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New books offer new looks at Mamoulian, Jensen and the Civil War
OnMilwaukee.com
January 17, 2013
By Bobby Tanzilo, Managing Editor
For all the words written, all the energy expended on telling the
story of Hollywood in all its richness, the life of director Rouben
Mamoulian has been little more than a footnote at best.
Enter Milwaukee writer Dave Lurhssen, whose biography, "Mamoulian:
Life On Stage and Screen," has just been published in hardcover by the
University Press of Kentucky.
The book traces the life and work of the Armenian immigrant from
Russia in the context of innovations in film from the 1920s through
the 1950s.
"I think I became aware of Mamoulian through my ties with the Armenian
community, and realized that here was a guy who directed the Broadway
premieres of three of the most outstanding (Broadway) musicals -
'Porgy & Bess,' 'Oklahoma!,' 'Carousel' - and several movies any film
buff is familiar with - 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde,' 'Queen Christina,'
'Mark of Zorro' - and yet, hardly anyone knows his name.
"Mamoulian's story was a gap in the history of film. I wanted to fill
it."
What Luhrssen discovered was that Mamoulian was among the first
directors to successful transition from the silent era to "talkies."
He also found that although Mamoulian was respected =80` he has a star
on the Walk of Fame - he rarely stepped into the limelight. Outside of
reporting on an affair with Greta Garbo, the tabloids generally
ignored Mamoulian.
He also dug into the politics that affected Hollywood during the Cold
War.
"The final addition to the book was early last year," says Luhrssen,
"when the FBI finally provided me with what apparently is only a
portion of their file on Mamoulian. Fortunately, he was neither an FBI
informant nor a Communist Party member =80` that would have thrown off
the whole book! But it was fascinating to read the extent to which
the FBI spied on anyone who had any remote ties to the Soviet Union."
Though Lurhssen began the book after successfully pitching it to the
publisher around 2007, he says it was a project that unfolded across
the years since.
"The Mamoulian book was written in stages," he recalls. "Once they
gave the green light, I wrote another chapter, then had to put it
aside because of other projects. It was written like that, with the
writing of each chapter widely separated in time. I was pleasantly
surprised when I read the galley that all the chapters flow together."
Some other new books focusing of Wisconsin subjects include:
William H. Tishler, professor emeritus of landscape architecture at
UW-Madison, has collected some of the writings of acclaimed landscape
architects and conservationists, Jens Jensen, in a new hardcover
published by Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
"Jens Jensen: Writings Inspired by Nature" contains three dozen Jensen
essays that solidify his position as one of the great naturalists and
landscape architects, especially in the upper Midwest. Included are
pieces that discuss his best-known projects: Chicago's West Park
System, the Indiana Dunes and The Clearing in Door County.
Another essay, published in 1940 in The Capital Times, argues for the
protection of Devil's Lake.
"Devils lake and its surroundings are one of the few outstanding
monuments in Mid-America, and as such belongs to all the people of
this great Midwestern empire."
Bless you, Jens Jensen.
Also from the Wisconsin Historical Society Press comes "The Wicked
Rebellion: Wisconsin Civil War Soldiers Write Home," out in hardcover.
Edited by John Zimm, who works for the press, the letters in this
lovely 214-page book were drawn from the WHS' Quiner Collection of
more than 11,000 Civil War letters. The collection was created during
the war, when Edwin B. Quiner subscribed to every newspaper in
Wisconsin and enlisted his daughters to help clip and save letters
from soldiers published in the papers.
The letters included help illustrate how the war affected the North,
what life was like in Civil War camps, reports from battles and
thoughts on slavery and emancipations. They bring the bloodiest era of
American history right to Wisconsin's doorstep.
IMAGE CAPTION: Hollywood and Broadway director Rouben Mamoulian is the
subject of a new book by Milwaukee's Dave Luhrssen.
OnMilwaukee.com
January 17, 2013
By Bobby Tanzilo, Managing Editor
For all the words written, all the energy expended on telling the
story of Hollywood in all its richness, the life of director Rouben
Mamoulian has been little more than a footnote at best.
Enter Milwaukee writer Dave Lurhssen, whose biography, "Mamoulian:
Life On Stage and Screen," has just been published in hardcover by the
University Press of Kentucky.
The book traces the life and work of the Armenian immigrant from
Russia in the context of innovations in film from the 1920s through
the 1950s.
"I think I became aware of Mamoulian through my ties with the Armenian
community, and realized that here was a guy who directed the Broadway
premieres of three of the most outstanding (Broadway) musicals -
'Porgy & Bess,' 'Oklahoma!,' 'Carousel' - and several movies any film
buff is familiar with - 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde,' 'Queen Christina,'
'Mark of Zorro' - and yet, hardly anyone knows his name.
"Mamoulian's story was a gap in the history of film. I wanted to fill
it."
What Luhrssen discovered was that Mamoulian was among the first
directors to successful transition from the silent era to "talkies."
He also found that although Mamoulian was respected =80` he has a star
on the Walk of Fame - he rarely stepped into the limelight. Outside of
reporting on an affair with Greta Garbo, the tabloids generally
ignored Mamoulian.
He also dug into the politics that affected Hollywood during the Cold
War.
"The final addition to the book was early last year," says Luhrssen,
"when the FBI finally provided me with what apparently is only a
portion of their file on Mamoulian. Fortunately, he was neither an FBI
informant nor a Communist Party member =80` that would have thrown off
the whole book! But it was fascinating to read the extent to which
the FBI spied on anyone who had any remote ties to the Soviet Union."
Though Lurhssen began the book after successfully pitching it to the
publisher around 2007, he says it was a project that unfolded across
the years since.
"The Mamoulian book was written in stages," he recalls. "Once they
gave the green light, I wrote another chapter, then had to put it
aside because of other projects. It was written like that, with the
writing of each chapter widely separated in time. I was pleasantly
surprised when I read the galley that all the chapters flow together."
Some other new books focusing of Wisconsin subjects include:
William H. Tishler, professor emeritus of landscape architecture at
UW-Madison, has collected some of the writings of acclaimed landscape
architects and conservationists, Jens Jensen, in a new hardcover
published by Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
"Jens Jensen: Writings Inspired by Nature" contains three dozen Jensen
essays that solidify his position as one of the great naturalists and
landscape architects, especially in the upper Midwest. Included are
pieces that discuss his best-known projects: Chicago's West Park
System, the Indiana Dunes and The Clearing in Door County.
Another essay, published in 1940 in The Capital Times, argues for the
protection of Devil's Lake.
"Devils lake and its surroundings are one of the few outstanding
monuments in Mid-America, and as such belongs to all the people of
this great Midwestern empire."
Bless you, Jens Jensen.
Also from the Wisconsin Historical Society Press comes "The Wicked
Rebellion: Wisconsin Civil War Soldiers Write Home," out in hardcover.
Edited by John Zimm, who works for the press, the letters in this
lovely 214-page book were drawn from the WHS' Quiner Collection of
more than 11,000 Civil War letters. The collection was created during
the war, when Edwin B. Quiner subscribed to every newspaper in
Wisconsin and enlisted his daughters to help clip and save letters
from soldiers published in the papers.
The letters included help illustrate how the war affected the North,
what life was like in Civil War camps, reports from battles and
thoughts on slavery and emancipations. They bring the bloodiest era of
American history right to Wisconsin's doorstep.
IMAGE CAPTION: Hollywood and Broadway director Rouben Mamoulian is the
subject of a new book by Milwaukee's Dave Luhrssen.