In 1924 Betty Bronson was chosen to play Peter Pan on film by the author J.M. Barrie – other contenders for the role were Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. Here the elfin actress leaps to the window, directed by Herbert Brenon and photographed by James Wong Howe.
1924, Peter Pan on film – James Wong Howe and Betty Bronson
Subscribe to Podcast
CategoriesArchitecture Blogging Books Choreography Culture Design Entertainment Fiction Film History Hollywood law Literature Los Angeles Memoir Movies Photography Theater Travel Truth & Rumors Uncategorized
Tagsactress behind the scenes Betty Bronson trained with the Ballet Russe Classic Movies Director Herbert Brenon flying Gloria Swanson history Hollywood J.M. Barrie James Wong Howe Los Angeles Mary Pickford Movie Star Old Hollywood Paramount Pictures Pasadena Peter Pan photography reclusive silent film
11 Comments
Comments are closed.
Great to see actual parts of the film being shot.I had never heard of the actress and will now look her up.Thanks .
Well I have just boarded my time travel machine otherwise known as Google and skipped back through the decades to find Betty Bronson.What a lovely face.Am I suffering from a bad case of Bonkers Brit disease or were actresses more attractive and charming then than now.I would cover my walls with them.
She was lovely and had studied ballet and when she died every letter that Douglas Fairbanks Jr. wrote to her was found in her keeping. I haven’t watched the footage on YouTube, but I’ll get to it!
Perhaps the most delightful gamine Pan so far, and shot by the legendary Wong Howe yet!
When authors get to cast their creations… hm?
Indubitably so.
Ms V
Is there such a thing as too gamine?
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
I know Audrey Hepburn was often described as gamine… which denotes a certain elegance to me. In French I think the word means waif. Too gamine… thinking… puerile?
I was thinking more of urchin from the male form ‘gamin’. Something to much of the thief about the appearance at the window. But then isn’t Pan a thief of sorts…?
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Gotcha, something sly and bent on mischief, and stealing Wendy away…
I had no idea there was a Peter Pan movie in the 20s. And that Peter was played by a woman. I thought that began with Mary Martin.