Women's History Month 2024. Blanche Walsh: The Forgotten Mother of Hollywood
Blanche Walsh: The Forgotten Mother of Hollywood
(A story with a unique Russian twist)
The Legacy Program: A series of conversations
Presented by John Bradin, Educator, Writer, Talk Show Host and Director,
The Blanche Walsh Project
When: March 25, 6:30 PM
Where: ZOOM
Event Venue:
Russian American Cultural Center via ZOOMEvent Date:
Monday, March 25, 2024
One of the best kept secrets of Hollywood is the Russian influence on its birth. In this Breaking News lecture, John Bredin reveals the true, untold story of Hollywood’s origin. This amazing tale involves the lost 1912 film, Resurrection, based on a Leo Tolstoy novel about love and social justice. The film played a key role in elevating motion pictures to a respected art form, while also creating the prototype of the “movie star.” The movie starred Blanche Walsh, a great forgotten actress who we’ll celebrate for Woman’s History Month. Though unknown today, Walsh was once the undisputed Queen of Broadway (“American Bernhardt”). Bredin has an unusual family connection to the actress. In a real life fairy tale (Cinderella story) she rescued his grandmother from a London orphanage, brought her to live in NYC, and became her dear second mother. Fresh from his doctoral study at Drexel University (“Imagine a Hollywood for the Greater Good: A Story of Lost Film, Found Family, and Recovered Dreams”), Bredin will share his groundbreaking research on Hollywood’s more loving, Russian, and “happier beginning.” As an educator who sees the pedagogical value of cinema, Bredin hopes that restoring Hollywood’s true, humanistic origin story will have a positive impact on the movie industry moving forward.
John Bredin, Talk Show Host:
The core of our mission is to make humanistic ideas come alive for the broader public. We place human dialogue at the center of our work, in the same way Martin Buber (the great philosopher and theologian) believed in the sacredness of the "I-Thou" encounter. Which doesn't mean we don't like to have fun and enjoy a few laughs! We believe intellectual discourse can also be engaging...and even entertaining. Host John Bredin, an educator who hails from a show business family, has just the right knack for this. His wife and co-producer Claudia Canasto, a Colombian born scientist who is also deeply spiritual, is the perfect counterpart to this unique, "multicultural couple" TV show.
Regina Khidekel is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82624116310?pwd=V2liSndjR1RSL3hOclVEVTNOK3FVZz09
Russian-American Cultural Center programing is made possible by part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Cojeco and Tianaderrah Foundation.
