Gilbert Roland - A Latin Performer Unbounded

[MissGoddess]

Wow! I may have to watch this just out of curiosity after reading your post. I was going to record it anyway. I like Yvette and Efrem, as well as GR of course.

Your descriptions of Von Sydow's expressions made me laugh! Maybe Fernandez suggested he copy Henry Fonda's tortured gazes from The Fugitive (1947), a movie Fernandez worked on. this may be one of those examples of a production in which much more of interest happened on location than landed on the screen. Wish we knew for sure.

[moirafinnie]

Wow! I may have to watch this just out of curiosity after reading your post. I was going to record it anyway. I like Yvette and Efrem, as well as GR of course.

I would love to know if I missed the point of this movie because of language or my lack of perception, Miss G. I hope your Spanish is better than mine! Please share your impressions in any case, won't you?

Your descriptions of Von Sydow's expressions made me laugh!

Well, at first I kept looking for the figure of Death with a chess set tucked under his arm to come over a dune, but no such luck. After awhile, I figured that Max may have been wondering what was going on during this movie, and in self-defense, he kept his face as relatively serene (and hard to read) as he did for some of his more phlegmatic Bergman films.

Maybe Fernandez suggested he copy Henry Fonda's tortured gazes from The Fugitive (1947), a movie Fernandez worked on. this may be one of those examples of a production in which much more of interest happened on location than landed on the screen. Wish we knew for sure.

Could be, though Henry's whipped look evoked sympathy up to a point, while Max's fatalistic pilot seemed semi-catatonic occasionally, with a few hints of cynicism. I guess the closest we will get to knowing what the heck happened during this movie was that rather snide article in Life that was mentioned earlier in this thread.

[knitwit45]

but, Moira, how do you really feel about this movie???

loved the review, will definitely pass on the film!

[MissGoddess]

A Good Drizzle after a Big Sizzle...hahahahahaahahaha!!! Thanks for re-posting that Life magazine article, I'm definitely going to read it.

Sigh. Bergman's films scare me. I'm quite ignorant of them, though I have watched three or four of the most well known.

Sometimes, when lots of bad things are said about a film before I've seen it, it lowers my expectations enough that it actually comes of a little better than expected. We shall see. I sometimes gravitate to really dreadful trash from the 1960s. I have a whole list of truly AWFUL 60s favorites---and no, I don't like them because they're bad, I actually just like them, straight up!

In any case, I'll report back here, of course!

P.S. Have you watched any of Fernandez' films that he directed, particularly the early ones with Gabriel Figueroa photographing? I'm curious, and even wondering if I've seen one or two a while back when TCM actually showed some Mexican films, including a few horror selections from the 1940s. I just don't remember the titles. This was some time back.

[feaito]

Hi April, I've watched four of the films that Emilio Fernández directed and in which Gabriel Figueroa was the cinematographer and by far, far, far the best is "La Perla" (The Pearl) (1947), a true masterpiece starring Pedro Armendáriz and María Elena Marques (who appeared opposite Gable in "Accross the Wide Missouri" (1951)).

The others I've seen are "Flor Silvestre" (1943), "Las Abandonadas" (1944) and "Bugambilia" (1945), all starring Dolores Del Río and Pedro Armendáriz are interesting but just of medium quality -maybe too melodramatic for my taste. In Flor Silvestre Emilio Fernández has the third lead. I have also seen "Distinto Amanecer" (1943), directed by Julio Bracho, cinematography by Figueroa and starring Andrea Palma and Armendáriz, which is more interesting than the former IMO.

[charliechaplinfan]

I thought you guys would like those images! Here is a bit more for those who are interested in Buster Keaton as well as GR. (Jacks, are you listening?)

From The New York Times in 1929:

Christmas at the Keatons, 1929:

“Although the sun shines at Christmas in Hollywood, and thin dresses are worn, the good old Christmas spirit is not lacking in the homes of film stars. Parties are given on Christmas Eve as well as Christmas Day. In the houses of Jack Holt and Buster Keaton, for instance, where children form such an important part of the festive season, the decoration of a Chrimstas tree for the kiddies is made an excuse for a Christmas Eve party for the grown-ups.

Mrs. Keaton, who was Natalie Talmadge, always invites ten or twelve friends to help her and Buster to decorate their Christmas-tree. The guests arrive about 8 o’clock when Joe and Bob Keaton are in bed dreaming of Santa Claus. Natalie gives all the girls a big overall, while Buster produces green baize aprons for the men. Then the serious business of the evening begins.

The tree is carried into the hall: a tall ladder is produced; and on a table, box after box of glittering baubles for the tree stand waiting to be used. Up the ladder goes Constance Talmadge, while Norma helps her brother-in-law to blow out a string of coloured balloons.

