Silent Star
Encyclopedia
Silent Star: Colleen Moore Talks About Her Hollywood (1968) was silent film
star Colleen Moore
's autobiography.
. In the book's photo-captions, Moore is often either identified as "me" or "Colleen Moore", indicating more than one person wrote the captions. The book covered her life from birth until the point it was written, and was a "tell-all" in that she shattered many myths that had developed around her during her film career. Among the admissions Moore made in the book was that her break in films came as a result of her uncle Walter Howey cashing in a debt owed him by D. W. Griffith
. She described her marriage to John McCormick (1893-1961) as rocky as a result of his alcoholism
.
Born in Port Huron, Michigan
, Moore mentions that, from a very young age, she had known she wanted to be a motion picture star. She wrote that she kept a scrapbook of her favorite stars and left a few pages blank at the end for her own photographs. Year later, she would donate her own scrapbooks to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
, where they are currently available for viewing by researchers at the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library
.
In the book, Moore gave her impressions on several of Hollywood’s biggest controversies, including:
While she provides no information that wasn't already known about these scandals, she does recount her feelings about the events at the time.
The book also spends some time on the construction and tour of her dollhouse for charity before the Second World War. The dollhouse is currently on display at the Museum of Science and Industry
in Chicago
.
Silent Star was published by Doubleday & Company in 1968. The book 262 pages with many photographs, and is currently out of print.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
star Colleen Moore
Colleen Moore
Colleen Moore was an American film actress, and one of the most fashionable stars of the silent film era.-Early life:...
's autobiography.
Overview
The book was written after the death of her third husband Homer Hargrave. It was likely written with the help of Moore's friend Adela Rogers St. JohnsAdela Rogers St. Johns
Adela Rogers St. Johns was an American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She wrote a number of screenplays for silent movies and, late in life, appeared with other early twentieth-century figures as one of the 'witnesses' in Warren Beatty's Reds, but she is best remembered for her...
. In the book's photo-captions, Moore is often either identified as "me" or "Colleen Moore", indicating more than one person wrote the captions. The book covered her life from birth until the point it was written, and was a "tell-all" in that she shattered many myths that had developed around her during her film career. Among the admissions Moore made in the book was that her break in films came as a result of her uncle Walter Howey cashing in a debt owed him by D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
. She described her marriage to John McCormick (1893-1961) as rocky as a result of his alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
.
Born in Port Huron, Michigan
Port Huron, Michigan
Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administratively autonomous. It is joined by the Blue Water Bridge over the St. Clair River to Sarnia,...
, Moore mentions that, from a very young age, she had known she wanted to be a motion picture star. She wrote that she kept a scrapbook of her favorite stars and left a few pages blank at the end for her own photographs. Year later, she would donate her own scrapbooks to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
, where they are currently available for viewing by researchers at the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library
Margaret Herrick
Margaret Herrick , was the librarian and director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Herrick is generally credited with naming the Academy Award an "Oscar", declaring the statuettes "looked just like my Uncle Oscar"...
.
In the book, Moore gave her impressions on several of Hollywood’s biggest controversies, including:
- the William Desmond TaylorWilliam Desmond TaylorWilliam Desmond Taylor was an Irish-born American actor, successful film director of silent movies and a popular figure in the growing Hollywood film colony of the 1910s and early 1920s...
murder (Moore had been on a double date with Mary Miles MinterMary Miles MinterMary Miles Minter was an American film actress of the silent film era.-Early life and rise to stardom:Born Juliet Reilly in Shreveport, Louisiana, Minter was the daughter of Broadway actress Charlotte Shelby...
before the murder); - the Roscoe Arbuckle trials (Moore's uncle Walter Howey, a Hearst CorporationHearst CorporationThe Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
editor, had fanned public outrage against Arbuckle); - the suicide of Paul BernPaul BernPaul Bern was a German-born American film director, screenwriter and producer for MGM.-Early life and career:...
, husband of Jean HarlowJean HarlowJean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde" , Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute...
, (Moore attended their wedding); and - the death of Rudolph ValentinoRudolph ValentinoRudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
(who Moore was never too impressed by).
While she provides no information that wasn't already known about these scandals, she does recount her feelings about the events at the time.
The book also spends some time on the construction and tour of her dollhouse for charity before the Second World War. The dollhouse is currently on display at the Museum of Science and Industry
Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
The Museum of Science and Industry is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Silent Star was published by Doubleday & Company in 1968. The book 262 pages with many photographs, and is currently out of print.