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.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Trial Marriages - 1907
Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Release Date: 17 January 1907 (USA)
Production Co: American Mutoscope & Biograph
Runtime: USA: 12 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
A man attempts a series of 'trial marriages' with various women, and eventually gives up on marriage altogether.
White Wings on Review - 1903
Country: USA
Filming Locations: New York City, New York, USA
Runtime: 3 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Documentary | Short
A fine picture of the celebrated "White Wings" or street-cleaning department of one district of Greater New York, showing over 350 men in line, and over 100 carts that are used to carry the refuse away to the dumping-wharf, marching through the streets of New York.
Franz Reichelt's Jump from the Eiffel Tower in 1912
Franz Reichelt, also known as Frantz Reichelt or François Reichelt (1879 – February 4, 1912), was an Austrian-born French tailor, inventor and parachuting pioneer, now sometimes referred to as the Flying Tailor, who is remembered for his accidental death by jumping from the Eiffel Tower while testing a wearable parachute of his own design. Reichelt had become fixated on developing a suit for aviators that would convert into a parachute and allow them to survive a fall should they be forced to leave their aircraft. Initial experiments conducted with dummies dropped from the fifth floor of his apartment building had been successful, but he was unable to replicate those early successes with any of his subsequent designs.
Believing that the lack of a suitably high test platform was partially to blame for his failures, Reichelt repeatedly petitioned the Parisian Prefecture of Police for permission to conduct a test from the Eiffel Tower. He was finally granted permission in early 1912, but when he arrived at the tower on February 4 he made it clear that he intended to jump himself rather than conduct an experiment with dummies. Despite attempts by his friends and spectators to dissuade him, he jumped from the first platform of the tower wearing his invention. The parachute failed to deploy and he crashed into the icy ground at the foot of the tower. Although it was clear that the fall had killed him, he was taken to a nearby hospital where he was officially pronounced dead. The next day, newspapers were full of the story of the reckless inventor and his fatal jump – many included pictures of the fall taken by press photographers who had gathered to witness Reichelt's experiment – and a film documenting the jump appeared in newsreels.
Information extracted from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Reichelt
Monday, August 29, 2011
The Black Hand - 1906
Country: USA
Language: English
Release Date: 29 March 1906
Director: Wallace McCutcheon
Stars: Anthony O'Sullivan and Robert G. Vignola
Runtime: 11 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
According to the titles, the story was based on actual events that had recently taken place in New York. Two members of a gang write a threatening letter to a butcher, demanding that he give them money, or else they will harm his family and his shop. The butcher is afraid and upset, but he is unable to meet their demands. The gang then kidnaps his daughter, leading to a series of tense and dangerous confrontations.
Delivering Newspapers - 1903
United States : American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1903.
The film shows a group of about fifty preadolescent boys running and crowding around a one-horse paneled newspaper van that pulls up in the foreground of the picture. On the side of the van is a sign reading "New York World." As they gather around the rear of the vehicle, a fight breaks out between two of the boys. The film ends as the crowd forms around the two fighters. Probably filmed at Union Square.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
C'est pour les orphelines - 1916
For the Children (1916)
French film. This sketch was contributed by the cast and crew of "Les Vampires" to a 1916 omnibus film, "For the Children", donated by the French film industry to raise funds for war orphans. Its humor pivots upon a French idiom well-explained by director Michael Powell in his 1086 autobiography, "a Life in Movies":
"The French have a charming word for a pretentious piece of shit, a flop, a turkey; they call it a navet (a turnip), and when it is embarassingly awful, it becomes a super navet."
L'embusqué - 1915
French film. Bout de Zan et l’embusqué, Louis Feuillade, Studios Gaumont, 1915. Marius Barbentane is visiting Bout-de-Zan uncle. He brings him and his wife a rabbit he pretends to have shot at 500 m. Taking into account the general laughter, it invites them the following day at his place and make the bet he is shooting a bird at 500m. Next day at Marius's, Bout-de-Zan playing in the garden meets a little boy. He discovers that Marius paid the boy 10 centimes to pull with a string a dead bird in a tree at 3 o'clock. Bout-de-Zan gives money to the boy and takes his place. At 3, when Marius is shooting, a stuffed rabbit is falling from the tree. Everyone is laughing. A little note written by Bout-de-Zan explains that instead of lying, Marius will have to join the army and shoot German as Bout-de-Zan 's father. Immediately Marius is running and enrols himself.
Written by Olivier RONAT
Sunday, August 14, 2011
The Courage of the Commonplace - 1913
Cast: Edwin August [a farm worker], Mary Charleson [the farm worker’s older daughter], Myrtle Gonzalez [the farm worker’s younger daughter], Charles Bennett, Loyola O’Connor
a young farm woman dreams of a better life.
The Vitagraph Company of America production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Scenario by William E. Wing. / Released 1 August 1913. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.37:1 format.
Get Rich Quick - 1911
Get Rich Quick: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, May 26, 1911.
A moral tale about material wealth, with William Garwood, William Russell and Marguerite Snow.
Print source: The Museum of Modern Art, 13 minutes, Cast: William Russell (bunco artist), William Garwood (husband), Marguerite Snow (wife), Marie Eline (daughter of poor widow).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
The moral tale, a staple of early film, observes in this case how an elaborate swindle, the "Utopia Investment Corporation," affects one of its participants. The film challenges the quest for material wealth without concern for those victimized.
A review in The Billboard praised Marguerite Snow's acting as being "the most natural we have ever seen in a moving picture, the story as "excellent," and the picture as "splendidly photographed." Another review noted the "novel" technique of "the dissolving picture appearing through the newspaper headlines." The narrative progression is smooth without having to depend on too many titles.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Cry of the Children - 1912
The Cry of the Children: Two reels, approx. 2,000 feet, released April 30, 1912.
Critical pre-World War I film on child labor reform, photographed by Carl Lewis Gregory.
Directed by George O. Nichols, Photographed by Carl L. Gregory, Print source: George Eastman House, 28 minutes.
Cast: Marie Eline (Alice, the little girl), Ethel Wright (the working mother), James Cruze (the working father), William Russell (the factory owner), Lila H. Chester (the factory owner's wife), David H. Thompson (the factory manager).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
The Cry of the Children is the most famous and best documented of all Thanhouser films. In its day it was recognized as one of the most important expressions of the pre-World War One reform movement, in particular child labor. Perhaps because the uncompromising content drew all the attention, the film was not then recognized as the artistic masterpiece it is.
The title and basic outline of the scenario were taken from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's popular poem which was quoted in the intertitles. The antique sentimental quality of the poem contrasts sharply with the gritty realism of the visual images. Likewise, the story contrasts scenes of the mill owner's home life with that of the poor working family. An unsuccessful strike, poverty, death, and hardship threaten to tear the poor family apart.
