The event has begun and the roster with direct links can be found here.
Update: We have a sponsor! Flicker Alley has kindly given its support to the blogathon. Details and a movie giveaway here.
I am tickled to announce the second edition of the Classic Movie History Project. I am once again joined by my wonderful co-hosts, Aurora of Once Upon a Screen and Ruth of Silver Screenings.
We believe that there is a little bit of the historian in every classic movie fan. After all, we love films that were made before we were born and, in some cases, before our parents or grandparents were born. Here is our chance to combine our love of classic film with our passion for history.
Last time, we divided the history of film into individual years with each blogger claiming one year to cover. While this method was thorough, it left some talented writers out in the cold. You see, every single slot was snapped up in just 36 hours. This time, we are taking a looser approach, one that will allow more participants to help make this event memorable, educational and fun.
We have divided the history of film from 1880 to 1975 between us. I am your Silent Era host and will be covering 1880-1929. Aurora is our Golden Age host and will be covering 1930-1952. Ruth is our Modern host and will be covering 1953-1975. We have divided our year ranges into bite-size sections. Pick your bite, tell us your angle and you’re in like Flynn!
What about duplicates?
While no exact duplicates are allowed, the topic is so broad that we are sure you will find an angle that works for you. For example, if someone is covering Rebel Without a Cause, you might cover the overall career of James Dean. That being said, if there is a section that looks a little empty, we would greatly appreciate you stepping up and making sure there are no gaps in the event.
Do I have to stay in Hollywood?
No! International cinema is welcome and encouraged. While our date ranges are based on Hollywood history, please feel free to cover cinema from any nation 1880-1975.
Can I still cover a particular year?
Yes, you can. Just make sure that your angle is different from everyone else’s. For example, if someone is already writing about why 1939 is such a great year, you might write about the Academy Award winners of ’39 or choose to focus on individual films.
Do you only accept blog posts or can I get imaginative?
You can get imaginative. Pictorials, videos, podcasts and other multimedia items are allowed.
Wow! I’m so excited that I can’t choose just one topic! Can I write in more than one category?
Yes! If you would like to take on extra categories and date ranges, please feel free to do so.
How do I join?
Contact any of your friendly hosts and we will add you to the roster. Please be sure to include the address of your blog, the section you have chosen and the title or general nature of your topic.
Example:
Hello! I would like to join in the 1880-1895 category. I want to cover Fred Ott’s Sneeze. My blog address is happypeppypeople.blogatron.com
When do I post?
We will each be hosting one day of the event in chronological order. I will be first (June 26), Aurora second (June 27) and Ruth will wrap things up (June 28).
So grab yourself a banner and get ready for a historically good time!
Roster
The Silent Era (1880-1929)
1880-1913: The early history of the the movies
Silent-ology | Overview of early film
The Movie Rat | The Muybridge Experiment
Silent Volume | The Best Pre-Feature Movies
Christy’s Inkwells | How I learned to love silent movies
Big V Riot Squad | Life of an American Director: Edwin S Porter in 1903
365 Days 365 Classics | Indian Silent Cinema
Silver Screenings | Early Trick Photography The Thieving Hand (1908)
Now Voyaging | The early directing career of Lois Weber
1914-1918: The War
Now Voyaging | Movie audience perceptions of the war
Century Film Project | Regeneration (1915)
Once Upon a Screen | Birth of Fox Studios: A Centennial Tribute
Yesterday, Tomorrow and Fantasy | Tom Sawyer, the 1917 Film
The Cinematic Packrat | The early history of MGM
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World | William Selig’s Lost World
1919-1923: Hollywood triumphs
Movies Silently | Home Theaters of the Silent Era
A Small Press Life | Anita Loos: Females in Early Hollywood
vivandlarry.com | James Abbe: Capturing the silent screen
1924-1927: The high art of pantomime
Sepia Stories | Jeanne Eagels was Robbed. Why the stage’s most recognized Sadie Thompson didn’t appear in the film.
In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood | Don Juan and the Vitaphone
Movies Silently | The Chess Player (1927)
1928-1929: The talkie revolution
film, fashion & frivolity | Garbo’s Last Silents
Critica Retro | 1928 Around the World
CineMaven’s Essays from the Couch | The Crowd (1928)
The Golden Age (1930-1952)
1930-1931: All Singing! All Dancing! All Talking!
