(Click on images to enlarge).
Tina Modotti movie head shot, ca. 1920. Photographer unknown. From Tina Modotti: A Fragile Life by Mildred Constantine, Chronicle, 1993, p. 33.
Tina Modotti was a stage performer in San Francisco's Italian community before marrying Roubaix "Robo" de l'Abrie Richey in 1917 and moving to Los Angeles to pursue a movie career. After three years of nothing but uncredited bit parts her acting career seemed to be gaining traction around the time she met Edward Weston in 1920. Tina's first major role could have been sparked by any number of mutual movie industry friends in her and Robo's and/or Edward Weston and Margrethe Mather's social circles including Anita Stewart, Myrtle Stedman, Olga Zacsek, Florence Deshon, Helen Richardson, Vivian Martin, Ramiel McGehee and numerous others. Perhaps another intro however was provided by Lloyd Wright who had many strong industry contacts through his heading up the set design department for Paramount Pictures and drama connections through his best friends Reginald Pole and Helen Taggart. He also had collaborated with McGehee on stage set design for his Cherry Blossom Players performances at the Alexandria Hotel and elsewhere in 1916-17. (For much more on this see my "Edward Weston, R. M. Schindler, Anna Zacsek, Lloyd Wright, Lawrence Tibbett, Reginald Pole, Beatrice Wood and Their Dramatic Circles" (WSZW).
Lloyd Wright, ca. 1920. From "The Blessing and the Curse" by Thomas S. Hines in Lloyd Wright: The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr. by Alan Weintraub, Abrams, 1998, p. 14.
The vehicle for Modotti's best role to date was a screen adaptation of Elizabeth Dejeans's The Tiger's Coat which was first serialized in The Pictorial Review in 1916-17 and published in book form by Bobbs-Merrill in 1917 (see below).
The Tiger's Coat by Elizabeth Dejeans, Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1917. Front cover art by Arthur L. Keller.
Tina Modotti, photographer unknown. Movie still from Tina Modotti: A Fragile Life by Mildred Constantine, Chronicle, 1993, p. 29.
The project was the brainchild of the Dial Film Company president and soon-to-be Lloyd Wright client Otto Bollman. His next "book into film" project was Irving Bacheller's The Light in the Clearing (see below).
Left to right, Otto Bollman, president of Dial Film Company, Mari Bollman, continuity writer; J. J. Curtiss, vice-president of Bobbs-Merrill Publishing Co. "The Light in the Clearing," will be the first Bacheller novel produced in pictures by Dial. ("Publisher Consults Dial About Bacheller Stories," Exhibitors Herald, October 23, 1920, p. 75).
Robert Brunton, 1920. Photographer unknown. From Dunlea, D. D., "Robert Brutnon," System, January 1921, p. 47.
Bollman rented studio space to film the Roy Clements screenplay from the Robert Brunton Studios at 5341 Melrose Ave. in Hollywood. Brunton (see above) was also leasing space to 13 other companies while Bollman was filming "The Tiger's Coat" in the summer of 1920. Lloyd Wright may also have been designing stage sets for companies filming at the Brunton Studios during his tenure as head of the set design department for Paramount Pictures ca. 1916-17 and after his return to Los Angeles from New York ca. 1919. Much of Lloyd's Paramount set design work likely took place on the Brunton lot. It is interesting to speculate whether he had a role in the set design for "The Tiger's Coat" since he would begin design on Otto Bollman's Whitley Heights house shortly after filming was completed in late July.
Brunton Studios, 5341 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, 1920. Photographer unknown. From Early Paramount Studios by E. J. Stephens, Michael Christaldi, Marc Wanamaker, Arcadia, 2013, p. 45.
"The Tiger's Coat" was for the most part filmed in Brunton's Soundstage No. 3 (see below). Filming began in late June and was completed by July 28th. ("Film Flashes," New York Clipper, July 28, 1920, p. 33).
Brunton Studios Soundstage No. 3. From Early Paramount Studios by E. J. Stephens, Michael Christaldi, Marc Wanamaker, Arcadia, 2013, p. 45.
Lawson Butt, Myrtle Stedman and Tina Modotti, photographer unknown. Movie still from Tina Modotti: A Fragile Life by Mildred Constantine, Chronicle, 1993, p. 29.
Lawson Butt and Tina Modotti, photographer unknown. Movie still from Tina Modotti: A Fragile Life by Mildred Constantine, Chronicle, 1993, p. 29.
Tina Modotti, photographer unknown. Movie still from Tina Modotti: A Fragile Life by Mildred Constantine, Chronicle, 1993, p. 29.
After filming was completed Tina drove north to visit her family. Sometime in August she was injured in an auto accident but apparently made a quick recovery as a brief in the New York Clipper reported, "Tina Modotti has fully recovered from injuries received when her automobile went over an embankment near San Francisco." ("Film Flashes," New York Clipper, August 25, 1920, p. 33).
"The Tiger's Coat" release ad. Exhibitors Herald, October 30, 1920, p. 13.
"The Tiger's Coat" release ad. Exhibitors Herald, November 6, 1920, p. 13.
"The Tiger's Coat" release ad. Exhibitors Herald, November 12, 1920, p. 13.
Due to various delays "The Tiger's Coat" was not released until around Thanksgiving 1920 just around the time the Schindlers were headed west from Chicago (see above period ads). Aline Barnsdall's complaints to Frank Lloyd Wright regarding Lloyd's inattention to detail on her Hollyhock House prompted him to summon Schindler to Olive Hill to take over the construction management reins from his by then seriously moonlighting son. Lloyd's lack of a regular salary from his forgetful father was the likely motivation for his moonlighting and resulting lack of focus on Barnsdall's house. Ironically just two weeks before the Schindler's arrival Lloyd had broken ground on the Bollman House which he apparently was able to keep a secret from his father during his late 1920 stopover on his way to Japan. Lloyd would also soon begin his Weber House and numerous other landscape design projects. ("Notices of Completion," Southwest Builder and Contractor, March 25, 1921, p. 35 and "Mechanics Liens," Southwest Builder and Contractor, May 13, 1921, p. 41. See also WSZW).
