Silent Beauties: 2011

This site is dedicated to the preservation of memory of silent films. Although they were quite important in the evolution of cinema, they remain virtually forgotten nowadays. Since the best way to understand the present is taking an attentive look at the past, here you have some movies, pictures, interviews, etc. on silent cinema. Some occasional material on sound films will also be presented. I hope you enjoy getting to know a bit more about the beauty and sheer fun of these golden oldies.

Monday, December 12, 2011

The Kiss - 1914

Country: USA

Language: English

Director: Ulysses Davis

Writer: Marc Edmund Jones (story)

Stars: Patricia Palmer, George Holt and William Desmond Taylor

Patricia Palmer ... Alice, a shop girl (as Margaret Gibson)

George Holt ... Fred, her sweetheart

William Desmond Taylor ... George Dale, society man

Myrtle Gonzalez ... Helen, George's fiancée

Loyola O'Connor ... Landlady

Jane Novak ... Mazie, a saleslady

Release Date: 15 April 1914 (USA)

Production Co: Vitagraph Company of America

Genres: Short | Drama

Sound Mix: Silent

Color: Black and White

Trivia: A print of this film still exists in the Library of Congress

1914 silent film starring William Desmond Taylor and Margaret Gibson (aka Patricia Palmer). In 1922, Taylor was murdered, and many years later Gibson reportedly confessed to having murdered him.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Les Vampires - Episode 10 - The Terrible Wedding - 1915

