You'd think that as classic movie fans that we'd all know plenty about Alice Guy-Blaché. She was one of the first filmmakers to own her own studio, make films with a storyline and to enjoy great success doing so. On top of that, she was the first woman to do any of these things. And yet, it seems even devoted film fans often know little or nothing about her. I've been into the classics for nearly thirty years, but I only saw a Guy-Blaché film for the first time last year.
That is why I am so eager for Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché to be made. Filmmakers Pamela Green and Jarik van Sluijs have been on an obsessive quest to find every morsel of information they can on this movie pioneer. They have uncovered new information and even films that had been thought lost. One of them is the first film with an all African-American cast. This is important stuff.
And yet, they are running out of money, and the Kickstarter campaign they started on July 27 is way behind. They need help! And selfishly, I really want to see this film! It's been eighteen years since the last documentary about Guy-Blaché was made. So much more has been discovered since then.
So help them out, in any way you can, so we can see the amazing treasures they have discovered. It's super easy to donate, especially if you already have an Amazon account. I managed to complete the process in five minutes. Please help if you want to see this film!
Check out the trailer on their Kickstarter page. It is pretty darn cool. I swear you will want to give after seeing it--Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
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I was especially upset to learn about the death of Karen Black yesterday. A few months ago my husband showed me the GoFundMe crowd funding page she had started with her husband to raise funds for an expensive experimental procedure in Europe that they hoped would help her fight her cancer. It was so painful to see how thin and frail she had become, and I knew that she probably wouldn't be making that trip.
That said, how wonderful that she got to see how much people cared for her, because that Go Fund Me campaign ended up making much more than the goal amount. The money made it possible for her to get some of those treatments without leaving the country and both her husband and daughter were able to quit work and be by her side to the end. I'm going to keep that love in mind while I watch her working a blonde wig and black trench in Family Plot (1976) tonight. Check out this gallery of some of her most interesting roles--Hollywood Reporter
Another passing: Margaret Pellegrini, one of the munchkins in The Wizard of Oz (1939), at 89. She was the one I always recognized because of her distinctive flowerpot hat. It sounds like she was a sweet lady, who enjoyed the lasting fame she won for a role she played at only sixteen--Today
Well thank goodness there was some good news this week. Orson Welles' first film, which he made in the thirties, has been rediscovered. It's called Too Much Johnson, which sounds like a screwball porno, but is actually based on an 1894 farce--New York Times
And you can help to make this rediscovered gem available online! Here's how--Self-Styled Siren
New blogathon! Hitchcock Halloween on 10/31 at Backlots. Sounds like another irresistible event--Backlots
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