MAX R. STEINER, THE FATHER OF HOLLYWOOD FILM MUSIC

Today, The Grandma has been listening to some soundtracks composed by Max Steiner, the Austrian composer and conductor, who died on a day like today in 1971.

Maximilian Raoul Steiner (10 May 1888-28 December 1971) was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and became one of Hollywood's greatest musical composers. Steiner was a child prodigy who conducted his first operetta when he was twelve and became a full-time professional, proficient at composing, arranging, and conducting, by the time he was fifteen. Threatened with internment in England during World War I, he fled to Broadway; and in 1929 he moved to Hollywood, where he became one of the first composers to write music scores for films. He is often referred to as the father of film music, as Steiner played a major part in creating the tradition of writing music for films, along with composers Dimitri Tiomkin, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Waxman, Alfred Newman, Bernard Herrmann, and Miklós Rózsa.

Steiner composed over 300 film scores with RKO Pictures and Warner Bros., and was nominated for 24 Academy Awards, winning three: The Informer (1935); Now, Voyager (1942); and Since You Went Away (1944). Besides his Oscar-winning scores, some of Steiner's popular works include King Kong (1933), Little Women (1933), Jezebel (1938), and Casablanca (1942), though he did not compose its love theme, As Time Goes By. In addition, Steiner scored The Searchers (1956), A Summer Place (1959), and Gone with the Wind (1939), which ranked second on the AFI's list of best American film scores, and is the film score for which he is best known.

He was also the first recipient of the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, which he won for his score for Life with Father. Steiner was a frequent collaborator with some of the best known film directors in history, including Michael Curtiz, John Ford, and William Wyler, and scored many of the films with Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and Fred Astaire. Many of his film scores are available as separate soundtrack recordings.

Max Steiner was born on 10 May 1888, in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, as the only child in a wealthy business and theatrical family of Jewish heritage.

The music of Edmund Eysler was an early influence in the pieces of Max Steiner;however, one of his first introductions to operettas was by Franz Lehár who worked for a time as a military bandmaster for Steiner's father's theatre.

Between 1907 and 1914, Steiner traveled between Britain and Europe to work on theatrical productions. Steiner first entered the world of professional music when he was fifteen.

In England, Steiner wrote and conducted theater productions and symphonies. But the beginning of World War I in 1914 led him to be interned as an enemy alien. Fortunately, he was befriended by the Duke of Westminster, who was a fan of his work, and was given exit papers to go to America, although his money was impounded. He arrived in New York City in December 1914, with only $32. Unable to find work, he resorted to menial jobs such as a copyist for Harms Music Publishing, which quickly led him to jobs orchestrating stage musicals.

In New York, Max Steiner quickly acquired employment and worked for fifteen years as a musical director, arranger, orchestrator, and conductor of Broadway productions. These productions include operettas and musicals written by Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, and George Gershwin, among others.

When adding a music score to a picture, Steiner used a spotting process in which he and the director of the film would watch the film in its entirety and discuss where underscoring of diegetic music would begin and end.  Another technique Steiner used was the mixing of realistic and background music.

More information: Max Steiner

Sometimes I wake up at three 

in the morning and begin tossing.
My wife will say, 

'Daddy, why don't you write it down?'
So I get up, put it on a paper, and go back to sleep.

Max Steiner

THE SQUAW MAN, HOLLYWOOD BEGINS TO SHINE IN 1914

Today, The Grandma has been watching a film masterpiece, The Squaw Man by Cecil B. DeMille, who started filming this Hollywood's first feature film, on a day like today in 1913.

The Squaw Man, known as The White Man in the United Kingdom, is a 1914 American silent Western film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and Oscar C. Apfel, and starring Dustin Farnum.

It was DeMille's directorial debut and one of the first feature films to be shot in what is now Hollywood.

James Wynnegate (Dustin Farnum) and his cousin, Henry (Monroe Salisbury), are upper class Englishmen and trustees for an orphans’ fund. 

Henry loses money in a bet at a derby and embezzles money from the fund to pay off his debts.

When war office officials are informed of the money missing they pursue James, but he successfully escapes to Wyoming. There, James rescues Nat-U-Ritch (Lillian St. Cyr), daughter to the chief of the Utes tribe, from local outlaw Cash Hawkins (William Elmer).

