Sunday, September 22, 2019

Alabama History & Culture News: September 22 edition





For a number of years I've been posting links to just-published Alabama history and culture articles in the "alabamahistory" group at Yahoo!Groups. Most of the articles are from newspapers, with others from magazines and TV and radio websites. You can subscribe to the emails there if you wish; I send out two or three a week along with relevant meeting announcements and so forth. 

Here's the latest batch: 



MOMENT IN HISTORYAlabama State Capitol
Alabama State Capitol. The Alabama State Capitol was located in Tuscaloosa from 1826 until 1847. The stone foundation of the capitol building was ...


On this day in Alabama history: NY Jets take down the Boston Patriots at Legion Field
It was the first major professional, regular-season football game played in Alabama. But hopes by local leaders that it might lead to something more ...

Cricket Theatre hosts bicentennial event
The Collinsville Historical Association is sponsoring an Alabama Bicentennial Event on Sept. 23 at The Cricket Theatre on Main Street in historic ...

Waterloo prepares for thousands of bikers with annual Trail of Tears
They are remembering the place in north Alabama where Native Americans were ... The procession has been 25-miles long at times during its history.

On this day in Alabama history: Alberta City annexed into Tuscaloosa
It was the early 1900s when folks began settling in a heavily wooded area east of Tuscaloosa and the Huntsville Road (now University Boulevard) and ...

Birmingham author speaks to lunchtime crowd at library
... Arts Executive Director Elliott Knight, who will be on hand Oct. 3 to talk about the Alabama Creates “200 Years of Arts and Artists” coffee-table book.


Downtown Birmingham shop is part book store, part museum
“This is a book store?” the new customer asks in surprise. “I was just looking at the doodads,” she's referring to all the collectible and cherished items ...


Sand Mountain Corn Maze celebrates Alabama's 200th anniversary
Although the logo won't be visible from inside the maze, Alabama's history still will play a crucial part. Throughout the maze, 10 checkpoints will be set ...

On this day in Alabama history: Alabama Legislature ratified the 19th Amendment
The fight for the right for women to vote officially ended in 1920 when Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. ...


Documentary delves into history of 'The Strip' at UA
Documentary delves into history of 'The Strip' at UA .... about the shifting face and history of the commercial strip adjacent to the University of Alabama, ...


Making history: Collier Neeley following in his grandmother Mary Ann Neeley's footsteps
And this week, he took over as interim executive director of the Landmarks Foundation, the nonprofit preservation group based in Old Alabama Town.



Five historic Alabama civil rights churches get National Parks grants
Five churches that played important roles in the civil rights movement have received major grants from the National Parks Service totaling about $3.4 ...


On this day in Alabama history: Author William March was born
William Edward Campbell was one of 11 children. His father was the orphaned son of a Confederate soldier who worked as an itinerant laborer.

Rep. Terri Sewell Announces Nearly $3.4 Million to Preserve African American Civil Rights Sites
“I have always believed that the extraordinary history of Alabama's 7th ... history of African Americans' struggle for civil rights in the state of Alabama ...


Several Pelham library events planned for October
Books will be available for purchase. ... takes you on a ghostly tour of the county through stories from her book, Haunted Shelby County, Alabama.

Wiregrass Archives co-sponsoring historian's Dothan speech
Bailey's program, based on his book titled “They Too Call Alabama Home: African American Profiles, 1800-1999,” is part of the Draughon Seminars in ...

Fifty to 150 graves are located at the historic Eli Jackson Cemetery, which is in such a remote .... children, fled from Alabama to the banks of the Rio Grande because they were being persecuted under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.


BESSEMER, Ala. (WIAT) — Decades after being killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the remains of a Bessemer man have finally been ...

School of Optometry celebrates 50 years of improving vision
The only optometry program in the state of Alabama, UABSO's rich history and commitment to serving the state's patients have helped cement the ...

'My Alabama'
Alabama continues to celebrate its bicentennial year, and one of the more common manners of marking the occasion is the publication of several ...

3 Selma historical sites to receive more than $1.8M
“I have always believed that the extraordinary history of Alabama Seventh District can drive economic revitalizations and promote its heritage tourism ...

Alabama's bright side of history
The cast of Alabama Speaks at the Huntsville library Monday, Sept. 16. Actors portrayed: Tallulah Bankhead (Emily Watson); Congressman Carl Elliot ...


On this day in Alabama history: NASA unveiled space shuttle Enterprise
It was named after the Starship Enterprise, from the famed TV show “Star Trek.” Indeed, much of the cast of the show and its creator, Gene Rodenberry, ...

