Never a Penrod Like Ben Alexander! -- July 27, 2023

Motion Picture News, 07-July-1923

Indiana author Booth Tarkington was very 100 years ago, but I don't think people read his stories and novels much today.  When I was a kid, the only thing I knew about him was that he wrote the novel that Orson Welles used as the basis for The Magnificent Ambersons.  I was already in college when I learned that F Scott Fitzgerald was a great admirer of Tarkington.  Inspired by this, I went to the Anza Branch Library and took out Penrod: His Complete Story, a collection of stories about a boy who grows up.

In 1922, a movie based on Penrod, starring Wesley Barry and directed by Mickey Neilan, was a hit.

In 1923, First National released a sequel, Penrod and Sam, starring Ben Alexander. William Beaudine directed again. This would be the first of three adaptions. William Beaudine also directed the 1931 version. 

Motion Picture News, 28-July-1923

In 1908, Booth Tarkington and Harry Leon Wilson wrote a play called Cameo Kirby. It was filmed in 1914, and then John Ford directed a remake in 1923, starring John Gilbert. In 1930, it was remade as a talkie musical starring some guy I have never heard of.