09/25/2020
Thanks Kenosha History Center
“Orpheum Theater building, c. Early April 1922, R. S. Newell.”
The Orpheum, at 5819 6th Ave, was opened in 1922. The photograph is likely taken in April 1922, because the film—R.S.V.P., starring and directed by Charles Ray, released in December 1921—was shown at the Orpheum in early April according to newspaper advertisements.
As an aside, Charles Ray has an interesting story. He rose to prominence by being typecast as wholesome “country bumpkin” characters. In these roles, he would end up earning $11,000…a week. That’s almost $143,000 a week today. He used his fortune to buy his own film studio in 1920. RSVP is a product of it. A story about a rich man who chose to live the life of a struggling artist, he mistakes his childhood friend, a woman who was away at school for many years, as a model and paints her. When the painting is debuted, the artist and his friend decide to attend the reception except they only got one invitation. They also only have one coat. So the two decide to attend as a single person and keep swapping the coat between them. Comedy ensues, and the artist gets the girl.
Charles Ray signed with United Artists in 1922 for big bucks, but became an early actor who became a victim of his own hubris. As he became more wealthy and famous, he acquired a lavish estate, with gold doorknobs, and hired a full staff, and lived the life of a tycoon. And he decided he wanted to make a film version of the Longfellow poem “The Courtship of Miles Standish” but no company would sign on because period dramas weren’t doing well. Ray chose to self-fund it, ignoring the executives who were paid to understand film trends. He ended up investing all of his savings—over $2 million—and borrowing another million at a 30% interest rate. The total budget was over $45 million in modern dollars, entirely floated by Ray.
The film was technically acclaimed, but was a commercial failure. And he lost everything, literally everything, but kept spending to the last second. The night before he filed for bankruptcy he threw a lavish party that reportedly cost $30,000 ($390,000 today).
He tried to switch to the stage, but was unsuccessful. He ended his career back in Hollywood as an uncredited extra, earning $11 a day.
Not purely but hopefully a good story.
