com). Pricilla Dean, despite her odd and some might say crooked features and curvy figure, had an interesting though brief career offering audiences a unique and fierce performance in Outside the Law in 1920 (Stanford.edu, 2011).
It's rare nowadays to have published short fiction in movie magazines. This one utilizes five stars under the headline and above the title.
This article demonstrates that human beings still write simple "how-to" style articles even nowadays, and that explaining from one person to another how to accomplish something is a timeless endeavor. The headline of this article demonstrates what a new profession the movies were and represented a field that one could "break into." One typically wouldn't see an article of such simplicity during modern times. Another interesting aspect of this article is that it's written by Mabel Normand. Mabel Normand was an actress and comedienne of the era; she was very popular with audiences and starred in movies like Mabel's Married Life and Mabel's Busy Day (imdb.com). Her last film was in 1921 but it was boycotted mostly by audiences in lieu of the odd death of Tod Browning (imdb.com). People wondered if she might have a hand in it due to her jealousy over Browning's affair with Minter (imdb.com).
This page displays the heavy stylistic choices of the decade with the collage of pictures placed into a curved, larger shape -- evocative of antique furniture such as a decorative screen or mirror.
The headline of this article uses the dash to break up the word "Shh" a grammatical choice that one simply doesn't see often nowadays. The byline of "Irma, the Ingenue" is a quaint way to give someone credit for the article.
"Film-Flam" is a colloquialism of the decade that one simply doesn't hear nowadays. The decorative banner that is scroll-like as a means of decorating the headline is yet another stylistic choice that isn't used often in modern times. The photograph of the woman crouching in imitation of the RCA dog might be considered derogatory nowadays and strictly avoided. The actress depicted is Shirley Mason, who started as a child actress in the 1911 film at the Threshold of Life, later on taking more substantial parts in films such as Love's Harvest and Very Truly Yours (imdb.com).
This segment is so highly decorative, from the font of the headline,...
Most magazines, even the trashiest ones of this modern era, generally stick to basic formats that aren't so ornate.
The content of this advertising page demonstrates how not a lot has changed in human
society -- at least in certain respects. This page shows jobs advertized, self-improvement products and comparable things for the reader to be alerted to.
This
advertisement, for a pot set, is something that one would generally not see in a movie magazine nowadays, or at least not something this large. The picture of the pots takes up half the page and the word "wonderful" would not be used to describe a set of pots nowadays. Instead, a more specific adjective such as "efficient" or "easy to clean" would be used.
It should be noted that when it comes to researching many of these silent film stars, their names do not come up immediately in various
search engines. Ones that completed a more substantial body of work generally do come up readily, as do those that married famous directors. However, it's important to note that many of these actors have fallen into obscurity, outside of specialized silent film archives.
References
Goldensilents.com. (n.d.). Claire Windsor. Retrieved from Goldensilents.com: http://www.goldensilents.com/stars/clairewindsor.html
Hufford, B. (1999, April 17). Ruth Roland. Retrieved from FInd a Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5157
Imdb.com. (n.d.). Biography for Mabel Normand. Retrieved from Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0635667/bio
Imdb.com. (n.d.). Biography for Tod Browning. Retrieved from Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115218/bio
Imdb.com. (n.d.). Biography of Shirley Mason. Retrieved from Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0556953/bio
Stanford.edu. (2011, August 5). Priscilla Dean. Retrieved from Stanford.edu: http://www.stanford.edu/~gdegroat/dean.htm
Usc.edu. (2000, July 2). The Unsolved Murder of William Desmond Taylor. Retrieved from Usc.edu: http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/la/scandals/taylor.html
