All Poster Forum
Music and Theater Posters => Show Us Your Collection! => Topic started by: monocle on November 06, 2014, 07:27:29 PM
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A pretty recent acquisition and one of the few American posters I have in my collection. I love Victorian melodrama and I think this is pretty well as good as it gets. The image comes from the show 'Blue Jeans' and it shows the celebrated scene in which the villain (curiously clean-shaven) ties our hero (amazingly moustache-laden) to the buzz-saw. This is the show that started all the buzz saw parodies that were to follow in decades to come, so you can see why I was so pleased to stumble across it!
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/BlueJeans_zps9ad0f8d0.jpg)
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A later Victorian version of a celebrated play entitled 'The Octoroon'. This first appeared on the American stage in 1859 and toured for some years. The storyline features a mixed race couple and it caused a lot of unrest in the days leading up to the civil war. The USA version apparently ended with a tragic split but in the UK and elsewhere the couple were happily reunited at the end of the play.
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/Octoroon_zpsa5045df1.jpg)
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Very nice pieces, monocle. thumbsup.gif
What are the dimensions of each of those posters?
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Believe it or not Jeff, I haven't the foggiest! It's not something I always make a note of. The British ones are a pretty standard size for a UK theatre single sheet poster I think? About 30 inches by 20 inches?
Oh, and here's another. 'A Brace of Partridges' dating from 1897. Who cares whether it was any good or not when you've got such a grand interpretation of what it's like to be soaked to the skin!
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060178_zps5a43ee33.jpg)
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A rather curious poster for a production (1890s?) of W S Gilbert's play 'Pygmalion and Galatea'. The curious thing about this one is that the poster artist has consciously decided to lampoon the art style of Aubrey Beardsley - even to the point of using the fake satirical and mocking signature 'Weirdsly Daubery'.
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/beardsley-Version2_zpsd25687ad.jpg)
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check out Jess Francos BLOODY MOON for the final word in Circular Saw Mahem ;)
nice posters.
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Great posters
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Following your suggestion Ari, I've just Googled 'Bloody Moon'. As I was in the process of having breakfast, I rather wish I hadn't. And I have a funny feeling that their buzz saw scene doesn't include an heroic rescue.
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oops. sorry. remember that before and after reading pretty much anything I say ;)
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Thanks for the warning Ari. I think we can safely say that mine are a little more, 'er how shall I put it, slightly more gentrified in design? Perhaps just a tad more elegant with a noticeable shortage of gore and limb-loss?
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060187_zps7dd02a73.jpg)
Thanks to all for the nice comments by the way!
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"Farcical"
That's a word I need to start using more
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My dear wife uses it all the time Chris...
I really don't have anything horrific to hand...once one discounts the children. And my own nature prevents me from watching any horror film released after the 1960s. Revolving stages I understand. Revolving heads I avoid. Even so, I still wouldn't like to wake up in the middle of the night with this poster in clear view. One of my items to 'move on' methinks...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060229_zpse0b3552e.jpg)
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This 'Circus Girl' was an successful Monckton and Caryll musical comedy dating from the 1890s. No discernible artist (although I do need new glasses) unless of course it's the clown peering in from the top right. It was a very successful show indeed, earning additional 'publicity' when the celebrated actor William Terriss, who was on his way to see the show, was stabbed outside the Adelphi theatre by a deranged fellow thespian. This poster is I think for the tour that followed.
Nice to see the character of the Italian ring master Albertoni dead centre, although I am sorry that if doesn't feature the splendidly named 'Drivelli' (the owner of the circus) or the villainous wrestler 'Toothick Pasha the Terrible Turk' who has to fight an American bartender to stop him getting the heroine. Great stuff!
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060185_zps6dda5b1b.jpg)
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My dear wife uses it all the time Chris...
