Hello!

That’s something you don’t see every day. On my way back home I caught this sight at the New Beverly Cinema in Hollywood. You really don’t expect to see director ‘one shot’ William Beaudine on a modern marquee. In fact, I doubt that his name ever was a common sight on a marquee. The screening is actually the tail end of a Quentin Tarantino- curated series.

Beaudine began directing in 1915. His last TV work was in 1968, just two years before he died. He directed hundreds of silent shorts, big silent features for Mary Pickford  (Little Annie Rooney,  Sparrows), an occasional higher-profile picture like  The Old Fashioned Way and then countless poverty row pictures. We recognize some of his genre items:  The Ape Man, Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla and many, many Bowery Boys pictures.  Walt Disney liked him and put him to work in TV on The Adventures of Spin and Marty and the feature Ten Who Dared. And at the tail end there’s always  Billy the Kid vs. Dracula.

All this comes to mind with today’s marquee on Beverly Boulevard — Quentin ‘always on film’ Tarantino has quite a precedent going with his mid-week showing of Beaudine’s pictures  Make Me a Star  (1932) and  Don’t Gamble with Strangers  (1946). They have promise. The first is a Paramount remake of ‘Merton of the Movies’ with Joan Blondell & Stuart Erwin, and the second is a Monogram programmer with Kane Richmond. Writer Jim Hemphill put together a March 30 IndieWire article that goes deeper into the William Beaudine legacy. Both features appear to be available on Warner Archive Collection DVDs.

That’s Quentin for you — genuine Hollywood film culture is not dead.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson