The Lumberjack, one of the oldest films shot in Wisconsin that still exists in its original, complete form, once again lit up the big screen on October 25th in Wausau, Wisconsin, the city where it was conceived, shot, edited, and premiered 100 years ago. Produced by an itinerant film company out of Omaha, Nebraska and cast with Wausau locals, the short silent two-reeler…
On Saturday, October 18 the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research helped organize Home Movie Day Madison at the Pinney Library. We had great assistance from our partners at the Pinney Library and Holder Printworks, as well as our volunteer crew from the UW-Madison SLIS Archives program! We had an intimate but lively event after a few year’s absence…
In 1948, Ingrid Bergman starred in the film Joan of Arc which was produced by Walter Wanger. This caricature, of Bergman skiing as Joan of Arc, was a gift to Wanger. The inscription reads: “If I wear my legs to my knees, I must ski – Greetings to Walter! Ingrid” The caption at the bottom reads: “It’s beyond me how…
Welcome to the first post in the Secrets From the Ziv File section of the WCFTR blog. So just what is the Ziv File?
by Mary Huelsbeck While in Amsterdam last week for the Orphans Symposium, I had the chance to visit the Anne Frank House and Museum. Words cannot really describe the experience of visiting the house and seeing firsthand where Anne, her family, and four others hid from the Nazis during World War II.
I grew up in a family that enjoyed vibrant conversation. Our house was near the main runway at JFK airport in New York City and it was precisely the peak landing time when the four of us sat down to dinner. As the planes came closer their engines roared louder. In order to hear each other we too, turned up…
I’m often asked if I have a favorite item in the WCFTR’s collection. I could never single out just one item because I have an ever growing list of favorite items! One of my favorites, and something I usually bring out when we give tours of the WCFTR, is a telegram Joan Crawford sent to Rod Serling after she saw…
Spencer Tracy in Wisconsin by Kathleen Kosiec While refiling at WCFTR one afternoon, I noticed an interesting set of photographs in the Spencer Tracy name file. Unlike many of the other publicity and film images in the rest of the collection, these photographs weren’t from the set of a classic film, but instead capture Tracy as a young college student…
Decades past the silent film era’s heyday, the legacy of one of the genre’s most beloved stars is still alive in Hollywood. Jean Dujardin’s lead character in The Artist was loosely based on Douglas Fairbanks, and an homage to the actor is visible with the inclusion of a Zorro scene in the 2011 film. Fairbanks’ films are still shown on…
“I like to think of myself as some of the Scotch tape that holds things together – I’m very handy to have around. But all that actors really need is a bare stage. Lighting is just one of the luxuries of the theater.” – Jean Rosenthal