I really don't have anything horrific to hand...once one discounts the children. And my own nature prevents me from watching any horror film released after the 1960s. Revolving stages I understand. Revolving heads I avoid. Even so, I still wouldn't like to wake up in the middle of the night with this poster in clear view. One of my items to 'move on' methinks...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060229_zpse0b3552e.jpg)
Very nice on this one, monocle. Me likes!
clap clap clap
prayer.gif
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Actually Jeff there is a movie link here. This poster was produced for the 1895 play 'The Sign of the Cross' written by the celebrated actor, manager and dramatist Wilson Barrett. Apparently it was a bit of a Quo Vadis religious melodrama - somewhere I have another version showing a Roman punch up. Anyway, the fact that it features a character going by the name of 'Marcus Superbus' makes it a winner in my book. Now for the bit you probably already know. In 1932 this play was made into a film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille! Extraordinary...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sign_of_the_Cross_(film) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sign_of_the_Cross_(film))
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Indeed...
And a perfect kind of vehicle for DeMille to have made, too. thumbsup.gif
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I wonder if there are DeMille collectors on the forum who know more about it?
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060227_zps247cda8f.jpg)
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Ive never seen the film, but want to check it out, especially since it has been fully restored to its original, feature length.
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You mean it's available now? Good lord! Well as if that wasn't enough, here comes the creepy lady again in a scene somewhat reminiscent of later vampire flicks...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060231_zpscf3001f5.jpg)
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You mean it's available now? Good lord! Well as if that wasn't enough, here comes the creepy lady again in a scene somewhat reminiscent of later vampire flicks...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060231_zpscf3001f5.jpg)
The film was fully restored back to its full 125 min running time, back in 1993 by the UCLA Film and Television Archive with the help of the DeMille estate and Universal Pictures. (as noted, too, in the wiki link above). ;)
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I assume Jeff that this means it's available for researchers and scholars to view by appointment? Surely they haven't released it on DVD?!
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I assume Jeff that this means it's available for researchers and scholars to view by appointment? Surely they haven't released it on DVD?!
It is available (the full, unedited 125 min version) on DVD:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sign-Cross-Fredric-March/dp/B004KZH5LI
Or-- you may wish to watch the 1914, Frederick Thomson-directed version. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suoZrmT1crA
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Will wonders never cease? That is extraordinary. Now the world can judge just how Superbus Marcus is...
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How come I missed this section, jollynice stuff Monocle.
Have you ever seen anything from this troop....
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p501/PaulWaines/PICT0472_zps3ac37181.jpg) (http://s1153.photobucket.com/user/PaulWaines/media/PICT0472_zps3ac37181.jpg.html)
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Thanks Paul!
At first I thought this was quite American in style but I believe the chap actually hailed from Lancashire. I love the positioning of his 'drag' character so powerfully to the front right of the poster. Apparently Charlie Chaplin spent a year his troupe...
http://www.peterboroughimages.co.uk/blog/will-murrays-caseys-court-1906/
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Quite right, it was rumoured Stan Laurel also spent some time with them, but I think that was disproved..
And It's where the saying, "it's like Casey's Court" comes from.. My Dad still uses the saying, Hence we do on occasion.. It's nice to know where it comes from.
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Really? I've never heard that expression. Which part of the UK are you from?
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I live up North, near Middlesbrough. I'm sure the troupe traveled, but weather they made it up this far...
The Caseys performances were mainly farce, and chaotic. So anything overly busy, or not organised, "it was like Caseys Court"..
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Ah Middlesborough! I remember visiting early one Sunday evening back in the 70s. It was so dead I entertained myself by staring at the splendid transporter bridge for an hour. I actually spent three years doing my degree up at Newcastle. Great city - and that's before it was gentrified down at the dockside.
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You need to know where to go in Middlesbrough, it's more spread out than Newcastle.
You'd hardly recognise the dockside now, it's changed that much. Mind I always tended to head south if we were going out, Whitby, Scarborough, or Leeds..
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Oh, I've been up a few times since Paul! It's been beautifully done and is a real credit to the city. Extraordinary to think that the dockside was more than a bit of a no-go area when I was up there. Anybody heading down there after dark would either have to be mad or up to no good!
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Just bumped into this thread and I sure would like to see more of Monocle's theatricals.
cheers
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Good lord, I've been offline for too long. Thanks old chap, I shall make sure I pop up a few more pics pronto. A chum of mine is delivering one I bought a couple of months back on Sunday. Now that one is a cracker!
