When I wrote about the comb my mother gave me to wear at my sister's wedding (I didn't wear it after all, I'm sorry to say!) I was so tired that I started rambling on about how great Lillian Gish was and how her rosebush-beating scene in a D.W. Griffith short is the prettiest thing I've seen lately. I don't know why that came to my head at the time but I want this blog to make a bit more sense and have at least a little bit of focus, so I thought it would be a good time to scan in the Lillian Gish pages out of that silent film scrapbook and pretend that I meant to say all of that rosebush beating stuff all along.
I've mentioned Lillian before, but have never done a whole post on her, if only because she's one of the more obvious and accessible of the silent film stars and you've probably all seen lots of photographs of her already. She was definitely one of the first silent ladies that I got inspired by, way back when I first got into old films and silent movies. And she was probably one of the first actresses that I could really identify with--she looked nothing like actresses and sex symbols who were popular at the time I discovered her. She wasn't curvy, she didn't have strong features, she certainly wasn't sexy. She was small-featured and frail and innocent, and even though she was blonde-haired and my hair was possibly even darker than is today I felt that we just might have some things in common. I was never one-half as pretty as her, of course, but she made me feel better about my little mouth and my too-light blue eyes and the gawky scrawny-ness that embarrassed me all throughout high school.
I also loved the sadness about her. She was an innocent, but she didn't have the Pollyanna cheerfulness that kept me from really getting into Mary Pickford films. At her best she was serious and restrained--she could act out dramatic parts while still remaining believable. Which I think is why so many of her big dramatic scenes are so memorable, from her wandering around on the ice in Way Down East to that scene I rambled about in The Mothering Heart:
If you want to see the scene, you can fast-forward to the very end. The film is a little long, but the whole thing is really worth watching, I promise!
18 comments:
love love love these photos!!
I love Silent Films.
wonderful photos and I love the movie! :o)
Thats so sad!
oh you look just like a brunette version of her!
beautiful post!!
beautiful photos! I love the movie :)
whenever I look at you in the photos - you remind me of her. Great film!
I remember when I was doing my MA in Film Studies, one of my professor teaching us film history was obsessed with Lillian Gish. You could tell he had this tiny little crush on her as everytime he spoke about her, he became incredibly animated and you could see him blushing under his beard. I thought it was the cutest thing ever. You would have loved this course, as each time we had a lecture with him, we'd watch a lot of excerpts of silent films and focus on one diva of the time.
xxx
I've been doing some reading up on D.W. griffith for my final paper, and there's some pretty interesting stuff about ms. Gish.
like how she played children up till the age of 25 and that on top of being beautiful and elegant (as evidenced by these pics) she was also a shrewd business woman, and apparently quite the wit.
Some girls really have it all
Lillian Gish is one of my favorites! :) The first handful of silent films I ever watched starred her. I especially love her quiet and delicate style. Thanks for sharing these scans--you're such a lucky gal to have these at your fingertips! ;)
Beautiful post, I always find your blog is full of interesting information as well as lovely outfits! I have the opposite problem to you, though - me, it's ALL curves and strong features...
You're ridiculuos. I mean, how could you have ever had any problems about your appearance when you are really pretty?
Maybe not Angelina Jolie kind of pretty but nonetheless you're extremely cute and from your high school pictures it seems you've always been.
These are so so wonderful!! I really appreciate you sharing this treasure of yours with us....it's incredible! And the clip is so perfect!! Silent films are so mysterious/surreal in a way, and just so wonderful and amazing. Thanks for constantly introducing new things and helping me expand my knowledge and learn about the most wonderful topics! And you're the cutest--You remind me of Miss. Gish herself! I bet all the silly high school people were just jealous :)
xx
Oh she´s so beautiful! I love silent films and stars of the silver screen :) I like your blog and your style, you dress beautifully!
/Ewelyn
I think you are JUST as beautiful as Lillian Gish.
oh i love the gish-sisters!
Lillian Gish is my favorite silent film star - something about her that embodies the whole era for me. I read a biography of her, "Life and Lillian Gish" a few months ago and was so struck by her difficult, fascinating gypsy childhood working in vaudeville and film. (book excerpt here:
www.cinemaweb.com/silentfilm/
bookshelf/12gish05.htm )
My favorite movie of hers is the Wind - it's so tragic and strange.
I think you look so much like Lillian Gish you could be her sister. I was struck by that a few weeks into reading your blog. (at first I couldn't figure out why you looked so darn familiar! LOL)
You have very silent film star-esque expressions in a lot of your photos, which makes them twice as fun. :)
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