A Person in the Dark | Early Musicals
Classic Reel Girl | Early portrayal of taxi dancers: Ten Cents a Dance (1931) and Two Seconds (1932)
Cinephilia | Lubitsch films 1930-1943
Silver Screen Modes | How Fashions Sold the Movies 1930-1940
regularpop | Loretta Young’s career
1932-1934: The wild world of pre-Code.
Carole & Co. | Of Carole and Pre-Code
Girls Do Film | Barbara Stanwyck’s Pre-Code Bad Girls
The Stop Button | The Son of Kong (1933)
Wolffian Classics Movies Digest | Bette Davis, Dame of the Screen
stevielounicks | Dinner at Eight (1933)
In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood | Ethel Barrymore’s transition from stage to screen
Second Sight Cinema | Development of newsreels, real life influencing Hollywood and vice versa, and presidential politics and policy in 1932-’33.
Outspoken & Freckled | Feminism in the Pre-Code Era
CineMaven’s Essays from the Couch | Heat Lightning (1934)
Stars and Letters | Correspondence from Joseph Breen from 1934 and 1935 regarding the Production Code
1935-1938: The Code enforced and the rise of Technicolor.
Nitrate Glow | Disney’s Early Features
Silver Scenes | 1936-A Grand Year in Film
1939: The Big Year
Movie Movie Blog Blog | Laurel and Hardy’s The Flying Deuces
Smitten Kitten Vintage | The Big Year: Selections from the Biggest Year in Classic Cinema
MovieFanFare | The worst of 1939
1940-1945: Wartime cinema
Once Upon a Screen | The de Havilland Decision
The Vintage Cameo | Wartime Musicals
Speakeasy | 1943 at RKO
The Motion Pictures| For Me and My Gal (1942)
Way Too Damn Lazy to Write a Blog | Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
Phyllis Loves Classic Movies | What the Stars Did to Help Win the War
Shadows and Satin | Barbara Stanwyck in film noir
1946-1949: Homecoming
B Noir Detour | Wartime Cinema
Queerly Different | The Rise and Fall of the Biblical Epic (3 parts!)
Pure Golden Classics | Gilda (1946)
regularpop | Lizabeth Scott’s career
1950-1952: Realism and the Method
Sister Celluloid | Stage Fright: Hitchcock Goes Home
Old Hollywood Films | Hollywood Expose Pictures
Hitchcock’s World | Destination Moon (1950)
Caftan Woman | Adult Westerns
Criterion Blues |The Collapse of the Studio System (3 parts!)
Swinging into Modern Times (1953-1975)
1953-1957: The birth of cool
Back to Golden Days | Juvenile Delinquency: The Blackboard Jungle, The Wild One, Rebel Without a Cause
Movies Silently | After the Silents: A Face in the Crowd (1957)
Movie Mania Madness | It’s Always Fair Weather: The Musical Gets Cynical
Voyages Extraordinaires | Scientific Romances in the Atomic Age
Silver Scenes | 3-d Films of the 1950s
Cultural Civilian | Revisiting It Should Happen to You (1954) in a Reality-TV World
Let’s Go to the Movies | Love as portrayed in key films released during this time period
Totally Filmi | The Apu Trilogy
1958-1962: Musicals, biblical epics and the shimmy-shimmy shakes.