Country: France
Language: French
Director: Louis Feuillade
Writer: Louis Feuillade
Stars: Musidora, Édouard Mathé and Marcel Lévesque
Credited cast: Musidora ... Irma Vep; Édouard Mathé ... Philippe Guérande; Marcel Lévesque ... Oscar Mazamette; Jean Aymé ... Le Grand Vampire; Fernand Herrmann ... Juan-José Moréno / Brichonnet; Stacia Napierkowska ... Marfa Koutiloff
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: Renée Carl ... L'Andalouse; Suzanne Delvé ... Fleur-de-Lys; Georgette Faraboni .. Danseuse vampire; Jacques Feyder ... (episode V: L'évasion du mort); Fridolin; Rita Herlor ... Mrs Simpson; Émile Keppens ... Géo Baldwin; Louise Lagrange ... Jeanne Guérande; Suzanne Le Bret ... Hortense - servante d'Irma
Release Date: 13 November 1915 (France)
Also known as: Die Vampire (Germany); Los vampiros (Spain); Los vampiros o los archicriminales de París (Mexico); Os Vampiros (Portugal);. The Vampires (USA- literal English title); Vámpírok (Hungary); Wampiry (Poland).
Official sites: Gaumont [France]
Filming Locations: Paris, France
Production Co: Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont
Runtime: USA: 399 min (DVD)
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Trivia: Musidora was an acrobat who did all her own stunts for this film.
Including among the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', edited by Steven Jay Schneider.
Goofs: Character error: In episode 8, when it is announced that the champagne is poisoned, Phillipe can be seen drinking the champagne well after the warning.
Continuity: The same furniture appears in the different houses throughout the film.
Revealing mistakes: Throughout various episodes, the same flats were clearly reused for interiors. Many of the same buildings will have the exact same wall paper and wainscoting.
Quotes: Le Grand Vampire: At midnight, the prisoner will be interrogated by the Grand Inquisitor of the Vampires. At dawn he will be executed in the presence of the Black Committee.
Le Grand Vampire: The Grand Vampire
Plot keywords: Criminal; Repórter; Secret; Ladder; Manhole; Dead Man; Photograph; Being Followed; Film Fan; Expelled From School; Captive; Going Straight; Signature; Following Someone; Doctor; Rooftop; Jewelry; Hypnotist; Poisoned Drink; Pursuit On Top Of Train; Scientist; Surveillance; Hypnosis; Movie Theatre; Fake Suicide; Pen; Poison; Ballet; Safe; Apache Dance; Servant; Ballerina; Noose; Cigarette Smoking; Gang; Railroad Track; Bloody Nose; Asphyxiation; Rock; Apartment; Cigarette Case; Maid; Gendarme; Presumed Dead; Poison Ink; Singing; Hiding Behind Curtains; Eating Non Food; Disguised As Undertaker; New Job; Chemist; Eavesdropping; Corpse; Cross Dressing; Criminal Gang; Ink Pen; Millionaire; Bicycle; Posing As Count; Mother Son Relationship; Telegram; Singer; Woman In Trunk; Playing Card; Bomb In Hat; Impersonating A Police Officer; Dancing; Code; Panic; Ear To The Ground; Morgue; Secret Code; Sinking Ship; Lie; Knockout Gas; Policeman; Door Bell; Wine; Bomb; Thrown From Train; Key; Suicide By Poison; Bat Costume; Champagne; Disguised As Maid; Secret Passageway; Bust; Stage; Superstition; Heiress; Stabbed In The Hand; Celebration; Concealing Something In One's Ear; Dead Bull; Headless Corpse; Dead Body; Paralysis; Escape; Split Screen; Car; Cannon; Prisoner; Sleeping; Time Bomb; Horse Riding; Single Parent; Stolen Jewelry; 10 Chapters; Sabotage; Thief; Marriage Proposal; Bandaged Nose; Costumer; Deaf Mute; Theft; Father Son Relationship; Lady's Fan; Dancing On Table; Exercise; Night Time; Little Boy; American; Paris France; Fiancé; Anagram; Engagement Ring; Wedding; Ink; Pretending To Be Sick; Gag; Caught In The Act; Letter; Killer; Episodic Structure; Missing Husband; Car Chase; Wicker Basket; Infamy; Escape From Prison; Dead Body In Safe; Disaster; Fame; Calling Card; Trapped; Binoculars; Ship; Climbing; Pretending To Be Dead; Nightclub; Trap; Engagement Party; Dancer; Shot To Death; Bull; Telephone; Curse; Poison Ring; Suicide; Spaniard; Organized Crime; Castle; Wagging One's Finger; Signal; Evil Scientist; Fake Beard; Held At Gunpoint; Entering Through Chimney; Waking Up; Bound And Gagged; Bank; Pulled From Height; Caterer; Secret Passage; Hypnotic Trance; Gas Pumped Through Keyhole; Newspaper; Giving A Toast; Costume; Movie Fan; Engagement Dinner; Split Screen; Telephone Call; Disguise; Chase; Climbing Up Wall; Card Playing; Fiancé Fiancée Relationship; Party; Framed Picture; Gunfire; Banker; Boy; Shot With A Gun; Dead Woman; Keyhole; Fanning Oneself; Killing A Bull; Looking Through Keyhole; Shot In The Nose; Exiting Through Chimney; Cult Favorite; Telephone Call; Address Book; Caricature; Trail Of Oil; Train; Horse; Film Within A Film; Assaulting An Officer; Sword; Pair Of Gloves; Automobile; Exploding Ship; Trapdoor; Secret Panel; Written Confession; Secret Panel Behind Picture; Code Book; Pretending To Be Poisoned; Secret Identity; Bank Note; Revenge; Husband Wife Relationship; Death Of Husband; Clairvoyant; Gun; Rope Ladder; Sleeping Gas; Jewel Robbery; Sudden Wealth; Medium; Jumping Onto Train; Flashback; Deaf; Murderer; Cryptography; Newspaper Reporter; Disguised As A Boy; Driver; Peep Hole; Theatre; Kidnapping; Mourning One's Husband; Serial; Sound Recording; Ambush; Comic Relief; Identity Theft; Dance; Confession; Mass Murder; Police Officer; Hiding Behind Tree; Murder; Restaurant; Mansion; Rag Picker; Prison; Kidnapper; Pulled By The Ear; Trapped In Room; Death By Poison; Taxi; Mistaken Identity; Mask; Saving Someone's Life; Poisoned Wine; Widow; Curtain; Drawing; Glove; Easel; Threat; Car Horn; Traitor; Interview; Judge; Secret Organization; Stage Performance; Stealing; Secretly Observing; Killing; Ring; Jewel; Count; Morning; Map; Severed Head; Fugitive.
Genres: Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller
Chapters: # Title Released Runtime Events
1 The Severed Head
La tête coupée 13 November 1915 33 mins. Journalist Phillipe Guèrande and his friend Mazamette investigate a mysterious criminal organisation calling themselves Les Vampires. A police inspector is beheaded, and Phillipe spend the night in Dr. Nox's mysterious castle, full of secret passageways. The leader of the gang, the "Great Vampire", is unmasked, but manages to escape.
2 The Killer Ring / The Ring That Kills
La bague qui tue 13 November 1915 15 mins. Marta Koutiloff performs on stage as a vampire bat and tells Phillipe that she will reveal the Vampires' secrets, but is killed by a poisoned ring.
3 The Red Codebook
Le cryptogramme rouge 4 December 1915 42 mins. Phillipe learns to decode the Vampires' messages, while cabaret singer and Vampire strategist Irma Vep enters the Guèrande house disguised as a maid, and Phillipe's mother is kidnapped.
4 The Spectre
Le spectre 7 January 1916 32 mins. The Vampires fight another criminal, Moreno, who tries to steal their loot, but Guerande engineers Moreno's arrest.
5 Dead Man's Escape
L'évasion du mort 28 January 1916 37 mins. Moreno fakes his death and escapes from prison. Phillipe is taken prisoner by the "Vampires", but escapes as well. The Great Vampire organizes a ball to steal his guest's valuables, but is outwitted by Moreno.
6 Hypnotic Eyes / The Hypnotic Gaze
Les yeux qui fascinent 24 March 1916 58 mins. The Vampires seek a treasure in the Forest of Fontainebleau. Moreno hypnotizes Irma Vep into murdering the "Great Vampire", and takes over the gang.
7 Satanas
Satanas 15 April 1916 46 mins. The Lord of the Vampires, Satanas, reveals his existence. He kills Moreno by bombarding the restaurant where he was eating and tries to steal the fortune of American millionaire George Baldwin, but is thwarted by Phillipe and Mazamette.
8 The Thunder Master
Le maître de la foudre 12 May 1916 55 mins. Irma Vep is captured by the police, but Satanas arranges her escape; however he, too, is caught. He commits suicide in his cell.
9 The Poisoner
L'homme des poisons 2 June 1916 53 mins. The new "Lord of the Vampires," Venomous, is introduced. He tries to poison Guérande, but his plot fails.
10 The Terrible Wedding
Les noces sanglantes 30 June 1916 60 mins. Guerande finally marries Jeanne. The Vampires plot against the couple, but are thwarted by Mazamette. All of the Vampires are killed or captured.