Although location work was frequent in those days, the real factory setting was unusual and strikingly authentic. Dramatic depiction of the poor family is largely understated. The remarkably fluid editing foreshadows the editing style that became commonplace in the 1920's. Lap dissolves are used for psychological effect, and subtle and skillful camera tilting follows the actors. Excellent staging usually emphasizes depth and fore-to-back movement, and groups are handled well. Twice as long as most films of that period, the picture reflected Edwin Thanhouser's advocacy of "natural length" films rather than the standard one-reel film demanded by exhibitors for commercial reasons.
Although some elements of the story are melodramatic, clichés are to be expected from that era. However, the cinematic skill and social importance certainly contributed to a new social-realism style. The film marked the emerging political power of film, and the potential for making contributions to society.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Cinderella - 1911
Cinderella: One reel of approximately 900 feet, December 22, 1911.
Energetic cinematic pacing and intimacy show rapidly improving narrative technique and realism well beyond the limitations of the stage.
Adapted from the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. Directed by George O. Nichols.
Print source: British Film Institute/National Film and Television Archive, 14 minutes, 23 seconds.
Cast: Florence LaBadie (Cinderella), Harry Benham (the prince), Anna Rosemond, Frank H. Crane, Alphonse Ethier, Isabelle Daintry.
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
An elaborately mounted version of the well-known fairy tale is interrupted by just a few summarizing intertitles. Although in-camera trick photography is important for the story, it is rather conventional, having been introduced over ten years earlier by French filmmaker Georges Méliès. Costumes, sets, and locations make it a visual feast, and some stylistic skill is used with brief shots and cross cutting to quicken the pace as Cinderella flees at midnight.
The intense competition between film producers of the time is indicated by the near-simultaneous release of this one-reel version by Thanhouser, and the release, one week later, of a three-reel version by Selig. A holiday release was just as important then as now — Cinderella was produced the previous summer but released at Christmas.
The next step for Thanhouser was the move to multi-reel features. The release following Cinderella was an adaptation of Rider Haggard's She, Thanhouser's first two-reel release.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
A Dog's Love - 1914
A Dog's Love: One reel of 1,007 feet, released October 4, 1914.
Fantasy about the love between a child (Helen Badgley "The Kidlet") and her dog ("Shep" The Thanhouser Collie).
Directed by John Harvey. Scenario by Nolan Gane
Print source: Museum of Modern Art, 11 minutes, 12 seconds.
Cast: Shep (The Thanhouser Collie, as himself), Helen Badgley (Baby Helen), Arthur Bauer (Helen's father), Ethyle Cooke Benham (Helen's mother), Fan Bourke (a visitor).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
The fantasy centers on a dog and a child, a universally appealing movie subject. The loyal dog's attachment to his little girl playmate is treated with pictorial beauty and simple, honest sentiment. Reviewers of the time praised the double-exposure passages for their dramatic effectiveness.
Baby Helen, also known as The Thanhouser Kidlet, was a precocious child actress who was very comfortable and expressive in front of the camera. Also a regular, Shep, The Thanhouser Collie, was a well-trained member of the studio's repertory company.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Petticoat Camp - 1912
Petticoat Camp: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, released November 3, 1912.
Early "women's lib" with a comedy twist, with Florence LaBadie, William Russell and William Garwood.
Print source: Library of Congress, 14 minutes, 50 seconds
Cast: Florence LaBadie, William Garwood, the Jordan Sisters (divers).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
This comedy capitalizes on the booming pastime of a newly mobile American middle class — fishing and camping. Not only is the woodsy lakeside photogenic, but it also provides a charming locale for a light-handed battle-of-the-sexes comedy.
With a fresh and energetic attitude, the story portrays several married couples vacationing on an island. The boys play and the girls work. The girls rebel and move to an island of their own. The boys scheme to show how necessary they are as protectors, but the plan backfires and a truce is reached.
The accomplished swimmers in one commercially appealing scene were non-actress stand-ins who performed as the Jordan Sisters in aquatic shows.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Decoy - 1914
The Decoy: One reel of 1,018 feet, released July 3, 1914, a Princess film.
Complex story of romance and crime, with Murial Ostriche and Morgan Jones.
Scenario by Philip Lonergan.
Print Source: British Film Institute National Film and Television Archive, 16 minutes, 2 seconds.
Cast: Charles Horan (John Henderson/Mr. Vincent). Marie Rainford (his wife), Virginia Waite (Jane Phelps, their distant relative, a widow), Muriel Ostriche (her daughter Muriel, who becomes a decoy), Morgan Jones (a millionaire), Boyd Marshall (Boyd, a businessman, Muriel's lover), John Reinhard.
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
A rather complex interweaving of romance and crime is squeezed into one reel. A "respectable" couple of city "card sharpers" invite a distant country relative to visit, then use her as a pretty, unwitting decoy to lure rich victims. They flee town a step ahead of the law. At a resort, the innocent girl falls in love with the latest victim, but they help expose and apprehend the guilty parties.
The attractive story is worthy of two-reel-length development, which would probably have been the case under Edwin Thanhouser's management. On the other hand, fast-paced storytelling was a popular new trend in films, thanks to the influence of D. W. Griffith at Biograph
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Star of Bethlehem - 1912
The Star of Bethlehem: One reel, released December 24, 1912.
Biblical tale about the birth of Christ told with a cast of 100's, one reel British version edited from original three reel release.
Directed by Lawrence Marston. Production supervised by Edwin Thanhouser. Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan. Original length three reels (3,000 feet); surviving version edited to one real (1,000 feet)
Print source: British Film Institute National Film and Television Archive, 15 minutes, 13 seconds.
Cast: Florence LaBadie (Mary), James Cruze (Micah, Joseph), William Russell (Herod), Harry Benham (Angel Gabriel), Justus D. Barnes (Gaspar, one of the Magi), Charles Horan (Melchior, one of the Magi), Riley Chamberlin (Balthasar, one of the Magi), Harry Marks (scribe), N. S. Woods (scribe), Lawrence Merton (scribe), David H. Thompson (Pharisee, rabbi), Lew Woods (Pharisee, scribe), Joseph Graybill (Roman messenger), Carl LeViness (shepherd), Frank Grimmer (shepherd), Ethyle Cooke; total cast of 200 persons.
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
Thanhouser's ambitious Star of Bethlehem was one of the first steps toward true feature-length films (more than two reels long). It appeared the year before the Italian epic Quo Vadis? was viewed in the U. S., and two years before the first Hollywood feature, The Squaw Man. The original negatives were destroyed in the Thanhouser studio fire just three weeks after its first release.
Preparation of this epic was one of the last duties of Edwin Thanhouser before leaving the studio that bore his name. He had sold it to Mutual in April of 1912 and continued to work as studio manager until he "retired" in November, 1912, only to return in 1915. Thanhouser's biggest production up to that point in time, the film required a one-month shooting schedule, employed a cast of 200 (including forty principals), and cost a hefty $8,000. Special effects alone took a full week's work.
Thanhouser studio's flair for sumptuous costumes, crowds of actors, and rich staging is evident in this epic. Some of the larger scenes reportedly were filmed with two or even three cameras shooting from different angles. The ratio of two-and-a-half feet of film exposed per foot of film used is modest by today's standards, but was extravagant for 1912.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Dr. Jekll and Mr. Hyde- 1912
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, January 16, 1912.
James Cruze featured as Jekyll/Hyde in this second U.S. film version of the classic novel by Robert Lewis Stevenson.
Based on the Thomas Russell Sullivan stage adaptation (with romantic story added) for Richard Mansfield, of the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Directed by Lucius Henderson.
Print source: Blackhawk Films, 11 minutes, 31 seconds
Cast: James Cruze (Jekyll/Hyde), Harry Benham (Hyde in several scenes), Florence LaBadie (his sweetheart), Marie Eline (little girl knocked down by Hyde).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
This famous tale, made even more sensational by Richard Mansfield's stage performance, was filmed in at least nine silent versions. Thanhouser's was the second U. S. film version, after Selig in 1908, but was the first based on the stage adaptation.
The Thanhouser version downplays the horror element in favor of the thematic conflict between the good and evil sides of one personality. Perhaps unique among all Jekyll/Hyde adaptations is using two actors to portray the two aspects of the same character. The credits list James Cruze in both parts, but Harry Benham played the crazed Hyde in several scenes, simplifying production. Transformation trickery was done with careful cuts and quick in-camera dissolves with no changes in light
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Only in the Way - 1911
Only in the Way: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, released January 31, 1911.
Family disharmony with a happy ending, featuring Marie Eline "The Thanhouser Kid".
Print source: Library of Congress, 12 minutes, 14 seconds.
Cast: Marie Eline (Marie).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
Through most of 1910, the first year of Thanhouser releases, the studio created vehicles around one of its earliest stars, child actress Marie Eline. She was one of the few movie players to receive screen credit in those early days. Her film role previous to this one was Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop.
The dramatic theme of Only in the Way centers on a universal topic, family disharmony. In this film, the parents' treatment of the grandmother affects the little girl who identifies with her grandmother. Thanhouser scenarists seemed to have had a special sensitivity for the feelings of children which is reflected in this film. The sentimental approach was expected in 1911.
Titles are used here in an old-fashioned way, simply to describe what was about to happen in the next scene.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Coffin Ship - 1911
The Coffin Ship: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, June 20, 1911).
Love story filmed in Long Island Sound with a stowaway and a shipwreck, featuring William Garwood.
Print source: Nederlands Filmmuseum, 14 minutes, 37 seconds.
Cast: William Garwood.
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
Because of 1911 production convention, a sprawling adventure is truncated to one-reel length. Good location work, a strength of Thanhouser pictures, creates a visually strong seagoing story of a stowaway and a shipwreck. Long Island Sound locations were near the studio.
A review of The Coffin Ship in The Moving Picture World criticized at length errors of accuracy in the depiction of the merchant ship and its sailors, and technicalities of sailing and of the shipwreck, despite the good story and its dramatic effectiveness. Such criticism disproves the myth that critics and audiences accepted anything on the screen at face value.
This print's original German intertitles have been replaced by a new English translation.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Crossed Wires - 1915
Crossed Wires: Two reels, released June 29, 1915.
Directed by Frederick R. Sullivan. Scenario by Philip Lonergan.
Popular suspense drama in two reels with innovative camera technique, with Florence LaBadie and Morris Foster.
Print source: British Film Institute National Film and Television Archive, 30 minutes, 58 seconds.
Cast: Inda Palmer (Mrs. Angell, an old woman), Morris Foster (Will Drake, her nephew), Florence LaBadie (Flo Drake, his sister), Boyd Marshall (Benton, a civil engineer), Ina Hammer (Susan Watson, the housekeeper), Morgan Jones, Ernest Warde.
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
In the spirit of the enormously popular mystery and crime pulps of the day, Crossed Wires is a suspense picture with a flair for good storytelling and stylistic innovation, strikingly similar to the later filmmaking style of Hitchcock.
An innocent man is accused and convicted of murder, and when the facts finally surface, the innocent man's sister sets about trapping the guilty party. The courtroom scene, though not unusual, includes a dramatic pan between two close-ups for purely psychological effect. Other advances in cinematography are a close-up reaction shot and two insert shots of objects. The surprise psychological climax is also novel. Stylistically, lighting effects for the dark house scenes are very effective, and in one scene a flashlight, the only illumination on the set, is actually shined into the camera. This treatment is decades ahead of its time.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Soap Suds Star - 1915
The Soap Suds Star: One reel of 1,025 feet, released October 28, 1915, a Falstaff release.
Comedy about a down-and-out vaudeville team who attempt Shakespeare and destroy their career.
Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan.
Print source: Museum of Modern Art, 14 minutes, 38 seconds.
Cast: Carey L. Hastings (Sophie, the star), Reginald Perry (husband).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
Theater, particularly vaudeville, has been an endless source of material for movies. This energetic comedy features a down-and-out actor and a funny laundry proprietor who are hired as a vaudeville act. They become a big hit, but when they try Shakespeare, they destroy their showbiz career.
The Soap Suds Star was released under the Falstaff banner, the comedy arm of Thanhouser.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The World and the Woman - 1916
The World and the Woman: Five reels of approximately 5,000 feet, released November 19, 1916, Pathé Exchange.
Jeanne Eagel's film debut tells the story of a prostitute turned faith healer in this five reel feature, released by Pathé.
Directed by W. Eugene Moore. Scenario by Philip Lonergan, possibly based on the play Outcast.
Print source: George Eastman House, 1 hour, 6 minutes.
Cast: Jeanne Eagels (woman of the streets), Ethelmary Oakland (Sunny, her daughter), Boyd Marshall (the man), Thomas A Curran (James Palmer), Wayne Arey (Jim Rollins), Grace DeCarlton (Rollins' wife), Carey L. Hastings (Anna Graham).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
The World and the Woman is historically important as the screen debut of legendary actress Jeanne Eagels. The role of a prostitute turned faith healer is suitably challenging for the star.
Edwin Thanhouser began phasing down production at the studio in early 1917, so this is a very late Thanhouser film. The World and the Woman demonstrates many important advances of the previous few years such as feature length, editing techniques (for instance, watch here for camera-position changes in the middle of action), and more complex, expressive, and thoughtful story development. Part of the story is based on one of Eagels' stage successes, The Outcast.
