Indian Scout. Bessie traveled through all of the lower 48 states during the ’30s and ’40s at a time when the country was rife with prejudice and hatred. She later rode in Europe, Brazil, and Haiti and during World War II she served as one of the few motorcycle despatch riders for the United States military.”
- http://demenshea.com
MGM LION
In the 1920's, Volney Phifer was Hollywood's premier animal trainer and his most successful protégé was Leo, the MGM lion, who Volney taught to roar on cue.
The original logo was designed by Howard Dietz and used by the Goldwyn Pictures Studio studio from 1916 to 1924; since then there have been around five different lions used for the iconic logo. Jackie (above) was the first lion whose roar was heard by audiences of the silent film era, via a gramophone record. She first growled softly; this was followed by a louder growl, a brief pause, and then a final growl, before looking off to one side.
Sennett Bathing Beauties, 1920.
Mack Sennett's slapstick comedies were noted for their wild car chases and custard pie warfare. His first comedienne was Mabel Normand, who became a major star (and with whom he embarked on a tumultuous personal relationship). His films featured a bevy of girls known as the Sennett Bathing Beauties which included Juanita Hansen, Claire Anderson and Phyllis Haver. Sennett also developed the Kid Comedies, a forerunner of the Our Gang films and in a short time his name became synonymous with screen comedy. In 1915 Keystone Studios became an autonomous production unit of the ambitious Triangle Pictures Corporation, as Sennett joined forces with movie bigwigs D. W. Griffith and Thomas Ince.
Earl Carroll instructing girls in vanities, 1925.
Earl Carroll (September 16, 1893 – June 17, 1948) was an American theatrical producer, director, songwriter and composer. Carroll produced and directed numerous Broadway musicals, including eleven editions of Earl Carroll's Vanities, Earl Carroll's Sketch Book, and Murder at the Vanities, which was also made into a film starring Jack Oakie. Known as "the troubadour of the nude", Carroll was famous for his productions featuring the most lightly clad showgirls on Broadway. In 1922, he built the first Earl Carroll Theatre in New York, which was demolished and rebuilt on a grander scale in 1931. He built a second theatre on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, California in 1938.
Clara Gordon Bow (July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress born and raised in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. Her high spirits and acting artistry made her the quintessential flapper and the film "It" brought her global fame. Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol.
This photo of poor Russian family back in 1925 listening to the radio. I am made to believe that family's surname is Voronovi, mind you this is very common Russian surname. If you have more information about this photo please leave it in my ask box. Thank you!
Marion Davies and William Haines, Show People (1928).
King Vidor directed this 1928 film about a Georgia girl, Peggy Pepper, (Marion Davies) who comes to Hollywood and turns into a self-important "artiste," renaming herself Peggy Pepoire.