A Shroud of Thoughts | British New Wave
Cary Grant Won’t Eat You | Single Roommates in the City: The Best of Everything (1959)
Jim Fanning’s Tulgey Wood | The Widescreen Splendor of Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1959)
1963-1967: Mod’s the word
The Last Drive In | Strong Women of Sixties Film
The Wonderful World of Cinema | 1967: An Important Turning Point in Film
Reel and Rock | The Go-Getters aka The System (1964)
That Other Critic | Batman (1966)
Classic Becky’s Brain Food | Three Big Films of 1969
No Nonsense with Nuwan Sen | Films of 1966
The Joy & Agony of Movies | Movies: 1963-67 (Topic TBA)
1968-1972: Hays is dead
Portraits by Jenni | Airport (1970)
The Joy and Agony of Movies | Films about politics and social unrest
Girls Do Film | The American Road Movie
Moon in Gemini | Paranoia in Movies
Le Mot du Cinephiliaque | The year 1968 in France’s Cinema
1972-1975: The Godfather and Jaws
Silver Screenings | Sounder: The Anti-Blaxploitation Film
Once Upon a Screen | Mel Brooks’ Take on Classic Film Genres
Crimson Kimono | The Surveillance Sleuth of The Conversation
Banners
Not sure how I missed this the first go-round, but I’d definitely be interested. Methinks I would pursue either 1928-1929: The talkie revolution or 1932-1934: The wild world of pre-Code, naturally providing asomewhat Lombard-centric take on either one (to make it work for my blog). Heck, I might do both since they are for different days, with different hosts.
Wonderful! Let me know your decision and I will add you to the roster
Think I will work on “Of Carole and pre-Code” for the 1932-1934 segment, with the angle being why Lombard wasn’t fully able to take advantage of the pre-Code era despite her beauty, sex appeal and budding talent.
Great! I will add you to the roster
Hi Fritzi!
I’d like to cover Stage Fright, a much-maligned, horribly underrated Hitchcock film that captures an interesting period of his career — after a series of Hollywood hits, he went home for a spell, and used a largely British cast. I loved the movie, but seem to be in the minority… Maybe call the post “Stage Fright: Hitchcock Goes Home”…
Thank you,
Janet
Wonderful! Glad to have you
Say Sister C., I’ll be looking forward to reading your take on “Stage Fright.” I’ve tried and tried…Hitch knows I’ve tried to get through that movie. Maybe your take will put me over the hump.
I hope so, Theresa!! Now I’ll be thinking of you when I write it — it’s no longer just an article, it’s a quest!! 🙂
One thing also: My “…And Scene!” blogathon is the same weekend! I hope you, Aurora, Ruth and everyone will participate in that as well — and you only need to write about one scene! 🙂
Thanks so much for letting me know!
Wow, this sounds like it would be fun, and it would be a perfect opportunity for me to use some of my academic experience and some of the things I learned from that class I just finished that covered a similar timeframe (technically we only went up to the 60’s, but that’s beside the point). The only trouble is going to be deciding what to do. I’ve already written extensively on Soviet Montage, the Production Code, my extreme dislike for a certain French New Wave auteur, and my feelings on Art Cinema. This is going to be a tough choice.
Okay, just let me know what you decide and I will add you to the roster 🙂
Okay, but I think I’m going to need some time to think about this one. Fortunately it looks like there’s a few weeks so I should be okay.
Awesome, I’ll take 1880-1895.
Wonderful! Do you know your angle or would you like some time to plan?
A general overview is what I’m aiming for. 🙂 Looks like it will be a wonderful blogathon!
I’d like to do the last MGM and Greta Garbo silent, “The Kiss” 1929, either by itself or combined with “The Single Standard” 1929, Garbo’s penultimate silent. My blog is ‘film, fashion & frivolity’. I’ve also just started a FB page similarly titled, ‘Film, fashion & frivolity’.
Great! Welcome aboard
Looking forward to it!
Ooh! Ooh! Sign me up! I’m thinking a take on Rain/Sadie Thompson. Something like “Jeanne Eagels was Robbed. Why the stage’s most recognized Sadie Thompson didn’t appear in the film.”
Fantastic! I’ll put you down in 1924-1927 but let me know if you want to be moved.
Was hoping to find a “History of Film” class this summer. Here it is! Thanks,Fritzi, and everyone!
Hurray! Glad to be of service.
Yay! Thanks for tweeting the link to me! I want to cover the year 1928 in film worldwide.
Kisses!
Le
Sounds great! Welcome
Hi there Fritizi – I would like to join the Classic Movie History Project Blogathon and tackle a silent film from the 1928 – 1929 era: “THE CROWD.” My blog’s address is: https://cinemavensessaysfromthecouch.wordpress.com/. I was also wondering, do you allow more than one blog post per your blogathon. ( I’m eyeing your wild and woolly pre-code era. ) If it’s only one post per person…I’m fine with that as well. Thanks so much. CineMaven.