Locations, a strength of Thanhouser pictures, included Manhattan and the Adirondack mountains in addition to studio interiors. The Woman and the World was released as a "Pathé Gold Rooster Play," in accordance with Thanhouser's releasing contract with the Pathé Exchange.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Vicar of Wakefield - 1910
One reel version of Oliver Goldsmith's classic 1766 novel.
The Vicar of Wakefield: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, released December 17, 1910.
Print source: Nederlands Filmmuseum, 13 minutes 20 seconds.
Original music composed and performed by Raymond A. Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
Adapted from the novel by Oliver Goldsmith. Cast: Martin J. Faust (the Vicar of Wakefield), Frank H. Crane, Anna Rosemond, William Garwood, Marie Eline, Bertha Blanchard, Lucille Younge, William Russell.
Edwin Thanhouser, and Lloyd F. Lonergan who wrote or supervised screenplays for hundreds of Thanhouser films, often turned to classic plays and novels for quality source material. The Vicar of Wakefield was an enormously popular English novel for 150 years, offering a complex but accessible mix of Georgian English characters, situations, mores and manners. All this had to be simplified and distilled down to one reel of story, which was done better by Thanhouser than any other studio could have done.
In 1910 virtually all movies were developed in the director’s mind, improvised during filming, and made into a narrative by the film editor. Theater veteran Edwin Thanhouser and journalist Lonergan were possibly the first movie professionals to begin each new production with a complete screenplay (which they called a “continuity”). Within a year after its first release, the studio had a reputation for the best-developed stories in the business.
Also contributing was Gertrude (Mrs. Edwin) Thanhouser who helped on the scenarios and film editing.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Vicar of Wakefield - 1917
The Vicar of Wakefield: Seven or eight reels, released February 25, 1917. Print source: EmGee, 1 hour, 29 minutes, 30 seconds.
Elaborate remake starring Frederick Warde released by Pathé.
Directed by Ernest C. Warde. Scenario by Emmett Mix, based on the novel by Oliver Goldsmith. Photographed by William M. Zollinger. Cast: Frederick Warde (the Vicar of Wakefield), Boyd Marshall (George Primrose), Kathryn Adams (Olivia Primrose), Gladys Leslie (Sophia Primrose), Thomas A. Curran (Geoffrey; Mr. Burchell), Robert Vaughn (Squire Thornhill; Squire Wilmot), Carey L. Hastings (Mrs. Primrose), William Parke, Jr. (Moses Primrose), Tula Belle (Dick Primrose), Barbara Howard (Bill Primrose), Grace DeCarlton (Arabella Wilmot), Arthur Bauer (Mr. Wilmot), Morgan Jones (Jenkinson), Joseph H. Phillips, Nellie Parker Spaulding, Oscar W. Forster.
Original music composed and performed by Ray Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
After affiliating with Pathe in late 1916, Thanhouser produced only feature-length dramas. In 1917 the studio had a roster of only four stars, none of them a commercial match for the personality-stars created by the publicity machines of other studios. Frederick Warde, like his Thanhouser colleague Jeanne Eagels, was one of the most talented and famous stage actors in New York City, and was the perfect choice for the popular title character of the 1766 English novel. The production vindicated the new feature-length movie format by restoring several characters, plot complications, and atmosphere that had been truncated in Thanhouser’s 1910 version of less than one-sixth the length.
Warde, forgotten today, was best known for his classic stage work, but starred in several films including the title role in Richard III in 1913, the first American feature film (not a Thanhouser production). The director is the star’s son.
The elaborate production required several months to produce, working around Warde’s busy Chautauqua lecture schedule, and includes incidents vividly remembered by the novel’s readers, such as the green spectacles, the debtor’s prison, the sham marriage, and the burning of the vicarage.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Just a Shabby Doll - 1913
Just a Shabby Doll: One reel, approx. 1,000 feet, released March 11, 1913. Print source: British Film Institute, 14 minutes, 40 seconds.
A romantic story utilizing flashback sequences, featuring Harry Benham, Mignon Anderson and Helen Badgley.
Cast: Mignon Anderson (the wife), Harry Benham (the husband), Lila Chester (the governess), Helen Badgley (little daughter who listens to her father's tale), Marie Eline (little girl of long ago), David H. Thompson (drayman).
Original music composed and performed by Ray Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
A relatively complex original romantic story is squeezed onto only one reel, but this was the last year that such a constraint was taken for granted. Of special interest here are the 1913 New York City backgrounds. In 1913 the inter-titles became more frequent and, for the first time, primarily represented dialogue. This narrative is unusual in its fluid use of flashback (complete with anachronisms!).
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Shep's Race with Death - 1914
Shep’s Race with Death: One reel, approx. 790 feet, released November 1, 1914
Heroic dog "Shep" saves the day, also featuring the "Thanhouser Twins" Marion and Madeline Fairbanks.
Directed by John Harvey.
Print source: Museum of Modern Art, 12 minutes, 15 seconds.
Cast: Mrs. Whitcove (Mrs. Mateland), J.S. Murray (Mr. Stearns), Marie Rainford (Mrs. Stearns), Marion and Madeline Fairbanks (the twins), Shep (the Thanhouser Collie, as himself).
Original music by Ray Burbacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
The simple story of a heroic dog that saves the day appealed to audiences (especially with a well-trained animal as attractive and energetic as Shep), and became a movie staple for generations.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Evidence of The Film - 1913
Discovered in 1999 on the floor of a Montana projection booth, this is a good crime tale with film making as a subject.
"The Evidence of the Film" was selected in 2001 for inclusion in the National Film Registry by the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress because of its cultural, historical or aesthetic significance.
Directed by Edwin Thanhouser and Lawrence Marston.
Original music composed and performed by Ray Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
Print source: Library of Congress, 14 minutes, 30 seconds.
Recently discovered and rescued, "The Evidence of the Film" is a particularly clever and unusual early example of a fictional dramatic movie with filmmaking as a subject. The portrayal of a movie crew that just happens to be at work on a street corner is accurate. The director is seen consulting a shooting script, something a Thanhouser director would do but probably not another studio’s director. The film laboratory and editing scenes are of enormous interest as historical document as well as ingeniously integrated in the crime tale.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Sunrise a song of two Humans - F.W. Murnau - 1927
Country: USA
Release Date: 4 November 1927 (USA)
Filming Locations: Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
Director: F.W. Murnau
Writing credits: Hermann Sudermann(original theme "Die Reise nach Tilsit")
Carl Mayer (scenario), Katherine Hilliker (titles) and H.H. Caldwell (titles)
Stars: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor and Margaret Livingston
In this fable-morality subtitled "A Song of Two Humans", the "evil" temptress is a city woman who bewitches farmer Anses and tries to convince him to murder his neglected wife, Indre.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Little Girl Next Door - 1912
The Little Girl Next Door: One reel, approx. 1,000 feet, released November 1, 1912
Tragic drama with a moral lesson, features the "Thanhouser Twins" Marion and Madeline Fairbanks.
