Never a Penrod Like Ben Alexander! -- July 27, 2023

Motion Picture News, 07-July-1923

Indiana author Booth Tarkington was very 100 years ago, but I don't think people read his stories and novels much today.  When I was a kid, the only thing I knew about him was that he wrote the novel that Orson Welles used as the basis for The Magnificent Ambersons.  I was already in college when I learned that F Scott Fitzgerald was a great admirer of Tarkington.  Inspired by this, I went to the Anza Branch Library and took out Penrod: His Complete Story, a collection of stories about a boy who grows up.

In 1922, a movie based on Penrod, starring Wesley Barry and directed by Mickey Neilan, was a hit.

In 1923, First National released a sequel, Penrod and Sam, starring Ben Alexander. William Beaudine directed again. This would be the first of three adaptions. William Beaudine also directed the 1931 version. 

Motion Picture News, 28-July-1923

In 1908, Booth Tarkington and Harry Leon Wilson wrote a play called Cameo Kirby. It was filmed in 1914, and then John Ford directed a remake in 1923, starring John Gilbert. In 1930, it was remade as a talkie musical starring some guy I have never heard of. 

Nickname #17 -- August 15, 2012

William Beaudine began directing in 1915 and continued directing until 1966.  I suspect that no one knows how many shorts, features and television shows he directed.  Michael Medved and the other authors of The 50 Worst Films of All Time gave him the nickname "One Shot" because he was rumored to avoid retakes.  This is not true.  He did retakes when they were needed.  I have not noticed flubbed lines in his films that I have seen. 

The image is from the 1916 Motion Picture Studio and Trade Annual.