You can kinda tell by this point that Charlie had a thing for Lita. I've all ways wondered what The Gold Rush would have been like with Lita in it, Does any one know if any footage survived with her as the dance hall girl??
There were scenes filmed with her but it seems none of them survive, at least to my knowledge. One of the scenes was a "forbidden fruit" dream sequence with Lita standing over Charlie with a cake and feeding him berries. There were also a number of photos taken of her in various costumes which makes me wonder if the dance hall girl he had in mind for Lita would have been different than the one Georgia Hale played.
I find it funny how people were sending her fan mail praising all her work when she had only done two Shorts, interesting that Charlie refers to Lita as "boyish" though.
It's fascinating that he refers to her as "boyish"! Methinks he does protest too much with all his emphasis on her being devoid of artificial sex appeal. He seems to be talking about her sex appeal constantly by denying it so much! Great find, as usual!
It reminds me of something he once told Harry Crocker and I think it would apply to Lita (this is from the Kenneth Lynn book): "I have always been in love with young girls, not in an amorous way—just as beautiful objects to look at. I like them young because they personify youth and beauty. There is something virginal in their slimness—in their slender arms and legs. And they are so feminine at that age—so wholly, girlishly young. They haven’t developed the ‘come on’ stuff or discovered the power of their looks over men.” He skirts around this in the article but he was certainly attracted to Lita’s youth and inexperience. I wonder if by “boyish” he also meant youthful. I’ve always felt that Paulette could have been described as having “boyish charm.” The gamine character is certainly a tomboy. However you could never say that Paulette didn’t have sex appeal.
Before the Fall
ReplyDeleteYou can kinda tell by this point that Charlie had a thing for Lita. I've all ways wondered what The Gold Rush would have been like with Lita in it, Does any one know if any footage survived with her as the dance hall girl??
ReplyDeleteThere were scenes filmed with her but it seems none of them survive, at least to my knowledge. One of the scenes was a "forbidden fruit" dream sequence with Lita standing over Charlie with a cake and feeding him berries. There were also a number of photos taken of her in various costumes which makes me wonder if the dance hall girl he had in mind for Lita would have been different than the one Georgia Hale played.
DeleteI find it funny how people were sending her fan mail praising all her work when she had only done two Shorts, interesting that Charlie refers to Lita as "boyish" though.
ReplyDeleteIt's fascinating that he refers to her as "boyish"! Methinks he does protest too much with all his emphasis on her being devoid of artificial sex appeal. He seems to be talking about her sex appeal constantly by denying it so much! Great find, as usual!
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of something he once told Harry Crocker and I think it would apply to Lita (this is from the Kenneth Lynn book):
Delete"I have always been in love with young girls, not in an amorous way—just as beautiful objects to look at. I like them young because they personify youth and beauty. There is something virginal in their slimness—in their slender arms and legs. And they are so feminine at that age—so wholly, girlishly young. They haven’t developed the ‘come on’ stuff or discovered the power of their looks over men.” He skirts around this in the article but he was certainly attracted to Lita’s youth and inexperience. I wonder if by “boyish” he also meant youthful. I’ve always felt that Paulette could have been described as having “boyish charm.” The gamine character is certainly a tomboy. However you could never say that Paulette didn’t have sex appeal.