Directed by Lucius Henderson. Scenario by Philip Lonergan.
Print source: Essex Films, 14 minutes, 20 seconds.
Cast: William Garwood (the husband), Marguerite Snow (the wife), Marion and Madeline Fairbanks (Helen Randall and Ruth Foster), William Russell (the other father).
Original music composed and performed by Ray Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
The “Thanhouser Twins,” Marion and Madeline Fairbanks, are featured in this tragic drama with a moral lesson. Although limited by the constraints of one-reel storytelling, the scenario (the first by Philip Lonergan, the brother of story department head Lloyd Lonergan) is a well-rounded and engaging one. The naturalistic acting is quite sophisticated for the time.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Tiniest of Stars - 1913
The Tiniest of Stars: One reel, approx. 1,000 feet, released January 14, 1913.
Family drama of a a brother ("The Kid" Marie Eline) and sister ("The Kidlet" Helen Badgley) who take to the stage.
Print source: Library of Congress, 15 minutes, 45 seconds.
Cast: James Cruze, Marie Eline (the little boy), Helen Badgley (the little girl).
Original music composed and performed by Ray Burbacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
An air of authenticity infuses this family drama of a brother and sister who take to the variety stage. The popular stage was a source of everyday entertainment for most Americans of the time, and had been Edwin Thanhouser’s career before 1910. Audiences were beginning to recognize and demand more of the little actresses Marie Eline (who plays the little boy) and Helen Badgley, which led to the studio promoting them, and demand for their movies helped create the star system which survives today stronger than ever. Deft mixture of comedy and sentimentality.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Their One Love - 1915
Their One Love: One reel, approx. 1,020 feet, released May 2, 1915.
Civil War drama with spectacular night battle sequences, featuring "The Twins" Marion and Madeline Fairbanks.
Directed by John Harvey. Scenario by Gertrude Thanhouser. Photographed by Carl Louis Gregory.
Print source: British Film Institute, 15 minutes, 20 seconds.
Cast: Madeline and Marion Fairbanks (the twin sisters), Robert Wilson (Jack, the soldier), Charles Emerson (Jack as a boy).
Original music composed and performed by Ray Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
One of the many Civil War movies made during the 50th anniversary of the conflict. This was one of Thanhouser’s last one-reel dramas and was released just after Griffith’s Civil War epic Birth of a Nation. Griffith’s monumental picture had included three long-shots of nighttime pyrotechnics that included superimposures to complete the effect. Their One Love has an elaborate and spectacular eleven-shots night battle sequence with pyrotechnics and electric lighting effects, plus far more elaborate staging, editing, action, and pictorial drama than Griffith’s example. Thus, film historians consider Their One Love to be the first fiction film to fully realize the technique of night cinematography. The night sequence was filmed three weeks after Birth opened in New York.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Uncle's Namesakes - 1913
Uncle’s Namesakes: One reel, approx. 1,000 feet, released December 12, 1913.
Comedy about twin "boys" who deceive their rich English uncle, with Marion and Madeline Fairbanks ("The Twins").
Print source: British Film Institute, 15 minutes.
Cast: David H. Thompson (Jack, a needy young husband), Lila Chester (May, his wife), Sidney Bracy (Uncle John Henry Carson), Madeline and Marion Fairbanks (the uncle's namesakes), Justus D. Barnes. Original music composed and performed by Ray Burbacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
This story of an American family’s innocent deception to earn money from a rich English relative is about as broad as Thanhouser comedy ever got. The Thanhouser studio avoided slapstick despite the vigorous success the genre was enjoying at other studios. Young movie actresses of the time often portrayed boys, but here the Thanhouser Twins get to make fun of the practice.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Fires of Youth - 1917
Fires of Youth (Two reels of approx.2,000 feet, originally released in five-reel Pathé Gold Rooster Play version by the Pathé Exchange on June 17, 1917; shortened re-release by Imperial Film Company Ltd.).
Wealthy industrialist (Frederick Warde) seeks to regain his youth (Jeanne Eagles) in this cut down two-reel version.
Directed by Emile Chautard. Assistant director: James Ewens. Scenario by Agnes Christine Johnston. Photographed by Jacques Bizeul.
Print source: Em Gee, 31 minutes, 12 seconds.
Cast: Frederick Warde (Iron-Hearted Pemberton), Jeanne Eagels (Billy's sister), Helen Badgley (Billy), Ernest Howard (Billy's father), Robert Vaughn (Jim), James Ewens, Carey L. Hastings, Grace Stevens.
Original music composed and performed by Ray Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
The productions from Thanhouser’s mature period, 1915-1917, clearly show the advancements that set the stage for the first cinematic golden age, the 1920s. In this surviving shortened version of Fires of Youth are evident such advances as detailed character development by veteran actor Warde (and in a smaller role, at least in the shortened version, by Eagels), mature editing technique, special lighting effects, intelligent story development, realistic use of locations, fluid dialogue inter-titles, complex staging, and access to better cameras with the defeat of the Patents Trust.
Acclaimed French stage and film director Emile Chautard was brought from Éclair studio in France to direct.
This lone surviving print was recently purchased by Em Gee Film Library from the collection of the Silent Movie Theatre in California. The shortened version is imprinted with “Imperial Film Company Ltd.,” an English production and distribution company founded in 1913 by Paul Kimberley who was also managing director of Thanhouser Films Ltd. in London in 1913-1914.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Marble Heart - 1913
Marble Heart: Two reels of approx.2,000 feet, released May 13, 1913.
A story of unrequited love, with three popular Thanhouser stars James Cruze, Margurite Snow and Florence LaBadie.
Scenario adapted from the play by Charles Selby.
Print source: Museum of Modern Art, 26 minutes, 50 seconds.
Cast: Marguerite Snow (Marco, the woman with the marble heart), James Cruze (Raphael, the jilted sculptor), Florence LaBadie (Marie, the girl who found refuge in the sculptor's home), William Russell (the editor friend), Burton Law.
Original music composed and performed by Ray Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
This story, already a well-known English play of 1854 adapted from an earlier French play, casts the three most popular Thanhouser adult stars in a story of unrequited love, with a dream sequence that parallels the main story. Pale makeup is especially noticeable in some scenes, the answer to orthochromatic film’s blotchy-dark rendering of skin tones. Within a couple of years the technique of film makeup, filtering and lighting would be greatly improved.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Madam Blanche Beauty Doctor -1915
Mme. Blanche, Beauty Doctor: One reel of approx.1,000 feet, released July 9, 1915.
