“Winging IT” and “Silents!” H. P. Oliver Book Giveaway
Qualifying Entry Task for Twitter Contest
Well, it’s time for our next contest! This time we’ll be giving away TWO COPIES EACH of H. P. Olivers’s Winging IT
In order to qualify for to win one of these books via this Twitter contest giveaway, you must complete the following task by Saturday, January 30 at 9PM EST. However, the sooner you enter, the better chance you have of winning, because we will pick a winner on four different days within the contest period, via random drawings, as listed below… So if you don’t win the first week that you enter, you will still be eligible to win during the following weeks until the contest is over.
- Saturday, January 9: “Winging IT” One Winner
- Saturday, January 16: “Silents!” One Winner
- Saturday, January 23: “Winging IT” One Winner
- Saturday, January 30: “Silents!” One Winner
We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter, the day after each winner is picked at 9PM EST (for example, we will announce the first winner on Sunday January 10 at 9PM EST on Twitter). If you’re also on Facebook and want more chances to win, visit us at Classic Movie Hub on Facebook for additional giveaways — because we’ll be giving away ONE MORE copy of each book there as well!
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ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday, January 30 at 9PM EST — BUT remember, the sooner you enter, the more chances you have to win…
1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
THE QUESTION:
Who is one of your favorite Silent Stars and why?
2) Then TWEET (not DM) the following message:
Just entered to win the H.P. Oliver Classic Movie #BookGiveaway courtesy of @ClassicMovieHub and author @HP_Oliver
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Please note that only Continental United States residents (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and the territory of Puerto Rico) are eligible to enter this giveaway contest. (see contest rules for further information)
BlogHub members ARE also eligible to win if they live within the Continental United States (as noted above).
And if you can’t wait to win the books, you can purchase them on amazon via the below link (click on images):
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–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub
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Harold Lloyd. Primarily because he often played the Everyman, an underdog we can identify with, but as I looked deeper into his story I’m impressed with how he overcame adversity and continued to provide us with amazing films with gags and stunts that have stood the test of time.
My choice would be an actor that was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood, able to command equal billing with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, and yet has none of their notoriety.
His name was Sessue Hayakawa, a Japanese Issei, meaning first generation, to immigrate to America where he was noticed by silent film producer, Thomas H. Ince, who offered him a movie contract and roles in The Wrath of the Gods (1914) and The Typhoon (1914), which turned Hayakawa into an overnight success almost at the outset of the American film industry.
Hayakawa then was cast in Cecil B. DeMille’s sexploitation picture The Cheat (1915), playing an ivory merchant who has an affair with Fanny Ward (aka Fannie Ward), scandalizing for its time due to the implied submission of a Caucasian woman who gives in to her passion of a person of a different race. This film really caused an uproar among many people of different race and opinions, but all it did for Sessue was propel his career even further upwards, making him the first male sex symbol of Hollywood, several years in advance of Rudolph Valentino, at that!
After The Cheat, Hayakawa co-starred with the biggest female stars in Hollywood. His pictures often co-starred Jack Holt, as his Caucasian rival for the love of the forbidden white heroine. Through this time period, Hayakawa became one of the highest paid stars of his time, earning $5000 per week in 1915 and, after starting his own production company called Haworth Pictures, made 2 million per year during the 1920’s. He starred in over 80 movies.
Probably one of the most ironic elements to Sessue Hayakawa’s story is that once his production company became so fruitful, making him the most money in his career by producing Asian-themed films starring him and his wife, Tsuru Aoki, often portraying immigrant’s and their desire to “cross over” and assimilate into society by pursuing the American dream, his career ended due, in part, to anti-Asian sentiment, particularly over the issues of immigration due to the post-World War I economic slump. Sadly, most of these films are now lost forever.
Hayakawa’s film career in America was over and he was pretty well forgotten when he left in search of making a living wherever he could find it. Coming back to the United States in 1949, two decades after his U.S. career had formally ended, he managed a comeback co-starring opposite Humphrey Bogart in Tokyo Joe. But it was his next venture, 8 years later, decades after his heyday, that his performance in The Bridge on the River Kwia in 1957, earned him an Oscar nomination for his role as Colonel Siato.
For this reason, a story of an improbable Japanese immigrant who found his fame and fortune, lost it, enduring heartfelt struggles, only to come back and finally reclaim his silent era fame by starring in an Academy Award winning film and receiving a nomination for an immensely memorable character, Sessue Hayakawa is my choice for his silent films, as well as his fairy-tale ending, by reentering the lexicon of American film history.
what a fantastic choice!!! and wonderfully interesting comment! Thanks!
This is a hard one because they are all so good. It took real talent to be able to convey what was going on, what they were thinking and feeling, without saying a word. I think my favourite would be on Chaney though. He just had that way of making you feel all of the heartbreak and pain his character was going through. You could feel compassion for the Phantom, the Hunchback, even as Alonzo the Armless in The Unknown. He was appropriately called the Man of a Thousand Faces, all of the CGI today cannot compare with that kind of talent.
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Rudolph Valentino would be my first choice. Horses, sunsets and forever handsome..
Hi Elaine, I don’t see your tweet yet. Please let me know when you tweet OR let me know if you don’t have a twitter account. Thanks.
Greta Garbo. She is one of my favorite actresses overall, so picking her as a favorite silent star is a kind of no-brainer for me. 🙂
She was dramatic without overdoing it and making it look hammy, as so many today like to claim silent movies were like. Obviously she was an incredible actress, and her movies were always so engaging.
i like Louise Brooks…she created her own kind of beautiful. it is sad she couldn’t make a smooth transition to sound.
Lon Chaney, as he was so darned talented. He could portray any character he wanted, many times several in a film. And he could break the viewer’s heart, even making them feel pity for the villain. I personally think had he lived to have a career in sound films, he would have been one of the greatest in sound–if not THE greatest.
Harold Lloyd. I believe he was hugely talented and I enjoy watching his work.
Greta Garbo perfection
Clara Bow. She is so passionate and genuine on screen; I can’t take my eyes off her. She’s just so natural.
Love Mary Pickford, a wonderful actress plus she was a business woman, being a founding member of United Artists.