Les Vampires - Episode 9 - The Poisoner - 1915

Les Vampires - Episode 8 - The Thunder Master - 1915

Les Vampires- Episode 7 - Satanus - 1915

Les Vampires - Episode 6 - Hypnotic Eyes - 1915

Les Vampires - Episode 5 - Dead Man's Escape - 1915

Les Vampires - Episode 4- The Spectre - 1915

Les Vampires - Episode 3 - The Red Codebook - 1915

Les Vampires - Episode 2 - The Ring That Kills - 1915

Les Vampires - Episode 1-The Severed Head - 1915

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages - 1916

Country: USA
Release Date: 5 September 1916 (USA)
Director: D.W. Griffith Writers: Hettie Grey Baker (titles - uncredited); Tod Browning (uncredited); D.W. Griffith (scenario); D.W. Griffith (titles - uncredited); Anita Loos (titles); Mary H. O'Connor (titles - uncredited); Walt Whitman (poem "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"- uncredited); Frank E. Woods (titles- uncredited)
Stars: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh and Robert Harron
Also known as: Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (USA - original title); Intolerance Germany / Sweden (imdb display title) / USA (short title); Intolerância (Brazil / Portugal); Intolérance (France); Intolerància (Spain/ Catalan title); Intolerance: A Sun-Play of the Ages (USA - copyright title); Intolerancia (Spain - imdb display title); Nietolerancja (Poland); Suvaitsemattomuus (Finland); Türelmetlenség (Hungary); The Mother and the Law (USA/working title)
Filming locations: Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA; Fine Arts Studio - 4500 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Babylon set); Fine Arts Studios - 4516 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (studio); Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles, California, USA; Saint-Mihiel, Meuse, France (World War Front: Modern War sequence); Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA (Babylon set)
Budget: $385,907 (estimated)
Filming Dates: 17 October 1915 - April 1916 Copyright Holder: David Wark Griffith; 24 June 1916; LU8570 / David Wark Griffith; 5 September 1916; LP9934
Runtime: 163 min | UK: 178 min (2000 video release) | USA: 197 min | Spain: 197 min (DVD version) | Spain: 123 min (TV version) | Argentina: 175 min | Portugal: 210 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Trivia: The inspiration for this film came from D.W. Griffith's surprise at the loud protests against his previous film, The Birth of a Nation. In response to those attacks, he wanted to illustrate the problem with intolerance to other people's views. The massive life-size set of the Great Wall of Babylon, seen in the fourth story, was placed at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard (in Hollywood, California) when the movie was completed. It became a notable landmark for many years during Hollywood's golden era. It actually stood on the lot of the studio on Prospect Avenue near the Sunset & Hollywood Boulevard junctions in the eastern end of the city. It was the first such exterior set ever built in Hollywood. Falling into disrepair, it was eventually torn down. Years later, this same Babylon set was replicated as the central courtyard design for the new Hollywood & Highland complex in Hollywood, which opened in 2001. After filming wrapped, the Los Angeles Fire Department cited the Babylonian set as a fire hazard and ordered it to be torn down. D.W. Griffith discovered that he had run out of money and was therefore unable to finance its demolition. The set stood derelict and crumbling for nearly four years until it was finally taken down in 1919. By then it had fallen apart enough for it to be dismantled at a sufficiently low cost. The marriage scenes in the life-of-Christ part of the film were staged and shot according to Jewish tradition, under the supervision of Rabbi Myers. He was the father of Carmel Myers, who played a slave girl in the Babylonian scenes. During filming of the battle sequences, many of the extras got so into their characters that they caused real injury to each other. At the end of one shooting day, a total of sixty injuries were treated at the production's hospital tent. A major sub-plot, dealing with a real-life assassination, was cut from the French story before the film's release. The role of the second Pharisee is credited to Erich von Stroheim. However, von Stroheim did not play this role. D.W. Griffith decided to use von Stroheim's name as a pseudonym for actor William Courtright, who actually plays the role. This has caused much confusion over the years. Von Stroheim's only work on this film was as a production assistant for the Babylon sequences. Ruth St. Denis is listed by some modern sources as the Solo Dancer in the Babylonian Story, but she has denied this in an interview. D.W. Griffith was