Several of Mae Murray;'s long lost features have recently turned up in Russia. About 6 or 7 of them. Hopefully, there will be funding to have them restored. She was about as big a Star as Gloria Swanson. They were either or considered to be the most glamorous woman on screen of their day. So finding some of her long lost and largely unseen since they were first released films should help to put her career in a better historical perspective.
AS LONG AS I CAN SEE THIS VIDEO IS A TRIBUTE TO MAE MURRAY, AND ALL I CAN READ IS ABOUT ANYONE ELSE BUT HER...IF WE JUST TURN BACK TIME TO THAT ERA SHE WAS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AMOUNG SO MANY OTHERS, SHE`VE MADE LOTS OF MOVIES WHILE SHE COULD JUST GO TO THE "GOLDEN SILENTS" PAGE AND WILL SEE...THAT`S WHY I CHOSE MY "YOU TUBE" NAME......MAE YOU WERE, ARE AND WILL BE ALWAYS REMEMBERED BY ALL WE LOVE YOU
Meryl Streep- who has never been confused for a great beauty or a sexy siren- is a great actress. You forget you are watching Meryl Streep, and you forget you are watching acting. That, to me, is the measure. Merely trotting out essentially the same character in every movie is not, to me, great acting. Having said that, if I had to choose only one movie to take with me on a deserted island (that somehow had a working DVD player), the choice would be easy. Mae West, a great performer.
Mae's last years were most pitiful. She was duped by a phony prince who took her money and to boot she lost her only son to caregivers. She died broke and alone at the motion picture retirement home........
@amenic1894 Musidora is a new name to me and I will add her to my project list. It all depends on availability of good quality images. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy my 'Movie Legends' series.
@basilnelson I had never heard of Musidora and looked her up. I found her biography at
Musidora - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. I don't know anything about making videos, but, I found pictures of her at Image Results For 'Musidora' . There's also a 9 second video here on youtube.
@hjb103055 I found three images of suitable size and quality under 'Image Results' but it takes at least 50 images to create an appropriate video. I will persevere and hopefully, in time, gather enough images to produce a tribute.
@basilnelson I want to thank you for all the time you've taken putting up these beautiful videos . I think you have the classiest and most tasteful channel on youtube. The music you've picked was just perfect for every single video that I've seen here. Thanks again.
Legend has it that a young, unknown Lucille Fay LeSeur, [pseud. Joan Crawford], would observe and study Mae Murray's style of dress, movement and manner when she first came to MGM during the silent era, learning how to be the ultimate movie star. If Crawford saw it, so did Wilder and everyone else. Norma :Stars are ageless, stars are forever, no one ever leaves a star...Mae Murray: Once a star, always a star! Mary Pickford was rich & a recluse. Mae West kept a pet monkey. There you have it.
I think that if Mae Murray's life had been made into a movie, like the 1980s for instance, a young Madonna could have portrayed her. They look so similar in bone-structure.
Mae was reportedly worth $3 million by 1925. She died March 23, 1965 at age 75 pennyless and alone. At the time of her death, Mae Murray left several boxes and suitcases filled with clothing, scripts, books, photos, costumes and mementos that were valued at $120 and sold at auction by a state administrator for $357.
I met several people along my life who knew Mae personnaly and all of them told me she was completely crazy, nasty, selfish BUT absolutly fascinating and that's what i want remember about her.
I talked to her son several times but he does not wish to discuss her much, too bad because his point of you is interesting too.
There is an interesting artical about the prince she married on the net. they nearly all had untimely deaths. I believe she was a great actress of her time, a great beauty. Thanks for posting.. these peopel have a lasting influence.. bee stung lips ..etc
hello cushtichavi, you are right, but in fact, her husband, David Mdivani died at age 77 in 1984. He was then survives by one sister who died in 1987. His two brothers and other sister had died at an early age. Serge in 1936, age 33. Alexis, in 1935, age 30 and their sister Roussy who died at age 32 in 1938. The five of them had married wealthy and prominent men and women of their time and all lived in luxury.