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Good lord, I've been offline for too long. Thanks old chap, I shall make sure I pop up a few more pics pronto. A chum of mine is delivering one I bought a couple of months back on Sunday. Now that one is a cracker!
Yes please!!!! Always a pleasure seeing your posters Nick. Keep them coming!
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Perhaps it's me but with a poster this colourful, the secret really can't be that dark. A farce I fancy?
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060189_zpsuuurgx1f.jpg)
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A pretty panto poster with rather lovely lettering. Personally speaking, I'd like to see the villains featured for a change. My cat allergy doesn't help either...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060221_zps4gmavlfh.jpg)
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Being a little bit of a 'dandy' myself but with a somewhat, (ahem) 'fuller' figure, I rather like this one...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060214_zps52ie8a9d.jpg)
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An absolute favourite of mine and probably one I'm going to allow myself to keep once I begin selling off those posters surplus to requirements...or at least surplus to my dear wife's requirements!
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060199_zpsquqqvlsc.jpg)
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Beautifully drawn I think, and again accompanied by lovely lettering. I have others which are advertising the selfsame play but they illustrated by different artists. It's rather interesting to view their individual stylistic interpretations of the drama.
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060194_zpsfcpctpk0.jpg)
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Great stuff I also like the last two. What year/size are they? is it thicker stock or old linen of some sort?
You need to post more of your stuff sir, surplus and all!
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Lost, Stolen or Strayed is absolutely beautiful.
Great posters all, sir.
cheers
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LOST , Stolen is rather striking. Beautiful Nick.
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Thanks chaps! My friends finally called in from the other side of the country to deliver the theatre poster I purchased a couple of months ago. Not large and it does have a couple of patched tears but I am delighted! Everything comes to he who waits...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/dandy_zpsql4cgkbo.jpg)
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That is a beauty, Nick.
Congrats! monocle.gif
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That's a dandy
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Oh I like the poster and him :)
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I'm sure you have impeccable taste Rosa. I assume all your suitors look like that?
In the meantime here are a couple more 'Two Little Vagabond' posters but by wildly different artists...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060196_zpsndfgziff.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060193_zpsyiu4yp8f.jpg)
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And again a pair of differently envisaged posters for 'The Dandy Fifth'...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060188_zpsbqz35fth.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2060212_zps0uu82jph.jpg)
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I'm sure you have impeccable taste Rosa.I assume all your suitors look like that?
Haha.. I wish! Though my BF does look good in a suit though :P
Great selection of posters. I never heard about the Princess Theater in London. I actually equally like the two posters (vagabond).
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I never heard about the Princess Theater in London.
If you tunnel under HMV in Oxford Street, I think you might find the foundations!
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Another Edwardian poster I've recently discovered hidden by the side of my wardrobe!
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/IMG_1823.JPG_zpsfla4luyd.jpg)
This is an American poster of the British actress Olga Nethersole, produced in 1905 by by the Strobridge Litho Co. It is a massive 82.5 inches x 39.5 inches, and when I purchased it he lettering to the bottom of the poster was flaking away rather. I would consider restoring it if I wanted to hang onto it but I think it falls neatly into my wife's 'cheerio list'.
To quote Wikipedia...
She was born in London, of Spanish descent on her mother's side, and made her stage début at Theatre Royal, Brighton in 1887.[2] From 1888 she played important parts in London, at first under Rutland Barrington and John Hare at the Garrick Theatre.
She toured Australia and America, playing leading parts in modern plays, notably Clyde Fitch's Sapho, where she and her male costar Hamilton Revelle were arrested for "violating public decency".
Representatives of groups such as the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, the Society for the Study of Life, and the New York Mother’s Club, protested that the play’s language and costumes were immoral. Some of the outcry was fuelled by yellow journalism, with trial witnesses admitting their tickets had been provided by New York World reporters.[10] New York District Attorney Asa Bird Gardiner ordered Nethersole, her co-star, and two managers arrested on February 21,[11] and police closed the theatre on March 5. Following a month of intense public and press interest (during which Nethersole and her company performed different plays) and a two-day trial, a jury spent 15 minutes acquitting Nethersole and the others.[12] The play reopened two days later, on April 7.[1]
The Sapho indecency trial is a well-known step in the transition from the era of Victorian morality as it existed in America, particularly as regards attitudes toward onstage depictions of gender, intimacy and sex. According to Olga Nethersole’s 1951 obituary, “During the Comstock era...when a public kiss on the mouth was considered an indecency...Nethersole typified the growing revolt against prudery and was a stanch advocate of women’s right and intellectual independence.”[13]
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Beautiful poster, Nick. thumbsup.gif
And interesting, too, that the paper looks to have a rather high gloss to it, too (based on the reflection of your flash, near the bottom). Or is the poster covered with a clear plastic sheet of some kind?
