It has been rumored for years that Crawford also appeared in a short
16mm film that was intended for the "stag" market in the 1920s. Such
films were the precursor of the modern pornography industry, intended
to excite their mostly male audiences. The story went on that
Crawford's film was known by MGM chief Louis B. Mayer, and that he did
his best to buy up all extant copies of the film to keep scandal from
besmirching the name of his new star.
Given the underground nature of "stag" films at the time, it would have
been virtually impossible for Mayer to have known the location of all
prints, so Crawford fans have hoped that somewhere, stored in the
closet of some old man, the film might have remained intact.
This week, the Lilly Library located at Indiana University, which
houses the Kinsey collection, revealed that an anonymous donor had, in
fact, saved the film. Shrunken but still projectable, the film is
perhaps the last surviving copy of Crawford's early career misstep.
"The owner had no idea what he had," said a librarian, who asked that
her name not be used. "It was in a huge stack of other films that he
had amassed over the years. It was only because we knew to be on the
lookout for Crawford that we found it at all."
Crawford's identity was verified by two local film historians who
compared her appearance in the unnamed film with her appearance in The
Unknown (1927) and the 1925 MGM Studio Tour.
"The film is what you would call hardcore today," the librarian
continued. "Even though the whole thing is only about three minutes
long, they got a lot of action into it. Crawford is very visible and
an active participant."
There are currently no plans to release the film commercially, but that
idea has not yet been ruled out. The film will be digitally preserved
to DVD, but it will not be available even to library patrons until
underlying legal issues have been fully resolved.
--
Bruce Calvert
--
Visit the Silent Film Still Archive
http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com
Jay Salsberg
>> There are currently no plans to release the film commercially, but that
> idea has not yet been ruled out. The film will be digitally preserved
> to DVD, but it will not be available even to library patrons until
> underlying legal issues have been fully resolved.
Maybe it could be released as a double bill with LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT.
on
The first of April 2008?
See, you can't put something like that up, because it will put everyone
on his guard. Pick something like this that's already rumored to exist
and then keep 'em guessing the whole time...
>After approximately 72 years, the "stag" film that dogged Joan
>Crawford's early career has finally been uncovered. Crawford, known
>also by her real name, Lucille LeSueur, was known to have posed nude a
>number of times in the days before her contract at MGM, which began in
>mid-1925.
Feh. I didn't read this until the 2nd and for a moment forgot that
this must have been intended for April 1st reading. Kind of
disappointing, actually.
Stacia