I don't believe Sunset Blvd. was written for anyone, although Mae West was approached to play Norma. Mae turned it down flat, because she thought no one would believe she was a faded star. I think it would have been disastrous- Mae was a phenomenal personality and performer, but not exactly a great actress.
I'm always up to learning new things, especially about great stars like West,
and I've read a few bios about her.
If you can provide any reference- perhaps a biography of West or Wilder that shows that the property was written for West, I'll certainly check it out.
On the face of it, it makes no sense. Surely Wilder and Brackett knew that West never played anyone but herself, and it would be an uphill battle, to say the least, for Mae to transform into Norma, who was crazy, not sexy.
as a silent film historain myself, I advise you to read Wilder autobiography and see all the TV broadcasts he did about it, he mentions West in any interview about Sunset Boulevard, sorry you missed that. He nevr maginet Swanson in the part and she refused the audition at first when her friend George Cukor asked her to do it. Wilder even said that Mae West refused the part because she said she was too young for the part though she was 58 at that time.
you can read "Mae West, empress of sex" by MAurine Leonard, then you may learn everything that West refused to reveal all her life. Then Ed Sikov's book "On Sunset Boulevard. The Life and Times of Billy Wilder (New York: Hyperion, 1999), Billy Wilder Interviews by Robert Horton(University Press of Mississippi, 2001), Conversations with Wilder by Camron Crowe (New York: Knopf, 2001), "Journey Down Sunset Boulevard" ny Neil Syniardand Adrian Turner (BCW, Isle of Wight, UK, 1979)
you say you have read books about West ?? if you had read the most accurate book about her by Leonard, then you would have read it, it's on page 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 283. And YOU would have know the true making of Sunset Boulevard.
salkoo, There are a few details that may get close to Mae but Mae became a vagrant after her bankrupticy in the mid-1930 and Norma Desmond in the film is a very wealthy retired silent star who plans a comeback. Mae never really tried a comeback because she knew it would never come though she played the game until the end. She often lied about her situation to her friends though at the same time she asked for their help (financialy, mostly)
Baz, although Mae Murray's acting gifts were meager, as a dancer; however, her stature stands among the greatest in entertainment in a category almost overlooked today, The Silent Movie Musical. (The Merry Widow, 1925) Thanks for the memory. Fondly, V.
She certainly is one lady whose image belongs to the silent era, and it is unfortunate not too many of her films survive to give us more than a glimpse of this gorgeous star.
Several of Mae Murray;'s long lost features have recently turned up in Russia. About 6 or 7 of them. Hopefully, there will be funding to have them restored. She was about as big a Star as Gloria Swanson. They were either or considered to be the most glamorous woman on screen of their day. So finding some of her long lost and largely unseen since they were first released films should help to put her career in a better historical perspective.
goldenmoviepalace 2 months ago
so great, she is just wonderfull....
MAEMURRAY 4 months ago
I LOVE HER VERY MUCH
siempremarisol 5 months ago
AS LONG AS I CAN SEE THIS VIDEO IS A TRIBUTE TO MAE MURRAY, AND ALL I CAN READ IS ABOUT ANYONE ELSE BUT HER...IF WE JUST TURN BACK TIME TO THAT ERA SHE WAS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AMOUNG SO MANY OTHERS, SHE`VE MADE LOTS OF MOVIES WHILE SHE COULD JUST GO TO THE "GOLDEN SILENTS" PAGE AND WILL SEE...THAT`S WHY I CHOSE MY "YOU TUBE" NAME......MAE YOU WERE, ARE AND WILL BE ALWAYS REMEMBERED BY ALL WE LOVE YOU
MAEMURRAY 9 months ago
@MAEMURRAY ANY OF THE TRIBUTE VIDEO IS FOR ALLA NAZIMOVA
siempremarisol 5 months ago
Meryl Streep- who has never been confused for a great beauty or a sexy siren- is a great actress. You forget you are watching Meryl Streep, and you forget you are watching acting. That, to me, is the measure. Merely trotting out essentially the same character in every movie is not, to me, great acting. Having said that, if I had to choose only one movie to take with me on a deserted island (that somehow had a working DVD player), the choice would be easy. Mae West, a great performer.