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No shiny sheet here Jeff. Just the natural gloss of the poster. I might have another crack at photographing it tomorrow morning when natural daylight is on offer but each time I unravel it, that bottom section starts to weaken just a tiny bit more. Difficult to know what to do with it really. These large posters obviously need large houses to be displayed in, and that wouldn't be mine. All I need is to find an American/New York collector with an Olga/morality fetish! Not sure whether it's worth restoring it before offering it up. Probably best to leave that to any potential buyer. It must have been laid onto linen years ago but now needs starting from scratch. It would look rather classy on the right staircase...
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No shiny sheet here Jeff. Just the natural gloss of the poster. I might have another crack at photographing it tomorrow morning when natural daylight is on offer but each time I unravel it, that bottom section starts to weaken just a tiny bit more. Difficult to know what to do with it really. These large posters obviously need large houses to be displayed in, and that wouldn't be mine. All I need is to find an American/New York collector with an Olga/morality fetish! Not sure whether it's worth restoring it before offering it up. Probably best to leave that to any potential buyer. It must have been laid onto linen years ago but now needs starting from scratch. It would look rather classy on the right staircase...
Glossy paper and flash can be a pain, thats for sure, Nick. I know what u mean. You have to stand at just the right angle to avoid that reflection back.
You say it must have been linen backed years ago. Does the linen look darkened or are there areas where the poster is loose from the backing, at this point?
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It's flaking away where it originally must have been rolled tightest. There's enough writing remaining to restore it well but the image is just starting to crack in certain other places too. If I hang onto it I'm pretty sure that's it'll slowly get worse until it's finally dealt with. I'm about to send my large cycling poster off the 'Poster Mountain' for restoration - perhaps they'll know of the ideal giant poster customer for Olga?
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It's flaking away where it originally must have been rolled tightest. There's enough writing remaining to restore it well but the image is just starting to crack in certain other places too. If I hang onto it I'm pretty sure that's it'll slowly get worse until it's finally dealt with. I'm about to send my large cycling poster off the 'Poster Mountain' for restoration - perhaps they'll know of the ideal giant poster customer for Olga?
I'm sure John Davis & company will do your poster proud, Nick. They do very fine work and Ive been to their studio a number of times. It's a great layout, too.
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What's it worth? PM if you like.
It's very nice.
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What's it worth? PM if you like.
It's very nice.
Ari, it's worth what a buyer (you) is willing to pay
Brace yourself Monocle! ;) :P
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And interesting, too, that the paper looks to have a rather high gloss to it, too (based on the reflection of your flash, near the bottom). Or is the poster covered with a clear plastic sheet of some kind?
If the poster is 1905, was there gloss paper then? I don't know but I'm guessing not. So, because it is linen backed, I suspect the poster got a gloss sheen sprayed on for added pop (not sure what they call it but like hairspray).
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Another Edwardian poster I've recently discovered hidden by the side of my wardrobe!
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/IMG_1823.JPG_zpsfla4luyd.jpg)
She is quite the looker.
Am I to understand that the pieces that are flaking away are coming loose from linen?
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Looks like "European style" linen backing.
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Looks like "European style" linen backing.
Does that include trimming the linen to fit?
I'm unfamiliar with the euro style.
Was this an older process that ages differently than those used now?
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If the poster is 1905, was there gloss paper then? I don't know but I'm guessing not. So, because it is linen backed, I suspect the poster got a gloss sheen sprayed on for added pop (not sure what they call it but like hairspray).
