American Cinema's Transitional Era
Audiences, Institutions, Practices

EDITED BY

Charlie Keil and Shelley Stamp
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION / I / ix
PART 1. DEFINING TRANSITION: REVISION AND DEBATE 1. Systematizing the Electric Message: Narrative Form, Gender, and Modernity in The Lonedale Operator Tom Gunning / 15 2. "To Here from Modernity": Style, Historiography, and Transitional Cinema Charlie Keil / 51 3. Periodization of Early Cinema BenBrewster / 66 4. Feature Films, Variety Programs, and the Crisis of the SmallExhibitor

Ben Singer / 76

PART 2. THE TRANSITIONAL SCREEN: NEW GENRES, CULTURAL SHIFTS 5. What Happened in the Transition? Reading Race, Gender, and Labor between the Shots Jacqueline Stewart / 103 6. The "Imagined Community" of the Western, 1910-1913

Richard Abel / 131

7. The Coney Island Comedies: Bodies and Slapstick at the Amusement Park and the Movies LaurenRabinovitz / iyi 8. Travelogues and Early Nonfiction Film: Education in the School of Dreams
Jennifer Lynn Peterson / 191
PART 3. THE INDUSTRY IN TRANSITION: CHANGING INSTITUTIONS AND AUDIENCES 9. Where Development Has Just Begun: Nickelodeon Location, Moving Picture Audiences, and Neighborhood Development in Chicago /. A. Lindstrom / 217 10. A House Divided: The MPPC in Transition Scott Curtis / 239 11. Not Harmless Entertainment: State Censorship and Cinema in the Transitional Era Lee Grieveson / 265 12. Cinema under the Sign of Money: Commercialized Leisure, Economies of Abundance, and Pecuniary Madness, 1905-1915 ConstanceBalides / 285 13. The Menace of the Movies: Cinema's Challenge to the Theater in the Transitional Period

Roberta E. Pearson / 315

14. "It's a Long Way to Filmland": Starlets, Screen Hopefuls, and Extras in Early Hollywood

Shelley Stamp / 332

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS INDEX / 357 / 353

The Elmwood Playhouse

The Player News
Volume 65, Issue 8, August 2010 Carolynn Whitford, Editor
Next Membership Meeting, Monday, August 2, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. WORKSHOP immediately following the meeting. See Details inside.

**NOW SHOWING**

Boy Gets Girl
Only one week left for Boy Gets Girl make sure you dont miss this passionate and important play! Weve had good audience response to the show, a few boos for everyones favorite psychopath, Rick, and praise for the hard-working stage crew. And after youve seen the play, please come back on Sunday, August 8 to lend a hand at strike the more, the merrier, and the faster we can turn chic NYC into the Oval Office! Debbi Fleckenstein **** Limited tickets available! Performance dates are through August 7th. Order tickets online at www.elmwoodplayhouse.com or call the Box Office at 845-353-1313.

November

By David Mamet Directed by Alison Costello We are super excited to announce the cast for November (in September): Charles: Bill Porterfield Archer: Stavros Adamedes Bernstein: Tiffany M. Card Turkey Guy: Michael Serpe Dwight Grackle: Kevin Nagle In addition to casting, we have started rehearsals, as well! To kick off the "November campaign trail," the cast attended our election party-themed read-through, filled with patriotic glitz. Then, at our first official rehearsal, the cast worked together to make an apple pie, in an effort to develop some key team-building skills. all while not being able to talk to one another! What's more American than a political cast and apple pie?! We are so looking forward to the coming rehearsals and gearing up for the stage in a couple of weeks. We have many surprises for the audience in store! In addition to the creation of the cast and planning our build in the coming weeks, we also are in need of any political or campaign items that people would be willing to lend to us for the creation of our "campaign headquarters" lobby display. Please send an e-mail to Alison Costello (director) at alisoncostello22@gmail.com, or Kristin Shaw (producer) at kristin.shaw04@gmail.com, if you have items we could use to make one great campaign headquarters at Elmwood Playhouse! Happy (campaign) Trails! Kristin Shaw (producer)