forced to re-shoot the sequence of the crucifixion because certain organizations were saying that Griffith shot too many Jewish extras around the cross, and not enough Romans. Griffith then burned the footage and re-shot the scene with more Roman extras. Jenkins and his foundation are modeled after John D. Rockefeller and his own foundation. The massacre of workers at the beginning of the movie is modeled after the Ludlow massacre of 1914, in which Rockefeller was involved. Joseph Henabery was hired to shoot some additional scenes of semi-nude slavegirls when the front office declared that the film needed "more sex". The title and some lines from the poem "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" by Walt Whitman are used as intertitles in the movie. The intertitle during the strike which states that the National Guard has retreated and the workers "now fear only the company guards" was added to the re-release of the modern story, The Mother and the Law, but it is utilized by present versions of the original film. The Babylonian orgy sequence alone cost $200,000 when it was shot. That's nearly twice the overall budget of The Birth of a Nation, another D.W. Griffith film and, at the time, the record holder for most expensive picture ever made. Cameraman Karl Brown remembered a scene with the various members of the Babylonian harem that featured full frontal nudity. He was barred from the set that day, apparently because he was so young. While there are several shots of slaves and harem girls throughout the film, the scene that Brown describes is not in any surviving versions. D.W. Griffith's penchant for revising and re-cutting his films has caused the loss of several scenes from this (and other) films. Some still frames of the scenes, although badly damaged, do at least survive. On 9 November 2001, the newly-built Kodak Theatre Complex at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland (in Hollywood) had its grand opening (it is the new permanent home for the Annual Academy Awards event and began with the 74th Annual Academy Awards on 24 March 2002). The tall archway standing in the Babylon Court of the complex is copied from designs from this film, as are the elephant statues, each of which weighs 33,500 pounds. The prison chaplain in the modern scenes is played by a real priest. D.W. Griffith invested more than $2 million on the film, an unprecedented amount of money at the time. "Intolerance" never even came close to earning back its budget - audiences in 1916 were completely unused to seeing films which ran in excess of 3 hours. Even when it was re-cut and released as 2 separate features, "The Fall of Babylon" and "The Mother and the Law", it still failed to make money. 2007: The American Film Institute ranked this as the #49 Greatest Movie of All Time. During the late 1910's, this film was a huge hit in the Soviet Union, however D.W. Griffith never realized any financial gain since the copies being shown were pirated, and distributed without his consent. The construction of the prison gallows seen in the final portion of the Modern Story were overseen by Martin Aguerre, a former warden of San Quentin. Many sources claim that the walls of Babylon were actually life-size, at 300 feet - about 25 stories - high. However, assistant director Joseph Henabery said that the walls, which were made of lath and plaster with a lumber frame, were only 100 feet high, as 300-foot-high walls of that material would have blown over with just a light wind. In fact, even at 100 feet high the walls were guyed with steel cables because a fairly stiff breeze would have blown them down. The extras in the Babylonian scenes were supposedly paid $2.00 a day, per head, an astronomically generous sum at the time. They were also each given a box lunch and had temporary latrine facilities built for them. The staging and art direction of the Babylonian scenes were largely inspired by the works of 19th century painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Anita Loos claimed that, when writing 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,' she had been inspired to give lead character Lorelei Lee a brief movie career after watching her friends on the set of Intolerance playing Babylonian slave girls. Howard Gaye, an English actor who played Jesus Christ, got involved in a sex scandal involving a 14-year-old girl and was deported back to England. Because of the scandal, his name was removed from prints of the film at the time. D.W. Griffith invented false eyelashes for this film in 1916 because he wanted Seena Owen (who plays Attarea, the Princess Beloved, in the film's Babylonian segment) with lashes luxurious enough to brush her cheeks when she blinked. In collaboration with a wigmaker, who did the actual fabricating, the solution Griffith is credited with involved weaving human hair through a fine strip of gauze, creating false eyelashes. One of the intertitles is a quote from "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" by Oscar Wilde i.e. 'And wondered if each one of us/ Would end the self-same way,/ For none can tell to what red Hell/ His sightless soul may stray'. Including among the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', edited by Steven Jay Schneider. Goofs: Anachronisms: Tire tracks during the chariot race sequence.
