Author: Fritzi Kramer

Silent era film advertisements were never low key about their claims of excitement, sophistication or “something new” but my favorite ads are the ones that add that certain, well, zip.

I stumbled across this amusing piece in a 1926 issue of Photoplay Magazine. Most movie fans know that stars often had a side of their face that they preferred or a camera angle that they thought flattered them. Well, here’s the skinny on some of the biggest silent stars! All ready? Let’s go!

We’re back with another selection of kvetches from Photoplay Magazine’s monthly “Why Do They Do It?” column. The idea was for readers to write in with their complaints about the then-latest releases and they were a sharp lot indeed.

I am a graphic designer in my day job and I am particularly interested in replicating vintage looks. As a result, I pay close attention to the typefaces used in silent film restorations… and some of them are not so good.

Since we had so much fun with the last bit of movie writing advice, I thought we would go for more of the same. This article found in The Photodramatist of 1921 is of particular interest because it was written by Jesse Lasky, one of the founding players of what would/had become Paramount Pictures. Let’s see what our friend Mr. Lasky has to say about writing for one of his productions.

I stumbled across an amusing piece in a 1925 issue of Photoplay Magazine. Rudolph Valentino was sporting a handsome goatee at the time and the fan magazines gleefully spread word of the horror his fans experienced at (gasp!) facial hair.