Gilbert Roland - A Latin Performer Unbounded

[moira finnie]

I found a good version of a very well made Mexican movie made under the aegis of Eagle-Lion that was about the revolution in that country in the early years of the 20th century featuring GR in a fine role. The Torch (1950-Emilio Fernández), which has moments of startling violence, and vivid beauty (check out that opening scene with the glassblowers), gave Gilbert Roland a chance to play against type as a pensive, gentle priest concerned for others, including the revolutionaries who swarm over his town, one of whom is his boyhood friend. He is quietly appalled by the events he witnesses as men grovel to survive, small children seem completely inured to the sights they witness, while he tries to do his duty as a priest as best he can. Underplaying beautifully, his role is one of his most unusual in his long career.

GR with Paulette Goddard in The Torch (1950)

The version of the movie, seen below, which was shot in English with Spanish subtitles, is especially welcome, given the dreadful state of the public domain version on the Internet Archive, (it is also available in a very affordable DVD, which can be easily found online). Well-directed by Fernández, who is probably best known in America as "General Mapache" in Sam Peckinpah's seminal The Wild Bunch (1969), it has a darkly humorous script credited to the director, Íñigo de Martino and Bert Granet. The Torch is beautifully photographed by master cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, who may be familiar to Luis Bunuel fans and those who appreciated the look of John Ford's The Fugitive (1948), the movie is set during the most violent years of the Mexican Revolution. Unlike Ford's brooding meditation on Graham Greene's novel, The Torch is fun as well as serious, with a feel that seems old-fashioned yet compelling and filled with some over the top comedy--and with touches of magic realism tossed into the curious movie.

Btw, not one shot in this movie is boring and most scenes are ravishingly framed in glorious black and white.


As Father Serra, Gilbert Roland hopes to restrain his boyhood friend, Pedro Armendariz, a revolutionary general, who, after overtaking the town, soon starts to court the temperamental Paulette. The General metes out some very rough justice, in the presence of his tiny adopted daughter, with little concern for showing mercy. He is glad to see his school chum, Gilbert Roland, but the canny and occasionally tender-hearted Armendariz's belief is in brutal power, based on the myriad injustices around him, until he finds the fiery Paulette Goddard, the local patron's daughter, to be very much to his liking after she slaps him when he approaches her on the street. Okay, Paulette has been around the block a few too many times to be playing a tempestuous, virginal daughter on the cusp of womanhood, (and the bows in her hair and ruffles on her clothes don't help), but she plays this role with considerable brio--just like this movie, which is full of beautiful contradictions. In some ways this movie is a variation on The Taming of the Shrew, with a not very bright but ardent Petruchio courting an impetuous Kate, who rules his heart and helps to make him human again. Armendariz, whose talent was never fully displayed in American movies he made, is wonderful in this movie too.

If you enjoy films that explore Mexican history and culture, and just plain good movies, this 1:15 minute movie may be right up your alley. Btw, it occurred to me while watching this, that some of the experiences shown in this movie probably reflected the events that led Gilbert Roland's family to emigrate, since they were among the many who were compelled to leave Mexico for America during the revolution--reportedly after families of Spanish descent were being targeted by the forces of Pancho Villa and his associates.

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[JackFavell]

Moira -

This sounds like a fantastic find! Your review makes me want to watch this film right away....I am a big Pedro Armendariz fan as well as Gilbert, and the cinematography and direction sound beautiful. I have no knowledge of Mexican history or films, but this sounds too good to pass by.

Unfortunately, Paulette is the only down side for me. I like her personality,she's a great, good-natured girl, but I never really 'got' her. She always seems like she is playing around.... in some movies, like Young in Heart, or The Women, that's exactly what's needed, and I like her tremendously. In others, not so much. Maybe I am too harsh. I will give it a try anyway.

[moira finnie]

I know what you mean about Paulette Goddard, JF. I like her, but she's not a great actress, though she is rather delicious in Kitty and Diary of a Chambermaid, but I can never quite forget that she's performing.

A confrontation scene between Pedro Armendariz, GR, and Paulette Goddard.

I suspect that she was hired for this picture for international film financing reasons, rather than her credibility as a Mexican teenager from a small town. I think that Pier Angeli, in her delicate but feisty mode, as she appeared in a few of her films, might have been ideal for this part.



