Celebrate Silent Film
Most fans of silent movies know that nitrate film was a little dangerous. Okay, pretty dangerous. Okay, a dangerous flammable object that creates its own oxygen as it burns and caused (and causes) more than its share of destructive fires.
Continue reading ““You Probably Won’t Burn to Death at Our Theater” Asbestos Ad from 1914″
We’ve done polls about ages and locations but I want to know how old you were when you saw a silent movie for the first time.
Continue reading “At What Age Did You Watch Your First Silent Film?”
Sometimes goofy, sometimes creepy, occasionally romantic but always entertaining. Rudolph Valentino is a sheik who falls for an Englishwoman, Agnes Ayres. What do you do when the lady you love thinks you’re a creep? Kidnap her and confirm all her suspicions, of course!
Continue reading “Fun Size Review: The Sheik (1921)”
There’s malice in the royal palace when King David’s hottest son, Absalom, decides to stage himself a little coup de tat. Lots of stencil-colored Biblical war in this impressive French production.
Continue reading “Absalom (1912) A Silent Film Review”
The first screen adaptation of Chicago was a silent film and a rather saucy one at that. Phyllis Haver is on fire as the heartless Roxie Hart, who shoots her lover and spends the rest of the film attempting to game the legal system in order to get off scot-free.
Continue reading “Fun Size Review: Chicago (1927)”
Every year, the National Film Registry opens up its nomination process to the general public and so this is your chance to make sure that important films are preserved for future generations.
Continue reading “Reminder: The Deadline to Nominate Titles for the National Film Registry is September 15”
Hello all. Just letting you know that tomorrow, the power company in its infinite wisdom will be turning off my power for the entire day.
Continue reading “Power Outage Imminent!”
Mary Pickford’s dark, rotting slice of Southern gothic is one of her finest films. It is also the last time she would play a child, one of her filmmaking signatures, and so it marks the end of an era but what a way to go.
Continue reading “Fun Size Review: Sparrows (1926)”
This sci-fi comedy from the Edison film company follows a chemist who has invented reverse gravity and ends up on Mars. Don’t you just hate it when that happens?
Continue reading “A Trip to Mars (1910) A Silent Film Review”
I am quite tickled about this particular theme because in addition to loving silent films, I am a huge science fiction fan, lifetime Trekkie, the lot. This month will be candy to me, basically.
Continue reading “Theme Month! September 2019: Silent Science Fiction”
Director Mel Brooks makes a silent movie about a director named Mel making a silent movie. You have to admit that’s pretty meta.
Continue reading “Fun Size Review: Silent Movie (1976)”
Well, I asked and you answered and now I am going to share the results with you. Where in the world are the readers located?
Continue reading “Where in the World Are You? Readers Share Their Locations”
Every so often, I run into cute marketing gimmicks for silent films and I like to share them. This one was a giveaway held by a theater showing the Harold Lloyd picture Grandma’s Boy.
Continue reading “Marketing the Silents: The Great “Grandma’s Boy” Sugar Cookie Giveaway”
I am so excited about this particular unpacking, let me tell you! I have been wanting a decent copy of Hitchcock’s silent Blackmail for the North American market for years and it’s here at last.
Continue reading “Unboxing the Silents: Blackmail on Bluray (yes, the silent version too!) and Murder!”
Harry Carey is a soft-hearted sheriff who switches identities with an incarcerated criminal so that said criminal’s pretty sister (Mildred Harris, yay!) will not know of her brother’s disgrace. Before you can say “Luke and Leia” poor Harry has fallen for his “sister” and all sorts of complications follow.
Continue reading “Fun Size Review: Beyond the Border (1925)”
It was the best of times… You get the idea. 300+ pages of French Revolution drama by Dickens squished down to twenty minutes by the Vitagraph film company.
Continue reading “A Tale of Two Cities (1911) A Silent Film Review”
One of the most popular and witty plays of the nineteenth century gets the silent treatment– and the stencil color treatment! This Italian-French co-production is possibly the most beautiful silent film ever made. Its costumes and sets are glorious but it also has a talented cast to give this beauty some brains.