Hi there! Yes, please feel free to cover more than one topic. Several other bloggers have already expressed an interest in doing just that and I am thrilled at the additional participation. Let me know your pre-code angle and I will add that as well.
Fritzi – my additional essay would be a short post for your 1935 – 1938 category. An Ann Harding film called”The Flame Within.”
Sounds great!
Hi, My name is Amanda Garrett and my website is http://www.oldhollywoodfilms.com. I would love to participate in the blogathon with a post in the 1950-1952 era. My post would be about Sunset Boulevard and the many other Hollywood expose films in that era, like The Bad and the Beautiful, In a Lonely Place, and The Star.
Thanks!
Great topic! Welcome aboard
Having done this last year, I’m certainly up for another go-round. I’d be interested in doing 1968-72 and specifically politically-oriented films from the time, or movies that addressed the unrest of the time or events that led to that unrest, be they American (MEDIUM COOL, DRIVE, HE SAID, THE CANDIDATE) or foreign (WEEKEND, Z, INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION, STATE OF SIEGE).
Sounds great! Welcome
Thanks. This may end up being a multi-part post (and might touch on 1963-67 and 1972-75 as well, depending on how many movies I can cram in between now and then, and whether I have time to write about them all. I will keep you posted.
Okay, sounds good. Be sure to let Ruth over at Silver Screenings know as well. Thanks! 🙂
So happy you’re doing this again. I’m going to be ambitious and take two slots if that’s ok?
1. Barbara Stanwyck’s Pre-Code Bad Girls (Babyface / Night Nurse and maybe one other)
2. The American Road Movie (Bonnie & Clyde / Easy Rider / Badlands) – so I think a late 1960s time frame
Let me know if you think they’re too broad or if I’m taking up too many films? 😉
Glad you could join! Sounds great to me 🙂
Hi Fritzi – I am Paul Etcheverry and my website is http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com. For 1940-1945: Wartime cinema, I would like to contribute a post about CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT.
Glad to have you!
I would like to do a feature on the early Disney features from 1937-1942.
Sounds great!
Hi Fritzi. I’m so glad you are doing this again. I would like to do a post called “Life of an American Director: Edwin S Porter in 1903.” My blog is The Big V Riot Squad, http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/.
Yay! So glad you could join in with some of the early stuff. Great topic!
I was thinking I’d like to do an article about paranoia in late 60s and 70s films, i.e. Rosemary’s Baby, The Parallax View, The Conversation.
Is that O.K., or is it too similar to Sean’s topic?
I think it’s a different enough approach to be all right. Great topic! Thanks so much for joining in!
Made this my Carole & Co. entry for the day: http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/789088.html
Thanks!
I would like to take a slot in 1950-1952: Realism and the Method, focusing on the adult westerns of the period. http://www.caftanwoman.com/
Great topic! Welcome aboard
Woweeeee! I can just see some Anthony Mann-talk comin’ thru! 🙂
You know it!
🙂
Hi Fritzi. I’m not sure if my last comment went through. I’m thinking about covering 3 topics if that’s ok? For one of my topics I want to do John Barrymore’s “Don Juan” 1926, and the introductory of Vitaphone, the sound on disc system. Don Juan was the first film in which that was introduced so I would like to write about that?
Sounds great!
Excellent. Would doing three topics be ok?, or would it be a bit too much? I have other things in mind, but having a hard time deciding.
Oh yes, take as many as you can handle. Just let me know what your other topics are once you decide and I will update the roster
It sounds fun, and the good thing is, I have the whole of next month off, so I have plenty of time. Because I do a lot of working regarding the Barrymore’s, and run a page on them, and actually want to research for a propose book, I want to do something covering Ethel Barrymore, but I’m not actually too sure of what aspects on her to cover. Do you have any ideas?
There’s a lot to cover. You can write about her attempt at the silents or her return to MGM.
The silents would be a great idea, but I’ve never actually seen her silent films as they are now lost.
Yes but a lot of marketing materials and contemporary reviews survive.
