Celebrate Silent Film
Just before the dawn of the twentieth century, movie pioneer Georges Méliès tore one of the biggest stories from French headlines and made a series of biographical sketches in support of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer who was framed for treason and exiled to Devil’s Island. The films themselves are as fascinating as their subject and are extraordinarily innovative to boot.
Continue reading “The Dreyfus Affair (1899) A Silent Film Review”
An Egyptian prince hopes to bring back his lost love under the shadow of the Sphinx. But, as Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee would later discover, there’s always a catch in such a plan.
An inventor hallucinates an attack on himself and his airship and finds that he cannot awaken from the dream. Dark stuff that may come as a surprise to anyone who thinks Méliès was all about cute anthropomorphic moons.
Continue reading “The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship (1905) A Silent Film Review”
A certain gentleman with an unnatural beard pigment marries for the eighth time but things go sour when the new bride discovers what happened to the other seven Mrs. Bluebeards. A macabre fairy tale from Georges Méliès.
Possibly the most iconic film of early cinema, this science fiction epic is beautiful, quirky and shows surprising depth.
Continue reading “Fun Size Review: A Trip to the Moon (1902)”
Georges Méliès turns his magical creative vision to the famous Tales of the Thousand and One Nights in this ambitious picture. Beautiful sets, elaborate costumes and a relatively large cast blend together to create a rich cinematic environment.
Continue reading “The Palace of the Arabian Nights (1905) A Silent Film Review”
According to early French film, future societies would employ armies comprised entirely of women in hot pants. Once again, the French are ahead of the game. (Take that, Star Trek and your micro-mini skirts!)
Continue reading “Goodbye! So long! Bon voyage! Don’t forget to write! Animated GIF”
One of the single most iconic silent films and certainly the most famous picture from the pre-feature era, A Trip to the Moon has been studied and discussed for over a century. Why is it so beloved and how did it drill down so deeply into our pop culture? That’s what we’re going to find out.
Continue reading “A Trip to the Moon (1902) A Silent Film Review”
Welcome to another installment of Silents in Talkies. In this series, I review sound movies that are either about the silent era or that incorporate silent films into their story. I will review the film itself and then briefly discuss whether the film helped or harmed public perception of the silent era.