Continue reading “Fun Size Review: Cyrano de Bergerac (1925)”
I thought it would be fun to poll everyone and discover where silent movie fans are located. We’re going pretty basic here, just a poll by continent. Feel free to share more info in the comments (specific country, etc.) if you feel comfortable but it is by no means required.
Continue reading “Silent Movie Fans, Where in the World Are You?”
I love Dorothy Gish and think she is immensely underrated in the pantheon of screen comedians. Alas, most of her solo pictures are missing and presumed lost, so its hard for modern viewers to appreciate the scope of her career but she was quite a beloved player in her own series of top-billed pictures that covered just about every popular genre in American cinema at the time.
Continue reading “A Vintage Ode to Dorothy Gish’s Temper”
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and I thought I would bat it over to my readership: What do you do to make silent film newcomers feel welcome? This can be online or in person. And if you are a newcomer, I would love to hear from you as well. What makes you feel welcome in a silent movie space?
Continue reading “How Do You Make Silent Movie Newcomers Feel at Home?”
A classic and old-timey tale of romance and revenge that has been filmed often but rarely this beautifully. But is it enough?
Continue reading “Fun Size Review: Lorna Doone (1922)”
The almost-certainly-not-true tale of a medieval lady who is dared to ride naked through the streets by her husband. I think marriage counseling would have been a smarter idea but what do I know? The Vitagraph production goes for tasteful presentation with one notable exception…
Continue reading “Lady Godiva (1911) A Silent Film Review”
If you think modern moviegoers invented cinematic nitpicking, you are in for a shock! Photoplay Magazine had a regular feature on reader complaints and they are great fun to peruse. Here’s the collection from August of 1919.
Continue reading “These Were the Movie Errors, Tropes and Eccentricities That Annoyed Viewers in August of 1919”
One thing I always find fascinating is to study the best films according to silent era critics and audiences and then compare their choices to what we like today. Are you ready to see which ten pictures from 1922 were voted best by the critics? The Film Daily Year Book has the list so let’s dive in!
Continue reading “The Best Films of 1922 According to Critics of the Time (and All of Them Are on Home Media!)”
Maybe I am just out of touch but lately there seems to be an upswing in tribalism among silent film fans. What do I mean by this? You’re bopping along, minding your own business, savoring some love for a particular silent era talent when suddenly, the conversation shifts to bashing a perceived rival.
Continue reading “On Zero Sum Games: Silent Film Favorites and Cults of Personality”
We have so many goodies in the pipeline! Three popular favorites are getting sparkling new releases.
Continue reading “News from the Silent Movie Front: Rudolph Valentino, Alice Guy and Conrad Veidt”
Famed soprano Geraldine Farrar proves she doesn’t need her pipes to be an impressive Carmen. Wallace Reid, in an uncharacteristically dark role, expands his acting chops as a deranged Don Jose.
Continue reading “Fun Size Review: Carmen (1915)”
An opera adaptation starring a ballerina set in Naples but shot in Chicago. The silent era, ladies and gentlemen! Ballet superstar Anna Pavlova made her screen debut in this Universal epic about love, revolution and trunk hose.
Continue reading “The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916) A Silent Film Review”
More fun than a barrel of lizards! This is one of the grandest special effects fests of the silent era. The plot involves a group of intrepid scientists who discover dinosaurs on a remote plateau, so you know this will have lots of prehistoric fun.
Continue reading “Fun Size Review: The Lost World (1925)”
We’re in for a treat, a look at a new restoration of Fragment of an Empire, a 1929 Soviet drama directed by Fridrikh Ermler. A collaboration between the EYE Filmmuseum, Gosfilmofond of Russia, and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, this restoration combines materials held by EYE and the Cinémathèque Suisse to create the most complete version of the film available in decades.
Continue reading “Unboxing the Silents: Fragment of an Empire on Bluray from Flicker Alley”