Actually I would like to write about Ethel’s transition from the stage to the screen. That would be in the 1930 to the 1952 time slot.
Ok, I’ll update the roster
Thanks. Am I still down for Don Juan? Just making sure because I cant see it on the roster now.
It was Don Juan and the introduction to Vitaphone.
Yes you are
Great. Thanks. I will let you know when I think of my other choice.
Hi Fritzi – I’d like to pick 1930-1932: the early musicals if that’s okay. Some are actually from 1929, but it would be those first all talking, all singing and all dancing flicks,
Fantastic! Welcome aboard 🙂
I would like to join, if possible! I was thinking I could do 1949-1966, covering the rise and fall of the biblical epic (beginning with “Samson and Delilah” and definitively ending with “The Bible: In the Beginning.”
Ok, great! Would it be one long post or would you divide it between days?
Hmm…I’m not sure. Probably the latter, though, so I could focus on some of the key issues raised by the genre. Would that work?
Yes, that’s fine 🙂
Love this idea for a blogathon, which I was sorry to miss last time! I’m interested in 1958-1962: Musicals, biblical epics and the shimmy-shimmy shakes. I wanted my post to be Single Roommates in the City: The Best of Everything (1959). carygrantwonteatyou.com.
Sounds great!
Hi there, I haven’t firmed up my topic yet but I am interested in participating! Can you provisionally include me and I get back to you with firm details closer to the time? Sorry to be a pain.
No problem at all! Several bloggers have chosen that route already so it’s no problem at all. Glad to have you 🙂
Great, I will keep you posted! 🙂
Hi!
I was a little confused on how to get in touch, so I’ll just do what everyone else is doing and make a comment here!
I’d like to sign up a couple of my blogs, if that’s okay. For my blog “Voyages Extraordinaires” (http://voyagesextraordinaires.blogspot.ca/) I’d like to post on “Scientific Romances in the Atomic Age” under the Modern category. I’m not sure exactly where it would fit, given that the subject spans from 1953 to 1970. For my associated blog “Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World” (http://sirarthurconandoyleslostworld.blogspot.ca/) I’d like to post on “How the Lost World (Film) was Lost and Found Again” under the 1924-1927 category. If that’s not too much, I’m also thinking of something for the Disney-inspired blog my wife and I share… I’ll get back on that one 🙂
Thanks! This is a great idea and I’m looking forward to participating if you’ll have me!
Hi there. Glad to have you aboard! I will add you to the roster and as soon as you decide on additional subjects, let me know and I will add them.
Thanks for the addition! The third post will be for our blog “Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Fantasy” (http://yesterday-tomorrow-and-fantasy.blogspot.ca/) and entitled “Tom Sawyer, the 1917 Film”. We’re in the middle of a series on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer over there, and that fits in perfectly!
Thanks again!
Great!
Now I’m just being a pest! Is it alright if I change the article from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World to “William Selig’s Lost World”? I had a slight change of heart! Thank you and sorry about that!
No problem at all. If memory serves, wasn’t it going to be released 1918-ish? I will slip you into that slot. Let me know if you would prefer a different placement.
Thanks! That’s perfect!
Here’s my post’s title: The year 1968 in France’s Cinema. Michaël from Le Mot du Cinephiliaque
Thanks!
May I sign up, please? I’d like to write about “James Abbe: Capturing the silent screen” in the 1920s over at VivAndLarry.com
Sounds great!
Hi Fritzi!!
I would love to write about the films of Ernst Lubitsch from 1930 to 1943.It will be a great chance to re-watch some of his films again like “The Shop Around the Corner”,”Design For Living”,”To be or Not to be”.
Sounds great!
I’m probably going to regret this because of the scope of it, but can I do a brief history on the formation and studio of MGM? I wanted to start with the three individual studio’s (Metro, Goldwyn, and Mayer) and their history (covering each in separate posts put up throughout the day) and then ending on a fourth post discussing the final convergence of these three and the studio that formed out of it. In order to not get too broad, it will be, like I said, just a brief history. I would think I would post it during your day since it was formed in the silent era, but maybe another day would be appropriate.
