Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
The caption that accompanied this image when it appeared in the January 23, 1939, issue of LIFE: “The top box-office star of Warner Bros., in blue slacks, skims through the morning newspapers in the playroom of her home. The walls are decorated with Mexican posters.”
Anyone watching the news, browsing the internet or is a fan of James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster, Titanic, knows that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. While the ill-fated voyage is certainly getting a great deal of media attention and new information seems to find its way to the top (ugh…no pun intended), I decided to take a different route. No, I’m not going to see Titanic 3-D, because let’s be honest it will always end the same, except this time I would get the added bonus of a slight headache due to the 3D glasses. Nor am I going to bid on the estimated 5,500 recovered artifacts from the Titanic’s watery grave because it seems a bit creepy and sacrilegious. Instead, during the media/information overload I came across an iconic Titanic photo and it was not the subject of the ship that intrigued me, but rather the story of the newsboy in the picture.
The Boy in the Picture
Every now and then you come across a photo and you began to think about the people in it and their stories (or it could just be me). This was the case when I stumbled upon the photograph of newsboy Ned Parfett. The particular photo has been listed among the iconic photographs about the Titanic. The National Archives (UK) described it as: “One of the most poignant images of the Titanic disaster is of a young newsboy outside the White Star Line offices in London, holding an Evening News poster announcing ‘Titanic Disaster Great Loss of Life’.”
As I did a little more research into the photograph, I found the story of Ned Parfett’s short life. About six and a half years after this photograph was taken, Ned was killed in World War I. At the time of his death he was only 22 years of age. Ned, along with his three other brothers, joined the British forces during The Great War. In 1916, he enlisted into the Royal Artillery where he served as a dispatch rider. Later, he would be assigned to reconnaissance duties. Though he was young, his youth did not factor in on his sense of duty. Because of his gallant conduct and bravery in a series of missions, he was awarded the Military Medal.
On October 29, 1918, while Ned was collecting some clothes before going on leave, the Germans begun a bombardment. A shell landed on the quartermaster’s stores, killing Ned. Tragically, it was just days before the Armistice and the end of the war. His other three brothers served in other disastrous and bloody battles against the German army, one brother was wounded and gassed at the third battle of Ypres. But Ned was the only one who did not make it home.
An officer, who recommended Ned for special recognition, wrote to one of his brothers after Ned’s death:
On many occasions he accompanied me during severe shelling and I always placed the greatest confidence in him.
[Zim's Note: If you have been reading many of my war posts and the battle of Ypres sounds familiar, you may be thinking about a previous post - Henry Tandey's History Changing Decision. Quite a while ago I also did a post on the Cancelled Passengers of the RMS Titanic.]
Information – National Archives (UK)
Photograph – Smithsonian Institute
1935: American actor Shirley Temple presents the Best Actress Oscar to French-born actor Claudette Colbert (1903 – 1996) for her role in director Frank Capra’s film, ‘It Happened One Night’, Los Angeles, California. Colbert holds a fur coat over her arm, preparing to travel to New York City. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Screen star Marlene Dietrich once stated that “Mystery is a woman’s greatest charm.” During a 1952 photo session, photographer Milton Greene captured this idea by playing on the idea of being hidden and shrouded in darkness.
Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, was married to Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse. Taylor has been the voice of Minnie since 1986 while Allwine voiced Mickey for three decades, only two people have voiced Mickey before him – Jimmy MacDonald and Walt Disney himself. Allwine and Taylor were married from 1991 until Allwine’s death in 2009. Of their marriage, Taylor once stated,
Everybody goes, ‘Oh, that’s so sweet.’ When we got married, we kind of kept it quiet because everybody was saying, ‘Oh, Mickey and Minnie got married.’ It wasn’t Mickey and Minnie; it was Wayne and Russi. We wanted to keep it about us and not about the characters.
Taylor was also the voice of Scrooge’s grand nephews, the identical triplets - Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck on the animated television series DuckTales.
Dennis McLellan, “Wayne Allwine, voice of Mickey Mouse, dies at 62,” Los Angeles Times, May 21, 2009.
