Journal Notes

Enter now to win a copy of

Straight Lady:

The Life and Times of Margaret Dumont, “The Fifth Marx Brother.”

The wheels on the Southern Pacific’s Coaster pounded along the railroad tracks on a sixteen-hour journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco, California. It was late in the evening, and most of the passengers on board were asleep in their berths. Among those lost in slumber was Margaret Dumont. Margaret and the rest of the The Cocoanuts cast were on their way north to plan an engagement at the Columbia Theatre in the City by the Bay. They had just finished a three-week run of the show at the Biltmore Center in Los Angeles. It was January 9, 1928, and the musical comedy that had opened at the Lyric Theatre in New York on December 8, 1925, had been performed more than two hundred times.

The Cocoanuts, starring the Marx Brothers, had been well received everywhere it played. Critics praised the production, calling it “tuneful” and “full of beauty and uproariously funny.”  Margaret, a seasoned Broadway veteran, had been singled out in reviews which called her a “stately dowager with refined acting and singing gifts.”  Now, resting comfortably in her sleeping quarters, the actress hoped to be well rested for the next series of performances awaiting them in San Francisco.

At 12:15 in the morning, the sound of an alarm clock blaring jarred Margaret awake, and she glanced around her berth to see from where the offensive sound was coming. She located the clock on a small shelf next to her head and tapped it until it silenced. Within a few short moments, she had rolled away from the alarm clock and dropped back to sleep. Harpo ever so gently opened the curtains on her quarters and peered inside. Confident Margaret had fallen asleep again he reset the alarm on the clock and sat it back down. He closed the curtains and disappeared from sight. At 1:15 in the morning the alarm sounded again. Margaret stirred, lifted her head off her pillow, and then reached for the alarm clock. She turned the alarm off and, within a few moments, was asleep again.

Chico appeared shortly thereafter, stealthily reset the alarm on the clock, and vanished quietly. The alarm sounded at 2:15, and this time Margaret examined the clock to try and discover why it kept going off every hour. Satisfied she had resolved the issue, she put the clock back in its place, straightened her covers, and again went to sleep.

Moments passed, and Harpo dared to peer into the curtains a third time. Margaret did not stir. Once more the alarm was reset, and at 3:15 the alarm went off. The scene was repeated with Harpo and Chico alternating setting the alarm until 5:15 in the morning. At that point, Margaret had abandoned the idea of being able to sleep for more than an hour at a time. She got up, got dressed, and spent the rest of the train ride dozing over her coffee in the dining car.

When the cast and crew of The Cocoanuts arrived in San Francisco, all but one emerged refreshed and ready to go to work. Margaret stepped off the train yawning and looking a bit disheveled. Harpo and Chico raced over to her, flanking her on either side. “Rough night, Maggie?”  Chico asked, wearing an impish grin that let her know he had a part in what had happened the prior evening. “I know it was the both of you,” she noted sharply. “I wasn’t born yesterday.”  Harpo grabbed her around the waist and gave her a hug. “That’s a shame,” Chico told her. “We could have started your personality from scratch.”  He pinched her cheek playfully, and he and Harpo hurried along their ways.

“Working with the Marx Brothers is an art both on and off stage,” Margaret told reporters waiting at the Third and Townsend Depot to interview the show’s players. “I adore them,” she added sincerely.

Join NY Times author Chris Enss, and Raiders of the Lost Ark and Revenge of the Jedi producer Howard Kazanjian, as they launch their new book Straight Lady: The Life and Times of Margaret Dumont, “The Fifth Marx Brother.” Refreshments will be served, and Marx Brothers’ films will be shown.

The launch will be held on Friday, October 14 at the Lamanda Park Branch Library at 140 South Altadena Drive Pasadena, CA. 91107 from 6 P.M. to 8 P.M.

Enter now to win a copy of

Straight Lady:

The Life and Times of Margaret Dumont, “The Fifth Marx Brother”

“The Marx Brothers exploded on the scene and screen in the 1930’s. Their vaudevillian antics brought needed comedic relief during the crushing weight of the Great Depression. The boys took the usual slapstick routines and amped up their deliveries with snide comments, slurs and sarcasm. Groucho and the boys needed a foil for their routines. Veteran actress Margaret Dumont was brilliant in that role.

