Edgar Blue Washington

To mark Black History Month, the Louise Brooks Society blog presents this post about actor Edgar "Blue" Washington, a supporting player in the 1928 Louise Brooks film, Beggars of Life.

Black Mose, played by Edgar Washington, carries an injured hobo

This short biographical profile is adapted from my 2017 book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film. 

Edgar "Blue" Washington (1898–1970), who plays Black Mose, was an actor and one-time prizefighter and professional baseball player. Washington appeared in 74 films between 1919 and 1961. Like Beggars of Life actor Robert Perry, Washington appeared mostly in bit parts throughout his career. And like Perry, Beggars of Life marked a high point in his career. The nickname “Blue” came from director Frank Capra.

Harold Lloyd helped Washington break into acting, and this pioneering African-American actor appeared in the legendary comedian’s Haunted Spooks (1920) and Welcome Danger (1929). Sporadic roles followed, as Washington appeared in films alongside early stars Ricardo Cortez, William Haines, Richard Barthelmess, Ken Maynard, and Tim McCoy.

Director William Wellman worked with Washington again in The Light That Failed (1939). The actor also appeared in a few films helmed by John Ford, including The Whole Town's Talking (1935) and The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936). Other notable movies in which Washington had a small part include King Vidor's all-black production, Hallelujah (1929), Mary Pickford's Kiki (1931), King Kong (1933), Roman Scandals (1933), Annie Oakley (1935), The Plainsman (1936), and Gone with the Wind (1939). He was in three installments in the Charlie Chan series, and appears as a comic sidekick in the John Wayne B-Western Haunted Gold (1933). Washington also had small roles in The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa (1930), Drums of the Congo (1942), Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949) and other lesser fair. Unfortunately, many of these parts traded on racial stereotypes. His last role, as a limping pool hall attendant, was in The Hustler (1961), with Paul Newman.

In an article about the film, the Afro-American newspaper wrote, “In Beggars of Life, Edgar Blue Washington, race star, was signed by Paramount for what is regarded as the most important Negro screen role of the year, that of Big Mose. The part is that of a sympathetic character, hardly less important to the epic of tramp life than those of Wallace Beery, Louise Brooks and Richard Arlen, who head the cast.”

Richard Arlen and Edgar Washington

It’s notable that not one but two members of the cast of Beggars of Life gained distinction playing professional baseball, while a third also played organized ball. One of them was Washington,

Washington was discovered while pitching for the Los Angeles White Sox of the Negro League. "Rube" Foster (the father of Black baseball) spotted Washington during the Chicago American Giants’ 1916 West Coast tour. Washington was invited to travel along and pitch for the legendary team, which would eventually produce three National Baseball Hall of Famers. During Washington’s tenure with the American Giants, he pitched in seven games, recording three victories against one loss versus white aggregations of the Pacific Coast and Northwestern Leagues. “Ed Washington,” as sports writers initially referred to him, made a name for himself as he ruled the mound with an unorthodox pitching style. In 1920, Washington joined the newly formed Kansas City Monarchs, where he started at first base and batted .275 in 24 games. After a few months of barnstorming, however, Washington left the Monarchs and returned to Los Angeles. That same year, after his first try at acting, Washington rejoined the Los Angeles White Sox for yet a few more games. Between gigs, Washington continued to play ball, and is believed to have occasionally played for Alexander’s Giants in the integrated California Winter League.

[Washington's son, Kenny Washington, was a two-sport great—the first African-American to play baseball at UCLA, the first Bruin to be named an All-American, and the first African-American to sign a contract with a National Football League team in the post-World War II era. His teammate, Jackie Robinson, described him as the greatest football player he had have ever seen.]

Richard Arlen, William Wellman, and Edgar Washington

To learn more,check out Edgar Washington's Wikipedia page or IMDb or his page at SABR (Society of American Baseball Research).

Some Miscellaneous Images from the Jazz Age

Recently, I was looking through an online magazine archive and came across a handful of interesting, appealing and and novel images. And here they are -- a small gathering of miscellaneous images from the 1920s and 1930s ....

 

 

It's the Old Army Game announced for release on DVD / Blu-ray

It's the Old Army Game, the delightful 1926 comedy starring W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks, has been announced for release on DVD / Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

The film was directed by A. Edward Sutherland, who was known as Eddie Sutherland. Brooks and Sutherland met during the making of the film (which was in production during February 1926). They were married in June, 1926 and divorced a couple of years a later.

From Kino: "It’s the Old Army Game (1926) is an uproarious silent comedy in which the inimitable W.C. Fields finds it impossible to get some sleep. It was the fourth film in which Fields appeared, but the first over which he had some control, as it was adapted from his own stage play. Co-starring Louise Brooks (also in her fourth feature), and directed with verve by A. Edward Sutherland, It’s the Old Army Game is a non-stop comedy of errors. Fields plays Elmer Prettywillie, a druggist kept awake by clamorous garbage collectors, a nosy woman seeking a 2-cent stamp, bogus land deals, and phony fortunes."


