ST. ELMO and “The Passion of Miss Augusta”

Filmmaker Robert Clem pays tribute to Augusta Evans Wilson and ST. ELMO in his film THE PASSION OF MISS AUGUSTA.  The film premiered September 12, 2013, in Mobile, Alabama.  I haven’t seen the movie, but I’m looking forward to viewing the DVD.  (I’m listed as one of the co-producers in the credits.)

“The Passion of Miss Augusta” is part drama, part documentary.  The film begins as a silent film version of ST. ELMO then fast-forwards to the 1950s with the main characters in modern dress.  As you watch the trailer (above) notice the differences between the silent and modern-day versions.

Augusta Jane Evans Wilson (1835-1909), American novelist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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ST ELMO: Poster of the Film in Color

English: Barbara LaMarr (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A publicity picture of actress Bessie Love (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Poster probably used to advertise the 1923 Fox film version starring John Gilbert (“St. Elmo), Bessie Love (“Edna Earl”), Barbara LaMarr (“Agnes Powell”), and Warner Baxter (“Murray Hammond”).

ST. ELMO’s Legacy

Augusta Jane Evans Wilson (1835-1909), American novelist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I started this blog in part to pay homage to my favorite novel, ST. ELMO, and my favorite novelist, Augusta Evans Wilson.  If it were not for ST. ELMO, I may not have discovered John Gilbert, who played the leading role in the film adaptation.

 

John Gilbert was a versatile actor, who could play the role of a “good guy” as easily as that of a “bad guy.”  I’ve heard that he preferred playing bad guys.  ST. ELMO was a vehicle for John Gilbert to display his ability to play both.  He starts off as a bad guy, but for the love of a woman, turns into a good guy.

 

Below is an excerpt from page 40 of the ST. ELMO novel in which the maid is describing “St. Elmo‘s” character to the protagonist, Edna Earl.

  “Listen to me, child, for I like your patient ways and want to give you a friendly warning . . . . Whatever else you do, be sure not to cross ‘Mass Elmo’s path.  Keep out of his way, and he will keep out of yours, for he is shy enough of strangers, and would walk a mile to keep from meeting anybody; But if he finds you in his way, he will walk roughshod right over you–trample you. . . .  He hates everybody and everything. . . .  He is like a rattlesnake that crawls in his own track and bites everything that meddles or crosses his trail . . . Above everything child . . . don’t argue with him!  If he says black is white, don’t contradict him; and if he swears water runs upstream, let him swear and don’t let him know water runs down . . . .  Everybody is afraid of him, and gives way to him. . . . I would rather put my head in a wolf’s jaws than stir him up.  [He is a] “sinful, swearing, raging devil.”

ST. ELMO is still in print.  Filmmaker Robert Clem is in the process of filming a ST ELMO remake or docudrama.  It is called THE PASSION OF MISS AUGUSTA.

 

 

 
 

 

 

St. ELMO and Augusta Evans Wilson Mania

The novels of Augusta Evans Wilson–especially St. Elmo, have profoundly influenced my life.  For example, I collect salt cellars.  Why? Because there is a line in St Elmo that goes like this:  “He paid no more attention to her than the salt cellars on the table.”  My yard is filled with oxalis, jasmine, purple  heliotrope, camellias, and scented geraniams because Augusta mentions them in her books.  I collect antique toothbrush holders.  Why?  Because I saw Augusta’s Victorian toothbrush holder in an Augusta Evans Wilson museum exhibit in Mobile, AL.  Pilgrims Progress, Dante, Lucille, Putrach’s Lives, and a copy of Robert Brownings poems showcase my bookcase because Augusta refers to them in her novels.   I collect multiple copies of Augusta Evans Wilson’s novels because each of them has a different cover and– just because I want to.

Augusta Evans Wilson inspired me to become a writer, and her novel ST. ELMO inspired mine–THE PRINCE IN THE TOWER” A Modern Gothic Romance–which features a John Gilbert look-alike. The film adaptation of ST. ELMO was released in 1923 (Fox).