Sophia D’Aurelio Adair
@vitaphonezone.bsky.social
Writer and film history researcher focusing especially on the silent/pre-Code eras (and the overlooked faces within). I talk a lot about Jean Harlow.
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June, not Jean: Harlow's Nicest 'Niece'
A particularly relevant and refreshingly inarguable fact about Jean Harlow is that she was an only child.
open.substack.com
I wrote a bit about June Harlow, a 1950s burlesque queen and film hopeful who built a solid career based partially off her resemblance to her ‘aunt’ Jean Harlow—showing that being a fake Nepo Niece can carry you pretty far. open.substack.com/pub/vitaphon...
Reposted by Sophia D’Aurelio Adair
Clara Bow in The New Movie Magazine, December 1930
“Clara Bow in a scene of her newest talkie, ‘Her Wedding Night.’”
“Clara Bow in a scene of her newest talkie, ‘Her Wedding Night.’”
November 14, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Clara Bow in The New Movie Magazine, December 1930
“Clara Bow in a scene of her newest talkie, ‘Her Wedding Night.’”
“Clara Bow in a scene of her newest talkie, ‘Her Wedding Night.’”
Veronica Lake and Louise Brooks being born on the same day just makes sense.
November 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Veronica Lake and Louise Brooks being born on the same day just makes sense.
It’s Veronica Lake Day, time to post the Andy Warhol/Veronica Lake/Candy Darling/Paul Morrissey photos
November 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
It’s Veronica Lake Day, time to post the Andy Warhol/Veronica Lake/Candy Darling/Paul Morrissey photos
Reposted by Sophia D’Aurelio Adair
Images from films shot by cinematographer Sal Polito - BOTD in 1892
Seven Footprints to Satan (1929)
42nd Street (1933)
The Mind Reader (1933)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Seven Footprints to Satan (1929)
42nd Street (1933)
The Mind Reader (1933)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
November 12, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Images from films shot by cinematographer Sal Polito - BOTD in 1892
Seven Footprints to Satan (1929)
42nd Street (1933)
The Mind Reader (1933)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Seven Footprints to Satan (1929)
42nd Street (1933)
The Mind Reader (1933)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
The Great Man’s Lady (1942) dir. William A. Wellman
November 13, 2025 at 1:03 AM
The Great Man’s Lady (1942) dir. William A. Wellman
I love these 1945 Warner Bros publicity pictures demonstrating how actress Jane Harker apparently became a starlet overnight just by taking off her glasses, as ‘makeup experts found nothing else to do’. Bogus story, but charming in its simplicity!
November 11, 2025 at 3:48 AM
I love these 1945 Warner Bros publicity pictures demonstrating how actress Jane Harker apparently became a starlet overnight just by taking off her glasses, as ‘makeup experts found nothing else to do’. Bogus story, but charming in its simplicity!
I wrote briefly (and freely, if you catch my drift) about a couple of production stills from The Wild Party (1929) I found on eBay, one of which hints at an interesting change in the film's production, which could be simple, or not at all. Link: vitaphonezone.substack.com/p/production...
Production Stills, Gone Wild
Now that you’ve been reeled in by my unduly scandalous title, a trap many moviegoers have found themselves in over the past century, I’ll keep on spinning my same broken record.
vitaphonezone.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:10 PM
I wrote briefly (and freely, if you catch my drift) about a couple of production stills from The Wild Party (1929) I found on eBay, one of which hints at an interesting change in the film's production, which could be simple, or not at all. Link: vitaphonezone.substack.com/p/production...
Jack La Rue, Glenda Farrell, Mary Brian, and Cary Grant in a publicity portrait for Gambling Ship (1933)
November 8, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Jack La Rue, Glenda Farrell, Mary Brian, and Cary Grant in a publicity portrait for Gambling Ship (1933)
Clara Bow takes the BFGoodrich Silvertown Safety League pledge to promote safe driving in Hollywood, 1931 (or, me at the DMV)
November 8, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Clara Bow takes the BFGoodrich Silvertown Safety League pledge to promote safe driving in Hollywood, 1931 (or, me at the DMV)
I feel like I hardly see this picture on display at Hearst Castle anywhere else, so here it is
November 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I feel like I hardly see this picture on display at Hearst Castle anywhere else, so here it is
I’m not going to repost any pictures of it, but amazing levels of tacky cheapness being served at that Trumpian Gatsby party. Taking great pride in the fact that I can create better 1920s outfits with pieces from Forever 21 than these rich women can do with Mar-a-Lago money.
November 2, 2025 at 4:50 PM
I’m not going to repost any pictures of it, but amazing levels of tacky cheapness being served at that Trumpian Gatsby party. Taking great pride in the fact that I can create better 1920s outfits with pieces from Forever 21 than these rich women can do with Mar-a-Lago money.
