Showing posts with label
Will He Conquer Dempsey? (1923).
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Showing posts with label
Will He Conquer Dempsey? (1923).
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1894-1960
Argentinian boxer Luis Ángel Firpo was born in Junin barrio of Argentina's capital city of Buenos Aires. He is an historical figure known for his boxing skills and his colorful nickname of "The Wild Bull of the Pampas." During the height of his career in the early 1920's, he appeared in two films: one a documentary and one as an actor. The first of these was a short entitled Will He Conquer Dempsey, made in 1923 and featuring him and his principle rival Jack Dempsey--though the documentary was principally about Firpo. The bout, which took place in New York on the 14th of September is the stuff boxing history is made of; Firpo almost won, but was eventually defeated by Dempsey after Firpo had literally knocked him out of the ring, sending him head first into a reporters typewriter! The second silent that he appeared in was an Argentinian short fictional film entitled La vuelta del toro salvaje released in 1924 and titled after his nickname--the film partially fictionalized his life to date. In his lifetime, he appeared as an actor in just one other film in the 1950's; also an Argentinian drama. Firpo retired from boxing in 1940, but went on to be a boxing manager; he was also a large scale rancher. He died on the 8th of August 1960 at the age of 65. He was interred at La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, in a large customized mausoleum.
1888-1951
Foreign born American film director Phil E. Rosen was born on this date in Marienburg, East Prussia, Germany (now Malbork, Poland) to a Jewish family. His family must have immigrated to the U.S. when he was quite young, as he grew in a small town in the state of Maine. He got his start as a cinematographer at the Edison company in Fort Lee, N. J. It is thought that the first film that he photographed was The Littlest Rebel in 1914. Though he remained a successful cinematographer through 1921, he made is directorial debut early on in 1915 with The Beachcomber. By the late 1910's, he had moved to Hollywood, where he continued to work as a cinematographer. He, for example, was behind the camera on The Miracle Man (1919) directed by George Loane Tucker and starred Lon Chaney (the film is partially lost, but the surviving 23 minutes have been restored). He would not direct another film again until 1919; The Double Hold-Up was a short western made for Universal, starring Hoot Gibson. In 1918, he became a founding member and first president of the ASC (American Society of Cinematographers). His years active as president span from 1918 through 1921. He made his debut as a producer in 1923, when he produced the short documentary Will He Conquer Demsey, an expose' on boxer Luis Firpo and his upcoming battle with famed boxer of the time Jack Dempsey. The first sound film that he directed came in 1929 with the Crime/Thriller The Phantom In The House, sound by the RCA Photophone System. He is best remembered for being a director who specialized in what is now known as "yellow face" films--the use of white actors who are dressed as Asians for the purposes of mostly mystery films (a practice now fiercely frowned on!). He is best known for directing several Charlie Chan films with Sidney Toler. He also directed the Bowery Boys and Bela Lugosi in Spooks Run Wild in 1941 and an Lugosi in Return Of The Ape Man in 1944. He made his television directorial debut in 1951, directing the episode The Lonely One for the series Front Page Detective; it would turn out to be the last thing he ever directed. Rosen died on the 22nd of October of that same year in Hollywood at the age of 63. He is buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. One of his two marriage was to silent film and early sound starlet Joyzelle Joyner.
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