***AUDITIONS***

THE PIANO LESSON
By August Wilson Directed by Bobbi Schevitz Sunday, September 26 @ 6 PM and, Tuesday, September 28 @ 7 PM Call Backs - Sunday, October 3 @ 6 PM A remarkable drama that embodies the painful past and expectant future of Black Americans in 1936 - with all its contradictions. Winner of THE TONY, DRAMA DESK AWARD, THEATRE WORLD AWARD, NEW YORK DRAMA CRITICS AWARD AND THE PULITZER PRIZE Entire cast: AFRICAN AMERICAN 5 MALES 30s 50s & 3 FEMALES 20s, 30s &11 yr old BOY WILLIE 30S, High energy, brash, impulsive, fast talker, fun, likeable BERNIECE 35ish, Willies sister, upright, uptight, unyielding, strong widowed, lives with uncle & 11 yr old daughter, works as a domestic, DOAKER 50s, Uncle of Berniece & Willie, dignified, wise, stable LYMON 20S-30S, Boy Willies friend from Mississippi, straight- forward, easy going, nave WINING BOY 40s-50s, washed up recording star, charmer, strong personality like Willie, selfish, irresponsible, fun AVERY 40s, A Preacher & elevator operator, honest, ambitious, considers himself Bernieces beau though his affection is not reciprocated by her MARETHA 11 yrs old, Bernieces daughter, typical for her age GRACE 20s,Young urban woman who Boy Willie picks up in a bar, perceptive PLEASE BE FAMILIAR WITH THE SCRIPT For further information call or email Bobbi Schevitz 845 358-1081 after 3 PM email j2a1n12@aol.com

WHEREVER WE GO.WHATEVER WE DO.WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH IT TOGETHER!! We are almost fully cast for Gypsy, and I didn't want to wait another month to introduce you all to our cast members so far and say how much we are looking forward to getting started working with this fabulous cast! Next month we will complete the list. Lindsay Feller Baby June Abigail Frankel Baby June Maggie Pecorino Baby Louise Elizabeth Scully Baby Louise Our Newsboys: Conor Burke, Tyler Conroy, Alon Fishman, Noah Marlowe, Conor O'Grady and Ryan Williamson Marian McCabe Rose Derek Tarson Herbie Erika Louiz June Emily Gardner Louise Stacy Cretekos Miss Cratchitt Liane Garzia Miss Electra Tanya Garzia Tessie Tura Katie Miller Miss Mazeppa Mitchell Schneider Tulsa Christopher Siley Yonkers Juno Arreglado Augie Paul Russo Uncle Jocko, Kringelein and Cigar Our Hollywood Blondes: Allison Portney, Sarah Portney, Rachel Gamberg, Samantha Ashkinos, Mary Elizabeth Kimbark and Briana Dunlay Congratulations to one and all! The rest of you.reserve your tickets before we don't have any left. Bring your kids, your parents, your grandparents, your friends! You'll clap your hands and tap your feet and be soooooo glad you came! Sandy Gordon and Kathy Gnazzo ~ Co-Producers

Americas Got Tragedy

By Gina Gionfriddo Auditions are being held at Elmwood on Tuesday, August 17 and Wednesday, August 18 for the October 4th Workshop directed by Scott Nangle. On a reality show called 'America's Got Tragedy,' a dead soldier competes with the pop starlet whose trainwreck life upstaged his war." Characters: Bryan Seabreast: 20s-30s, TV game show host. Enormous, unnatural energy. Dr. Elizabeth Charney: Professor of English literature at Smith College. Grave, unimpressed. Matt Spofford: 25, Army National Guardsman who has served three tours in Iraq. Genial, easygoing. Britney Spears: 20s, Pop Singer. Poised, pleasant, with a sweetly lobotomized quality. E-mail Scott at nangles@optonline.net or Mara Karg at mkarg16@yahoo.com for a copy of the script.
About the August 2nd Workshop
On-Stage for Musical Theater