Continuity: The position of the Mountain Girl's head when Belshazzar arrives at the marriage market. In one shot her head is bowed, in the next, she is looking up at him, and in the shot after that, her head is still bowed and then she looks up at him. In the opening of the Babelonian story, shortly before the intertitle reading "Dearest one - in the ash heaps of my back yard...etc." (spoken by the Rapsode), a group of extras behind the Mountain Girl are shown get up and walk off to the left. In the next shot, when the Rapsode puts his face up to the Mountain Girl's ear to speak his line, these extras are shown to still be seated in their former places. During the Babylonian bacchanal, the same extra, dressed as a slave girl, is standing behind both Belshazzar and Beloved. She is looking in different directions and has her arms in different positions in each shot. In the modern story, when Jenkins stops outside the dance hall, he picks up a coin in one hand. In the next shot (a close-up of the coin), it is in the opposite hand. In the scene where Monsieur La France is shown with the puppies in his belt 'pocket', the long shot shows his arms in the air, but the next close shot shows a hand under the 'pocket' the puppies are in, and then cuts back to him with his hands in the air. Crew or equipment visible: Director's assistant clad in coat and tie. As the Jenkin's factory militia goes to attack the striking workers, the shadows of a camera and two cameramen, one on either side, are cast onto the ground in front. Camera shaddow durring the tracking shot of the walls of Babylon, right before the Mountain Girl is introduced. Factual errors: Alexandre Édouard de France (later King Henry III) is referred to as "Monsieur La France," when he should be called "Monsieur de France."
Revealing mistakes: An extra out of character, fumbling with his costume, in the Belshazzar feast sequence. While the vestal virgins of uplift are at the party given by Ms. Jenkins, and are indoors the whole time, the feathers on their hats flutter and their dresses are blown as if by a breeze. This sort of thing occurs in numerous indoor scenes throughout the film, since interiors were shot on outdoor sets.
Crazy credits: Constance Talmadge is credited as 'Georgia Pearce' for her performance as Marguerite de Valois in the French Story. She is credited under her own name in the role of The Mountain Girl in the Babylonian Story.
Plot keywords: Intolerance; Reformer; Jesus Christ; Marriage; Huguenot; Judea; Massacre; Auction; Moll; Gang; Desecration; Prison; Elephant; Robbery; False Accusation Of Murder; Royalty; Strike; Child Custody; Frame Up; Battle; Gangster; Nurse; Political Corruption; Female Nudity; Hanging; Father Son Relationship; Charity; High Priest; Flirtation; Harem; Torch; Naivety; Gun; Gay Stereotype; Confession Of Crime; Drunkenness; Trial; Chase; Metaphor; Factory Worker; Infanticide; Priest; Flamethrower; Justice; Governor; Train; Duplicity; Court; Partially Lost Film; Treachery; Tyranny; Attempted Rape; Remorse; Protestant; Wedding; Rehabilitation; Worker; Actor Playing Multiple Roles; 16th Century; Machine Gun; Public Domain; Marriage Proposal; Goat; 6th Century B.c.; Beating; Jerusalem; Military Invasion; Orgy; Goose; Sword Fight; Galalee; Execution; Factory; Miracle; Slave Market; Multiple Story Line; Murder; Dance; Decapitation; Conspiracy; Father Daughter Relationship; Militia; Jealousy; Organized Crime; Police; Crucifixion; Religious Persecution; Morality; Crossbow; Babylon Babylonia; Mill; Injustice; Adultery; Hypocrisy; Saved From Hanging; Poverty; Hypocrite; Jew; Chicken; Multiple Time Frames; Parade; Infidelity; Concubine; Paris France; Slave; Dancing; Chariot; Impalement; Prayer; Great Wall; Medicis; Suicide; Dancing On Table; Kiss; Usurper; Debutante; Self Sacrifice; Spinster; Dead Body; Catholic; Feast; Slum; Party.

A poor young woman is separated from her baby and husband by prejudice. Her story is interwoven with three other stories of intolerance - one in ancient Babylon, one in Judea, where the hypocritical Pharisees condemn Jesus Christ and one in 1572 Paris where a young couple prepare for marriage on the day of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. two young Huguenots prepare for marriage.