Five Facts About: House Peters

[image courtesy The Loudest Voice]

1. Robert House Peters was born on March 12, 1880 in Bristol, England. He didn't stay put long, traveling extensively as a young man; he sailed to China, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Central Africa (where he served in the Boer War) before returning to the land of his birth.

2. He was already a well-known stage actor both in England and the US when he was chosen to enter pictures, by Jesse Lasky himself.  His first film was IN THE BISHOP'S CARRIAGE (1913), opposite Mary Pickford.  Not a bad intro to movies!

[image courtesy Please Pass the Popcorn]

3. Became a very popular star of the teens, and was billed as "The Star of a Thousand Emotions".  Unfortunately, those emotions were always of the "good guy", which he lamented:

I've always got to be the He-ro.  I don't mind rescuing the lovely maiden -- that's fair enough; but why must I always be condemned to marry the heroine, pay off the mortgage, and live happy everafter? I tell you it gets to be monotonous.  What do they think I am -- a Mormon?

[Allen Corliss, "They Won't Let Him Be Bad", Photoplay, August 1916]

4. His biggest film was THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST (1915), but after that, his career backslid.  He tried for a comeback in the early 20s, but by 1928 House Peters was effectively finished.  His last film was from that same year -- ROSE MARIE, starring Joan Crawford.  He came out of retirement for one movie in the 1950s, which brings us to #5...

5. He married in 1914, and had three children: Ian and Patricia, who dabbled a bit in film, and House Peters Jr, who worked extensively in B-movies and TV spots throughout the 1950s and 60s.  The vast majority of his resume was Westerns, one of which -- THE OLD WEST (1952) -- starred him alongside his father.  However, House Peters Jr is best known for one particular role he held from the late 50s to the early 60s:  the original portrayer of Mr Clean.

[image courtesy The National Enquirer (I know!)]

House Peters passed away in 1967.  His son died in 2008.

Happy Independence Day!

Flapper Flickers + Silent Stanzas is taking a week off to enjoy the holiday.  Have a happy Fourth, folks -- and a safer one than poor Joanie!

(Photo courtesy Amy Jeanne)

The Prodigal Daughter Returns

Good to see you all again!  *waves*  I've been away a long time, haven't I?


Something happened to me and my beloved classic films...they stopped being fun to watch.  Why?  Because I was perched on the edge of the sofa with a notebook all time time, furiously scribbling.  As much fun as the reviews were, they started to feel like homework.  I couldn't watch a movie without feeling like I needed to be documenting it.


So I took a break.  In the process, I've decided to change the format a little bit.


Look for me to write about the things I love, the movies I adore and the people I can't get enough of -- but in no formal fashion.  Hoping the poetry bug bites soon too, so I can share those again.  Those were always my first love.  :)

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Caught "Untamed" over the weekend (thank you, DVR) and Joan Crawford as Bingo has to be one of  my favorite characters of hers.  How in the world did she manage to look ten years younger in the beginning?  Her "spirited tomboy" was feisty and adorable and I missed her when Bingo went all proper.   The beautiful (hell, he was more beautiful than Joanie in this, and that's saying something) Robert Montgomery played his usual sophisticate self, all 85 lbs. of him.

Joanie said herself that the picture was "silly but fun" and she's exactly right.  However, she also said she was awful, which is not.  Only her reaction over her father's death in the beginning was waaaaay too melodramatic, but it was her first talkie.  You can't blame her.  

Hollywood Blondes (that have nothing to do with wrestling)

I have a thing for 1930s peroxide blondes.  Hardboiled little things with vanilla-colored hair, tough and fiery and sure of themselves.  They turn up in every pre-Code movie, forever Party Guest #3 or Telephone Operator.  Even though I know they're a Hollywood invention, they've come to represent the Depression for me: women who know a thing or two about struggling and are willing to fight to survive.  Here are three I love:

Jean Harlow is the quintessential example, the Platinum Blonde who started it all.   Sure, she was sexy, but she was also smart as a whip and quick with a comeback.  (She was also very intelligent off-screen, too; one day I'll devote more time to the Baby, one of my favorites.)

Another favorite of mine is Toby Wing, the world's most famous chorus girl.  She never rose to the heights of stardom, but she was in quite a few important films -- yup, that's her getting serenaded by Dick Powell in 42nd Street -- and even though she was usually uncredited, she managed to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I absolutely adore Polly Walters and squeal when she shows up in a movie!  Her career was short, and mostly spent playing telephone operators, but her nasal honk and sweet little face is immensely endearing.  She did very well in Broadway, starring in a hit 1933 show called She Loves Me Not.

Almost everyone tried to go super-blonde when it was popular, with mixed results.  Here's Bette Davis early in her career: 

And here's Joan Crawford, looking, well...let's just say brunette suited her much better. 

(screencap courtesy The Crowd Roars)

Regardless if they're in the lead or only on-screen for a moment, these "broads" with a heart of gold are just one of the things I find so irresistable about the pre-Code era. 


(p.s.  I know I didn't mention Joan Blondell.  Shame on me!  She's fantastic!  Oh - and how could I forget Thelma Todd?  Yikes!)