Friday, September 20, 2019

Johnny Mack Brown & "A Lady of Chance" (5)

This post is the fifth and final part of a look at A Lady of Chance, the 1928 silent film starring Johnny Mack Brown and Norma Shearer. Part one is here, part two is here, part three is here and part four is here.

My comments on the film are at the end of this post. 






Once the police arrive and take Gwen and Brad into custody, Dolly confesses everything and begs forgiveness. 








Steve doesn't want to give her up, but Dolly says he needs a "nice girl."













The police are ready to break up the love birds and take "Angel Face" to jail. 




Dolly and Steve share a final kiss. 





Some time later Dolly is brought into a meeting room in the prison. 








Dolly is suddenly hopeful. Not only will she be freed, but Steve still loves her. 





So this tale of the big city con woman and the Alabama small businessman ends happily!















Brown in his football days at UA






A comic book series featuring Brown appeared in nine issues from October 1950 until September 1952.

Source: ComicBookPlus



I really enjoyed watching A Lady of Chance; the film showed up on Turner Classic Movies a few months ago. I've seen a number of silent films over the years, so watching this one was nothing unusual. Shearer and Brown were both excellent in their roles, although Shearer was obviously the more experienced actor. Brown's inexperience worked fine for the earnest, humble character he played. I haven't seen many of Shearer's films, but she is a delight to watch in this one. The film has both humor and genuine emotion and despite its flaws an interesting story. 

Watching silent films and other older movies set in the period they were made allows us to enter another world--the past. Although fictionalized, the films are time capsules of the minutia of daily life at the time--cars and other transportation, clothing, furniture, the way people related to each other. We get to peer inside businesses and dentist offices, operating rooms, and people's homes. The experience brings plenty of visual delights and exciting stories if we leave behind our modern film expectations of rapid action, lots of special effects, and color. Silent films had all those things, but not in the quantity of today's movies.

Historical dramas from these early periods of commercial film can also be fascinating to watch. We can see another era's views of historical figures and events made for a popular audience. That's something we could only get from fiction and poetry before the movies came along.

A good place to start on the silents is the Movies Silently blog. And TCM is a constant source of riches on both silent and "classic" movies and even the shorts that filled out programs at early movie houses. 


The End




Thursday, September 19, 2019

Johnny Mack Brown & "A Lady of Chance" (4)

This post is part four of a look at A Lady of Chance the 1928 silent film starring Johnny Mack Brown and Norma Shearer. Part one is here, part two is here and part three is here.





Dolly's old pals Gwen and Brad have managed to track her down and are surprised to find her living where and the way she is. They have presented themselves to the Crandalls as Dolly's cousins and are invited to stay. 



Dolly tells them she's fallen for a man of no wealth, but they don't take her seriously. Dolly gives them the $10,000 in hopes they will leave.




Steve gets a telegram offering him $100,000 for the rights to his cement formula. He shares this good news with everyone, and suddenly Brad has a business investment back in New York he wants to talk about. 




Everyone here is pretty happy except poor, poor Dolly.




She pours out her heart to Gwen, trying to convince her that she and Steve are really in love. 





Dolly produces a gun to emphasize her feelings to Gwen.









Unfortunately Brad and Gwen are seeing a big payoff and insist they proceed to New York so Steve can sign the "investment" contract. They threaten to reveal Dolly's past if she doesn't go along.





Steve and Dolly are briefly happy as they settle into their hotel suite in the Big Apple. 







Brad and Steve go over the contract by which he plans to separate Steve and his money. 





Dolly has had enough. She can't bear to watch Steve get taken and calls the police. 






Then she proceeds to blow the whole scam wide open. 







I think we can safely say Steve is surprised. 


To Be Continued

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Johnny Mack Brown & "A Lady of Chance" (3)


This post is part three of a look at A Lady of Chance the 1928 silent film starring Johnny Mack Brown and Norma Shearer. Part one is here and part two is here.






Steve is trying to overcome Dolly's disappointment at having married a man who's not wealthy like she assumed. 





Ma Crandall and Dolly are gazing out a window at the cement "factory". 





Of course, Dolly has a cynical city woman's observation.








Now Dolly is in a jam. She's stuck in Alabama married to a man who's not wealthy like she assumed. What does a girl do? 





She decides to take her $10,000 in ill-gotten gains and head back north. Even Steve's reminder of the sharecroppers singing on the plantation next door doesn't help.










Steve takes Dolly to the train station to see her off. 








The next morning Steve returns home and finds Dolly in his bedroom. She realized she loves him too much to leave, and they reconcile. However, she tells him nothing about her past. 





The whole family is celebrating. 



Steve's Enduro cement is supposed to last a looong time.




But two new arrivals in town mean trouble. 






To Be Continued