Hawkins plans to exact his revenge on James, but has his plans thwarted by Nat-U-Ritch, who shoots him, dead. Later, James has an accident in the mountains and needs to be rescued. Nat-U-Ritch discovers him and carries him back to safety. As she nurses him back to health, they fall in love and later have a child.

Meanwhile, during an exploration of the Alps, Henry falls off a cliff. Before he succumbs to his injuries, Henry signs a letter of confession proclaiming James' innocence in the embezzlement.

Before Henry's widow, Lady Diana (Winifred Kingston) and others arrive in Wyoming to tell James about the news, the Sheriff recovers the murder weapon that was used against Cash Hawkins in James and Nat-U-Ritch's home. Realizing their son is not safe, the couple sends him away, leaving them both distraught. Facing the possibilities of losing both her son and her freedom, Nat-U-Ritch decides to take her own life instead. The movie ends with both the chief of the Utes tribe and James embracing her body.

The only onscreen filmmaking credit is Picturized by Cecil B. DeMille and Oscar C. Apfel.

The film was adapted by DeMille and Apfel from the 1905 stage play of the same name by Edwin Milton Royle, and produced by DeMille, Apfel, and Jesse L. Lasky for the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company, its first film.

More information: Cecil B. DeMille

This first screen version of the story was the legendary DeMille's first movie assignment. It was also the first feature-length film shot in California, partly in what became Hollywood.

Film historians agree that shorts had previously been filmed in Hollywood, with D. W. Griffith's In Old California (1910) considered the earliest. DeMille rented what is now known as the Lasky-DeMille Barn at the southeast corner of Selma and Vine Streets to serve as their studio and production office; today it is home to the Hollywood Heritage Museum.

Shooting on The Squaw Man began December 29, 1913, and finished January 20, 1914.

DeMille wanted to emphasize the outdoors and wanted to shoot the movie in exotic scenery and great vistas. Initially he traveled to Flagstaff, Arizona to film the movie.

After seeing the vast amount of mountains near Flagstaff, the production was moved to Los Angeles. Harbor scenes were shot in San Pedro, California and the western saloon set was built beside railroad tracks in the San Fernando Valley.

Footage of cattle on the open range was shot at Keen Camp near Idyllwild, California, while snow scenes were shot at Mount Palomar. Cecil B. DeMille felt that lighting in a movie was extremely important and viewed it as the visual and emotional foundation to build his image. He believed that lighting was to a film as music is to an opera.

The Squaw Man went on to become the only movie successfully filmed three times by the same director/producer, DeMille. He filmed a silent remake in 1918, and a talkie version in 1931. The Squaw Man was 74 minutes long and generated $244,700 in profit.

The main character James Wynnegate played by Dustin Farnum, was cast as the hero for the film. Farnum was a notable Broadway star and his wife in real life Winifred Kingston was also a well-known actress. She played the English love interest.

Red Wing (real name Lillian St. Cyr) was born into the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska on the Winnebago Reservation, and she played the American Indian wife.

Non-Native American actor Joseph Singleton played the role of Tabywana, Nat-U-Ritch's father. Lillian St. Cyr of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska was cast to play the role of Nat-U-Ritch, a member of the Ute tribe. She is also known as "Princess Redwing". St. Cyr along with her husband James Young Deer, of the Nanticoke people of Delaware, have been regarded one of the first Native American power couple in Hollywood along with Mona Darkfeather and her husband director Frank E. Montgomery. DeMille had selected Lillian St. Cyr but his first choice had been Mona Darkfeather who was not available.

During the early silent film era, films based on Native Americans were popular. The central theme of this film was miscegenation. In the state of California, anti-miscegenation laws existed until 1948; however, while African Americans couldn't legally marry whites in California during filming, marriages between Native Americans and whites were permitted. Though there were Native American actors, whites were mostly cast as Indian characters.

During the early teens, Young Deer and his wife Lillian St. Cyr helped to transform how Native American characters were represented. The characters they created were sympathetic in complex ways, although other studios like Kalem were also attempting to accurately portray Natives in film. However, other scholars argue that Native American-themed silent films did not alter in any way the dominant perception of Indians themselves. Apparently, many films displayed the Native American experience from many different perspectives and did involve Native American writers, filmmakers, and actors during this time period.

