Wonderland Burlesque's Let's Go To The Movies: Where That Girl From? - Part VII

Wonderland Burlesque's 

Let's Go To The Movies:

Where That Girl From?

Part VII

Everybody's from somewhere. In theory. Even in the abstract.

Today's cinema excursion dares to ask the poignant question: Where That Girl From?

And who has the answer? 

Hollywood, of course. For Tinseltown has the 411 on anything or anyone who has ever graced the silver screen.

So, off we go... seeking answers, which these vintage films offer up in spades.

Yes, never fear. When it comes to the movies?

You are never truly lost.

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The Girl From Bohemia

(1918)

AKA: Adieu Bohême

Alice Paige lives the Bohemian life in New York's Greenwich Village until she receives a letter informing her that she soon will inherit a fine country estate, provided that she lives on the property with her maiden aunt. Alice reluctantly leaves New York for the provincial Southern town of Mayport, where she shocks the local inhabitants with her unconventional ways. She does, however, succeed in winning the friendship of the saloonkeeper's little daughter and in captivating the owner of a large shipyard, Canton Leigh. When the little girl becomes trapped on the rocks by the high tide, Alice rescues her and returns to town just as a strike on the shipyard, incited by the saloonkeeper, is mushrooming into a riot. Alice climbs onto the roof, unfurling the American flag, to remind the strikers that the government is in dire need of the ships they are building. Their patriotism aroused, the men cheer for Alice, and Canton takes her in his arms.

This American silent comedy/drama was directed by Lawrence B. McGill and stars Irene Castle, Edward Cecil, and Violet Axzelle.

This film is listed as surviving in the Archives Du Film Du CNC, Bois d'Arcy, and Arhiva Nationala De Filme Bucharest, Romania.

Irene Castle

Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century. They are credited with reviving the popularity of modern dancing. The couple reached the peak of their popularity in Irving Berlin's first Broadway show, Watch Your Step (1914), in which they refined and popularized the Foxtrot. They also helped to promote ragtime, jazz rhythms and African-American music for dance. Irene became a fashion icon through her appearances on stage and in early movies, and both Castles were in demand as teachers and writers on dance. Irene starred solo in about a dozen silent films between 1917 and 1924

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Jena: The Girl from the Bohemian Forest

1935

AKA: Jana, das Mädchen aus dem Böhmerwald

A love triangle between the naïve maid Jana and the brothers Peter and Michael, who have inherited their parents' estate. The constellation is marked by disappointment and jealousy, and only when Michael leaves the farm to join the army can Peter and Jana find each other. The images of the rural idyll, which is hit by storms and chaos at the end of the film, symbolize the growing conflict between the protagonists, which must ultimately escalate so that the cleansing effect can take place.

This Czechoslovakia/German Language drama was directed by Robert Land and stars Leny Marenbach, Ewald Balser, and Fred Liewehr.

Leny Marenbach

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 Girl From Leningrad

1941

AKA: Фронтовые подруги

During the Finnish war, a group of Soviet girls voluntarily go to the front. They help doctors save the lives of wounded soldiers, and also fight with the enemy.

This Soviet World War II film was directed by Viktor Eisymont and stars Zoya Fyodorova, Mariya Kapustina, Olga Fyodorina, Tamara Alyoshina, Yekaterina Melentyeva, and Andrei Abrikosov.

You can watch this film in its entirety for free on YouTube.

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Girl From The Mountain Village

1948

AKA: Flickan från fjällbyn

At the beginning of the twentieth century the inhabitants of a Norrland village are compelled by crop failures to emigrate, and become part of the large Swedish movement to the United States.

This Swedish drama was directed by Anders Henrikson and stars Bengt Blomgren, Eva Dahlbeck and Carl Deurell.

It was shot at the Sundbyberg Studios of Europa Film in Stockholm and on location in Härjedalen and Northern Norway.

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The Girl From Petrovka

(1974)

The friendship between an American journalist in Moscow, Joe, and a free-spirited and emotionally vulnerable Russian girl, Oktyabrina, develops into romance. But will they be able to carry on under Socialist constraints?

Based on the novel by George Feifer, this American comedy-drama film was directed by Robert Ellis Miller and stars Goldie Hawn, Hal Holbrook, and Anthony Hopkins.

This was to have been a collaboration between Yugoslavian production company Inex Films and Universal Pictures. However, once the picture began to film in Yugoslavia, Inex Films without warning cancelled their agreement with Universal Pictures. The cause? Pressure from Russia. This caused the production of this movie to move to Austria after filming in Yugoslavia was banned and Universal won a $500 K settlement for breach of contract. Sets, which had already been built in Yugoslavia, were moved to Austria, causing a one month delay in filming.

While visiting Moscow, Russia doing research for this movie, director Robert Ellis Miller and screenwriters Alan Scott and Chris Bryant were not allowed to go to certain places, and the footage they had shot was confiscated by the Russian authorities. Subsequently, The scene featuring Red Square and The Kremlin was a matte painting backdrop, as the production did not go to Moscow, Russia for filming.

Before filming started, Anthony Hopkins scoured the bookshops of London's Charing Cross Road, trying to find a copy of the novel upon which this movie was based. He had no luck, went to catch a train home, and found a copy lying on a bench at the station. Years later, Hopkins met author George Feifer, who told him that he'd lent his own copy to a friend, who then lost it. Hopkins produced the one he'd found, and asked if it was Feifer's. It was! According to Feifer, Goldie Hawn gave up trying to read the source novel after a few pages. 

The movie's ending differs from the source novel.

The critics were not kind. Nora Sayre of The New York Times wrote that "Goldie Hawn can't play a Russian" and Hal Holbrook "has little to do beyond shaking his head when he thinks of her smiling indulgently when he looks at her. Certainly, neither performer has been aided by the script." Arthur D. Murphy of Variety wrote, "What 25 years of Cold War 'comedy' cliché and the latter-day Nixon détente haven't done to make irrelevant The Girl From Petrovoka, artless writing and direction have. This sixth Richard D. Zanuck-David Brown production for Universal stars Goldie Hawn, ineffective as a ponderous Russian version of a free spirit, and Hal Holbrook, who cannot alone make work such sterile and cornball comedy dramaturgy." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4. He called the story "insipid" and wrote of Goldie Hawn that "there is no way she can handle a Russian accent. Her dialect floats from the Volga to the Mississippi during a single sentence."

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And that's all for now, folks!

Tune in next time...

Same place, same channel.

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The Girl From Petrovka - Movie Trailer

(1974)