Gender bender comedy with satirical social observation, features Riley Chamberlin and Harry Benham (Falstaff release).
Directed by Arthur Ellery. Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan.
Print source: British Film Institute, 13 minutes, 35 seconds.
Cast: Harry Benham (Bob, the college boy; Madame Blanche), Riley Chamberlin (Simon Southwick, his guardian, a rheumatic old man), Mrs. S. Stevens (Mrs. Southwick), Mignon Anderson (Betty, the stenographer), Ray Johnston (clerk), Edward N. Hoyt (clerk), Morgan Jones, Ethel Jewett.
Original music composed and performed by Ray Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
A good example of the clever light comedy Thanhouser produced for its Falstaff label, while other studios cranked out broad slapstick comedies. Harry Benham and Mignon Anderson were versatile and popular Thanhouser stars, here showing considerable skill in light comedy, a genre that invites plenty of satirical social observation such as the burgeoning beauty-salon industry here. Cinema technique shows much more intricate editing and freer use of closeups than just a year or two earlier.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
She - 1911
She: Two reels of approx.2,000 feet, released December 26, 1911.
Thanhouser's first two reel film, an adventure/fantasy, with James Cruze in dual role of the hero.
Directed by George O. Nichols. Scenario adapted from H. Rider Haggard's novel of the same name.
Print source: Em Gee, 24 minutes, 40 seconds.
Cast: Marguerite Snow ("She"); James Cruze (Leo Vincey and also Kallikrates, his ancient ancestor; in the tomb scene, in Part II, by double exposure photography), Viola Alberti (the Pharaoh's daughter), William C. Cooper, Horace Holly, Irma Taylor, Harry Benham, Alphonse Ethier, Marie Eline (Leo Vincey as a youth).
Original music composed and performed by Ray Burbacher (thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm).
The sensational popular story was one of three Haggard novels filmed by Thanhouser. It has many of the elements found in the not-yet-invented adventure/fantasy serial genre. Thanhouser’s expertise in location work, costume fantasy, and elaborate storytelling pay off in in She, the studio’s first single-release two-reel production. The double role of the hero is played by James Cruze, Thanhouser’s best-known actor, who was something of an adventurer himself. In the 1920s he became the highest-paid director in Hollywood. Margurite Snow was also one of the core of Thanhouser’s stock company who enjoyed popularity as stars began to be identified and promoted.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Winter's Tale - 1910
The Winter's Tale: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, May 27, 1910
The first of six Shakespeare films released by Thanhouser.
Print source: Library of Congress, 12 minutes 35 seconds.
Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan and Gertrude Thanhouser,
based on the play by William Shakespeare.
Cast: Anna Rosemond (Queen of Sicilia), Martin Faust (King of Sicilia), Frank H. Crane (King of Bohemia), Amelia Barleon (Princess of Sicilia), Alfred Hanlon (Prince of Bohemia).
Original music composed and performed by Raymond A. Brubacher (thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm).
"The Winter’s Tale" was just the 13th or 14th title from the studio in its first nine weeks of releases. A handful of dramatic scenes from the play are presented in simple cinematic style with particular artistry in costumes and sets. This is the first Shakespearean adaptation by any American independent producer.
Nitrate deterioration in this print is typical of the chemical problem that has destroyed thousands of pre-1950 film negatives and prints.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Cymbeline - 1913
Cymbeline: Two reels, March 28, 1913.
Print source: George Eastman House, 22 minutes 15 seconds.
Energetic cinematic pacing and intimacy show rapidly improving narrative technique and realism well beyond the limitations of the stage.
Directed by Lucius J. Henderson. Adapted from the play by William Shakespeare. Photographed by Arthur A. Cadwell.
Cast: Florence LaBadie (Imogen), James Cruze (Leonatus), William Garwood (Iachimo), William Russell (King Cymbeline), Jean Darnell (the Queen).
Original music composed and performed by Raymond A. Brubacher (thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm).
Southern California locations vividly suggest both elemental pre-Roman Britain and classical Rome. An energetic cinematic pacing and intimacy show rapidly improving narrative technique and realism well beyond the limitations of the stage. Especially cinematic are the bedchamber scene in the first reel, with its intimate cinematography and acting and special lighting effect, and the battle scene of the second reel, considered very effective in its day.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
King Lear - 1916
King Lear: Approximately 2½ reels, abridged from the original five reels, December 17, 1916.
Frederick Warde, one of the best known stage actors of his generation, stars in this 2 1/2 reel abridged version cut down from the original five.
Print source: George Eastman House, 35 minutes 56 seconds. A Pathé Gold Rooster Play, released through the Pathé Exchange.
Directed by Ernest Warde. Scenario by Philip Lonergan, adapted from the play by William Shakespeare. Photographed by William Zollinger and John M. Bauman.
Cast: Frederick Warde (King Lear), Lorraine Huling (Cordelia), Wayne Arey (Duke of Albany), J.H. Gilmour (Earl of Kent), Hector Dion (Edmund), Ernest Warde (the King’s fool), Edwin Stanley (Edgar), Boyd Marshall (King of France), Ina Hammer (Goneril), Edith Diestel (Regan), Charles Brooks (Duke of Cornwall), Robert Whittier (Oswald). Music by Raymond A. Brubacher (thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm).
Frederick Warde, one of the best known stage actors of his generation, had played King Lear many times since 1896, and had starred as Richard III in the first known feature-length American film in 1912. In 1916-17 Warde was one of only three exclusive Thanhouser stars in these early days of the new “star system” of high salaries and relentless promotion. As seen in the inter-titles, the players are boldly identified, but Thanhouser stubbornly refused to build the full star treatment publicity machine to the extent that competing studios did.
Among the striking advancements of the mid-1910s, as seen here, are much more rapid and fluid editing, an increase in the use of dialogue titles, freer use of close-ups and insert shots, new skills in shallow-focus cinematography, and ever-increasing complexity of narrative. This surviving print, cut down for a later re-release, is half its original length.
Warde gives an admirably subtle performance for the intimate camera, in contrast to the broad stage acting style that prevailed in film acting as well.
Ernest Warde, the director and actor (as the court jester), was star Frederick’s son, and a solid and experienced theatrical director in his own right.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Nicolas Nickelby - 1912
Nicolas Nickelby: Two reels of approx. 2,000 feet, March 19, 1912
With The Old Curiosity Shop and David Copperfield, both released in 1911, and Nicholas Nickleby, Thanhouser established itself as producer of the best Dickens adaptations in American film.
Print source: British Film Institute, 31 minutes 18 seconds.
Directed by George O. Nichols. Scenario (uncredited) based on the novel by Charles Dickens.
