Silent cinema is not only flammable, it made use of smoke and fire as a plot device and a showstopper. Enjoy the little firebugs at work!
Silent Movie People Set Things on Fire
My 100th Cooking with the Silent Stars: Whose Recipe Shall I Prepare?
I took a look at my ongoing project to cook every single recipe in the Photoplay Cookbook and realized that I am up to the mid-70s. That means I have a milestone coming up and I want you to help me decide the best way to mark it.
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Unboxing the Silents: The Holy Mountain on Bluray
Another German film is coming to HD, mountain film by Arnold Fanck. The star is a dancer named Leni Riefenstahl.
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The Winners of the Gloria Swanson Blurays
We have two winners to announce for the Gloria Swanson Bluray Giveaway sponsored by Kino Lorber! This is very exciting.
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Fun Size Review: The Artist (2011)
Quite possibly one of the most controversial silent films, this little picture has been responsible for billions of pixels worth of rants. My opinion?
Theodor Körner (1912) A Silent Film Review
A biopic of the famous German soldier-poet who wrote blood and thunder verses and died in battle before his twenty-second birthday. This is one of the earliest surviving German features available.
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Learn How to Flirt Like a Silent Movie Star
Silent films are famous for their red hot romances and so what better place to learn how to flirt? Silent movie stars, show your stuff!
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The ‘?’ Motorist (1906) A Silent Film Review
What would you do to get out of a traffic ticket? Fly to Saturn? That is the solution hit upon in this delightful British sci-fi comedy.
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Cooking with the (Silent) Stars: Marie Prevost’s Beverly Hills Salad
Welcome back! I’m cooking my way through every recipe in the 1929 Photoplay cookbook and this time, we’re looking at a fan favorite and veteran of both comedy and drama.
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Flu Woes
Hi, everyone. Sorry to be a party pooper but I have been struck down with a flu bug. I’m actually on the mend but I think I was a little ambitious today, so I’m taking it easy until tomorrow.
Unboxing the Silents: Stage Struck and Manhandled from Kino
I have a pair of much-anticipated Blurays to look at today and both of them star the legendary Gloria Swanson.
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Gloria Swanson Bluray Giveaway! Win Two Kino Releases!
What’s better than a silent movie? A free silent movie! That’s right, I have Blurays to give away and both feature the glorious Gloria Swanson!
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First International Competition for Airplanes in Brescia (1909) A Silent Film Review
Less than six years after the Wright brothers’ successful flight, a gathering of airplane enthusiasts was organized in Italy and we have footage of this remarkable event.
Nick Winter and the Theft of the Mona Lisa (1911) A Silent Film Review
On August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. A few days later, this comedy was released spoofing the theft and the less-than-competent investigation. The jokes were torn from 1911 headlines, will they yield modern laughs?
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Cooking with the (Silent) Stars: Helene Costello’s Fresh Salmon en Casserole
Welcome back! I’m cooking my way through the 1929 Photoplay Cookbook and today’s recipe is a seafood entree from an actress from a very famous family.
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Poll Results: You Chose My Theme Month
“The time has come,” the walrus said and we are ready to announce the top choice in our latest poll. We asked our dear readers to choose our next theme month.
Theme Month! April 2018: Kafka Goes to the Movies
If this sounds like a heavy topic, let me assure you that the films of Franz Kafka’s day were generally anything but Kafkaesque. (I adore Kafka but I understand he may not be everyone’s springtime cup of tea.)
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Fun Size Review: The Beloved Blackmailer (1918)
A mixed bag of a comedy about a young lady who falls for a hypochondriac. What to do? Obviously, hire a retired boxer to kidnap him and make a fighter of him. Yeah, I can see no flaws in this plan.
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Parabola (1937) A Silent Film Review
Pioneering animator Mary Ellen Bute creates a mathematical and abstract miniature piece of visual music. It’s a stunner!
Silent Movie People Are Taken by Surprise
I am shocked– SHOCKED– to find silent movies being covered here!
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Death and Taxes
Readers, I chose the latter. I was planning to get something better for you today but I am a bit compulsive (as you might have noticed) and I started organizing my tax stuff and then it seemed like a shame to stop in the middle…
Cooking with the (Silent) Stars: Junior Coghlan’s Mother’s Fruit Cookies
Welcome back! I am cooking my way through the 1929 Photoplay Cookbook. This time, I am going to be preparing cookies from one of the popular child stars of the silent era, one with a modern superhero connection.
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Poll: You Choose My Theme Month (Rise Up and Vote Here!)
I asked my readers to submit ideas for a theme month and they came through with some really spectacular suggestions. Now it’s time to vote on the final choice.
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Springtime Silent Movie Challenge: In the Beginning…
While the silent era lasted for over three decades, it is the 1920s that seems to define the art of mute cinema. People who don’t know any better even type things like “1920s silent movie” without thinking twice.
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Fun Size Review: Where the North Holds Sway (1927)
A perfectly solid little Mountie flick with a hero (Jack Perrin), a kid, a dog and a genius horse. It’s one of those revenge B-pictures, you know the type if you’ve seen enough classic era westerns, but it works.
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Peter and the Wolf (2006) A Silent Film Review
Prokofiev’s famous work is brought to the screen via stop motion animation in this Oscar-winning short film. Bleak and stylish, the short also eschews the usual narrator and goes silent.
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Where are the Vamps of Yesteryear? Five Wicked Movie Women of 100+ Years Ago
What may come as a surprise to modern readers is just how early “Where are they now?” articles cropped up in film history. Here’s a particularly interesting specimen from exactly 100 years ago when the first vampire film craze was winding down.
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Cooking with the (Silent) Stars: Lew Cody’s Stinkin’ Dinner
Welcome back! I am cooking my way through the 1929 Photoplay Cookbook and we’re trying something a little different today. It’s not really a recipe so much as a meal plan from an actor who dubbed himself a “Male Vampire” at one point.
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“But you have to see it on the big screen!” and Other Silent Movie Problems
Are people with access to theatrical silent film screenings better fans than those who rely on home video? It’s an issue that has cropped up periodically over the years and since I just attended a screening of Metropolis, I thought it would be fun to chew over this topic.
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Silent Movie People Get the Message
Secret and not-so-secret messages are an important storytelling ingredient and silent movies delivered them with rare flair.