MuseVision

Hello MuseVision Readers! The April Edition is here.
Welcome to a very trim and tidy edition. Cliff had to rush to get it to press at all. He did not have enough time to devote to us this month. Let us hope this trend does not continue. You will find a shorter, abridged version of "Largo ma non Tanto" with a different soundtrack. A video of the illustrations of Nellie Littlehale Umbstaetter Murphy from the Wonder World series of books, circa 20's-40's. Finally there is a video and pictures of Anita Louise, Warner Brothers star of the thirties and forties. Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" is the appropriate accompaniment performed by Le Big Band de Marseilles.

The portrait at the left is of Nellie Littlehale Umbstaetter Murphy. Much of her biography is yet to be obtained. Details are sketchy, but she was one of my favorite artists of the early 20th century. Her fantasy and children's illustration was so much fun and so memorable. Her work appeared in the Wonder World series of books, a large eleven volume set of books for children on all subjects. Her work really produced awe in those of us who were fortunate enough to own a set of those books.

The video was put together mainly from illustrations from the Wonder World books. Prokoviev's "Gavotte" from the "Classical Symphony" completes the music track and at the end of the video, you will see a picture of the maestro as a child at the keyboard. His "l'enfant terrible" days still a few years off.

Anita Louise played the Mother in "My Friend Flicka" back in the 1950's. The series became a lifelong favorite with all those of that generation who loved horses and the west. Many of us did not know that her film career began in the era of silent film. She was a child actor starting in the late 20's. The main part of her career spanned the thirties and forties in which she was one of Warner Brothers top stars. The post below contains some choice stills of Anita. The last one being a photo by Arnold Genthe, who will be the subject of next months MuseVision.