That's what had me wondering too, Steve. Was the sheen layer added later? And what kind of printing is this? Offset? Were it a stone litho, I think, would require a non-sized (non glossy) treated paper, for the various colored ink layers to absorb into the paper stock the right way? So maybe it was spray "sealed" at some point, after it was backed?
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Does that include trimming the linen to fit?
I'm unfamiliar with the euro style.
Was this an older process that ages differently than those used now?
Yeah, well I'm no expert, but I have a few things European style, they are trimmed to the edge of the poster, the linen itself is thinner, there is no restoration. It's more for stabilising than anything I think.
Ps, I didn't have the items backed, i bought them this way, very cheap, and the quality is terrible,
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I wonder, too, if, (lets say Nick's poster was sealed with a spray sealer, many years ago), that this is what has caused (along with tight rolling) the paper at the bottom to splinter and fracture away like that?
Almost as tho the sealer made the paper much more brittle, and caused it to "crack."
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when i bought from that epic war poster auction this summer at Guernsey's, which were all from one collector - Colonel Edward H. McCrahon - a number of the posters were coated and the description read :
PC- Poster Coated. In the 1920's, in preparation for various public exhibitions, a portion of the posters in this collection were protected with a clear coating. Unlike varnish (which tended to turn amber and brittle through the years) applied by some collectors many decades ago, the coating used on the Col. McCrahon posters remain clear and flexible. If anything, the coating has tended to intensify the original printed colors.
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Great info, Vick. And it sounds like it this clear coat was added to seal as welll as protect posters, from travel and handling mishaps.
If that's the case with Nick's poster, too, I wonder how that would be handled, were he wanting the poster restored and re-backed. To dissolve that coating could damage the inks and/or paper, if not a water based product.
Maybe in this kind of case, it is best to leave as is, and try to stabilize the bottom area, as best as one can.
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Another Edwardian poster I've recently discovered hidden by the side of my wardrobe!
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/IMG_1823.JPG_zpsfla4luyd.jpg)
This is an American poster of the British actress Olga Nethersole, produced in 1905 by by the Strobridge Litho Co. It is a massive 82.5 inches x 39.5 inches, and when I purchased it he lettering to the bottom of the poster was flaking away rather. I would consider restoring it if I wanted to hang onto it but I think it falls neatly into my wife's 'cheerio list'.
To quote Wikipedia...
She was born in London, of Spanish descent on her mother's side, and made her stage début at Theatre Royal, Brighton in 1887.[2] From 1888 she played important parts in London, at first under Rutland Barrington and John Hare at the Garrick Theatre.
She toured Australia and America, playing leading parts in modern plays, notably Clyde Fitch's Sapho, where she and her male costar Hamilton Revelle were arrested for "violating public decency".
Representatives of groups such as the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, the Society for the Study of Life, and the New York Mother’s Club, protested that the play’s language and costumes were immoral. Some of the outcry was fuelled by yellow journalism, with trial witnesses admitting their tickets had been provided by New York World reporters.[10] New York District Attorney Asa Bird Gardiner ordered Nethersole, her co-star, and two managers arrested on February 21,[11] and police closed the theatre on March 5. Following a month of intense public and press interest (during which Nethersole and her company performed different plays) and a two-day trial, a jury spent 15 minutes acquitting Nethersole and the others.[12] The play reopened two days later, on April 7.[1]
The Sapho indecency trial is a well-known step in the transition from the era of Victorian morality as it existed in America, particularly as regards attitudes toward onstage depictions of gender, intimacy and sex. According to Olga Nethersole’s 1951 obituary, “During the Comstock era...when a public kiss on the mouth was considered an indecency...Nethersole typified the growing revolt against prudery and was a stanch advocate of women’s right and intellectual independence.”[13]
I see the Spanish blood here! Hehe. :P
Nethersole typified the growing revolt against prudery and was a stanch advocate of women’s right and intellectual independence.”
Nick, best of luck deciding what to do with this. I will speak with art restores here in London to see if they can give you some further advice. We have a number of curators and art restorers working around Westminster.
