The Limelight Moment

Overview

When we think of screen stars, the romantic, sepia-tinted image of Greta Garbo comes to mind. This exhibition allows us to rediscover Kiwis who followed the bright lights to the other side of the world, chasing fame in the glamour of old Hollywood.

Take the stairs leading up to the Alexander Turnbull Library exhibition, and a debonair, Oscar Wilde-like portrait of a man commandeers the mezzanine space. He is Rupert Julian, one of New Zealand’s least-known world famous Hollywood stars. A publican’s son from Whangaroa, he went on to become a Hollywood actor and director, working on projects with Universal Studios and directing big names such as Lon Chaney in a 1924 production of The Phantom of the Opera.

Ordinary New Zealanders become extraordinary. A Christchurch school teacher plays Joseph in Ben Hur. A Dunedin boy co-stars with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, edits films for Roger Corman, and works on Die Hard. A girl from Huntersville becomes a Hollywood silent movie starlet on her way to being a pioneer in the field of radio journalism. Names such as Nola Luxford, Winter Hall, Isabel Wilford and Inia Te Waiata rise from obscurity.

Curator Barbara Lyon has this to say:

“This exhibition uses material from the Alexander Turnbull Library to tell the story of a number of New Zealanders who acted, wrote, directed and edited for the big screen in the early twentieth century. In our collections are traces of their stellar trajectories; some mere vestiges, others more significant…. I hope to renew our acquaintance and give them another moment in the limelight.”

We spoke to staff at the National Library, who are enthused with the exhibition events. A lunchtime performance on the wonder and fantasy of silent films led by Calvin Petersen and the very talented Toi Whakaari students had left quite the impression.

If you enjoyed Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist as much as we did, head along to this exhibition and rediscover your inner cinephile. There are events such as film casting discussions and screenings to come. In conjunction with this, the Film Archive is also running its Ticket to Hollywood festival, which includes film screenings of these, our own Hollywood stars.