Btw, Goddard reportedly pursued one of her hobbies and collected scads of jewels from her admirers in Mexico while filming The Torch, and she had her portrait painted once again by one of her longtime swains, that Marxist rascal Diego Rivera, who had painted her in 1940-1941 (shown above) and who included her image once again in one of his murals--this time facing Rivera's official beloved, Frida Kahlo and holding the artist's hand (below). Goddard met Diego Rivera through George Gershwin just before the composer's early death.

According to one of the biographies of Paulette Goddard:
"In 1939, Paulette was in Mexico when she got a call from the artist saying his house was surrounded by police. An attempt had been made on Trotsky’s life, and Rivera was a prime suspect. Art dealer Michael Hall remembers Paulette telling him that she jumped in her convertible, charmed her way through the guards, smuggled Rivera out of his house by hiding him in the backseat of her car, covering his bulky frame with canvases. These were the paintings, Hall says, that Rivera gave her, including his masterpiece, “The Calla Lilies” which she later sold for $429,000." So, she got what she wanted--and what a story!

In the Pan American Unity Mural located at the City College of San Francisco on the Ocean Avenue campus in the Diego Rivera Theater, you can see that Frida is on the left holding an artist's palette while facing the viewer, while Diego has his ample back to the viewer and Paulette is in the white dress wearing an attentively serene expression and holding Rivera's big mitt.

I'd love to know what Roland, Armendariz and Emilio Fernández made of all this, though they probably took it in stride as typical Hollywood stuff, but something tells me that Frida may have been more than a bit miffed!

[JackFavell]

Ha! What a story! Had I been Frida, I'd have taken that paintbrush and ..... well, never mind. You know, I have always wished to be one of those good-natured women who flow through life getting what they want because they simply have the grace and charm to smile and ask for it. There's a lot to be said for being good-natured. Ah well.

I love Diego Rivera, but I'm glad I was not involved with him.

[moira finnie]

New York Nights (1929) with GR singing "A Year From Today" with Norma Talmadge and Roscoe Karns. John Wray and Lilyan Tashman appear later in the clip too:
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Call Her Savage (1932): "Moonglow" irks Clara a bit...

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A scene from Three Violent People (1956):
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[MissGoddess]

I don't visit this thread for several days and look what I miss. Thank you so much, Moira, for all your postings...I have A LOT to look forward to watching now. And thanks, too, for the notice about next showing of The French Line. I hope I get it recorded because I just love the cotten-candyness of what I saw (and Gilbertito, of course!) That movie with Paulette looks like I'd love it, too. Can't wait. I'm actually watching him right now, in Bandido, which I've seen probably ten times now. I was watching T.E Lawrence but only half heartedly...I still have not seen that movie all the way through and nOT because I don't want to, I just have to be in the right mood. I'm more in a Gilbertito mood. Though it's fascinating how much spanish men have in common with Arabs...

[feaito]

Moira,

Thanks for posting those Rivera paintings. I hadn't the slightest idea that Paulette Goddard had been portrayed by him in some murals.

And those Gilbert Roland clips are very good too. "Three Violent People" is a very good Western and Roland's role is noteworthy. I hadn't seen any scene from "New York Nights" (1929) ever, and I didn't hear anything wrong in Norma Talmadge's tone of voice or accent....heavy Brooklyn accent? nah! At least in the scenes shown here she's very fine. Does any one else see the resemblance between Norma and Evelyn Brent, especially in the first part of the scene where her hair is loose?

[moira finnie]

And thanks, too, for the notice about next showing of The French Line. I hope I get it recorded because I just love the cotten-candyness of what I saw (and Gilbertito, of course!)

I love your description of The French Line as having a "cotten-candyness" quality! Just for fun, it is pretty amusing.

That movie with Paulette looks like I'd love it, too. Can't wait. I'm actually watching him right now, in Bandido, which I've seen probably ten times now. I was watching T.E Lawrence but only half heartedly...I still have not seen that movie all the way through and nOT because I don't want to, I just have to be in the right mood. I'm more in a Gilbertito mood. Though it's fascinating how much spanish men have in common with Arabs...

