For our last episode of 2024, we're traveling back to 1920s Hollywood with Singin' in the Rain! Join us as we learn about mood music on set, elocution lessons, fan magazines, stunts, and more!

Sources:

Pamela Hutchinson, "The Silent Era Film Stars Who Risked Life and Limb Doing Their Own Stunts," The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/sep/07/silent-era-film-stars-risked-their-lives-doing-film-stunts "The Evolution of Stunts: Part I," British Action Academy, available at https://www.britishactionacademy.com/blog/the-action-reel/the-evolution-of-stunts-part-one/

Ronald Haver, "Singin' in the Rain," Criterion Collection (1988), https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/817-singin-in-the-rain Earl Hess and Pratibha Dabholkar, Singin in the Rain: The Making of an American Masterpiece (University of Kansas Press, 2009), https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.1544771 https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/donald-oconnor-singin-in-the-rain-star-dead-at-78 Turner Classic Movies, "Debbie Reynolds Talks About Singin' in the Rain," https://youtu.be/EEizqKN7dpA?si=eiXIx2fvbUig5LgA

Nolan Moore, "The Obscure Accordionist Who Played Mood Music on Silent Film Sets," Atlas Obscura (Sept. 20, 2016). https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-obscure-accordionist-who-played-mood-music-on-silent-film-sets Patrick Miller, "Music and the Silent Film," Perspectives of New Music (1982/3): 582-4. http://www.jstor.com/stable/832894

Pamela Hutchinson, "Photoplay magazine: the birth of celebrity culture," The Guardian 26 January 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2016/jan/26/photoplay-magazine-hollywood-film-studios-stars-celebrity-culture Photoplay [Jul-Dec 1930] | Media History Digital Library

Dan Nosowitz, "How a Fake British Accent Took Old Hollywood by Storm," Atlas Obscura, available at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-a-fake-british-accent-took-old-hollywood-by-storm