More information: Three Movies Buffs

Give me any two pages of the Bible

and I'll give you a picture.

Cecil B. DeMille

'THE DISCONTENTED CANARY', MGM ANIMATED CARTOON

Today, The Grandma is relaxing at home. She loves cartoons, and she has been watching some old ones. 

 

The Grandma has chosen The Discontented Canary, an MGM creation that was released to film theatres on a day like today in 1934.

 

Happy Harmonies is the name of a series of thirty-seven animated cartoons distributed by MGM.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. One of the world's oldest film studios, MGM's corporate headquarters are located in Beverly Hills, California.

MGM was formed on April 17, 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures.

The new company grew and became one of the big five film studios of Hollywood. The studio built a stable of stars under contract, its motto was more stars than there are in heaven. It was the studio that produced numerous big musicals and won many Oscars. The company was a complete production house, from studios and backlots to full technical facilities.

More information: MGM

The Discontented Canary is a 1934 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Happy Harmonies short directed by Rudolf Ising.

The cartoon begins with a canary in his cage and a parrot singing. The canary wants to get out of his cage, but he is locked inside. Then, their owner arrives. But she accidentally leaves the cage open. Then, the canary flies out and goes outside. He descends into a garden, and a cat slyly sneaks up on him. The weather then gets windy as a thunderstorm arrives in. Then, the cat chases the canary around the garden. Suddenly, a lightning bolt strikes the cat's tail, and he runs away screaming in agony. Realizing the outside world isn't as safe as his cage, the canary flies back home and sings as the cartoon ends.

More information: Cinema Cats

Happy Harmonies is the name of a series of thirty-seven animated cartoons distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising between 1934 and 1938.

Produced in Technicolor, these cartoons were very similar to Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies. They would occasionally feature Bosko, a character who starred in the first Looney Tunes shorts that the duo produced for Leon Schlesinger. After the first two releases, the design of Bosko changed from an ink blot to a realistic African American boy.

The two final titles in the series were originally produced by Harman and Ising as Silly Symphonies cartoons. Disney originally had Harman and Ising create three shorts for Disney, but when they only kept one of their three shorts, Merbabies, the copyrights to the other two (Pipe Dreams and The Little Bantamweight) were sold to MGM who released them as Happy Harmonies.

More information: Cartoons Research

 I've never stopped loving cartoons.
I loved cartoons as a kid.
I can still look at them and enjoy them.

Ed Asner

PARAMOUNT PICTURES IS FOUNDED IN LOS ANGELES

Today, The Grandma is still relaxing at home. She has decided to watch some films, and she has chosen some masterpieces produced by Paramount Pictures Corporation, the American film and television production and distribution company that was founded on a day like today in 1912.

Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film and television production and distribution company and a subsidiary of ViacomCBS.

It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest film studio in the United States (behind Universal Pictures), and the sole member of the Big Five film studios still located in the city limits of Los Angeles.

In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor put 22 actors and actresses under contract and honoured each with a star on the logo.

In 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only.

The company's headquarters and studios are located at 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, California.

Paramount Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world after the French studios Gaumont Film Company (1895) and Pathé (1896), followed by the Nordisk Film company (1906), and Universal Studios (1912). It is the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles.

More information: Paramount

Paramount Pictures dates its existence from the 1912 founding date of the Famous Players Film Company.

Hungarian-born founder Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in Nickelodeon, saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the middle class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time, leading to the slogan Famous Players in Famous Plays.

By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success. Its first film was Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth, which starred Sarah Bernhardt.

That same year, another aspiring producer, Jesse L. Lasky, opened his Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law, Samuel Goldfish, later known as Samuel Goldwyn. The Lasky company hired as their first employee a stage director with virtually no film experience, Cecil B. DeMille, who would find a suitable site in Hollywood, near Los Angeles, for his first feature film, The Squaw Man.

Starting in 1914, both Lasky and Famous Players released their films through a start-up company, Paramount Pictures Corporation, organized early that year by a Utah theatre owner, W. W. Hodkinson, who had bought and merged several smaller firms. Hodkinson and actor, director, producer Hobart Bosworth had started production of a series of Jack London movies.

