Cat School

Nietta Mordeglia (as Fede / Faith, the model) in Il Fauno (Faun), 1917. Director: Febo Mari; production: S.A. Ambrosio / Museo Nazionale del Cinema (MNC)

Sessue Hayakawa ads in Exhibitor’s Herald, 1919.

The Man Beneath (1919) a silent crime drama (incomplete film exists).

Kate Erskine (Eddy) and her sister Mary (Curley) love Dr. Chindi Ashutor (Hayakawa) and James Bassett (Gilbert), respectively, the latter having been college chums, one being a noted physician while the other pursuing no occupation as yet. Mary and Bassett become engaged while Dr. Ashutor goes to aid his countrymen in plague-stricken India. While he is away Bassett receives a summons from the Black Hand, an order he joined in his youth for adventure. Feeling his life in danger, he goes to Dr. Ashutor in India and with his aid almost succeeds in establishing his feigned death as a reality. However, the spies of the order follow them to Scotland and to the home of the Erskines. Here Dr. Ashutor is instrumental in finally ridding Bassett from the menace of the order. Mary and Bassett then marry, while the situation of Kate and Dr. Ashutor remains undecided.

Cast:

“The Cheat, 1915″

‘Edith’, (Fannie Ward) is the extravagent, frivolous, and irresponsible wife of a stock broker, (Jack Dean, Fannie’s real-life husband). She is, for some crazy reason, made Treasurer of a Red Cross Charity Fund. 

‘Hishituru Tori’ ( ‘ Haka Arakau’ in the 1918 re-release) is played by the handsome and wonderful actor, Sessue Hayakawa, who takes advantage when Edith gambles on a speculative tip from another stock broker and loses all the Red Cross money, $10,000 in the deal!

Offering her the money in exchange for ‘favours’, Edith is given a cheque to cover her losses. Despondent, yet relieved to have covered the fund money she heads back home. When she gets home, her husband tells her they are rich since a big business investment he had been nursing has finally paid off. Edith is relieved and realizing she can now pay back Tori without having to live up to their deal, she gets a cheque from her husband right away, but doesn’t tell him what the $10,000  is for (nice guy, or what?!) and goes back and offers Tori the money to cover her debt. 

Tori refuses to be ‘bought off’ and attacks Edith, as she struggles and tries to flee, he puts his mark on her with a brand, just like all the other beautiful things he owns. 

Falling to the floor Edith grabs the gun Tori had been taunting her to use earlier. She shoots him and flees. Her husband arrives, suspicious as to why she needed so much money he has followed her and comes across Tori as he slides to the floor bleeding from a bullet wound….

You’ll have to watch the film to see what happens next…

The New York Female Giants were an early all-women's baseball team, playing in the 1930s. This photograph showcases the team in uniform, during a game or event, highlighting women's participation in sports.

This one hurt, her work had such a profound effect on my life, thoughts, and politics.

May her memory be a blessing

The Line of Love, 1915

Today in history, June 6-11, 1944. The Normandy massacres were a series of killings in-which approximately 156 Canadian and two British prisoners of war (POWs) were murdered by soldiers of the 12th SS Panzer Division (Hitler Youth) during the Battle of Normandy in World War II. The majority of the murders occurred within the first ten days of the Allied invasion of France.[1] The killings ranged in scale from spontaneous murders of individual POWs, to premeditated mass executions involving dozens of victims. Colonel Kurt Meyer, a commander in the 12th SS Panzer Division, was the only perpetrator charged for his role in the atrocities.[2]

The massacres are among the worst war crimes committed against Canadian soldiers in Canada's history. One out of every seven Canadian soldiers killed between June 6–11 were murdered after surrendering — a figure that rises to one in five if the range is reduced to June 7–11, when Canadian units started engaging with elements of the 12th SS Panzer Division.[3]

(This unit of Hitler youth fanatics learned their viciousness from officers who served on the eastern front. Soviet soldiers and the civilian population were treated like this. The massacres ended when it became clear the Canadians were holding their ground and allies were advancing. Nazi leaders had a 'holy fuck' moment when they realized their crimes would be discovered and the bodies found. A couple that cared for Ardennes Abbey saw disturbed soil in the courtyard and investigated. 20 Canadian bodies were discovered.