defundthewar 1 year ago
Mae's last years were most pitiful. She was duped by a phony prince who took her money and to boot she lost her only son to caregivers. She died broke and alone at the motion picture retirement home........
giltwood 1 year ago
where did you get these fantastic photos of mae Murray?
amenic1894 1 year ago
@amenic1894 Collected over several years and scanned from books.
basilnelson 1 year ago
@basilnelson very well scanned, they are magic photos.
will you ever do a tribute on musidora one day?
Love to see one by you. thankyou GD
amenic1894 1 year ago
@amenic1894 Musidora is a new name to me and I will add her to my project list. It all depends on availability of good quality images. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy my 'Movie Legends' series.
basilnelson 1 year ago
@basilnelson
Sadly you won't find much about french star Musidora. In private collection here her pictures are very expensive.
tousamis 1 year ago
@basilnelson I had never heard of Musidora and looked her up. I found her biography at
Musidora - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. I don't know anything about making videos, but, I found pictures of her at Image Results For 'Musidora' . There's also a 9 second video here on youtube.
hjb103055 1 year ago
@hjb103055 I found three images of suitable size and quality under 'Image Results' but it takes at least 50 images to create an appropriate video. I will persevere and hopefully, in time, gather enough images to produce a tribute.
basilnelson 1 year ago
@basilnelson I want to thank you for all the time you've taken putting up these beautiful videos . I think you have the classiest and most tasteful channel on youtube. The music you've picked was just perfect for every single video that I've seen here. Thanks again.
hjb103055 1 year ago
@hjb103055 Thank you! I consider my video tributes little 'portraits' in music and images, so the music is very important to produce the right mood.
basilnelson 1 year ago
Legend has it that a young, unknown Lucille Fay LeSeur, [pseud. Joan Crawford], would observe and study Mae Murray's style of dress, movement and manner when she first came to MGM during the silent era, learning how to be the ultimate movie star. If Crawford saw it, so did Wilder and everyone else. Norma :Stars are ageless, stars are forever, no one ever leaves a star...Mae Murray: Once a star, always a star! Mary Pickford was rich & a recluse. Mae West kept a pet monkey. There you have it.
Fiftiesflashback 2 years ago
@Fiftiesflashback
true, Crawford was an extra in the movie the Merry Widow with Murray and observed her while acting in the ballroom scene.
tousamis 1 year ago
You know,
I think that if Mae Murray's life had been made into a movie, like the 1980s for instance, a young Madonna could have portrayed her. They look so similar in bone-structure.
4262009AP 2 years ago
Mae was reportedly worth $3 million by 1925. She died March 23, 1965 at age 75 pennyless and alone. At the time of her death, Mae Murray left several boxes and suitcases filled with clothing, scripts, books, photos, costumes and mementos that were valued at $120 and sold at auction by a state administrator for $357.
cooljay5737 2 years ago
she was 76 when she died.
tousamis 2 years ago
I met several people along my life who knew Mae personnaly and all of them told me she was completely crazy, nasty, selfish BUT absolutly fascinating and that's what i want remember about her.
I talked to her son several times but he does not wish to discuss her much, too bad because his point of you is interesting too.
Hugo
tousamis 2 years ago
There is an interesting artical about the prince she married on the net. they nearly all had untimely deaths. I believe she was a great actress of her time, a great beauty. Thanks for posting.. these peopel have a lasting influence.. bee stung lips ..etc
cushtichavi 2 years ago
hello cushtichavi, you are right, but in fact, her husband, David Mdivani died at age 77 in 1984. He was then survives by one sister who died in 1987. His two brothers and other sister had died at an early age. Serge in 1936, age 33. Alexis, in 1935, age 30 and their sister Roussy who died at age 32 in 1938. The five of them had married wealthy and prominent men and women of their time and all lived in luxury.