Cast: Harry Benham (Nicholas Nickleby), Mignon Anderson (Madeline Bray), Frances Gibson (Kate Nickleby), Inda Palmer (Nicholas’ mother), Justus D. Barnes (Nicholas’ Uncle Ralph), N.S. Woods (Smike), David H. Thompson (Squeers), Marie Eline (Wackford), Mrs. Grace Eline (Fannie Squeers), Etienne Girardot (Gryde), Harry A. Marks (Vincent Crummles).
Music by Raymond A. Brubacher (thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm).
Under one-man story department Lloyd Lonergan, with regular scenarist contributions by Gertrude Thanhouser, the studio developed a knack for mining even long, complicated novels for their salient events and characters and transforming them to a cinematically interesting 15 or 30 minutes.
Because of Edison’s Patents Trust pressure, distributors demanded one-reel-length pictures. Nicholas Nickleby was only the third single-release 2-reel title by Thanhouser. Thanhouser’s and others’ resistance to monopoly limitations made feature-length films (an hour or more) the norm within a few years.
There is an unusually varied flow of different sets and locations. Advanced techniques include the subtle tilt and pan of the camera in the Greta Bridge scene, the mid-action cuts to different camera positions in the “brimstone and treacle” scene, and the smooth editing of several shots, some brief, to construct scenes.
Nicholas Nickleby was one of the first productions from Thanhouser’s new Florida operation in Jacksonville, the first time an independent production company had done extensive location work for several pictures in Florida. Thanhouser would build studio facilities in Jacksonville in 1916. Some scenes for Nicholas Nickleby were done in the main studio in New Rochelle.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
King Rene's Daughter - 1913
King Rene's Daughter: Three reels of approx. 3,000 feet, July 1, 1913.
A very romantic fiction set in renaissance France with florid, rich costuming. The story was originally a one-act verse play in Danish, “Iolanthe,” which also enjoyed great popularity in a fine English translation for the stage.
Print source: Blackhawk Films/David Shepard, 41 minutes 53 seconds.
Directed by W. Eugene Moore, Jr. Scenario (uncredited) based on the poetic drama “Iolanthe” by Henrik Heri.
Cast: Maude Fealy (Iolanthe), Harry Benham (Tristan), Mignon Anderson, David H. Thompson (Ebu Jahia), William Russell (Pierre).
Music by Raymond A. Brubacher (thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm).
Maude Fealy made her Thanhouser debut in the title role, and became a much-admired member of the Thanhouser stock company. Previously she had been a beauty contest winner and had a solid career on the legitimate stage.
Compared to just a year earlier, cinematic progress is seen in the increased narrative complexity and length, more confident use of inter-titles, and more flexible camerawork sometimes following actors’ movement.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Tannhäuser -1913
Tannhäuser: Three reels of approximately 3,000 feet, July 15, 1913
The story, set in medieval Germany, tells of chivalry, mythology and magic (with skillful in-camera tricks), love’s redemption, and tragedy.
Print source: British Film Institute, 40 minutes 09 seconds. (Note: Like many films from this era, the original print was tinted with various colors for different scenes. Thanks to the Library of Congress, the tint log from the original nitrate print was made available from which this copy was edited to imitate the rich colors audiences enjoyed in 1913.)
Directed by Lucius J. Henderson. Scenario (uncredited) based on the opera by Richard Wagner.
Cast: James Cruze (Tannhäuser), Marguerite Snow (Elisabeth), Florence LaBadie (Venus), William Russell (Wolfram), Burton Law. Music by Raymond A. Brubacher (thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm).
Though different in spelling and pronunciation, Thanhouser’s adaptation of “Tannhäuser” was probably inevitable. The opera, with original libretto and music by Wagner, based on traditional legends, was the first Wagner opera seen in the United States and enjoyed great popularity throughout the opera world. A subsequent non-musical English verse stage version was very popular in England and the U.S.
The story, set in medieval Germany (Thuringia), tells of chivalry, mythology and magic (with skillful in-camera tricks), love’s redemption, and tragedy.
The scantily-clad wood nymphs and the passion between Tannhäuser and Venus, tame relative to the demands of the story, are early examples of censor-testing cinematic expression. Although those freedoms were noted in the press, there is no record of any attempted censorship of Tannhäuser.
At the beginning of 1913, Thanhouser, now a Mutual Film Corporation company, leased facilities in Los Angeles and equipped them for full-service studio production with the intent of making movies for a new Mutual brand, Royal. The Royal brand did not happen, and Thanhouser ended up using the Los Angeles facility for films in its own schedule. Tannhäuser was produced in Los Angeles, as the treeless mountain landscape reveals.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Vagabonds - 1915
The Vagabonds: One reel of 1,000 feet, August 29, 1915
A series of flashbacks where a penniless, friendless tramp and his dog relates the story of his downfall due to drink.
Print source: The Library of Congress, 12 minutes 58 seconds.
Scenario (uncredited) based on the poem “The Vagabonds” by J.T. Trowbridge (the poem was sometimes known by the title “Roger and I”).
Cast: Morris Foster (Tim), Grace DeCarlton (Amelia), Arthur Bauer (Grossbeck Upham), Carey L. Hastings (Tim’s mother)Music by Raymond A. Brubacher (thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm).
The Vagabonds source is a different kind of classic—a poem by an influential and prolific writer of inspirational and cautionary stories for children, particularly boys. The author J.T. Trowbridge (1827-1916) had also been a well-known pre-Civil War abolitionist. His poem “The Vagabonds” was first published in 1863.
This relatively fine print shows the rapid improvements in camera lenses in the mid-1910s, and independent studios like Thanhouser finally had access to the best cameras and equipment with the breaking of the Patents Trust in 1915.
The variety of camera setups and fluidity of editing is quite modern compared to just a year or two earlier.
Thanhouser Film Corporation was almost in disarray following the 1914 death of its brilliant manager Charles J. Hite and the subsequent departure of many employees. In addition, big studio competitors were realizing big profits from lengthier films and celebrity-star promotion that Mutual’s Thanhouser was not keeping pace with.
The turnaround began when Edwin Thanhouser returned as general manager in early 1915 and the company was soon reorganized. He also was made an executive and a director of Mutual.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Daddy's Double - 1910
Daddy's Double: One reel of 960 feet, April 5, 1910.
A one-reel crime drama with crooks, ruses, kidnapping, escape, and a twist, all wrapped in a coherent narrative.
Print source: British Film Institute, 15 minutes 42 seconds. Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan. Photographed by Blair Smith. Cast: Frank H. Crane (Daddy), Fred Santley (Daddy’s double), Isabelle Daintry. Music by Raymond A. Brubache thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm
This deft comedy about a foiled elopement and assumed identity shows the importance of a carefully worked out scenario for narrative flow. The rule at many other comedy-producing studios was that gags drove the film and story line was incidental. With the talent of Lloyd Lonergan, it was the other way around at Thanhouser from the very beginning. Daddy’s Double was the fourth release by the new studio.