I would wait to see Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen somewhere in NY. I was lucky to see it that way for the first time about 10 years ago at the Wang in Beantown, now called the Citi Performing Arts Center

I hadn't the slightest idea that Paulette Goddard had been portrayed by him in some murals.

And those Gilbert Roland clips are very good too. "Three Violent People" is a very good Western and Roland's role is noteworthy. I hadn't seen any scene from "New York Nights" (1929) ever, and I didn't hear anything wrong in Norma Talmadge's tone of voice or accent....heavy Brooklyn accent? nah! At least in the scenes shown here she's very fine. Does any one else see the resemblance between Norma and Evelyn Brent, especially in the first part of the scene where her hair is loose?

Fernando--you and that clip make me want to find a copy of Three Violent People soon. I don't think I've ever seen it.
I see exactly what you mean about Evelyn Brent and Norma Talmadge. Do you think it is their makeup or their face? I found Norma to be much more animated when she smiled than Evelyn. No one could play a tough gal as effectively as Ms. Brent in silents and early talkies, but I do think that after years of working flat out from childhood on, there was a spark in her that had burned out by the time she was in talkies. I do like her in her von Sternberg movies very much, btw. Norma Talmadge's accent seemed to be that of a New Yorker, but how could anyone criticize her accent in movies when she was appearing with the nasal king, Roscoe Karns?? I don't think her voice really should have been an issue, but perhaps her longevity worked against her as did her leaving the powerful Joe Schenck for GR may have had a little bit to do with it? I thought she seemed to be behaving in a fairly natural way in this film, and didn't appear to have the silent movie acting style hampering her transition either.

Evelyn (above) and Norma (below)



Btw, I should add a word or two about Paulette Goddard, since my earlier comments about her in this particular movie may seem unfair. In addition to the financing of the movie I wonder if she may have gotten her part in The Torch in part due to her facility with Spanish too. Despite her sometimes mercenary behavior (at least according to Burgess Meredith's bemused observations in his autobio, and the account in the very well done dual bio about Ms. Goddard and her last husband, Erich Maria Remarque, "Opposite Attraction: The Lives of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard by Julie Gilbert, (who credits our own Larry as in VecchioLarry, as one of her sources),Goddard's need to acquire financial security was grounded in harsh reality, since she was born in extreme poverty. I should also add, that, while I think she is miscast in this particular part in The Torch, she is exceptionally beautiful and, had demonstrated, when given a good role and careful direction as she had in director Mitchell Leisen's Hold Back the Dawn when she played acquisitive cohort of Charles Boyer, and in that director's Kitty,proved herself a good performer. Btw, I recently saw Paulette give a terrific performance in Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband (1948-Alexander Korda). If you have a chance to see this, and if you like Wilde's style in general her role as the deliciously predatory Mrs. Laura Cheveley suited her beautifully. This movie is also the last time one can see C. Aubrey Smith, who was a joy, and far more attractive in his ancient way, than the younger fellows in this movie!

I have some new GR pics, which I will post later. I'm glad others might enjoy this too.

[feaito]

At least in that particular scene Norma resembles Evelyn quite a bite, although Evelyn's features are sharper and Norma's face is fuller, but in the whole they look similar (face, features, hair). As for persona, I've always found a similarity between Evelyn Brent and the Barbara Stanwyck of the early thirties; also something in her hair-styles and way of speaking; tough, hard boiled ladies both.

You won't regret watching "Three Violent People" April, it is highly enjoyable

[MissGoddess]

You won't regret watching "Three Violent People" April, it is highly enjoyable

Hi Fernando! Hope you guys are recovering well from the quaking and shaking??

i've seen Three Violent People, but Moira has not---and I add my recommendation, it's a good western. I think I saw it on Encore Westerns last year, if it wasn't TCM.

Moira, seeing Lawrence on the big screen actually is what I would prefer and I have been holding out for that. It DID get a showing at the Film Forum last year when they did a David Lean festival, and I stupidly missed every screening.

[feaito]

You won't regret watching "Three Violent People" April, it is highly enjoyable

Hi Fernando! Hope you guys are recovering well from the quaking and shaking??

i've seen Three Violent People, but Moira has not---and I add my recommendation, it's a good western. I think I saw it on Encore Westerns last year, if it wasn't TCM.

