Hollywood And The Occult

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The occult is a part of this story.

The aftermath of the first World War saw a rise on interest in the occult as people sought to communicate with lost loved ones. Harry Houdini exposed many fakers who only pretended to be able to communicate with the dead, but attempts to communicate with the dead would continue.

Massachusetts historically has been connected with witchcraft since the days of old Salem.

Many movie people were interested in the occult as they sought assistance to face an uncertain future. Thelma Todd was said to have consulted fortune tellers, astrologers, and numerologists.

 It doesn't seem to have helped.

Bette Davis was also said to be interested in numerology.

A page from SILVER SCREEN, Oct. 1932.

 Both Ida Lupino and her father Stanley were interested in the occult and claimed to be in communication with the spirits of the dead.

This interest in the occult doesn't seem to have helped any of them, although they may have thought that it did. Things like hard work had more to do with that than the unknown. 

Alison Loyd:

http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2012/11/alison-loyd.html 

Houdin exposed fakers:

https://www.iue.edu/blogs/library/2020/10/12/harry-houdini-fake-news-fighting-pioneer/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/obituaries/rose-mackenberg-overlooked.html

Thelma Todd and numerologists:

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Life_and_Death_of_Thelma_Todd/LQsB66qPGmgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Thelma+Todd+numerologists.&pg=PA62&printsec=frontcover

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NAUGHTY BABY Photo

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Alice White and Thelma Todd

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NAUGHTY BABY

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Jack Mulhall and Alice White

Alice White and Thelma Todd

Alice White and Thelma Todd

Alice White and Thelma Todd

Jack Mulhall and Thelma Todd

Thelma Todd

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THE BIG TIMER

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"The Hardy Family"

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Proposed "Hardy Family" with Oliver Hardy, Spanky McFarland, and Patsy Kelly.  Patsy Kelly was teamed with Thelma Todd at the time.

Story at https://archive.org/details/ComiqueMagazine1/page/86/mode/2up

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Thelma Todd, With Her Mother

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Thelma Todd With her mother, Alice Todd,

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Thelma Todd Photo

With her mother.

The photo said it was the 30s. She is showing off her embroidery. Could be 1930.

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Thelma Todd With Harry Langdon

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Thelma Todd With Harry Langdon

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Jeanette MacDonald

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 Here we see Marie Wilson with Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly as well as Jeanette MacDonald at a Hollywood party in 1935.

The only Jeanette MacDonald movie I ever saw on local television was SAN FRANCISCO ( 1938 )..Jeanette MacDonald was a star in the thirties, who is best known for working with Nelson Eddy, but none of those movies were ever run here*.

The fact that those movies were not being run here does not mean that there is no interest in them or that these stars have been forgotten. Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy are still popular. There is still a fan club for them which has been publishing a fanzine**, . 

 and it's even possible to get back issues of their fanzine.reprinted in book form.

.The popularity of stars does not depend entirely on how recenty or how often their movies have been run on television. It depends more on whether anyone actually likes the movies, something which could be related to their availability, but which does not depend entirely on that.

*A PBS documentary on Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy was run here, but not the movies themselves..

**I have seen this fanzine at a local auction, so someone in this area was getting it, and what I have written is not theoretical. It is a description of things as I know them to have been at that time.


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PALOOKA

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PALOOKA was a comedy based on the comic strip JOE PALOOKA, which was released on January 26, 1934.

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PALOOKA starred Stuart Erwin, Jimmy Durante, and Lupe Velez

Lupe Velez and Jimmy Durante appeared together on Broadway as well as in several other films. 

Thelma Todd appears as "Trixie", but that name may have only been used in the credits.

Another shot in the same costume.

Another shot with a cigarette. Smoking is supposed to indicate that she is a bad girl. 

Robert Armstrong as Palooka senior. The booze also indicates that Thelma Todd's character is supposed to be a bad girl. But this is a comedy, so it is not supposed to be taken seriously.

This is supposed to be funny, too. .

"Joe Palooka" is played by Stuart Erwin, and Mary Carlisle played his girlfriend. Neither appears in any scenes with Thelma Todd in this film, her character being involved with Joe Palooka's father in the story

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Thelma Todd At The Hal Roach Studio

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This picture is marked "Thelma Todd - Metro Goldwyn Meyer - Hal Roach"

 And the caption mentions Hal Roach -

 but the long hair Thelma Todd had in that photo is what she had when she got into the movies. By the time she went to work for Roach, she no longer had long hair.  They had cut it, beccause long hair was no longer supposed to be fashionable. It could be that this was an old picture showing her with long hair which had been cut before she got to Roach.

Another photo from the same session, same costume, different pose.

Another one from the same session which is marked MGM*, but which doesn't mention Hal Roach.

The previous picture might have had such studio identification, which was cropped off.




Thelma Todd with pearls again, this time with shorter hair, in another publicity photo for the  Hal Roach Studio.

This is the way they were making her look in this period.

*MGM released the films of Hal Roach in this period.

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Photoplay 1933

Thelma Todd in PHOTOPLAY in 1933.



Feb. 1933

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HAL ROACH'S FUNNIES

HAL ROACH'S FUNNIES was an in-house publication at the Hal Roach studio. Thelma Todd and Gallant are on the cover of this issue.

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Napoleon Demara

Napoleon Demara was the manager of a Lawrence theater who was involved in Thelma Todd's being signed by Paramount in the silent era. He was mentioned in the newspaper article about her being too pretty to work in a dime store.

Reblogged from https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14764857271/

THOMAS F. TOOMEY and NAPOLEON DEMARA The theatrical business in Lawrence is largely represented in the enterprises of the Toomey & Demara Amusement Company. This concern controls four of the leading playhouses of the city, embracing three branches of the theatrical profession, viz., drama, vaudeville and motion pictures. The Empire, given over to vaudeville, is one of the largest and best equipped theatres in New England. It has a seating capacity of 2,300. The Broadway, with a seating capacity of 1,500, and the Premier, with a seating capacity of 700, are devoted exclusively to motion pictures. The Colonial, whose seating capacity is 1,650,provides drama. The last named is at the present writing sub-leased to a stock company. Thomas Toomey, to whom much of the success of the concern is due, came to Lawrence in 1906, when he opened the old Nickel theatre as a picture house, in what had been the Casto theatre. The first days receipts were only $8.20. The venture was extremely gloomy at the start.

  

The Empire Theater in Lawrence. The newspaper article called Napoleon Demara the theater's manager, but it has been said that he may actually have been the theater's owner.

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Napoleon Demara's nephew Ferdinand Demara gained some notoriety for impersonating other people in order to undertake various positions,  such as doctor, prison warden, and chaplain. The movie THE GREAT IMPOSTOR was based on the story of his life.

Ferdinand Demara himself played a doctor in THE HYPNOTIC EYE, a role that was related to his having impersonated a doctor in real life..

Napoleon Demara at the Empire / Warner Theater
http://www.pbase.com/jroy/warner

Theater Row in Lawrence:
http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2013/07/theater-row-in-lawrence-massachusetts.html

Ferdinand Demara:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0218075/




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Merry Christmas

From Thelma Todd!

Scott Margolin:
 In costume for "Top Flat," released December 1935.



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Merry Christmas

From Thelma Todd!

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Merry Christmas

From Thelma Todd!

1927 photo.


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Thelma Todd Photos

A few more pictures of Thelma Todd.

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