Geraldine Farrar and "Carmen"

Silent Opera ? and the Gerry-flappers

Sunday January 15, 4:00pm The Paramount Theater

By 1915 Geraldine Farrar had established herself as premier soprano of the opera world. With radio nearly a decade away, her phonograph records had found their way into millions of homes. These audible wonders of the modern age made Farrar immensely popular. Records could not convey the wonderful theatrics of her performance on the stage. She held a captive audience from La Scala to San Francisco and chose the moment of her greatest popularity to step in front of the camera. Farrar was drawn into this other new and equally exciting indulgence of motion pictures by one of the greatest popular directors of the day, Cecil B. DeMille. For two years she was the jewel in his crown, making six feature films for DeMille, five with her co-star Wallace Reid. Film work also allowed Farrar to rest her fragile voice after years of abuse. Her brilliance and intensity on stage was fully realized in these films, which made Farrar unique in both the worlds of opera and film. No other performer had ever approached this simultaneous degree of popularity and success. Legions of obsessed young fans even referred to themselves as "Gerry–flappers". Among the brightest stars in the universe of twentieth century entertainment, Farrar also became a great social leveler, horrifying the class conscious opera world by lowering herself to the level of common everyday moviegoers. In turn, the price of a ticket offered the illusion of entering the privileged world of Grand Opera. There are sadly only two of these six films known to survive today, they are however, likely the best, Carmen and Joan The Woman. They are also among the very best works of C. B. DeMille.

Catfight in the Cigarette Factory and the truth about Wally

Carmen is the story of a wild and beautiful gypsy girl from Seville. She seduces handsome young Don José, ruins him, betrays him, and in the passionate climax of the story he seeks his revenge. Few tales have gained such admiration and have been retold in film and on the stage as often. Carmen was the greatest role of Geraldine Farrar’s illustrious career and the signature piece for which she was known around the world. She played the raven-haired cigarette girl of Prosper Mérimés’ novella with ferocious intensity for decades.
Signing this legendary star to a multi-picture contract with his greatest director Cecil B. Demille was quite a feather in the cap for Jesse Lasky. Wisely, DeMille insisted Farrar shoot another film, "Marie Rose" first, so she could acclimate to the film environment. The first picture was then held back until after Carmen was released.
On screen Farrar displayed a magnetic and effortless, natural quality. Two scenes in particular are tremendously exciting, the first, a knockdown drag-out fight between Carmen and another girl in the cigarette factory was added to the original story for the film, the other is the spectacular finale at the bullring. The fight, with DeMille’s future screenwriter Jeanie Macpherson, created such a sensation it has been included in most versions of the story ever since.
A relatively unknown actor, Wallace Reid, was cast to play Don José. "Carmen" elevated Reid to the status of reigning matinee idol years before the likes of John Gilbert and Rudolph Valentino. A handsome, blue-eyed leading man with an infectious smile, Reid was in high demand by Paramount and his fans until his tragic death and the resulting scandal. No longer a cash cow, he was reviled as a drug addict and Reid’s image has never recovered. The public was spared the true story for many years. While on location filming "The Valley of The Giants" in 1919 Reid severely injured his back in an accident and was unable to finish the picture. As a solution, Paramount sent the company doctor with an ample supply of morphine so Reid could continue working. The resulting addiction was seen as an acceptable business risk and Reid was supplied with drugs as long as he was a viable star at the box office. There were several desperate attempts at a cure but eventually Reid became too sick to work. When Wallace Reid died on January 18, 1923 he was thirty-one years old. This tragedy came on the heels of the sensational rape and murder trial of Roscoe "Fatty " Arbuckle and the murder of William Desmond Taylor. These three events changed the public perception of Hollywood forever and demoralized American culture to a point unequaled for nearly half a century.

Gerry does Seattle!

http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=2558

The voice of an angel...
Tracks 15, 22 & 23 feature Miss Geraldine Farrar, and some of these other folks ain't too bad either.
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/sounds/

On the big screen:

Seattle Theater Group in its continuing silent film series resumes this January with three Cecil B. DeMille films. The Ten Commandments, 1923 (01/0 If you missed it, too bad for you!),
a grand epic still unequalled, is followed by Carmen (01/15) and The Cheat (01/22), both from 1915, Sundays at the Paramount Theater.

In conjunction with Black History Month STG and The Paramount will screen the 1926 Colored Players Film Corporation production, The Scar of Shame, (02/06), one of the best
examples of the "race movie" genre.

Next week ...

DeMille's giant step forward