Otto Bollman Residence, 2200 Broadview Terrace, Hollywood, 1921. Lloyd Wright, architect. From Lloyd Wright, Architect by David Gebhard and Harriette Von Breton, UC-Santa Barbara, 1971, p. 13.
The Schindlers obviously soon learned of Lloyd's dramatic Hollywood project for Bollman and were also likely introduced to Modotti and Weston around this time evidenced by later events which I discuss at length in my "Edward Weston, R. M. Schindler, Anna Zacsek, Lloyd Wright, Lawrence Tibbett, Reginald Pole, Beatrice Wood and Their Dramatic Circles." It is interesting to speculate whether Lloyd obtained the Bollman commission through Tina or whether Tina got a lead role in "The Tiger's Coat" through Lloyd. The connection appears to me however to be more than simply coincidental.
Otto Bollman Residence, 2200 Broadview Terrace, Hollywood, 1921. Lloyd Wright, architect. From Lloyd Wright, The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr. by Alan Weintraub Abrams, 1998, p. 21.
Otto Bollman Residence, 2200 Broadview Terrace, Hollywood, 1921. Lloyd Wright, architect. From Lloyd Wright, The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr. by Alan Weintraub Abrams, 1998, p. 238.
Aerial photo of the Hollywood Bowl ca. 1930. From WhitleyHeights.org.
The Otto Bollman Residence is visible just to the left of the Whitley Heights High Tower at the lower right in the above photo (see also below). Fascinatingly, Lloyd's 1926 stage sets for the massive production of Julius Caesar and 1927 and 1928 band shells for the Hollywood Bowl were within a short walk of Bollman's house (see later below).
"Gallagher's Elevator," Holly Leaves, April 18, 1924, p. 20-1.
Whitley Heights High Tower. Photo by John Crosse, 2014.
Van Amberg Residence in foreground, 2012 Holly Hill Terrace, Otto Bollman Residence in background, upper left, 2200 Broadview Terrace, 1921. From "Gallagher's Elevator," Holly Leaves, April 18, 1924, p. 20-1.
Otto Bollman Residence, 2200 Broadview Terrace, 1921. From "Special Feature = Architect Lloyd Wright - His Life and Works," Space Design, November 1979, p. 74.
Stage sets for Julius Caesar, 1926. Lloyd Wright, designer. LAPL Photo Collection.
Hollywood Bowl Band Shell, 1927. Lloyd Wright, architect. LAPL Photo Collection.
Various publications reference the builder of the Otto Bollman Residence as being his contractor "brother" [sic] Henry O. Bollman. The Notice of Completion however states that the builder was the Escherich Brothers. Otto's "son" Henry O. Bollman would commission Lloyd to design his house at 1530 Ogden Ave. in Hollywood which was completed in 1923 (see below). Lloyd's December 1922 drawings for Henry's house do indeed list Henry as the builder. ("Notices of Completion," Southwest Builder and Contractor, March 25, 1921, p. 35). Lloyd served as an usher at Henry's wedding to Virginia Ball in 1925. (Levy, Juan Neal, "Society: Ball-Bollman," Los Angeles Times, September 17, 1925, p. I-7).
Henry Bollman House, 1530 Ogden Ave., 1922. Lloyd Wright, architect. Wright apprentice John Reed posing in front. Photo by John Crosse, 2014.
Henry Bollman House, 1530 Ogden Ave., Hollywood, 1923. Lloyd Wright, architect. From "Special Feature = Architect Lloyd Wright - His Life and Works," Space Design, November 1979, p. 74.
Loyd's Henry Bollman House shares many of the same elements of a study for a block house done in Wright's studio on Harper Avenue in 1924 indicating that Lloyd was clearly involved in the design (see below).
Study for a Block House (Project), 1924. From Frank Lloyd Wright: The Heroic Years: 1920-1932 by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Rizzoli, New York, 2009, p. 97.
Duell, Prentice, "A Note on Batik," California Southland, November, 1921, p. 19.
By the time the Otto Bollman Residence was completed in March 1921 the Schindlers were deeply intertwined with the Weston-Mather-Modotti-Johan Hagemeyer-Ramiel McGehee-Betty Katz-Miriam Lerner circle. They would have attended a party or two at Tina and Robo's studio at 313 S. Lake St. (see above) as Pauline had already become a close friend with former Weston lover Betty Katz. Pauline was also teaching at the Walt Whitman School where Weston's two oldest sons, Chandler and Brett, were enrolled. She and RMS were also both on the school's board of directors. (For much more on this see my "The Schindlers and Westons and the Walt Whitman School").
Apparently Otto Bollman's finances took a turn for the worse when his Dial Film Company went "belly-up" ca. 1922, resulting in his remarkable Whitley Heights aerie being auctioned off in early 1926.
Otto Bollman Residence Auction, 2200 Broadview Terrace, Hollywood, Los Angeles Times, January 11, 1926, p. 4.
After "The Tiger's Coat" Modotti apparently only appeared in two other films and finally abandoned hopes of a film career by the end of 1921. She became intimate with Weston sometime in 1920-21 and after Robo's passing in February 1922, the couple would make their fateful trip to Mexico in August 1923. (For more on this see my "The Schindlers and the Hollywood Art Association").
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