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Good morning all! Thanks for the info and fascinating speculation....and thank you very much for your interest Ari. I will make sure I get back to you once I've delved a little deeper on this. As for photographing it in daylight, well thus far it's a miserable gloomy day here in the UK. No change there then. I shall wait until things improve and then post up some more snaps. In the meantime here are a few closer details of the flaking etc from the earlier selection...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2080804_zpsilcwsod3.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2080808_zpsgvkqhmjc.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2080806_zps72i9etjm.jpg)
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This by the way is a fascinating newspaper article from 1900 in which she talks about her passion and offers up her 'Laws for an Actress'. She was obviously quite a gal!
HOW TO BECOME AN EMOTIONAL ACTRESS
Miss Nethersole Describes the Processes Through Which the Body and Mind Must Pass
By OLGA NETHERSOLE
First published in "The Lowell Sun" [USA] - 12th March, 1900.
If you are at all timid about your own feelings, I mean if you are afraid to use the extent of natural impulse born in you, there is every hope that you will attain distinction in some other profession than the stage. The stage is no place for timid people. I sometimes think that nerve is better than talent, for it often seems to succeed quite as well.
I hope I have not misled you by saying too much about stage-art as against the value of stage-heart. Perhaps I ought not to say stage-heart, because actually there is no such thing. Our hearts are always that high court to which we women appeal nearly all our best impulse?. I only used the term stage-heart to qualify the value of complete heart interest to the stage. And just here let me tell you there is a tremendous egotism about the stage. It is a masterful, commanding, exorbitant creditor, demanding your body and soul as ransom, a pledge of your ambition to succeed.
Your bodily strength, your emotional nature, all your passionate and tender impulses, all that you can love and all that you can hate is absorbed by that glittering temple of the actors' creed - the theatre. It is not, in the sense that ladylike fiction would describe it, a sweet home life. It is nomadic, restless, anxious, almost soldierly in its characteristic "fighting" qualities. So much of necessary warning to sustain the purpose I wish these lessons to convey. I want you to be quite sure that you are competent to face the difficulties.
We have come to that point in these educational talks which is most important in a self-examination for admission to the dramatic profession. Have you emotional power?
Nearly every one has an emotion or two that they are quite proud of. Nearly every one avoids those emotions that an emotional actress is called upon to impersonate. The emotional motives of great tragedies are exceptional. They do not occur in ordinary lines. They are conceived by men and women who have vigor of imagination. Emotional power, therefore, is not merely a physical strength to sustain the bodily tension of tragedy, but an unusual mental genius for imagining situations. In fact, the most vital part of emotional power is the imagination.
Emotional acting is the torture of spirit plunged into a four or five act tragedy, to which is added physical endurance to survive the torture. Dramatic situations that would kill two thirds of the audiences were they to encounter them in life are the duties set down for an emotional actress. Therefore the question to ask yourself is, "can you suffer the agony of Juliet's mind and heart as she should suffer in the tomb scene without a complete collapse?"
Have you the physical nature or the indomitable will to dismiss your emotions when the play is over?
Can you violate your own intimate standard of good morals by impersonating the character of a woman whose nature has no parallel emotion in your own, and conceive her disposition, voice, poise and passion?
Can you submit your soul to the contemplation of a pathetic death scene and live through it?
These are questions that I put to you from my own knowledge, knowing how they will weigh upon your ambition. I know also that unless you are born with the true spark of intense purpose that they will frighten you into other trades. Of course, I am assuming that you aim to become a leading example of the best emotional acting.
As I have told you, my own emotions on the stage are real for the time being, and I am quite positive that without a degree of actual tragic sympathy with an emotional scene you will never be able to assume it. The theatrical effects of assumed acting are never convincing. They never represent the highest art.
Now do you still think you have emotional power?
If you are quite satisfied that you understand the surrender the stage demands of you, this terrific surrender of all the violent passions and emotions of your nature, then I should say you have emotional temperament and ought to study for the stage. It is only when you are quite sure that you have such a temperament, and that you are equal to the sacrifice it demands, that you should begin to go to a practical school.
I am demanding only the best, that you may reach the best results in art. When you reach a competent teacher you will discover all the crudity of your emotions for stage expression, and you will be shown the first requirement of emotional power for stagework - emotional restraint.
An emotional actress represents the most difficult and exacting calling, and I must persist in reminding you that these lessons will inspire only the few, the very few who are equal to the work. In its highest sense.