Reposted by Sophia D’Aurelio Adair
If you still haven’t picked up a copy of pre-Code Essentials, apparently my wife enjoyed it, so what are you waiting for? amzn.to/4qFyHLX
November 2, 2025 at 3:23 PM
If you still haven’t picked up a copy of pre-Code Essentials, apparently my wife enjoyed it, so what are you waiting for? amzn.to/4qFyHLX
Dorothy Coonan Wellman gets a piggyback ride from Guy Kibbee in a publicity photo for Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933):
November 1, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Dorothy Coonan Wellman gets a piggyback ride from Guy Kibbee in a publicity photo for Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933):
Watched too many terrible 70s horror movies this month and burnt myself out on watching any more horror before Halloween but in a roundabout way I think a Big Parade rewatch sort of counts boxd.it/bxmNsR
A review of The Big Parade (1925)
There is probably someone out there who can watch this without being reduced to ugly tears and I am not sure I want to know that person. My husband the WW1 mage felt left out I watched this without hi...
boxd.it
October 30, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Watched too many terrible 70s horror movies this month and burnt myself out on watching any more horror before Halloween but in a roundabout way I think a Big Parade rewatch sort of counts boxd.it/bxmNsR
Reposted by Sophia D’Aurelio Adair
"I have never judged my mother for her emotional gluttony, only for the way she treated those who loved her." RIP Maria Riva. I think people wrestling with the extremes in Riva's Marlene Dietrich biography should read Molly Haskell's powerful 1993 review (no paywall) www.nytimes.com/1993/02/07/b...
October 30, 2025 at 5:19 PM
"I have never judged my mother for her emotional gluttony, only for the way she treated those who loved her." RIP Maria Riva. I think people wrestling with the extremes in Riva's Marlene Dietrich biography should read Molly Haskell's powerful 1993 review (no paywall) www.nytimes.com/1993/02/07/b...
Reposted by Sophia D’Aurelio Adair
Always a pleasure to talk film with @frnclassics.bsky.social! This time, not-so-scary films for Halloween. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/1qjX...
Ep. 372- Non-Scary Halloween Movies
open.spotify.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Always a pleasure to talk film with @frnclassics.bsky.social! This time, not-so-scary films for Halloween. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/1qjX...
Reposted by Sophia D’Aurelio Adair
Ann Savage bullies a Hitler-faced pumpkin for Halloween 1942 publicity:
“Green-eyed starlet Ann Savage is about to give this Hitler-pumpkin a poke in the nose. With the way things are going in Stalingrad, it’s hard to imagine why the old boy should be smiling.”
“Green-eyed starlet Ann Savage is about to give this Hitler-pumpkin a poke in the nose. With the way things are going in Stalingrad, it’s hard to imagine why the old boy should be smiling.”
October 30, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Ann Savage bullies a Hitler-faced pumpkin for Halloween 1942 publicity:
“Green-eyed starlet Ann Savage is about to give this Hitler-pumpkin a poke in the nose. With the way things are going in Stalingrad, it’s hard to imagine why the old boy should be smiling.”
“Green-eyed starlet Ann Savage is about to give this Hitler-pumpkin a poke in the nose. With the way things are going in Stalingrad, it’s hard to imagine why the old boy should be smiling.”
Reposted by Sophia D’Aurelio Adair
Promotional photo of Pier Angeli for MGM (1950)
October 30, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Promotional photo of Pier Angeli for MGM (1950)
![Strongman Charles Atlas doing his stuff by lifting four Rockettes on the roof of Radio City Music Hall. Each girl weighs 110 lbs. Girls are [l.-r.] R. Myrna Waverly, Dorothy Collins, Lucille Bremer and Muriel Kildugf](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:c23bhillvtklims37pqwmzvl/bafkreidpivgbmczenqevh5mkqaterglv7efuuxeifwaqnjrcxgxle3vfmu@jpeg)
Great addition to my collection: Bit players Lita Chevret (in beret, pointing across RKO’s Forty Acre backlot) and Nadine Dore (following Lita’s finger) survey the props to be used in the filming of CIMARRON (1931) during its production in the fall of 1930.
October 26, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Great addition to my collection: Bit players Lita Chevret (in beret, pointing across RKO’s Forty Acre backlot) and Nadine Dore (following Lita’s finger) survey the props to be used in the filming of CIMARRON (1931) during its production in the fall of 1930.
Realized yet another favorite shot in The Public Enemy (1931).
October 25, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Realized yet another favorite shot in The Public Enemy (1931).
Reposted by Sophia D’Aurelio Adair
Historic New England
1922
1922
October 23, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Historic New England
1922
1922
Olive Thomas by Maurice Goldberg as featured in Theatre magazine, March 1919
October 20, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Olive Thomas by Maurice Goldberg as featured in Theatre magazine, March 1919