Oregon Movies, A to Z » Jean Hersholt

Scorecard: 1920’s trade balance

Anne Richardson — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:44:32 +0000

The Flaming Frontier was shot in Eastern Oregon. I’d really like to see this film!

The following lists – which compare Hollywood productions which came here to shoot with films shot outside the state which feature key contributions by Oregonians – are both very incomplete!

Imports:

The General, 1926 (Buster Keaton)

The Flaming Frontier, 1926 (Hoot Gibson)

City Girl, shot in 1928, released in 1930 (F. W. Murnau)

Exports:

The Chechacohs, 1924 (Lewis Moomaw)

Oktyabr, 1927 (Sergei Eisenstein adapting John Reed)

Dual Diagnosis (both shot here and featuring key contributions from Oregonians):

Bulldog Courage, 1922 (Bessie Love)

The Vow Of Vengeance, 1923 (Edward Everett Horton)

Flames, 1926 (Jean Hersholt, Lewis Moomaw, Boris Karloff)

Flames (1926)/Lost film

Anne Richardson — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:18:30 +0000

Flames was shot in Sullivans Gulch, once home to Portland’s Hooverville, now home to the infamously hospitable Gulch O’Rama.

In addition to Jean Hersholt, more famous for starring as one of the world’s thirstiest human beings in Erich Von Stroheim’s Greed (1924), the cast of Flames included Boris Karloff. The script was by Alfred Cohn, who the following year would be nominated for an Academy Award for his adaptation of Samuel Raphaelson’s stage play The Jazz Singer (1927).

Directed by Lewis Moomaw. Flames was a production of Moomaw’s own Portland based company, American Lifeograph.

Turner Classic Movies has a print. According to their website, they have yet to receive one vote to make it available on home video.

Except for this technicality, Flames is a lost film.

Does anybody know what it was about?

Lewis Moomaw/Oregon filmmaker

Anne Richardson — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:06:15 +0000

Lewis Moomaw (1889 – 1980) was born in Bend, Oregon. With four other filmmakers, he founded American Lifeograph Company in Portland in 1910. Their production facility in SE Portland was Oregon’s first film studio. Moomaw made newsreels, industrials, and feature length films, including The Chechahcos (1924) and Flames (1926).

On October 31, 1919, Lewis Moomaw and his wife traveled with Danish actor Jean Hersholt and his wife at the Crown Point Chalet in Corbett, Oregon. You can see Moomaw’s guest book signature, along with those of dozens of other silent era movie figures, on the wonderfully researched Crown Point Chalet website. ( Anne’s editorial note: Sadly, this website is no longer in existence. I trust that the guest book is still safe and sound somewhere, though!)

A wide range of Hollywood guests came to enjoy the views from the new Columbia Gorge highway – everyone from Ronald Colman to Theda Bara to Ilya Tolstoy (the filmmaking son of Count Leo, who knew?).