Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2017 February 13

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February 13

Charlie Chaplin's lack of popularity in Colombia in the 1920s

I'm reading a fascinating book, Constellation of Genius – 1922: Modernism and All That Jazz, by Kevin Jackson (writer). From page 129:

• By the end of 1922, Chaplin had made 71 films. He was a millionaire; a co-founder of United Artists; and, since 1915, probably the most famous man in the world, except in Russia, Colombia, Yugoslavia and Germany.

I can understand about Russia, Yugoslavia and Germany. But what was it about Colombia, alone of all South American nations, that made Chaplin unknown there? I've read up about Colombia's political and cultural landscape around that time, but nothing obvious has emerged. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:02, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

Does Jackson cite his sources? If he doesn't, then we can't know what he meant or where he got the information from. --Jayron32 20:30, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

And yet 'Bolivian diplomat Alcides Arguedas was so impressed by the Colombian public's devotion to film that he remarked during his visit there in 1928, "this century has a new religion: it is called Charlie [Chaplin]." and "During the 1920s dozens of theaters opened in cities and towns all over the nation, and Colombians of all classes became movie aficionados. [...] Once, when spectators in Bogota were angered over the poor print quality of a much-anticipated Charlie Chaplin film, they destroyed the interior of the Teatro Olympia. They would have done the same to the new Teatro Faena, where the same movie was showing, were it not for the timely arrival of the police."' (Modernization in Colombia: The Laureano Gómez Years, 1889-1965 by James D. Henderson)[1]. Do we think the statement 'probably the most famous man in the world' is the element of interest or are we looking to see if Chaplin was unknown? Nanonic (talk) 20:56, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

The latter, please. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 04:47, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

There was an international poll taken about that time, in which Chaplin was the #1 best known person in most of the world, and not #1 in some places. Abductive (reasoning) 06:16, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

How do you know this? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 06:21, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

I note the author says "probably", which is a good weasel word. The author is still alive, age early 60s. Maybe you could contact him and ask what the deal is with those other countries? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:18, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

He already tells us about Russia and Germany. In Russia, "only the privileged intelligentsia - including Eisenstein - knew and raved about [Chaplin]". Then, "The Germans and their allies were only just beginning to catch up with Charlie's clowning, since American imports had been forbidden during the war" (Colombia was neutral, BTW). As I said, I'm focused only on Colombia. If he'd said that Chaplin was pretty unknown in South America generally, I'd have accepted that without demur. But why did he single out just that one South American country for mention? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 17:18, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

The author will know, if anyone does. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:58, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

Sure, he will know. But he must have read it somewhere in the public domain. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:15, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Movie Trivia

• Which movie actress chose her stage name from that of a New York Drugstore?
• Which actor, insisting on top billing, when asked by the film producer if he had never heard of ladies first replied "this is a movie. not a....lifeboat"
• This Hunger Games Mockingjay actor appeared in a remake of which 1976 horror movie?
• Name the actor and his daughter who were due to star in what would become an award winning movie but dropped out when the director was changed. Another actor and his daughter were subsequently cast. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.36.254.250 (talk) 23:13, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

What percentage on the $100 JB Hi-Fi voucher do we get if we supply the answers? ---Sluzzelin talk 23:17, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

More fun trivia: if I had had a $ 100 JB Hi-Fi voucher when I walked into the JB Hi-Fi on Gympie Road in Kedron, Queensland and bought a CD of Genesis Suite in October 2009, I would have walked out with $ 98 credit left. --Shirt58 (talk) 05:05, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

1 may be Janet Reade which is the stage name of Helen Dorothy Rulon and who shares a name with a chain of NYC pharmacies, Duane Reade, but that's just a guess.

See Carole Lombard. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 18:55, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

The article says the name "Lombard" came from a "family friend" not a NY drug store... --Jayron32 18:59, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

I added to the talk page info from the book that all of these questions came from. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 19:07, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

2 is definitely Spencer Tracy.

3 is Julianne Moore who played the role of the mother in the 2013 remake of Carrie

4 i can't find anything. --Jayron32 15:33, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

Just to help with #4, a few famous father/daughter actors would be Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda and Bridget Fonda, Jon Voight and Angelina Jolie, Eddie Fisher and Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern and Laura Dern, John Huston and Angelica Huston, Don Johnson and Dakota Johnson. --Jayron32 15:48, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

See Paper Moon (film). 209.149.113.5 (talk) 18:33, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

Good find! Notably, the two father daughter pairings aren't any of the ones I guessed at... --Jayron32 18:57, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

I completely spaced on Julianne Moore. I misread the question slightly and thought they were looking for Donald Sutherland, who appeared in a late-70's (not 1976, as it turns out) remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Matt Deres (talk) 12:22, 17 February 2017 (UTC)