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French postcard by EDUG, no. 101. Photo: Fox Film Corp. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Red-headed and blue-green-eyed operatic singer Jeanette MacDonald is the subject of the new La Collectionneuse post at our blog European Film Star Postcards. Check it out on 30 March 2024!

Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna, no. 173. Photo: Fox Film Corporation

Pearl White (1889 - 1938) was dubbed 'Queen of the Serials", and noted for doing her own stunts, in silent film serials such as The Perils of Pauline (1914) and The Exploits of Elaine (1914-1915). Often cast as a plucky onscreen heroine, White's roles directly contrasted those of the popularised archetypal ingénue. Until the end of the First World War White remained globally a popular action heroine.

Pearl Faye White was born in 1889 on her father's farm in Green Ridge, Missouri, the youngest of five children. She moved with her family to Springfield, Missouri, where she grew up. Her mother died when Pearl was only three years old. Pearl joined the Diemer Theatre Company during her second year of high school. At age 18, she went on the road with the Trousdale Stock Company, a repertoire group, in 1907. She was signed by the Powers Film Co. in New York in 1910. The following year, she moved to Philadelphia and joined the more professional film studio Lubin Film Company. She worked opposite some well-known actors, including Arthur Johnson and Florence Lawrence. Then White got a contract with Pathé Frères. She only appeared in a few films there, before starting to work for Crystal Film Company where she first gained public attention. She acted in a handful of films that met with great success, including Pearl as a Clairvoyant (Phillips Smalley, 1913), Pearl's Dilemma (Phillips Smalley, 1913), Pearl as a Detective (Phillips Smalley, 1913), and What Pearl's Pearls Did (Phillips Smalley, 1914). After this success, she returned to Pathé, where she became a star. In 1914, Pearl White starred in Pathe's 20-part film series The Perils of Pauline (Louis J. Gasnier, Donald MacKenzie, 1914), the fifth serial ever made. Another success was The Exploits of Elaine (1914-1915). In Europe, The Exploits of Elaine were re-edited with two subsequent serials into Les Mystères de New York. Around 1914-1915 she was the most popular female film star, and for a time she even topped Mary Pickford's popularity at the box office. She became an international star and was the leading heroine in a number of serials, which enjoyed immense popularity. She gained her initial fame by performing her own dangerous and life-threatening stunts. Stunt doubles were used after her popularity surged, and the studio became concerned for her safety. In 1922, during the filming of her final serial, Plunder, John Stevenson - her stand-in/stunt double - was killed while attempting a dangerous stunt. He was supposed to leap from the top of a bus on 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue onto an elevated girder. He missed the girder and struck his head. Stevenson died of a fractured skull. A rumor immediately spread that she had been killed, and a slight scandal arose when it was revealed that she had used a stand-in.

Pearl White was married twice. In 1907, she met her first husband, Victor Sutherland when they were touring together. It was a problematic marriage and a divorce followed in 1914. In 1919, she married actor and war hero Wallace McCutcheon Jr., son of pioneering cinematographer and director Wallace McCutcheon Sr. He had been gassed in World War One and suffered mental problems. The couple divorced two years later. In 1919, she left Pathé for a film contract with Fox Film Corporation, where she appeared in nine films. Almost all of the films flopped, so White returned to Pathé in 1923. Her second husband was distraught over the dissolution of the marriage and had disappeared only weeks after the divorce. It was believed that he had committed suicide. Pearl went to Paris and subsequently suffered a nervous breakdown. The breakdown was attributed in part to her guilt over Stevenson and McCutcheon. She remained in seclusion in France until McCutcheon's reappearance in May 1923. In 1928, he fatally shot himself. When found, his pockets were bulging with clippings about Pearl. With her health deteriorating, she retired. White was born into poverty, but by the time she retired from films in 1924, she had amassed a fortune of $2 million ($30 million in 2020). Pearl was a shrewd businesswoman, investing in a successful Parisian nightclub and a Biarritz resort hotel/casino. She owned a profitable stable of thoroughbred racehorses and divided her time between her townhouse in Passy and a 54-acre estate near Rambouillet. In later life, White suffered from all the stunts she had performed. In 1933, she was permanently hospitalised. She died five years later, in 1938 at the age of 49. She left her enormous fortune to her partner, Greek businessman Theodore Cossika. Pearl White was buried in the Passy Cemetery in Paris, her tombstone bears only her name.

Sources: Jim Beaver (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and English), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Directed by David Butler

Directed by Rowland V. Lee

Vintage_Poster (2)
William Fox presents -
A John Griffith Wray Production
A Fox Film Corporation Production
www.imdb.com/title/tt0018409/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2

“Johnstown Flood tells a true story of heartbreak, heroism and the courage to survive. On a stormy day in May of 1889, the South Fork Dam explodes, unleashing a 40-foot wall of water. Fiercely thrashing at frightening speeds, the flood devastates the 14-mile valley between the Conemaugh Lake and Johnstown, Pennsylvania under the force of a 20-million-ton tidal wave. Johnstown Flood depicts this tragic event which claims more than 2,200 lives and wipes out 99 entire families and is still considered to be one of the worst disasters in American history. Horrified survivors watch as the bustling industrial city of Johnstown is instantly reduced into a wasteland. The deadly torrent overcomes terror-stricken townspeople who are tragically lost in the flood. As the waters recede, people from all over the world rally around the survivors to help victims regain all that is lost. . . .” [Summary at www.imdb.com]

"SEE . . .
The Mad Ride of the 'Paul Revere Girl'!
The Dynamiting of the Great Log Jam! -- A Unique Thrill on the Screen!
Dogs and Horses in Almost Human Roles and Heroic Rescues!
The Girl the Whole World Scorned But One Man Loved!"
[From the magazine ad]

Mitchell FC (Fox Camera), a 70mm camera built for the 1930's experimental wide film system called Fox Grandeur. This camera, serial #8, also includes a Mitchell BFC sidefinder.

From the movie, "Teeth" (1924)
The rope framing is cool!

Portrait of Bela Lugosi from The Black Camel.

"20th Century Fox", with left to right "Joseph Schenck", "Darryl F. Zanuck", and "William Fox", by Fionnuala Collins, acrylic on canvas, part of the "Film Icons gallery",
www.filmiconsgallery.com/

acting website www.irishfilmactress.com/

filmiconsgallery.com

www.facebook.com/FilmIconsGallery

Portrait of Lilian Harvey by Carl Dial.

Portrait of Clara Bow.

Portrait of Clara Bow.

Portrait of Shirley Temple.

Portrait of Jetta Goudal for Business and Pleasure.

Portrait of Miriam Jordan by Ray Jones.

Portrait of Irene Ware by George Hurrell. Could be a Frank Powolny.

Portrait of Theda Bara from Cleopatra.

Portrait of Shirley Temple.

Portrait of Shirley Temple by Otto Dyar.