As a rule, the Keaton’s guests include, in addition to Mrs. Talmadge, Norma and Constance, such cheery people as William Haines, Dorothy Sebastian, Marceline Day, Gilbert Roland, Louis Woldheim—who is a tower of strength on these occasions—and probably John Gilbert.

While half the party concentrates on the tree, some of the others tie up dozes of parcels in gay holly-patterned paper, with huge bows of scarlet ribbon. The remainder get very busy with evergreens and mistletoe, making trails and those big green rings that hang in every Californian house at Christmas. The wireless set provides music, also the gramophone, and most of the workers sing while they toll.”

Gilbert Roland and his friend Buster Keaton in The Passionate Plumber (1932).


Norma Talmadge, GR, and Buster in the swim of things.


GR and Buster in Spain, where they vacationed together after making The Passionate Plumber. Is everybody happy?

I don't know how I missed this first time around, what a lovely account and lovely pictures.

Did GR and Buster escape the clutches of the Talmadge family at the same time? Was GR ever married to Norma? I know they had a heated affair.

[MissGoddess]

Hi April, I've watched four of the films that Emilio Fernández directed and in which Gabriel Figueroa was the cinematographer and by far, far, far the best is "La Perla" (The Pearl) (1947), a true masterpiece starring Pedro Armendáriz and María Elena Marques (who appeared opposite Gable in "Accross the Wide Missouri" (1951)).

Gracias, muchacho,
This movie, La Perla, I definitely know and must have seen at some point. Now I have a better idea of who Fernandez is as a director.

The others I've seen are "Flor Silvestre" (1943), "Las Abandonadas" (1944) and "Bugambilia" (1945), all starring Dolores Del Río and Pedro Armendáriz are interesting but just of medium quality -maybe too melodramatic for my taste. In Flor Silvestre Emilio Fernández has the third lead. I have also seen "Distinto Amanecer" (1943), directed by Julio Bracho, cinematography by Figueroa and starring Andrea Palma and Armendáriz, which is more interesting than the former IMO.

Thank you for those recommendations! I am a melodramatic girl so they may be right up my alley!

I really admire Pedro...I am not as familiar with his (late) son's work...would you say he had a similar presence? I know he was very respected in Mexico, I don't know about other Latin American countries. My Ecuadorian friend knew of him from childhood, she did not know much about his father until I showed her some Ford films.

[moirafinnie]

I don't know how I missed this first time around, what a lovely account and lovely pictures.

Did GR and Buster escape the clutches of the Talmadge family at the same time?

Pretty much, though Buster went on a self-destructive tear that had begun while he was still married to Natalie Talmadge. Most biographers regard the sale of Keaton's contract to MGM by his then brother-in-law Joseph Schenck to have been his undoing just as talkies took hold. By 1932, when Keaton and Roland made their screen appearance together, Keaton had lost most of his assets (some say all) to Natalie and was cut off from speaking to his two sons by her. (No wonder he drank). GR, as he would later try to do with some friends, especially Peter Lorre, encouraged Buster to work and care for his health. Roland also took Keaton (and his increasingly distant wife who was in the process of divorcing him) with him on a trip to Spain after The Passionate Plumber where the two of them were able to bask in the warmth extended to them by the Spanish public. On one occasion according to biographers, Buster was startled to be carried on the shoulders of an appreciative crowd from a restaurant to his hotel.

Above: Keaton and GR in Spain at a bullfight.

Was GR ever married to Norma? I know they had a heated affair.

They never married, in part because evidently Norma lost interest in GR as the Latin Lover phase of Hollywood history faded, though her intense involvement with him helped to end her marriage to Joseph Schenck (and may have hampered GR's career). The powerful Schenck and Talmadge were involved in long divorce proceedings from 1932 to 1934, after Norma became involved with comedian George Jessel during a vaudeville tour together in '32. Talmadge was also said to have felt that the decade that separated her and GR would have become more noticeable as time went on--though those who knew her in later years felt that she retained her looks, becoming, according to Eve Golden's profile of her in Golden Images (McFarland) to bear a resemblance to Paulette Goddard. You can see a photo of Norma in 1956 here in LIfe Magazine, which published an interesting piece on silent stars then still living in an issue. I believe Norma also had health issues resulting in her eventual addiction to morphine to ease the pain of arthritis. Believe it or not, she eventually married comedian George Jessel in 1934 (divorced after 3 years together).

After the affair with Roland faded away and the marriage to Jessel ended, she went on to marry a well known doctor in 1946, in a union that lasted until her death on Christmas Eve, 1957. Characteristically, GR was said to have stayed in communication with her, even as she became a virtual recluse and he went on to involvement with Constance Bennett, which resulted in two children and a four year marriage in the '40s and a lasting union with a Mexican socialite in 1954 that ended with his death in 1994.