tousamis 2 years ago
the movie hit sunset boulevard was partly based upon her life. it's a rather sad story. try wikipedia.....
salkoo 3 years ago
hello Salkoo, you are right and wrong at the same time because Sunset Boulevard was written for Mae West.
tousamis 2 years ago
I don't believe Sunset Blvd. was written for anyone, although Mae West was approached to play Norma. Mae turned it down flat, because she thought no one would believe she was a faded star. I think it would have been disastrous- Mae was a phenomenal personality and performer, but not exactly a great actress.
defundthewar 2 years ago 4
TRUE, BUT Wilder and Brackett really wrote sunset Boulevard for HER though she started her movie career in 1932, 5 five after the end of the silents.
tousamis 2 years ago
I'm always up to learning new things, especially about great stars like West,
and I've read a few bios about her.
If you can provide any reference- perhaps a biography of West or Wilder that shows that the property was written for West, I'll certainly check it out.
On the face of it, it makes no sense. Surely Wilder and Brackett knew that West never played anyone but herself, and it would be an uphill battle, to say the least, for Mae to transform into Norma, who was crazy, not sexy.
defundthewar 2 years ago
as a silent film historain myself, I advise you to read Wilder autobiography and see all the TV broadcasts he did about it, he mentions West in any interview about Sunset Boulevard, sorry you missed that. He nevr maginet Swanson in the part and she refused the audition at first when her friend George Cukor asked her to do it. Wilder even said that Mae West refused the part because she said she was too young for the part though she was 58 at that time.
tousamis 2 years ago
you can read "Mae West, empress of sex" by MAurine Leonard, then you may learn everything that West refused to reveal all her life. Then Ed Sikov's book "On Sunset Boulevard. The Life and Times of Billy Wilder (New York: Hyperion, 1999), Billy Wilder Interviews by Robert Horton(University Press of Mississippi, 2001), Conversations with Wilder by Camron Crowe (New York: Knopf, 2001), "Journey Down Sunset Boulevard" ny Neil Syniardand Adrian Turner (BCW, Isle of Wight, UK, 1979)
tousamis 2 years ago
you say you have read books about West ?? if you had read the most accurate book about her by Leonard, then you would have read it, it's on page 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 283. And YOU would have know the true making of Sunset Boulevard.
Bye
tousamis 2 years ago
salkoo, There are a few details that may get close to Mae but Mae became a vagrant after her bankrupticy in the mid-1930 and Norma Desmond in the film is a very wealthy retired silent star who plans a comeback. Mae never really tried a comeback because she knew it would never come though she played the game until the end. She often lied about her situation to her friends though at the same time she asked for their help (financialy, mostly)
tousamis 2 years ago
I admit I do not know much about Mae Murray. However, she looks like another great 20's actress. Thanks BAZ
niceguy63073 3 years ago
Maybe you could do one of your montages on Alma Rubens. She suffered so with her addiction. I have subscribed. I am a fan.
giltwood 3 years ago
What a wonderful montage you have made with an almost forgotten movie queen. I have always been a fan. Kudos to you. BTW the music is perfect.
giltwood 3 years ago
I thought she was kinda cute looking.
80stimeagain 3 years ago 3
Thank you!
donnalethal 4 years ago 2
Baz, although Mae Murray's acting gifts were meager, as a dancer; however, her stature stands among the greatest in entertainment in a category almost overlooked today, The Silent Movie Musical. (The Merry Widow, 1925) Thanks for the memory. Fondly, V.
vt32943 4 years ago 2
She reminds me of a captive vixon type of girl' always awaiting a big strong prince to take her away off ino green pastuers. Very
Era minted with the faded soft prints of
silent movie qulity. Mae Murray may never
be forgotten for sure after Baz wonderful work with her images.
Superb
Pierre
globehunter2 4 years ago
She certainly is one lady whose image belongs to the silent era, and it is unfortunate not too many of her films survive to give us more than a glimpse of this gorgeous star.
1928javier 4 years ago 2