Her portrayals of oblivious dowagers were a perfect fit for the madcap Marx Brothers, in particular, the ad libbing sardonic Groucho. She appeared in all of their biggest hits; ie., “Duck Soup”, “A Day at the Races”, A Night at the Opera”. Her role was to be oblivious to the taunts hurled at her character. In other words, a straight lady.

Collier magazine featured Margaret in 1937. She had received an Actor’s Guild Award for Best Actress for her performance in “A Day at the Races”, which grossed 5 million, an astonishing figure at the time.  The headline for the article was “Lady Who Assists the Homicidal Comedy of the Marx Brothers”.

Margaret Dumont had a complete life; Enss and Kazanjian’s research fill in all the voids. “The Straight Lady” digs deep and produces an revealing chapter in the amazing early success of the movie business. For those readers who enjoy a fascinating story, this book will fit the bill. For those who love Hollywood history, it is a must read.

To learn more about Margaret Dumont read Straight Lady

Enter now to win a copy of

Straight Lady:

The Life and Times of Margaret Dumont, “The Fifth Marx Brother”

PERFORMING ARTS

Straight Lady: The Life and Times of Margaret Dumont, “the Fifth Marx

by Chris Enss & Howard Kazanjian

Lyons: Globe Pequot. Oct. 2022. 208p. ISBN 9781493060405. $30. FILM

COPY ISBN

Frequent collaborators Enss and Kazanjian (authors of the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans joint biography The Cowboy and the Señorita and The Young Duke: The Early Life of John Wayne) offer film buffs an engaging biography of Brooklynite Margaret Dumont, born Daisy Baker (1882–1965). She is most famously remembered as the deadpan comic foil—a stereotypical stately dowager whom Groucho played off of—in seven of the 13 movies by the Marx Brothers. Enss and Kazanjian argue that Dumont’s Marx Brothers roles were characterized by the actress’s dignity, even as the films poked fun at her age and weight. Dumont, often bedecked in an opera-length necklace, trained in and performed opera before transferring to stage, film, and TV variety shows. She had retired in 1910, after marrying a millionaire industrialist, but when he died during the 1918 flu pandemic, she returned to acting and worked until her death.

VERDICT While comedy fans will enjoy the reprised storylines and biographical vignettes, this multileveled work also offers media scholars a deeper look into Marx Brothers films in which Dumont was epochal and reflective of the era’s gender standards and mannerisms.

Enter now to win a copy of

Straight Lady:

The Life and Times of Margaret Dumont, “The Fifth Marx Brother”

“Emily, I have a confession to make. I really am a horse doctor. But marry me, and I’ll never look at another horse.” Groucho Marx to Margaret Dumont in A Day at the Races.

Enter now to win a copy of

Straight Lady:

The Life and Times of Margaret Dumont, “The Fifth Marx Brother”

“In the world of comedy, being a ‘Straight man’ isn’t easy. You have to set up the comedian for his next joke and give the proper reactions but being a ‘Straight Woman’ is the toughest job there is. A woman must tower over the comedian in attitude, deflecting the insults, and be his perfect foil. In movie after movie, Margaret Dumont was Goliath to Groucho Marx’s David; imperious, with just the right touch of snobbery for Groucho to deflate, but always standing her ground against his barbs while being wonderfully funny. Groucho actually claimed that Miss Dumont never understood his jokes, thinking it was all nonsense. And those straight-faced, dismissive reactions made her all the funnier. They were the perfect team, and now this book gives this superb comic actress a long over-due tribute to her talents.”

C. Courtney Joyner, Award-winning film historian and screenwriter

Enter now to win a copy of

Along Came a Cowgirl:

Daring and Iconic Women of the Rodeo and Wild West Shows

Cowgirl Mamie Francis sat atop her horse, Babe, waiting for the director of California Frank Hafley’s Wild West show to let her know when the program began. Mamie and Babe were perched on a wooden platform thirty feet in the air over Coney Island, New York, looking down at the audience in the grandstands. Directly below the platform was a forty-foot tank filled to overflowing with water. It was the summer of 1908.