Sorry for the mistake April, I meant Moira

The aftershocks are decreasing in intensity each week that goes by, thank God.

[MissGoddess]

You all are still suffering after-shocks? I know how distressing they can be. I was living in Southern California when what they sometimes refer to as "the Northridge quake" hit. It was a big one and I was doing a temp job on the 40th floor of a skyscraper (the one they filmed Die Hard in) when an aftershock hit...it was the most terrifying thing because the building SWAYED back and forth like a palm tree (it was designed to do that). I hid under a desk!

I hope the rattling subsides entirely, soon, for you.

[moira finnie]

OH, Fernando,
I am hoping that the earth calms down very soon. I hope that you and your family are handling things as well as possible,Fernando. Please keep looking for mail from me and know that you are in my thoughts every day.

Since we all need a break from our hard realities occasionally, would a visit to Planet Gilberto be welcome?

First, I have been trying to learn the basics of video moviemaking, so I played around and gathered all the photos we've all accumulated in the last year or so related to GR, and put them all into a slideshow movie that you can see here. Please understand that it is a work in progress and I'll try to make it better asap, but it might be enjoyable for hard core Gilberto fans to peruse.

Second, here are some stills I came across recently,that were used to publicize The Woman Disputed (1928-Henry King, Sam Taylor). Based on a Guy de Maupassant story, it appears to be one of those movies that were made as silents and then were made into partial talkies and is now reportedly held in the Library of Congress. Will we ever see it outside of an archive? I wish. Basically, Norma is a human sacrifice (or at least her virtue is) on the pyre of the Franco-Prussian war (though the filmmakers made it a Russian-Austrian war instead. I suppose they had their reasons). An independent woman who is a milliner by trade, she is reviled by the respectable folk because she is the object of desire of commanding officers on both sides of the conflict. Guess how this one ends? If you are familiar with Stagecoach by Ernest Haycox and an obscure filmmaker whose name eludes me at the moment, and if you liked Val Lewton's Mademoiselle Fifi (1944), you have encountered this story in another form before. The quasi silent looks great though!! There is also a good article about the movie on a Stanford University site too. The guy who is the third point of the triangle in the pictures below is Arnold Kent, whose real name was Lido Manetti.

It was the third film made by Gilbert Roland and Norma Talmadge together and they do like as though they are enjoying their work.

The Woman Disputed was the Italian-born Kent's last movie. He was playing an important role in The Four Feathers (1929) at his home studio of Paramount when he was struck and killed one evening on a Hollywood street by a car driven by a film extra. He was replaced in the film and his scenes reshot. He was only 28.





























Lastly, here is a nice Norma Talmadge Tribute from youtube that made me realize that Norma had a very similar profile to that of Constance Bennett, or so it seems to me. Something about the girls' retroussee nose, I think.
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[MissGoddess]

GASP!!! Watching your montage, Moira, I'm floating on a Latin dream boat.....may my ship never reach shore....

I am DYING to see The Woman Disputed (love the story in all its incarnations) and I REALLY need to settle in and watch a Norma/Gilberto movie. I have the feeling I'm going to enjoy their coupling more than the more celebrated of Garbo and John Gilbert. Why? Well, because of Gilbertito, of course!! I much prefer him and I've never seen a Norma Talmadge film. She looks like a more natural actress than many of the period. I don't know if that's an accurate assessment, though. I just know I nearly fell over when I saw this image you posted of them:



Ay Carrrrrrrrrrrrrrramba!!!!!

[moira finnie]

Yes, Miss G. That particular picture caught my girlish fancy too. Uh, is it hot in here?

Btw, if you'd like to read the original "Boule De Suif," you can see it here on the Gutenberg project site. I really love de Maupassant's stories, as cynical and tenderly real as they are. Like Maugham, he was observant about social mores and aspects of human nature that just don't fade.

I'm glad that you like the slideshow so far. Too bad I can't post it here, but I've added music (Rodrigo, which I think that the symphonic loving GR, might appreciate), and made many screen caps in the last few months from The Plastic Age, The Sea Hawk, and other films. I'll let you know when it gets some more and better tweaks as my skills hopefully improve.