Bye By Birdie

A group of students from the Summer Session of The James Naismith Performing Arts Program for Young Performers, lovingly called "On-Stage for Musical Theater," will present excerpts from Bye Bye Birdie. This is the production that our class worked on during Session 1 and performed on Saturday, July 24th as their recital. Please come see our kids perform and support our children's program! ELAINE VOGEL
To our current Board Members!
Larry Beckerle, President Alison Costello, Vice President Derek Tarson, Treasurer Suzanne Potoma, Treasurer Sandy Gordon Jim Lugo Mariann Felice Mara-Lynne Brenner Margaret Young
AND to our new Play Selection Committee!
Jim Coakley Kate Farren Peter Garruba Rhoda Goldstein Leslie Price Many thanks to all those who expressed interest in and interviewed for the Committee and who made the choice so difficult this year!

DUES ARE DUE!!!

Notices have been mailed and its time to renew your membership. $25 does it! Please send in your check, money order, or call the office with your credit card number in other words, do anything you need to do to get your membership paid or you might miss out on something good rrrrreally good! And we sure dont want that to happen. Elmwood Playhouse, 10 Park Street, Nyack, New York, 10960 Or call 845-353-1313 Or go online ~ www.elmwoodplayhouse.com Thank you!
Membership Assistance Wanted:
There is still time for you to place an ad in the upcoming season's playbill. Perhaps a personal note of Congratulations; a note of appreciation for all Elmwood offers; or a business ad; all the size of your choosing. Maybe, you've just remembered a business you would like to see advertise. There is still time to make contact before the next season's playbill is printed. All advertisers receive two pairs of preview tickets to see two of the shows (approximate value, $88). Please inform Beverly Huff at 845-624-3102, or, bdh829@optonline.net, and she will try to make it happen. Beverly would also like to chat with the person who suggested she contact Gracie's. Please call.
Our current Lobby Display through 8/7/10 only
The display in our lobby is the personal artwork of Nancy Diamond, Shaina Dunn and Meredith Rickli - all are faculty members of the Clarkstown High School North Art Department. The Art Department at North is noted for their ability to nurture student creativity. In 2003, through a grant from the Arts Council of Rockland, students from North exhibited their photography at Ellis Island in a show entitled Between Two Worlds which ran for 6 months. In 2006, Shaina Dunn, secured a Dame Grant to bring in artist, Pablo Perea of Chicago who worked with students in creating a mural for the school. Clarkstown North students also exhibit their work annually at the New City Library. If you are interested in purchasing any of these pieces please leave a message for Kathy Gnazzo at 845-3531313. Display was hung by Louise Bryant. Great job Louise!!