Mamie gently urged Babe to the edge of the platform, both stood like a beautiful statue surveying the landscape before them. After receiving the signal, Mamie coaxed Babe forward. The horse pushed away from the boards and lunged outward into space. Moments later, rider and horse entered the water in the tank with a giant splash. When they came to the surface, the audience erupted in applause. Mamie patted Babe’s neck as the horse carried her up the ramp and out the tank.

Born in Nora, Illinois, on September 8, 1885, to Charles and Anna Ghent, and given the name Elba Mae, Mamie was an accomplished equestrienne by the time she turned sixteen. Her parents moved from Illinois to Wisconsin when she was a baby. Her mother worked for a farmer who owned several horses, and it was there she learned how to ride and use a gun to hunt. When Pawnee Bill’s Wild West show stopped in Kenosha, Wisconsin, for a two-night performance, Mamie was in the audience to take in the excitement. Before the show left town, she had signed on to be one of the entertainers.

As Mamie excelled at riding and shooting, that’s what Pawnee Bill had her do in the show. In time, she would be billed the greatest horseback and rifle shot in the world. Mamie met her first husband, trick rider Herbert Skepper, shortly after joining the show. The pair was married on July 7, 1901.

By 1905, Mamie had left the Pawnee Bill’s Wild West show and divorced Skepper. Charles Francis Hafley and his wife, trick shooter Lillian Smith, were familiar with Mamie’s talents and sought her out to join Hafley’s Wild West show. She happily agreed to be a part of the troupe. During her time with the experienced group, Mamie perfected her own sharpshooting routine, tried her hand at bronc riding, and even mastered a few rope tricks.

In late 1907, she added horse diving to her repertoire. Known as the Diving Equestrienne, she and Babe made over six hundred jumps between 1907 and 1914.  When Mamie stopped horse diving, she turned her attention solely to sharpshooting, trick riding, and training horses to compete in dressage* events. Mamie married Charles Hafley in November 1909, a year after he and Lillian Smith divorced. The two managed the Wild West show for thirty-one years.

Mamie Francis Hafley died on February 15, 1950. She was sixty-four years old. The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame honored Mamie for her equestrienne skills in 1981.

*The art of riding and training a horse in a manner that develops obedience, flexibility, and balance.

To learn more about talented riders like Mamie read Along Came a Cowgirl: Daring and Iconic Women of the Rodeo and Wild West Shows. Visit www.chrisenss.com to enter to win a copy of the new book.

“Historian Chris Enss is at the top of her craft with The Widowed Ones: Beyond the Battle of the Little Bighorn (TwoDot, $26.95), one of the most poignant biographies published in 2022.”

Stuart Rosebrook, Senior Editor of True West Magazine

Enter now to win a copy of

Along Came a Cowgirl:

Daring and Iconic Women of the Rodeo and Wild West Shows

Broadside flyers posted around major cities from Amarillo, Texas, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1929 invited rodeo fans to come and see trick roper and bronc rider Bea Kirnan and “gasp with amazement and wonder at her daredevil talent.”  Audiences were promised to be “thrilled and mesmerized” by Bea’s work in the saddle.

Born on October 9, 1903, in South Dakota, Beatrice Brosseau Kirnan was a champion relayer and Roman rider.  Roman riding involved two horses – the rider would stand with each foot on the back of the pair of horses and race around the arena.  The balance and leg strength required to perform the act was daunting, and Bea was one of the best Roman riders in the country.  She perfected the dangerous trick while working with the Ringling Brothers Circus.

Bronzed and self-reliant, Bea was a rodeo favorite, endowed with beauty that came with perfect physical fitness.  From the age of sixteen, she began devoting her every waking hour to competing for riding and roping prizes held between Calgary, Canada, and El Paso, Texas, and between California and Kansas.

Bea held her own against more than a score of young women who made their livings bronco riding, trick riding, fancy roping, and even wrestling steers at rodeos.  She shared the headlines with such well-known cowgirls as Mabel Strickland, Rene Shelton, Velda Tindell, and Tad Lucas.

