“La Boheme” – By Mae Tinee (Chicago Tribune – July 07, 1926)

“La Boheme” – By Mae Tinee (Chicago Tribune – July 07, 1926)

Chicago Tribune – July 07, 1926 Wednesday, Page 37

“La Boheme”

Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Directed by King Vidor

Presented at Roosevelt theater

La Boheme - Lillian Gish, Gino Corrado and John Gilbert
La Boheme – Lillian Gish, Gino Corrado and John Gilbert

THE CAST

  • Mimi …………………..…….….. Lillian Gish
  • Rodolphe ………………………John Gilbert
  • Musette …………………….. Renee Adoree
  • Schaunard …………………George Hassell
  • Vicomte Paul ……………….…. Roy D’arcy
  • Colline ………… Edward Everett Horton
  • Benoit ………………….………….. Karl Dane
  • Theater Manager ….….. Frank Courrier
  • Madame Benoit ………. Matilde Comont
  • Marcel ……………….…..….. Gino Corrado
  • Bernard …………….…………. Gene Poujet
  • Alexis …………..……..………….. David Mir
  • Louise ……………………. Katherine Vidor
  • Phemie ………………….. Valentina Vinina
Lillian Gish as Mimi in La Boheme
Lillian Gish as Mimi in La Boheme

La Boheme

By Mae Tinee.

Good Morning!

The tender care of Mr. King Vidor – the man who directed “The Big Parade” – has caused “La Boheme” to blossom most beautifully for the screen. It’s as artistic as can be – even to the extreme limit of permitting the unhappy ending. It is full of “atmosphere” that I imagine it is the real thing – the atmosphere of Paris’ Bohemia.

Here, you know, lived little Mimi, the embroiderer whose touching romance with Rodolphe, struggling to write an acceptable play, has brought joy through the years to music lovers.

Lillian Gish in La boheme as Mimi, promotional photograph web

Miss Gish’s Mimi is a frail and exquisite darling. Her appeal is that of a beloved and wistful child. You are filled with a mighty desire to protect her. You yearn to do something – anything – to bring a smile to  those eyes and lips, and when, toward the end, she becomes so wan and gray with suffering and weakness – it’s almost more than you can stand. The unhappy ending becomes, in a way, a happy one – for certainly the Mimi of Lillian Gish has no business on this mundane sphere. Her place is with the angels.

(LA BOHEME) de King Vidor 1926 USA avec John Gilbert et Lillian Gish retrouvaille, caleche, diligence, cocher, chevaux d'apres le roman de Henri Murger detail

John Gilbert as Rodolphe is a perfectly delightful person. His brilliant pantomime gives the picture the needed touch of humor and lightness, as well as much of its deep and tender colorfulness. He is a great actor – this young chap – which, of course, you know quite as well as I do.

The supporting cast is all that could be wished for, and “La Boheme” has been staged, costumed, and photographed with a true eye to authenticity and effect. Trust Mr. Vidor for that.

The story upholds smoothly – you could almost say melodiously. Your interest never flags a minute, and quick tears and spontaneous smiles pay tribute to a photoplay that is entitled to the most sincere praise and consideration.

King Vidor Lillian Gish and filming team La Boheme
King Vidor Lillian Gish and filming team La Boheme
La Boheme full cast and crew
La Boheme full cast and crew

Back to Lillian Gish Home page

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

D.W. Griffith – An American Life (By Richard Schickel – 1984)

Image
D.W. Griffith – An American Life (By Richard Schickel – 1984) D.W. Griffith – An American Life By Richard Schickel – 1984 Griffith! Before him, the movies were a nickelodeon novelty, after him, they were an international art form and a powerful, glamorous American industry He was the first to codify the rules and techniques of screen storytelling, the first to establish the conventions by which the unique capacities of the movies for both sweeping spectacle and profound intimacy could be employed in long, complex narratives, the first to assert the director’s claim to primary authorship of a film Above all, it was Griffith who imagined the future of his medium, and with his driving energy, his taste for the grandiose and his flair for publicity, propelled that medium toward that future—only to be crushed by the very forces he had unleashed. D.w. Griffith (1875-1948) Painting; D.w. Griffith (1875-1948) Art Print for sale His story is, in huge measure, the story of how the ...
Read more

Lillian Gish and Jeanne Moreau – Vanity Fair 1983

Image
Lillian Gish and Jeanne Moreau – Vanity Fair 1983 Vanity Fair – October 1983 Lillian Gish Jeanne Moreau This is a summit meeting: a queen paying homage to an empress. Of course, Lillian Gish, far right, is no truer a blueblood than any other homespun midwesterner. But wherever she goes now, she is treated like a monarch, acknowledging standing ovations in allAmerican palaces like Radio City Music Hall. Her admirers aren’t really applauding her 101 films (she has just completed the 102nd, about a sweet old lady and her sweet old dog). They may never have seen her slim but supernally intense performances in the D. W. Griffith masterpieces or in the Victor Sjostrom classics she made in the late ’20s at MGM. Lillian-Gish-Jeanne-Moreau 60s But they sense in her the grace, the purity, the wealth of symbolism that royalty sustains. Gish’s companion here, Jeanne Moreau, radiates a similar authority; what Gish was to the cinema of the ’20s, Moreau was to the cinema of the ’60s. ...
Read more

LEADING LADIES – 1976 (Electa Clark) PDF Download

Image
  LEADING LADIES – 1976 (Electa Clark) PDF Download “Humanity marches on into the new and glorious 20th century!” exults a daily paper in its first issue of 1901. “Come, oh century, child of hope!” begins a long poem on page one. Another column trills, “We are 20th century women … with the dower of privilege and responsibility which enriches women in this wonderful era!” Lillian Gish had a similar effect on millions who saw her in the movies. She was not only talented, she had a unique quality: pure, ethereal, elusive. As if she acted in whispers. As if in her hands, the definite blurred into the indefinite. It was drama critic George Jean Nathan who described her as being “behind a veil of silver chiffon.” He courted Lillian for years, but she eluded marriage. Horse drawn float declares National American Woman Suffrage Association’s support for Bristow-Mondell amendment 1920s Lillian Gish Actress ‘La Boheme’ Oversized DBW Photo by Kenneth Alexander Leading ladies an affectionate l...
Read more