NAISMITH CHILDREN'S PROGRAM
Elaine Vogel, Program Director
By the time you receive this newsletter, the Summer Session of "On-Stage for Musical Theater" (The James Naismith Performing Arts Program for Young Performers) will be nearly over. The first class, consisting of 31 students between the ages of 8 and 14, performed a delightful production of an edited version of Bye Bye Birdie. Because of the size of the class (the largest we have ever conducted), we presented three recitals -- one on Friday, July 23 at 2:00 and two on Saturday, July 24 at 11:30 and 2:00. And we're proud to say, all three performances were nearly full to capacity. The students had a fabulous time and the parents were thrilled. Applications for the Fall Session were flying out the door! On Friday, August 6th and Saturday, August 7th, Session 2 of the Summer Program will be presenting their recitals of an original adaptation of South Pacific. This class consists of 33 students (a new record), who will be doing their very best to bring to life this classic American musical. We wish we could invite you all, but there will be no seats available. We are currently enrolling students for the Fall 2010 session, which begins in mid-September. The Junior and Intermediate classes will be working on slightly different versions of Alice and Wonderland, and the Advanced Class will be presenting All Shook Up! If you have a child between the ages of 8 and 14 or know of someone who does and might be interested, please contact Elaine Vogel, Program Director, at 845-429-4541. Classes fill up very quickly, so please call us for applications as soon as possible
(Scene from The Grand Duke, Ridgewood G&S Opera Co. My heart tis broken.)
Sundays @ Seven (S@S) on July 25th presented a rousing concert fund-raising event! Through partnership with the Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Co. (RGS), the summer S@S audience was treated to a delightful concert of The Grand Duke, performed in costume with piano accompaniment of a rarely performed operetta, and final collaboration of both William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Special thanks goes to Kandi Rosenbaum, who did a superb job as Stage Manager, and Mike Gnazzo taking care of lighting and technical support, during the event and preceding rehearsal. Thank you to the S@S committee, Suzanne Potoma, Derek Tarson and Margaret Young who pitched in on the event as well. And Carolynn Whitford who coordinated the event and enjoyed singing her way between both groups! Here is some favorable feedback about this event and partnership from an esteemed board member of RGS about the partnership and performance. Eileen Mager Lisa in The Grand Duke and Member at Large, Ridgewood G&S Opera Co. Board of Governors. I thought our performance of "The Grand Duke" at Elmwood Playhouse was a promising start to what will hopefully become a longtime collaboration between our two groups. In these tough economic times, it's essential that home-grown arts organizations like ours band together when possible in order to survive and thrive. With many more hopes for future successful collaborations as well, thank you Elmwood and thank you Ridgewood G&S Opera Co. Carolynn Whitford Gretchen in The Grand Duke, and Member Elmwood Playhouse and RGS.

WORKSHOPS

September Steve Kiss- scenes from the play "Freedom Summer" an original play (2008) by William Tucker, which commemorates the civil rights volunteers from the North who went down to 2010 Mississippi in 1962 to help register black voters. October 2010 Scott Nangle- Americas Got Tragedy By Gina Gionfriddo. This satirical one-act play depicts a televised reality competition where contestants vie to prove their own life is the most tragic. (Scott Nangle - nangles@optonline.net- 845-353-6586) More details above. Candy Pittari- TBA (Candy Pittari grammydancer@optonline.net) Short Form Improvisation - Larry Marino will continue his tradition of doing the Improvisation Workshop. (Larry Marino 359-6262 larrym@optonline.net) Stage Makeup Workshop with Christie Nadrotowski: Basic stage makeup workshop: to consist of basic male and female looks, aging and basic injuries (bruising, bleeding). Also, will have an interactive q&a. Training with John Anthony Lopez, currently working with photographers Michael Chadwick and Di Zhang, both of NYC.
November 2010 December 2010 January 2011
February TBD- Reader's Theater or Radio Play Katherine Farren kfarren1202@earthlink.net 2011 Michael Eden TBA March 2011 Helene Gardner TBA April 2011 If you would like to book a workshop, please contact Jenn Vogel. Email is preferable at jennenen@gmail.com, or call (845)596-2791. Thanks!

The Grapevine

Elmwood members John Garland, Ted Tarson, David Guiney, Walter Fiedler and Lou Morris will be appearing August 20 and 21 in the play Have A Heart. It is with the Shades Repertory Theatre in Haverstraw. The time is at 8 p.m. Further info is at www.shadesrep.com or 845-675-8044.