While performing in the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West show in 1915, Bea met an accomplished trick rider named Tommy Kirnan.  The two fell in love and married on November 25, 1915, in Chicago, Illinois.  Bea and Tommy combined their talents, performing together in rodeos from coast to coast, including such famous venues as Madison Square Garden.  The couple was recognized as one of the most famous rodeo duos of the era.

From atop her horse, Rubio, Bea entertained crowds with a variety of difficult tricks, including hanging from her saddle by one heel with her other foot pointing toward high noon while riding full speed across the arena to retrieve a handkerchief off the ground.  Bea attributed her successful career as a trick rider to her horse.  Rubio had been a gift from a fan who saw her ride in a Wild West show in Latin America.  In an article in the August 9, 1919, edition of the Hutchinson Gazette, she doted on Rubio.  “Do you know, I think Bea thinks more of that pony than she does of her man,” the article joked.  “Why she was actually seen washing its teeth with a toothbrush.”

In July 1922, Bea was injured while performing in a Roman Standing race in Oklahoma.  She was riding a pair of spotted ponies when she fell from the steeds as they took a sharp turn.  She suffered a broken wrist and was bruised slightly.  To make matters worse, someone stole her boots while the doctor was treating her.

Bea retired from roping and riding shortly after her husband passed away in 1937.  She found work in a variety of areas including operating a restaurant, designing western costumes, running a commercial fishing venture, and working in an aircraft plant.

Bea Kirnan was killed in a car accident on December 3, 1960.  She was fifty-seven years old.

To learn more about talented ladies like Bea Kirnan read Along Came a Cowgirl: Daring and Iconic Women of the Rodeo and Wild West Shows. 

Enter now to win a copy of

Along Came a Cowgirl:

Daring and Iconic Cowgirls of the Rodeos and Wild West Shows

When twenty-four-year-old Mildred Douglas rode a steer in the Garden City, Kansas, rodeo in 1919, it was a big deal. Never before had a woman ever ridden a steer in competition, but Douglas was no ordinary woman.  Born in Philadelphia on August 21, 1895, Mildred knew at the age of seven what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her parents had taken her to the Barnum & Bailey Circus in Franklin Field, Pennsylvania, and she sat at the end of a row where she could look over the canvas and see the animals and performers as they entered. Mildred knew she had to be part of such a show and work with animals of all kinds. She dedicated herself to making her dream come true. At the age of twenty-two, she won the title of World Champion Girl Bronc Rider, was proficient as a trick rider and shooter, and was destined for stardom in the type of shows she saw as a child.

Though Mildred May Douglas was a champion bronc rider and a star of Wild West shows, she wasn’t born to the life of a cowgirl roughrider. According to the National Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Mildred Douglas left an East Coast finishing school to join the 101 Ranch Wild West show. She spent years touring the country in rodeos, circuses, and other popular western shows.

Mildred met her first husband, Pat Chrisman, while performing with the 101 Ranch Wild West show. Pat was a horse trainer for silent film star Tom Mix’s ride. Mildred was captivated with motion pictures. Her fascination for the medium, along with her incredible talent and versatility in the saddle, led to a studio contract. Mildred was hired to appear in several films with Tom Mix himself. In addition to her onscreen duties, Mildred trained and worked with horses, lions, leopards, and other animals scheduled to appear in motion pictures and in circuses.

Pat Chrisman died in 1953, and Mildred then decided to pursue another dream she’d had – that of becoming a nurse. At the age of fifty-nine, she officially entered the profession and took a position at the Comanche County Memorial Hospital in Lawton, Oklahoma. In 1954, she traded in her fringed leather riding outfits for a white uniform and a starched nurse’s cap. Her life as a Wild West performer was never far from her mind, however. She often brought her scrapbooks to the hospital and showed photographs from her other life to interested coworkers and patients. She always spoke fondly of the animals she trained and the audiences she entertained. Mildred eventually donated those scrapbooks, saddles, movie photos, rawhide ropes, and other memorabilia to the Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Mildred Douglas Chrisman died in September 1982 at the age of eighty-seven. She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 1988.

To learn more about Mildred Douglas and other amazing women like her read

Along Came a Cowgirl:

Daring and Iconic Women of the Rodeos and Wild West Shows