Wonderland Burlesque's
Let's Go To The Movies:
Where That Girl From?
Part IX
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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(1918)
Geoffrey Hampden, a Texas oil millionaire living in New York, seeks revenge against Philip Armond, the man who caused his sister to commit suicide. His attempt on Philip's life is unsuccessful, but he is sent to prison for five years, after which he returns to Texas using the name George Hammond. He moves into a cabin with his business partner, Dick Stewart, whose sister Cynthia is abducted by business rivals. In a rescue attempt, Dick is mortally wounded, and on his deathbed he asks George to protect Cynthia. Although she agrees to marry George, Cynthia does not love him, and immediately after the ceremony, she moves to New York to break into society with her husband's money. There she becomes engaged to Philip Armond, and the two return to Texas to ask for a divorce. Philip has heart failure when he recognizes George, and Cynthia, learning the truth about her lover's past, returns to her husband to start a new life.
AKA: Alfred Whitman, Alfred Vosburgh
This American silent drama was directed by William Wolbert and stars Nell Shipman, Gayne Whitman, and Bob Burns.
With no copies of The Girl From Beyond held in any film archives, it is considered a lost film.
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The Girl From The Reeperbahn
(1930)
AKA: Ein Mädel von der Reeperbahn, La Venus de Hamourg
Lighthouse keeper Uwe Bull lives with his wife Hanne and the assistant Jens in a secluded, small world. When the only survivor from a shipwreck, young Margot from Reeperbahn, is washed up on the island, Uwe's heart comes to life.
This Czech-German musical was directed by Karl Anton and starring Olga Chekhova, Trude Berliner, and Hans Adalbert Schlettow.
Trudi Berliner
This film was made in studios in the Czech capital Prague. Julius von Borsody worked on the film's set design. The film is set in a lighthouse on a small island and on the Reeperbahn, the nightlife area of the port city of Hamburg.
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(1934)
Jack Hansen is an unappreciated chef in NTG's Paradise Restaurant. He thinks his sweepstakes ticket is a winner, so his boss promotes him to co-owner. Hansen's girl friend Sally steps in when the restaurant's star singer quits. It turns out Hansen did not win the sweepstakes, but he does get to sing a few songs.
This musical comedy stars former child star Sylvia Froos, Frank Luther, George Shelton, and Nils T. Granlund.
Granlund was a Swede who came to America to work for the Loew's organization as a publicist. He also staged shows at the Loews theaters, got involved in radio early, and owned several nightclubs, including the Paradise - hence the name of this short film. He developed the first film trailers.
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The Girl From Moon Bridge
(1953)
AKA: Tyttö kuunsillalta
A widow tries to rekindle an old flame with her lover from a quarter century ago after a chance encounter brought them together.
Filming was interrupted during autumn of 1952 for a couple of months as Matti Kassila directed Varsovan laulu (1953).
Ansa Ikonen and Joel Rinne play lovers in the film. In real life, Ikonen was married to Rinne's brother, actor Jalmari Rinne.
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The Girl from Starship Venus
(1975)
AKA: The Sexplorer, Diary Of A Space Virgin
A young Venusian girl lands on Earth to explore the planet. She lands in Soho in London, UK where she has ample opportunities to research sex on Earth.
A hardcore version of the film was also made for the foreign market.
Art imitates life: film debut for Tanya Ferova, who only appeared in two films. She plays a stripper in this one and a stripper in Terror (1978). In real life? Ferova was a stripper.
Features the song, Girl from Starship Venus, sung by Don Lang and written by Bruce Graham and Alan Selwyn.
Reportedly, Quentin Tarantino's favorite British film.
Monthly Film Bulletin said that this film... "is meant to be funny as well as erotic, introducing an element of supposed self-parody through the person of its otherworldly sexologist and the 'bizarre' activity on which she turns a quizzical eye, whilst striving of course for the usual quota of titillation. Unfortunately, as it is totally lacking in wit or style, the self-parody acts as a banana skin on which the film slips in its first minutes, falling flat on its face and remaining quite inert for the subsequent eighty minutes."
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And that's all for now, folks.
Tune in next time...
Same place, same channel.
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Girl From Starship Venus - Don Lang
from the 1975 motion picture
The Girl From Starship Venus
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