A little look at makeup through the early years of Mr. B

So Mr. B liked to say he was generally in films and on stage "as is" and bare-faced, but he wore a fair number of wigs, prosthetics, and especially eyebrows in the early years. Given that in the majority of his silent film years he was making several at a time, is it a wonder he had a few scars from makeup and perhaps lights on his face?

Let's have a look at some early film and stage makeup, shall we? After you.

Above are from Drums of Love, where Mr. B was heavily made up (at the same time he was filming Sadie Thompson for 1928 release!)

In A Yaqui Cur, center. MUCH mustache!

 The wonderful Mme. Mandelip in The Devil-Doll

 As John, the "strong man" in The Strong Man's Burden

 Ah, the ill-fated Macbeth on Broadway...

 

 Above two are from The 13th Hour (not Mysterious Island!)

 The little-known and probably not extant Decameron Nights

 Mr. B enjoyed dressing up to play Scrooge

And of course, Mr. B as Rasputin, with his "deer-hunting dog" infested beard he speaks magnificently of in his bio.

He was indeed a man of--well, perhaps a couple dozen faces. Later prosthetics, like in the later 30s and 40s, occasionally made him virtually invisible (I'm thinking of you, The Gorgeous Hussy!)