DVD Extras Include:

Mastered in 2K from 35mm film elements preserved by The Library of Congress
Audio commentary by film historian James L. Neibaur, author of THE W.C. FIELDS FILMS
New score by Ben Model

Some Trivia from the Louise Brooks Society:

It’s the Old Army Game was originally announced as starring Fields and future “It girl” Clara Bow, but as she was shooting Mantrap (1926),  the female lead fell to Brooks. Clarence Badger was originally assigned to directed the film.

The film features the popular stage actress Blanche Ring (1871 – 1961) in one of her few film appearances. Ring was Eddie Sutherland’s aunt. Ring’s sister was Frances Ring, who was married to Thomas Meighan, a popular stage and film actor who appeared with Brooks in The City Gone Wild (1927). Blanche Ring was married four times, the last time being to Charles Winninger, a popular character actor who appeared in God’s Gift to Women (1931) with Brooks.

Outdoor scenes in Palm Beach, Florida were shot at El Mirasol, the estate of multi-millionaire investment banker Edward T. Stotesbury. In 1912, after having been a widower for thirty-some years, Stotesbury remarried and became the stepfather of three children including Henrietta Louise Cromwell Brooks (known simply as Louise Brooks), an American socialite and the first wife of the war hero General Douglas MacArthur. In her heyday, she was “considered one of Washington’s most beautiful and attractive young women”. Because of their names, the two women were sometimes confused in the press.

It’s the Old Army Game received mostly positive reviews, though some critics noted its rather thin plot. Algonquin Round Table playwright Robert E. Sherwood (who would go on to win four Pulitzer Prizes and an Academy Award) was then writing reviews for Life magazine. His pithy critique read, “Mr. Fields has to carry the entire production on his shoulders, with some slight assistance from the sparkling Louise Brooks.”

Louise Brooks is not from these parts, by Luca Spagnoletti

I don't know what it's about (except that it is a novel), or if it has much of anything to do with our Miss Brooks, but there is a new book out in Italy called Louise Brooks non è di queste parti (Louise Brooks is not from these parts). It is authored by Luca Spagnoletti, and was issued by ilmiolibro self publishing. The book is 140 pages, and is available as an e-book and on amazon Italy and at the store Feltrinelli.

Here is an image of the front and back covers.

And here is a page from the publisher, with a description of the book very roughly translated into English:

A veteran, after World War II, looking for his ex-girlfriend, Zoe Lennie. But where is Zoe now, and above all who is she really? The rebellious and apathetic that the mother encouraged to conform, in New England in the early forties or the one that, wandering in a country that is changing face, makes existential questions that nobody seems to be able to - and want to - respond? The author tells us, without pretense, of this oscillating traveler and his "strange" friends, between realism and madness. With her sad look, her jaunty haircut, which makes her look so much like a diva of silent cinema, Zoe will accompany us in her resignation, until she sees that there is a present with which to cohabit, beyond the consolation of the memories and time that often betrays. A novel without concessions, ostentatiously out of fashion: that's why it's already a classic. By Luca Spagnoletti my book has published the collections of poems Lulù of the overhangs and Biancaneve at the Excelsior.

Beggars of Life, starring Louise Brooks, screens May 18th at Yorkshire Silent Film Festival (UK)

On May 18, the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival in Scarborough, England will screen the now classic 1928 Louise Brooks' film, Beggars of Life. More information about this event can be found HERE.

The Festival describes the film thus: "In this rarely-seen Hollywood classic, the great Louise Brooks stars as a train-hopping hobo who disguises herself as a boy and goes on the run. With dramatic American landscapes, a lyrical love story, and a daring, desperate final scene atop a speeding train, this is classic silent film entertainment."

Want to learn more about the film? Last Spring saw the release of my new book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film, and this past Summer saw the release of a new DVD / Blu-ray of the film from Kino Lorber. If you haven't secured your own copy of either the book or the DVD / Blu-ray, why not do so today? The book is also available on amazon.com in the UK at this link.

Louise Brooks adorns the cover of new edition of The Photoplay by Hugo Munsterberg

Louise Brooks adorns the cover of a new edition of The Photoplay by Hugo Münsterberg, as published by Duke Classics. First published more than 100 years ago, this early work of film theory is in the public domain and has been reprinted and reissued many times (and sometimes under slightly different titles) over the years. This is one of the latest editions. (Other notable actresses have also appeared on the cover of earlier editions.)

"In 1916, an eminent psychologist recorded his impressions of the fledgling film industry. His penetrating and prescient observations foretold the most modern developments of the cinematic art, and his classic survey, The Photoplay: A Psychological Study, remains a text of enduring relevance to movie historians as well as students of film and psychology.

Ranging from considerations of the viewer's perception of on-screen depth and motion to examinations of the cinema's distinguishing and unique characteristics as an art form, this study arrives at strikingly modern conclusions about movies and their psychological values."