You can see more details about this period of Gilbert Roland's life here. While there are several documented instances in the press when Roland's autobiography, "The Wine of Yesterday" was mentioned by the actor late in life, at this time it does not appear that this will be published any time soon, though it might make fascinating reading for some of us!

[MissGoddess]

I have a question...did GR make any Mexican movies? I mean locally produced, in Spanish, not American productions filmed in Mexico.

[moirafinnie]

I have a question...did GR make any Mexican movies? I mean locally produced, in Spanish, not American productions filmed in Mexico.

I assume you are not including the Spanish language movies made by U.S. studios at the beginning of the talkies before subtitles, several of which GR appeared in--sometimes speaking English, and other times Spanish.

Aside from the fascinating multi-lingual film The Torch (1950), produced in Mexico with some American money but an all-Mexican cast and crew (except for a miscast Paulette Goddard), there are two non-American movies in other languages that I know of, though there may be more undocumented movies in Mexico and abroad during such a long career.

We discussed The Torch earlier here and which is available for viewing online, but other films produced outside of the United States include the French language movie, La Possession (1929), which some sources name as the first film appearance of one Jean Gabin(!). I know nothing else about this movie, unfortunately, though I assume it was made when GR and Norma were spending time in France.


The other, truly Mexican-made movie I know of with GR in the cast is La rebelión de los fantasmas (1949) one movie I would love to see with subtitles since it does not appear to have been distributed in the U.S. at all. It reportedly features a serio-comic story with musical interludes about living people (leading man GR and leading lady Argentinian-born Amanda Ledesma along with legendary musical performer Maria Conesa) who are trying to save a house haunted by famous ghosts, including real people (Chopin), and fictional characters (Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, Romeo and Juliet, etc.).

I am not familiar with the apparently famous Maria Conesa, but according to one site I found, she was known as "Maria Conesa (1892-1978): Spanish-born stage performer, nicknamed "La Gatita Blanca" after one of her biggest song hits, who worked in the Mexican musical theatre from the turn of the century well into the 1930s. She made her film debut in the silent era, but did not appear in a sound film until 1938's Refugiados en Madrid (Refugees in Madrid). Conesa made a few other pictures over the next decade and appeared on television well into the 1950s. However, her period of enormous popular success as a musical comedy star came well before the film era. "

Below is a clip featuring Maria Conesa in a brief moment from La rebelión de los fantasmas

[MissGoddess]

Thank you, Moira...and thanks for the reminder about The Torch...I had intended at the time to watch it but got sidetracked. I'll see if I can get to it tonight. Those other productions look very interesting. To me, Gilbertito was so international, he could play an Americano, a true blooded Mexican or South American, or a Spaniard (and lets not forget his other dashing, European incarnations) with such ease. In fact, he seems much more at ease in an international setting than an American one. It seems more compatible to him.

[feaito]

Hi April,

I think Pedro Armendáriz Jr.'s presence differs from his father's and I mainly remember him for his role in "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" (1973-TV Movie); I seem to recall that he appeared in some Mexican Telenovelas (TV Soap Operas). Pedro Armendáriz (Snr.) was one of the best Mexican actors of the Golden Era.

[charliechaplinfan]

Thank you Moira for your reply and the extra pictures of Buster and Gilbert, it speaks of the kind of man Gilbert Roland was that he would look out for his friends although at the time of The Passionate Plumber most people would be excused for thinking that Buster was beyond redemption, yet around the same time he made a decision to get hold of his demons and straighten himself out, no doubt friends of Gilbert's calibre helped enormously, one wonders what Natalie Talmadge was trying to achieve by denying a father his sons and vice versa and also changing their sons names, I don't think they ever spoke again. Thankfully his sons sought him out in later years.

I couldn't remember if Gilbert Roland had married Norma Talmadge or not, I knew he married Constance Bennett, he also features in David Stenn's book on Clara Bow, a loverof Clara's and then a close friend. It's in keeping with the bit I have read about him that he would not be filmed talking about the memories about silent film but was happy to talk about them away from the camera. It's a lovely article Moira, I've saved it into my favourites so that I can return to it from time to time.

You amaze me with the articles that you can make reference to, I loved the one on the ageing movie idols, Lillian Gish doesn't look much different, neither does Buster which is amazing really considering what life threw at him. It's a lovely article, thank you.

[moirafinnie]

Hi April,

I think Pedro Armendáriz Jr.'s presence differs from his father's and I mainly remember him for his role in "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" (1973-TV Movie); I seem to recall that he appeared in some Mexican Telenovelas (TV Soap Operas). Pedro Armendáriz (Snr.) was one of the best Mexican actors of the Golden Era.

Thanks, Fernando. I was hoping that you had seen some of the actors in The Reward (1965) or possibly La rebelión de los fantasmas (1949) sometime. I suspect that you'd get much more out of them than I could!

[feaito]

Hello Moira,

Unfortunately I haven't seen those films you mention.