Been a Long Time Coming

A Garbage Band Production ~ By Rob Drake
(Photos by Alison Costello, filming of Been a Long Time Coming)
Two links to the film, one is the Festival version, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf-QIBPobd0 and the other is a slightly longer "Director's Cut." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DuTq_ycbz8 This past June, members of the Elmwood community came together to create a 3-minute film for The 3 Cubed Film Festival in Astoria, Queens. The 3 Cubed Festival, hosted by The Sparrow Tavern, is a contest that takes place every three months, and participants have three weeks to make a three minute film. I arrived at The Sparrow on June 6th to sign up and be given a title for our film. All of the titles were made up of things that the bartenders at The Sparrow Tavern had overheard in the week before the start of the competition. I drew "Been a Long Time Coming" and then had to select a genre for the film. I chose comedy. I had recruited Rick Apicella and Alison Costello to help me create and produce the film. We divided the project into three phases: One week for concept, writing and casting; one week for rehearsal and filming; and, one week for editing. As soon as we got our title and genre, we began to think of a story. Rick mentioned that he had thought of a sketch some time ago where a crime boss tortures a prisoner by telling jokes and making him laugh to death. This reminded me of a skit that I had already written for my online sketch group, The Awkward Johnsons. In my story, a military interrogator uses childish insults to torture a POW. We combined the two ideas, altering my script to fit the crime boss story, and to connect to our given title. The Interrogator and POW became a Crime Boss and Prisoner, we added a Right Hand Man for the Boss, and made the actual "Torturer" a man from the prisoner's past, which created the link to the title. We cast Paul Russo as the Boss, John Ade as the Prisoner, Kevin Nagle as "Timmy Mulligan" the torturer, and Rick Apicella as the Right Hand Man. We filmed the piece in one day in Alison's basement, using a Panasonic DVX100B camera, a simple film light kit, and a shotgun boom mic. I ran the camera and lights, Alison did the sound, and Stephanie Corti was our makeup person. After our shoot day, my girlfriend Crystal Colotti and I set to work editing the project. This was the most time-consuming part of the film. We started on it right away at the beginning of the third week. We worked steadily and completed the editing the night before it was due. We had a lot of great material, thanks to our excellent cast, and it was tough getting the piece down to the set time limit of three minutes (including credits). After submitting, our finished project was posted on YouTube by the Festival, along with the other entries, where it will remain up permanently (see links top of this article). Then, the Festival had a panel of judges review the films. On July 7th, there was a "Red Carpet Gala" at the Tavern, and a number of "Been a Long Time Coming" supporters came out to see the films screened. When they started our submission, the audience was silent. The piece begins very seriously, and then becomes progressively sillier as it goes on. People told me later that they were confused at first, since they knew we had chosen comedy as our genre, and the beginning of the piece threw them for a loop, which was our intent. Once the childish insults started, we began hearing surprised chuckles from the crowd, which built into a continual wave of powerful laughter by the end. "Been a Long Time Coming" was nominated for almost every award they handed out, but the only one we took home, which was the most validating one to win, was the Audience Choice Award, voted on by everybody in attendance. Thanks to everyone who worked on this film and made it a rousing success!

HOSPITALITY

Schedule of Hospitality Volunteers
Boy Gets Girl Hospitality Staff for Boy Gets Girl, July 16 to August 7, 2010 Sunday August 1 Linda Schwartz and Chantale Bourdages Thursday August 5 Carol Napier and Penny Buccafuri Friday August 6 Jane Hunt and Arthur Miller Saturday August 7 Steve Bermack and Wendy Portney I have a hanging sleeve at the sink of the hospitality counter if you'd like to print this out and keep it there for your reference. Please mark your calendars. For details, contact Beverly Huff at bev2810960@optonline.net, telephone number 845-624-3102.
MEMBERSHIP CALENDAR ~ AUGUST 2010 ~
Membership Meeting 7:30 and Workshop 9 10

5 Boy Gets Girl 8pm 12

6 Boy Gets Girl 8pm 13
7 Boy Gets Girl 8pm Closing Night 14

8 STRIKE 10am 15

23 Board Meeting 7:30 30
17 Auditions Workshop 7pm 24 DEADLINE FOR NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS 31
Auditions Workshop 7pm 25 26
LOOKING AHEAD: Next Membership Meeting Monday, September 13, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. All submissions for the August Player News should be received by no later than August 24, 2010, please put a reminder in your calendar! Auditions for The Piano Lesson, 9/26-9/27.
Elmwood Playhouse 10 Park Street Nyack, New York 10960 845-353-1313 www.elmwoodplayhouse.com