As you already know, my address is thecinematicpackrat.wordpress.com
Sounds like a great idea. I will slip you into the 1914-1918 slot as that’s when Metro began and when Mayer made his fortune distributing Birth of a Nation.
Oooohhh, so happy you’re doings this again! I’ve been inactive on my blog for a time (due to school, of course), but summer is on the way now, and I’m looking forward to posting every week again. 🙂
Anyways, after that rabbit trail, I believe I shall write on Gilda, if that isn’t taken yet, darling?
Glad to have you aboard! I will be updating the roster a little later and will be sure to include you.
Hi There!
This looks fantastically fun. Thank you so much for hosting.
I’d like to do a write up on Loretta Young, starting with a couple pre-codes and talking a bit about the trajectory of her career– from sexy 30s dame to 50s our lady of the small screen.
I’d also like to do a brief appreciation of Lizabeth Scott’s noir work.
Would these topics fit in the blogathon?
Thank You!
Hi there! Yes, both of those would work. I will add you to the roster.
Hi Fritzi-
If it’s not too late, I’d like to make some slight changes. My Loretta Young entry will be
“Loretta Young in ’51: Cause for Alarm.” It will include an overview of her career and an appreciation of her performance in the early ’50s noir (so it probably fits in the early 50s section now).
The other might be titled “Queen of the Noirs: 3 Faces of Liz Scott”
Thank you for putting putting this together. I can’t wait to start reading!
Great, I will pass it on
Thank you!!
RegularPop, I’ll be looking forward to reading your post on Loretta Young. I am a new fan of hers and need to read someone rational talk about her. As for Lizabeth Scott…she had me at “hello” with that husky voice of hers. Count me a devotee. Can’t wait for this blogathon to swing and sway.
CineMaven
Hi Cinemaven! Thanks for the encouragement! Can’t wait to hear your take on the great L.Y. (and about what got you hooked. I’m a recent convert too.) And I’m super interested to read about your Ann Harding pic! (She had a long career, but she’s not oft-mentioned…) Hats off to our hosts for putting this all together!
Hi Fritzi – I would like to contribute (Golden Age) “How Fashion Sold the Movies, 1930-1940.”
Thanks,
Christian (silverscreenmodes.com)
Sounds great!
Hi Fritzi,
Can I join with correspondence from Joseph Breen from 1934 and 1935 regarding the Production Code?
Thanks, Janet
Great! What is the URL of your website?
http://starsandletters.blogspot.nl/
Thanks!
🙂
Dear Fritzi;
I wrote to Aurora late last week but wanted to touch base with you as well with MovieFanFare’s last-minute contribution to the blogathon. On Friday 6/26 I’ll be putting up a look at The WORST movies from 1939 (Not everything Hollywood put out that year was a Gone with the Wind or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, after all). I’ve also added a blogathon banner to our home page. Thanks for co-hosting.
Great to have you aboard! I have been a little behind in updating the roster but will do it soon.
The Worst of 1939? L0L!!! Now this is a list I gotta see. But I give you fair warning Gary. If you put “The Gorilla” on that list of yours, it’ll mean WAR! 😉
Hi Frizti! I would like to join in, if it’s not too late. I will be blogging about The Widescreen Splendor of Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1959) for 1958-1962. If I understand correctly I need to have my blog posting up anytime on June 26. Is that correct?
Hi Jim! Since you’re in the modern era, you can post as late as the 28th. Welcome aboard!
I’m sorry, I forgot to include my URL: http://jimattulgeywood.blogspot.com
Fritzi honey—I am no longer doing the To Be or Not to Be / Great Dictator post (still showing on the roster) but AM doing the piece on newsreels, reality and fiction, and politics 1932-’33, which is correctly listed under 1932-’34.
I *will* eventually do the Lubitsch / Chaplin piece, but not now…
Thanks so much for hosting this thing! Wonderful stuff, can’t wait to finish writing and start reading!
xxoo
Lesley (secondsightcinema)
Thanks!
Hey! Thanks so much for this opportunity! Here is my link, https://365days365classiccinemareview.wordpress.com/. Hope I am not late. Congrats on the sponsor! Very eager to read other entries too.
Thanks so much! I will update the roster.
Thank you so much!
Thank you! 😀