“I have had a very long and brilliant life, and I am very very grateful.” – Esther Ralston
Esther Ralston was a good friend Randolph Scott who persuaded Paramount to hire her as his co-star in a To the Last Man. I think this was an act of kindness on Scott’s part to help Esther whose career was now in decline. But I don’t believe Esther was a weak person in any way. She definitely had a spiritual side that gave her strength – and her ‘out of a suitcase’ Vaudeville upbringing also taught her how to survive. She also looks to have been a bit of a Tom Boy? – her toughness shows through in her character in To the Last Man. (But maybe people from that era were just tough?) She went through the ‘Movies Mills’ and 3 marriages (three children) before ultimately losing her money in the stock market crash and ending up in a trailer park.
I couldn’t help but notice some startling parallels between certain negative experiences you had and current events of today/2017. I point to your troubles with gay Director Dorothy Arzner and movie mogul Louis B. Mayer (Metro/Goldwyn/Mayer/MGM) which directly mirror current controversy’s.
From Why Do All My Husbands Want to Kill Me? Part II Copyright Robert J. Avrech “Open about her homosexuality, director Dorothy Arzner, during production of Fashions for Women and Ten Modern Commandments, 1927, is in the habit of dragging Esther into her lap and groping her breasts. Esther rejects Arzner’s crude advances and Arzner takes revenge by browbeating Esther, making her perform take after take of a single scene. Ironic, because Esther was known as One-Take Ralston.” This amounts to sexual assault in my book, yet it appears Arzner was neither charged – nor fired. No wonder people get away with it – for years.
From: “My Love of Hollywood” http://myloveofoldhollywood.blogspot.ca/2010/10/esther-ralston-1902-1994.html= “Esther Ralston Facts: She (Ralston) worked in England during 1932 and upon returning to Hollywood she was loaned out by Louis B. Mayor after denying his sexual advances. (She had worked at Paramount prior to this) This does answer the question as to why a previously successful actress would be cast in B rated movies that led to her early retirement.” It’s astounding that someone would destroy someone’s career, because they rebuffed. Yet it’s a certainty that this kind of thing goes on all the time.
It would nice to think that will live in an enlightened age where such behavior and abuses will stop. But they won’t.
My own brief experience in the Film Industry saw this kind of kind of thing first hand. The power and money floating around in Big Time entertainment assures there are a plenty of people who care ONLY about 3 things: Money, Power, and Sex – not necessarily in that order. ART is not on the list.
And any Movie Set, I’d guess there a mere handful of folks who are care about the creative/Art aspect – the Director and the Actors mainly. A lot of other people (most?) are just there for the money – or whatever else they can get. It was not an uplifting experience.
This is a very good post on Ester Ralston. I really like the these very good black and white pictures from her movies that you posted . I also like the black and white pictures with the colours added to them.
I’m always surprised at how many “stars” wound up dead broke. I shouldn’t because WE’RE dead broke too. I think some people who were supposed to be rich were never quite as rich as they were supposed to be and life has a funny way of messing with your future!
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