Wayne Allwine’s IMDb.com biography
Russi Taylor’s IMDb.com biography
In 1941, Ronald Reagan was considered a “Star of Tomorrow” when Quigley Publication asked film exhibitors in the United States to choose ten of the newer screen actors who they thought were the most likely to achieve major stardom. The 1941 list also included John Payne, Ann Rutherford, Jackie Cooper and Rita Hayworth.
Steinberg, Cobbett. Film Facts. New York: Facts on File, 1980, 62.
Walter and John Huston holding their Oscars.
During the 21st Academy Awards presented on March 24, 1949, Walter and John Huston became the first father/son duo to win academy awards. Walter Huston won the best supporting actor award while his son, John Huston, received an Oscar for directing. They both won for their work in The Treasure of Sierra Madre. The film also received the award for best screenplay.
Information:
Kane, Joseph Nathan, Steven Anzovin and Janet Podell. Famous First Facts. 5th ed. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1997, 56.
Photo via The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences website
Located at a garden at the 19th century palace, Achilleon, on the Greek Island of Corfu. This statue depicts Achilles dying as he tries to remove the arrow embedded in his tendon.
Definition: If a person has an Achilles’ heel, it means that they have a fatal weakness or vulnerable spot.
Origins: If you have seen Troy, the 2004 movie with Brad Pitt as Achilles, you already know the origins of this popular saying. For those who do not race to the theater for a Brad Pitt movie, the birth of this saying comes out of Greek mythology. The legend has it that the heroic warrior Achilles’ mother, Thetis, wanted her son to be immortal. Before Achilles’ birth, Thetis received a prophecy about her son’s future death in battle. Because of this, she wanted to counteract this foretelling by trying to make him immortal. When Achilles was born, Thetis held onto her son’s heel and dipped him in to the river Styx. The Styx is the mythical river that separate earth from Hades or the Underworld. As Achilles grew, he became a great warrior. Homer discusses Achilles and his role in the Trojan War in his epic poem, the Iliad. Homer did not mention Achilles’ death later in the war, but the legend states that Achilles met his death by an arrow into his heel. In fact it was the same heel his mother held onto when she attempted to make Achilles immortal.
The Achilles tendon was named after this legend.
Information:
Ammer, Christine. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997, 3.
Photo of the statue of Achilles is found online here.
Poster for "The Birth of a Nation"
The Birth of a Nation was a silent film directed by D.W. Griffith, released in the winter of 1915.
The film was based on the novel and play, The Clansmen, by Thomas Dixon. His 1946 obituary, Dixon’s writings are described as the following:
A large part of the voluminous writings of Thomas Dixon was devoted to upholding the “purity” of the white race against what he described as the dangers of Negro encroachment through social equality and miscegenation.
While The Birth of a Nation is important because it showcased new filming techniques and innovations, it receives much criticism over it blatant racist viewpoints. The movie promotes the need for a dominant pro-white society and glorifies the Ku Klux Klan as a necessary “policing force” in order to keep aggressive African-American men away from certain things – mainly white women.
From the onset of the film’s release, African-Americans boycotted and picketed movie theaters and denounced The Birth of a Nation‘s message. In 1921 during a theater revival of the film, the New York Times wrote about African-American servicemen who opposed the film. One of the picketing signs stated: “We represented America in France, why should ‘Birth of a Nation’ misrepresent us here?”
The film is credited with the revival of the Ku Klux Klan’s ”second era” in the 1920′s. The Klan used The Birth of a Nation as a recruitment tool for new followers.
The Birth of a Nation took eight months to film and over 18,000 people and 3,000 horses used.
Its production cost were $$110,000, the most expensive film up to that date. By 1949, it had grossed more than $50 million. It was the first million-dollar movie.
In 1916, The Birth of a Nation was the first movie shown in the White House. The president at that time was Woodrow Wilson.
Further Reading
New York Times, “Written on the Screen,” February 28, 1915.
New York Times, “Negroes Oppose Film: Ex-Service Men Say ‘Birth of a Nation’ Misrepresents Them,” May 7, 1921.
New York Times, “Negroes Pickets in Court,” May 19, 1921.
Seymour Stern, “Birthday of a Classic: The Twentieth Anniversary of ‘Birth of a Nation’ Recalls its Significance,” New York Times, March 24, 1935.
New York Times, “Negroes Protest Old Film Classic,” May 19, 1938.
New York Times, Thomas Dixon Dies; Wrote ‘Clansman,’ April 4, 1946.