Emotional restraint is acquired by a familiarity with the necessary technique of the stage. You learn to speak distinctly, to walk correctly, to grace the stage with a fine ease of manner. Then when you are quite sure of your stage footing, as it were, you can begin impersonations.
Dialect, eccentric speech, old age, and the host of complex details bearing upon characterization. This ground work, which dramatic schools supply, is invaluable. I cannot speak too warmly of the value to the stage of educational schools for dramatic students. And there is nothing will destroy your talent so much as improper technique, that is, incompetent teaching.
There are one or two schools in this city, I believe, which I could recommend to dramatic students, but there are also a great number of very dangerous nomadic teachers of dramatic art, who do the stage a great deal of harm. I believe that the gift to impart dramatic knowledge to the stage aspirant is as rare as the actor's gift of emotional impulse.
Emotional restraint is the only quality that makes emotional acting safe and true. The average expression of deep or violent emotion would be a very clumsy, not to say painful, exhibition without emotional restraint. It is the quality that separates the old-fashioned method of emotional ranting from the suppressed force of to-day.
In these modern times we suggest our sufferings; we let tears speak for us, and we do not make long speeches. The day is passed when emotions were ceremonial. We have dispensed with emotional ceremonies that we may practise emotional restraint.
You see what a difficult art it is - how numerous are the qualities it requires. I hope that I have not discouraged any worthy students by these discouraging details. I am sure I could not do so if there be any one as deliberate in their ambition as I have been. There was a time when my family absolutely forbade me to become an actress. I am happy to say I have since been forgiven. I say this to show you what is to be overcome.
Laws for an Actress
As Laid Down by Olga Nethersole
Conquer your timidity.
Let the at stage be your masterful, commanding, exhorbitant creditor, demanding your body and soul as ransom.
Learn emotional restraint as well as emotion.
Speak distinctly, walk correctly, and obtain an ease of manner.
Learn dialect, eccentric speech and the peculiarities of old age.
Be heart and soul in earnest, knowing no side devotions.
Adopt the stage as an earnest aim rather than a vehicle for youth and beauty.
After you have studied in other schools, let the stage be your first great college of learning.
(Reproduced from stagebeauty.net)
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And just for Rosa, this is Olga with her mother's Spanish roots turned up to 11.
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/T2eC16RUE9s3wCMZWBRVrr9kKSQ60_57_zpszkt0iaap.jpg)
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Good morning all! Thanks for the info and fascinating speculation....and thank you very much for your interest Ari. I will make sure I get back to you once I've delved a little deeper on this. As for photographing it in daylight, well thus far it's a miserable gloomy day here in the UK. No change there then. I shall wait until things improve and then post up some more snaps. In the meantime here are a few closer details of the flaking etc from the earlier selection...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2080804_zpsilcwsod3.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2080808_zpsgvkqhmjc.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2080806_zps72i9etjm.jpg)
Great close up pics, Nick! thumbsup.gif
The last one certainly seems to show that there was some protective "clear coat" applied to this poster, after it was backed. And its also great to see the thinner style linen that was used (whenever this might have been worked on, back in the day).
It's almost like looking back on the history of linen backing, in a way. Very cool!
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And just for Rosa, this is Olga with her mother's Spanish roots turned up to 11.
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/T2eC16RUE9s3wCMZWBRVrr9kKSQ60_57_zpszkt0iaap.jpg)
Oh. Thanks!!!!.looks like my aunt!
And beautiful close ups of the poster!!
You have quite a treasure there. I am sure the wife will agree!
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She looks like your aunt Rosa? Lucky uncle!
Have been toiling in the October sunshine to try and get a reflection free snap of Olga. These are a little better, but short of laying it out on my lawn and climbing a stepladder or alternatively stapling myself to the ceiling of my living room, this isn't working too well. But here goes anyway...
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2080836_zpsfqdwylky.jpg)
(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/thegallopingmajor/P2080834_zpsgb2jg5wn.jpg)
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More great pics, there, Nick!! thumbsup.gif
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Excellent photos. May I just say how remarkable her rings are? She is wearing lovely jewellery. :)