Film homage Gloria Swanson Queen Kelly 1928 vignetted color added 2008
by David Lee Guss
Title
Film homage Gloria Swanson Queen Kelly 1928 vignetted color added 2008
Artist
David Lee Guss
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Gloria Swanson's (1997-1983) Norma Desmond was 20 years in the future when she bankrolled the profligate Eric von Stroheim as director in "Queen Kelly."
And it took her more than 20 years to recover from the losses, as she pulled the plug on the project. "Queen Kelly" was never completed but a truncated version played briefly abroad.
Flash forward to the early 1960's when Swanson donated a print of the film to the Museum of Modern Art.
Frank Punchard (later Howard) ran movies in the screening room of Empire Photosound in Minneapolis, calling his group "The Circle For The Liveliest Art."
He was the first to book "Kelly" (in 35mm) from the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He received a call from Swanson begging him not to show the film. He showed it anyway and I got to see the film.
"Queen Kelly" has been restored and reconstructed with re-photographed stills as was done with Stroheim's masterpiece "Greed" (1925).
von Stroheim (1885-1957) like his fellow director Orson Welles turned to acting to make a living. In 1949 Swanson and he were reunited for "Sunset Boulevard."
No question that he was among the greatest of all film directors, but he had no concept of time or budget. Orson Welles has been unfairly tarred with the same brush, leaving at his death in 1985 numerous uncompleted projects, including "The Other Side of the Wind."
{NOTE: Howard wrote, directed and edited 1971's "The Other Side of Madness" which is
"a mixture of documentary footage and re-enactment scenes, some filmed on the action locations, of the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders committed by the gang known as the Manson Family."
The project is also called "Helter Skelter Murders," with songs written and performed by the late Charlie Manson (1934-2017).
Uploaded
June 6th, 2013
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