Calney, Mark, “D.W. Griffith and ‘The Birth of A Monster:’ How the Confederacy Revived the KKK and Created Hollywood,” The American Almanac, January 11, 1993.
Scott M. Cutlip, “Klans Made Potent Use of ‘Birth of a Nation,’ New York Times, May 12, 1994.
Photo found here.
Movie poster for "The Way Back"
Mr. Smith: In the camps, some saw death as freedom.
Janusz: Then why didn’t you just kill yourself?
Mr. Smith: Survival was a kind of protest. Being alive was my punishment.
Janusz, played by Jim Sturgess
The 2010 war drama, The Way Back, depicts the 4,000-mile escape from a Soviet-controlled Siberian gulag (prison labor camp) to India by seven prisoners of war. The POWs deal with far more than the threat of capture. The extreme weather and elements create a perilous journey as the group walk through snowstorms, mountains, insufferable mosquitoes and a seemingly endless desert – all with little food and water. However, the most devastating problem that arises is the moral question of leaving a man behind.
The POW characters are the following:
Mr. Smith (Ed Harris) & Irena (Saoirse Ronan)
Valka, played by Colin Farrell
The Way Back is based on Slavomir Rawicz’s 1956 memoir, The Long Walk, about his Siberian gulag escape to India. The extraordinary tale of human courage and strength sold over 500,000 copies and was translated into 25 languages. In 2006, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) uncovered evidence that challenges Rawicz’s 4,000-mile walk. They cite the fact that Rawicz never supported his story with any evidence at all as questionable. In addition, evidence they have uncovered does not seem to match with his story and since Rawicz died in 2004, answers will be difficult to come by. Interesting though is that in 1942, Rupert Mayne, a British intelligence officer stationed in India, did interview three emaciated men. These men claimed to have escaped from a Siberia gulag. Mayne could not remember their names, so while the memoir may have been a fabrication, it is possible that a group did in fact make this incredible journey.
I enjoyed The Way Back on its own merits – good acting and directing, beautiful scenery and a good story regardless of its historical accuracy. Currently it is streaming on Netflix if you have an account, but it can also be found at other movie rental places.
Film Information and Photos can be found on imdb.com.
Levinson, Hugh, “Walking the Talk?” October 30, 2006 – Found online at the BBC website.
Drive-In Theater
Camden, New Jersey is home to the first drive-in movie theater. Richard Hollingshead opened it in Summer 1933.
[Photo via wired.com]
Image from the 2007 film "Hairspray"
Hair spray was invented in the 1940′s and very quickly became a fad among American women. The downside to this invention was the fact that the early aerosol hair spray was water insoluble, making it difficult to wash it out. The reason for this is because the main ingredient was shellac, which was commonly used as a wood preservative.
[Image via Internet]
During World War II, specifically 1943-1945, the Academy Award statuettes were made of plaster instead of metal. This was due to the shortages and rationing the entire country dealt with during these years. However, after the war, the winners could trade in their plaster statues for metal ones.
Plaster Oscars proved to be a bit flimsy
[History and photo via Academy Awards History]
That night, I thanked God for seeing me through that day of days and prayed I would make it through D plus 1. I also promised that if some way I could get home again, I would find a nice peaceful town and spend the rest of my life in peace.
- Richard Winters, commander of Easy Company, after parachuting into Normandy on D-Day.
Band of Brothers is a 10-part miniseries that follows the members of Easy Company of the US Army 101st Airborne Division as they make their way from basic training to the front lines during World War II. Partly based upon Stephen Ambrose’s 1992 book by the same name and on additional firsthand accounts and interviews, Band of Brothers provides a view inside European Theatre fighting. Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks produced the miniseries in 2001 and it aired on the HBO network. The bonus features include an interesting documentary (“We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company) and timelines, maps and soldier profiles.
I really enjoyed this miniseries mainly because its intention was to be as historically accurate as possible. The producers, actors and writers sought out the real Band of Brothers veterans for approval and wanted them to be involved in the process. Overall, it is visually stunning, emotionally clutching and beautifully acted. I highly recommend this miniseries not only because is it a part of history but the courage and strength of these men is worth recognizing and remembering.
Interesting Facts
[Photos can be found at The Internet Movie Database]
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