Some minor camera tilting in the ladder scene, minor panning as necessary, and minor cross-cutting hint at the stylistic revolutions to come in the next few years.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
An Elusive Diamond - 1914
An Elusive Diamond: One reel of 1,002 feet, January 23, 1914.
A one-reel crime drama with crooks, ruses, kidnapping, escape, and a twist, all wrapped in a coherent narrative.
Print source: British Film Institute, 15 minutes 27 seconds.Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan.Cast: David H. Thompson (the butler), Carey L. Hastings (Mrs. Burr), Mignon Anderson (Bettina), William Noel (hoodlum). Music by Raymond A. Brubacher (thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm).
Screenwriter Lonergan’s amazing versatility served equally well in several genres—here a one-reel adventure with crooks, ruses, kidnapping, escape, and a twist, all wrapped in a coherent narrative. There is successful pictorial telling of the setup and attempted theft, and a little cross-cutting as the police come to the rescue (rescue of the rock, as the resourceful heroine obviously needs no rescuing).
Thanhouser’s popular Mignon Anderson’s climactic stunt work shows that the stock players were remarkably versatile.
“An” Elusive Diamond was the official title despite the “The” of this surviving print.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Marvelous Marathoner - 1915
The Marvelous Marathoner: One reel of 1,023 feet, August 16, 1915.
An energetic and vivacious Falstaff comedy with good pacing combining physical comedy (without slapstick) with situation comedy.
Print source: Library of Congress, 13 minutes 12 seconds. Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan for the Falstaff brand.
Cast: Boyd Marshall (Walter Bodewick), Ruth Elder (Vivian Webster), Justus D. Barnes (Ewing Webster), D. Hegeman (Colotta Cummings). A Falstaff film. Music by Raymond A. Brubacher (thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm).
Thanhouser’s “Falstaff Comedies” was a schedule of one-reel comedies released each Friday beginning in April 1915, later changed to each Tuesday. Looking for a niche, Thanhouser’s short plot-driven comedies stood out from other studios’ trend toward longer offerings and broad gag-oriented comedy. The Falstaff comedies were what could be called situation comedies calling on the outstanding screenwriting skill of Lloyd Lonergan and the acting charm of the Thanhouser stock company. Marathoner enjoys energetic and vivacious comedy pacing combining physical comedy (without slapstick) with situation comedy.
Skillful cinematography, many interesting locations, and creative lighting for interiors add to the fine visual quality. Some serious nitrate deterioration has compromised a brief part of this surviving print.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
His Great Uncle's Spirit -1912
His Great Uncle's Spirit: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, March 8, 1912.
Full of amazing trick situations that will leave you dazed and delighted!
Print source: George Eastman House, 14 minutes 9 seconds.
Cast: George Ober (miser)
Original music composed and performed by Ben Model (silentfilmmusic.com).
Rapid advancement in film technique is seen in His Great Uncle’s Spirit. Especially in the opening theater sequence, and in the climactic “transformation” sequence, several different shots are edited together to create a fluid, dynamic scene. Cinematography shows the first spark of flexibility with a couple of tilting movements. There is a new energy in direction with strong fore-to-back staging. There are also some insert close-ups and some relatively unusual medium close-ups of action.
Despite all the stylistic skill, the story is the entertainment, about a vaudeville magician down on his luck, who takes a secretarial job and uses magic tricks to transform his mean skinflint boss into a generous man.
Ben Model’s expert organ accompaniment indicates how effective the music can be in, among other things, foiling the most extremely emotive silent movie acting.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
When the Studio Burned - 1913
When the Studio Burned: One reel of 1,000 feet, February 4, 1913
Fictional drama exploiting the fire that actually struck the Thanhouser studio on January 13, 1913 and burned the main facility to the ground.
Print source: Library of Congress, 14 minutes 14 seconds.Directed by Lawrence Marston. Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan.
Cast: Marguerite Snow (as herself), Helen Badgley (herself), Marie Eline (herself), James Cruze (himself), Justus D. Barnes (director), Mrs. Gerald Badgley (member of traveling crew).
Original music composed and performed by Ben Model (silentfilmmusic.com).
The film studio’s worst enemy was fire, thanks to mostly wooden structures and highly flammable nitrate negatives, prints, and film stock. Fire actually struck the Thanhouser studio on January 13, 1913 and burned the main facility to the ground. Most of the negatives and prints were saved. The fire was reported in newspapers nationwide.
Although there were a few shots of smoldering ruins, the cameras arrived too late to film any of the actual fire. Although several Thanhouser players portray themselves in When the Studio Burned, the story is all fiction from the imagination of Lloyd Lonergan, simply meant to capitalize on the notoriety. The views of the city of New Rochelle are perfectly authentic.
As luck would have it, Thanhouser had just opened a studio in Los Angeles, and had just set up production in Chicago, so it was able to continue its schedule of releases without interruption as the replacement facilities were constructed.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Woman in White - 1917
Woman in White: Five reels of 4,627 feet, July 1, 1917
Five reel feature film based on Wilkie Collins novel with special lighting effects, a technical tour de force as well as dramatically effective.
Print source: Library of Congress, 1 hour 8 minutes. Directed by Ernest C. Warde. Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan, based on the novel by Wilkie Collins. Photographed by William M. Zollinger.
Cast: Florence LaBadie (double role as Laura Fairlie and Ann Catherick), Richard R. Neill (Sir Pervival Glyde), Gertrude Dallas (Marian Holcombe), Arthur Bauer (Count Fosco), Wayne Arey (Walter Hartridge), J.H. Gilmour, Claude Cooper. A Pathé Gold Rooster Play released through the Pathé Exchange.
Original music composed and performed by Ben Model (silentfilmmusic.com).
Re-released by Chandler Pictures as The Unfortunate Marriage ca. 1920.
In its last two years of production Thanhouser concentrated on multi-reel features of high quality. Lloyd Lonergan’s scenarios were the foundation for the attention to quality, whether with original stories or with adaptations like The Woman in White.
Stylistic and technical elements are very near the sophisticated level of the first golden age of cinema, the 1920s. Especially noteworthy are the special lighting effects, a technical tour de force as well as dramatically effective.
Release through Pathé gave Thanhouser pictures especially strong international exposure during the studio’s last years, but somewhat hampered by the war in Europe.
The Woman in White was adapted from a very well known contemporary novel and was a particularly fine vehicle for the beautiful Florence LaBadie, one of the last of the old stock company still with Thanhouser in 1917. She was called “the most important personality at the Thanhouser studio” by Thanhouser historian David Q. Bowers. Two months after the release of The Woman in White she was in an automobile accident and she died in October from her injuries, just a week later than the release of the studio’s final new production.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)