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Larry Telles Interview
By admin | November 20, 2008
An Interview with author Larry Telles about his new book:
A Brief History of the Silent Screen and the World at that Time
By Ana Parker Goodwin
Larry Telles is one of the most fascinating and enthusiastic people I have had the privilege to interview. He thrives on making the past come alive. Even individuals like me, who use history books mostly as sleeping aids, will emerge excited and refreshed by the story of that innovative era in American history when pictures first began to move.
Read on to get an insider’s view of Larry and his writing. (We are sitting in a small study room at the Rathdrum library in Northern Idaho.)
Tell me a little about the book you recently published with Bitterroot Mountain Publishing.
(He leans toward me and folds his hands in his lap.) A Brief History of the Silent Screen and the World at that Time is exactly that. I give the history of movies and events that happened in the world from 1834-1931. That’s what makes this book different from others. I take what happened in movies a couple of years at a time, then I switch to world events at the same time and go back and forth. (I must have looked confused because he glanced at me and added an explanation) You can’t get lost. The movie side has a clear symbol of a piece of old film at the top of the page. The history side has a symbol of the world. You get the entire picture of one period in time. Cultural context, I believe you’d call it. And there are surprises on almost every page.
Here are just a few tidbits. The book starts in 1824, the year Peter Roget (Roget’s Thesaurus) first suggested the theory of the persistence of vision. Ten years later the Zoetrope was invented. William George Horner created a circular device with 13 slots and placed pictures in each. When he spun the Zoetrope the images began to move. About 50 years later, Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb, became deeply involved in creating the first moving picture camera. Then in the early 1900’s the film industry moved to California to film westerns and comedies. This is when Hollywood the town, became Hollywood the motion picture center. By 1930, talking pictures were being shown in the few larger, more expensive theaters. That was around the time the stock market crashed. People had very little money, but still they flocked to theaters to see the silent flicks, probably to escape reality. In 1931 about 60% of theaters had sound and Edison, now called the father of moving pictures, died. That’s where I ended the book.
How did you become interested in writing a book about silent movies?
That’s a long time ago, when silent movies were still shown on TV. (He laughs.) I grew up in California and whenever I could I’d watch them on TV. I found them fascinating. Even the flicker. Action, action, action. The performers overplayed their roles to such an extreme… ( He leans back in his chair and explains.) That’s because without sound they had to “talk” with their bodies. Like Charlie Chaplin and Helen Holmes. Sometimes the films were on the edge of decency for the time. Very slapstick. Or people bleeding and dying in great anguish accompanied by a piano in the background.
Well, I guess my grandmother noticed me watching them, because right after I turned 15 she gave me a book for Christmas: Blum’s Pictorial History of the Silent Screen. I still have it. (He smiles and gazes out the window as though remembering the past.) Except now it’s pretty dog-eared and holds together only because I’ve added a lot of duct tape.
Years later, after I was married and raised a family, I decided to go back to college. In my last year I had to select a topic to write about for my final project. Well, the old Niles California Movie Studio had once stood only eight miles south of our home. So I thought I’d write about the history of the studio. It’s one of the earliest places movies were made when the producers moved to the west. In 1998 I became a founding member of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum. Since then I have returned annually to help with our yearly film festival. I give special presentations.
When my wife and I moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 1999, I began to teach evening classes at North Idaho College. Later I was asked to present a silent film program for Elder Hostel, which I did. What a success! People loved it. An 87-year-old man came up to me the second night and said, “You must write a book.” That stuck with me for about a year until I finally said, “I’ve got to do this for all those folks who lived through that period and want to remember.” Really it’s also for people like me who weren’t there at the time but watched silent movies and heard lots of stories from our parents. On the other hand, maybe the book is just as important for all the young people today who love movies but don’t have any idea where they started and how they got to where they are now. I think they’d be really surprised.
What time in the history of the silent screen intrigued you most?
(His face lights up.) Between 1908-1915. Those were the years when film companies packed up their equipment, hopped on a train, and moved to the Wild West. Especially to Los Angeles. The reason producers gave for moving was that they had to film westerns in the west. But many people said it was to get out of Edison’s grip. He was a genius but also a tyrant. He had formed The Patents Company and anyone in movies who didn’t join him was up for a lawsuit. He could make you or break you. He made the rules. Cameramen had to buy their own cameras and if a horse happened to run wild and crush the camera, they were expected to buy a new one or get out of the business.
What do you have in mind for your next book?
As you may have guessed, I’m a long time collector so I have lots of information about that time in history. I love female cliffhangers like Hazards of Helen, Perils of Pauline and many others, so I’m going to write a book about them and add a DVD to this book as well. I think I’ll call it Women of the Cliffhangers: Daredevils Without a Net. Did you know that in those days all the women who starred in these movies had to do their own stunts, like a horse-to-train transfer, or actually hanging from cliffs?
When I think of what has happened in the motion picture industry since those days it makes me shiver. Hollywood has influenced the cultural structure of much of the world. Talk about the power of moving pictures!
Topics: General Content | 3 Comments »
December 21st, 2008 at 8:31 pm
I remember seeing an article on TV about “Madame Gi”, a French woman, who actually started silent movies. However she had never recieved proper credit for her role.
Perhaps I have the name incorrect as I am never able to Google additional information. Do you know anything about her??
Thanks,
Chuck McClain
December 22nd, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Larry,
What a book! A wonderful book! I’ll be buying extras for gifts. I do need info on how to make purchases. Email will do. I’m http://www.deew@att.net
Dee Whalen
May 9th, 2010 at 2:13 am
Flicker is really great when sharing photos over friends and families. I love the resize feature of Flickr.:::