Paramount was the first successful nationwide distributor; until this time, films were sold on a statewide or regional basis which had proved costly to film producers. Also, Famous Players and Lasky were privately owned while Paramount was a corporation.

In February 1994, Viacom acquired 50.1% of Paramount Communications Inc. shares for $9.75 billion, following a five-month battle with QVC, and completed the merger in July.

At the time, Paramount's holdings included Paramount Pictures, Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers, the New York Knicks, and the Simon & Schuster publishing house. The deal had been planned as early as 1989, when the company was still known as Gulf and Western.

More information: Paramount Studios

 I cannot permit you to disrupt the Paramount schedule.

David O. Selznick

OUR LADY THE QUEEN OF THE ANGELS OF PORCIÚNCULA

Tina Picotes in the City of Los Angeles

Tina Picotes remembers her last visit to Los Angeles, California. She has great memories of her travel and wants to talk to us about the history of this amazing city which today is  suffering one of the worst fires of its history. 

Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a U.S. Census-estimated 2016 population of 3,976,322, it is the second most populous city in the United States, after New York City, and the most populous city in the state of California.

More information: Los Angeles City

The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, Gabrieleños, and Chumash Native American tribes thousands of years ago. A Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ meaning "poison oak place."

Map of Los Angeles City, 1894

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese-born explorer, claimed the area of southern California for the Spanish Empire in 1542 while on an official military exploring expedition moving north along the Pacific coast from earlier colonizing bases of New Spain in Central and South America.  

Gaspar de Portolà, the Catalan military who became the Governor of California, and Franciscan Majorcan missionary Joan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2, 1769.

In 1771, Franciscan Majorcan friar Juníper Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. On September 4, 1781, a group of forty-four settlers known as Los Pobladores founded the pueblo they called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula; in English, The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porciúncula.

The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary; indeed, the present-day city still retains an active Roman Catholic Archdiocese, and as noted below, this archdiocese of Roman Catholicism remains the largest such archdiocese in the United States. Two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small ranch town for decades, but by 1820, the population had increased to about 650 residents. 

More information: Discover Los Angeles

Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the historic district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street, the oldest part of Los Angeles.

Tina Picotes in Venice Beach, Los Angeles

New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, and the pueblo continued as a part of Mexico. During Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta California's regional capital.

Mexican rule ended during the Mexican–American War: Americans took control from the Californios after a series of battles, culminating with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga on January 13, 1847.

In 1910, Hollywood merged into Los Angeles, with 10 movie companies already operating in the city at the time. By 1921, more than 80 percent of the world's film industry was concentrated in L.A. The money generated by the industry kept the city insulated from much of the economic loss suffered by the rest of the country during the Great Depression. By 1930, the population surpassed one million.

More information: Los Angeles City Historical Society

The city is divided into over 80 districts and neighborhoods, many of which were incorporated places or communities that merged into the city. These neighborhoods were developed piecemeal, and are well-defined enough that the city has signage marking nearly all of them.

Tina Picotes in Los Angeles Dodgers Stadium

The city is divided into the following areas: Downtown Los Angeles, East Los Angeles and Northeast Los Angeles, South Los Angeles, the Harbor Area, Greater Hollywood, Wilshire, the Westside, and the San Fernando and Crescenta Valleys.

The city of Los Angeles and its metropolitan area are the home of ten top level professional sports teams. These teams include the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL), the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer (MLS), and the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). 

I love Los Angeles, and I love Hollywood. They're beautiful. 

Everybody's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic. 

Andy Warhol

LAURA & MÍSIA: PORTUGUESE HOMESICKNESS

Mísia

Laura is our filmmaker. Because of her job, she traveled around the world constantly and knew lots of people. She still remembers her first audition playing the role of Ilsa Lund, the main Casablanca’s character in Porto’s Rivoli Theatre in her hometown. It was a great success and catapulted her to Hollywood. 

Laura loves fados and carries her land deeply in her heart. She travels accompanied by Mísia’s full discography for hedging in her own thinking.

One night, while she was listening to a fado, she thought about her life and loneliness and had an emotional crisis. Then, she decided to leave her career aside for an undetermined time and return next to her lovely family. Nowadays, she is living in Sant Boi.

More information: Mísia Home Page

And no matter what the progress
Or what may yet be proved
The simple facts of life are such
They cannot be removed.