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, November 28, 2011
Madame Mystery - 1926
Country: USA
Language: English
Directors: Richard Wallace, Stan Laurel
Writers: Carl Harbaugh, Krag Johnson, Grover Jones, Stan Laurel, Hal Roach, H.M. Walker (titles), Hal Yates
Stars: Theda Bara, Oliver Hardy and Tyler Brooke
Release Date: 12 March 1926 (USA)
Production Co: Hal Roach Studios
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Farce | Spy
Genres: Short | Comedy
There exists a one-reel version of this film running approximately ten minutes, making it one of the very few Theda Bara films to survive the silent era, even in fragmented form.
A female secret agent has gotten ahold of a new type of explosive gas. She has to avoid the efforts of two men who are trying to steal it. They succeed in doing so, but the gas turns out to be not quite what they expected.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Loading the Ice on Cars, Conveying It Across the Mountains and Loading It Into Boats - 1902
Country: USA
Release Date: February 1902 (USA)
Filming Locations: Groton, Connecticut, USA
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Documentary | Short
Shows how the ice is picked up from the canal and loaded on cars which are hauled across the mountain by cable. After letting the cars down on the opposite side it is unloaded from the cars and stored in ice boats and transported to market.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Flying the Foam and Some Fancy Diving - 1906
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Director: James Williamson
Stars: 'Professor' Reddish
Filming Locations: Palace Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK
Production Co: Williamson Kinematograph Company
Genres: Short
A stunt cyclist is seen jumping off Brighton Pier, from multiple angles and in multiple directions(!) Some more mundane high-diving footage follows, in the same style.
James Williamson, one of the pioneers of the British film industry, produced this shot of Professor Reddish, a water clown that used to be called a 'tumeler' in the Catskills -- he rides a bicycle hither and yon and does some basic dives, albeit from a great height -- one of them looks to be from a good twenty meters into the water.
Williamson attempts to enliven a rather straightforward performance by running some of the sequences backwards, so that the Professor seems to leap from the water back to the several times, but by 1906, that was rather old hat. The record is a bit sketchy, but he would seem to have largely gone out of production within a year of this work, with one or two later efforts.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tangled Trails - 1921
Country: USA
Director: Charles Bartlett
Writers: Charles Bartlett (story), Charles Bartlett (scenario)
Stars: Neal Hart, Violet Palmer and Gladys Hampton
Release Date: December 1921 (USA)
Also known as: Sands of Sacrifice
Production Co: Neal Hart Productions
Runtime: 56 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Sweetheart | Canada | Killer | Trail | New York City | Escape | Northwest Mounted Police | Canadian | Manhattan New York City | Con Man | Mounted Police | 1920s | Cigarette Smoking | Murder Victim | Speakeasy | Crooked Promoter |
B Western | Melodrama | Killing | Mother Daughter Relationship | Sister Sister Relationship | Royal Canadian Mounted Police | B Movie | Murderer | Law And Order |
Lawman | Murder | Bowery Manhattan New York City | Western Canada
Taglines: A STIRRING TALE of the GREAT NORTHWEST (original poster), The Tiger - Gets His Prey (original poster)
Genres: Action | Crime | Romance | Western
Corporal Jack Borden, of the Northwest Mounted Police, trails the man who killed his partner to New York City. The killer is an unscrupulous promoter who is selling worthless stock in a gold mine. Borden, with the help of Blanche Hall, locates the man in a Bowery dive, but he escapes and Borden tracks him back to Canada. Along the way, he discovers that Blanche and his sweetheart, Milly, are long-separated sisters and brings about a reconciliation.
The storyline was showing its age, but the film still had much of interest. It is winter, and out in north west Canada a recluse lives in a remote cabin with his youngish daughter. He rides to the trading post, leaving the girl behind to do the chores, much to her disgruntlement. Meanwhile, and nearby, crooked mine owner prepares to leave the adit in charge of the foreman/sole miner while he goes to New York to raise more funds from his investors. The foreman wants to be paid first, and they fight. The owner tips the foreman into the adit and rides off. A corporal in the Mounties happens by, sees what is going on, and gives chase. Unfortunately his horse stumbles and he is hurt. The girl sees him, and helps him to her cabin where she tends him. They look into each others eyes in that deeply meaningful way they did in silents. She is scared her father will be angry, but when he returns he is sweetness and light. During the night wolves howl, and the following morning the Mountie sneaks out early and returns to the police station to report events. He goes back to the adit, and finds the foreman only injured. He explains the mine owner's scam, and limps off home. The corporal rides back to the trading post, leaves his horse in the stables, changes into civvies and takes the next train (due in twenty minutes) to New York. In the Big Apple, the crooked mine owner develops his plans, while his secretary looks on horrified. At the close of business, he starts to chase her round the office. The corporal, having arrived in New York, wearing a ten gallon Stetson, and taken a taxi across town (some quite decent shots of the city streets), goes up to the office, hears the secretary's screams, and bursts in. A really savage and brutal fight ensure with at one point the secretary apparently helping her assailant, in another the corporal and the blackguard leaning out of a window high above the streets, Harold Lloyd style. The mine owner escapes, and being 6pm the secretary goes home. Next day the corporal returns to try and find out where the mine owner lives, but nobody seems to know. However, a call takes his to the home of the secretary and her mother. It appears that several years previously her husband suspected her of infidelity and left for a remote cabin in north west Canada taking their younger daughter with him. That apart, the secretary explains that the mine owner will be meeting his accomplices at a bar in the Bowery. The corporal heads there with a NYPD detective. At the entrance to the bar, they espy the bad guys and plan a stratagem. The corporal sneaks round behind the bad guys hoping not to be noticed, despite his headgear. However, a customer warns the bar keeper of the presence of the detective, and a brawl ensues. The mine owner escapes in a taxi, closely followed by the corporal, standing on the running board of another. The shots of the chase through the (a?) city were impressively done. The first taxi just manages to cross a railway in front of a long freight train, and then arrives at a railway station just as a trans-continental train is about to leave. The corporal and the detective arrive just too late. However, our corporal takes the next train home, arriving at the trading post shortly after the mine owner has left for the adit. In the corporal's absence, the girl has been looked after by the factor and his wife, and introduced to nice clothes, rather than the shift which was her only wardrobe. She is delighted to see the corporal back, as he is delighted to see her (though he is twice her age). He changes back into uniform and heads out after the mine owner. They meet in the middle of a snowy field, and while they battle it out, their horses munch hay together. It is not clear where the hay came from in this winter wilderness. The mine owner is captured and prosecuted. The corporal then realises that the secretary and the girl are sisters, so after a discussion with his horse(!), he sends his savings to New York, and the secretary and her mother arrive on the train to be used to take the mine owner away to prison, presumably somewhat further west. He has apparently been convicted of killing the foreman, though when last seen the foreman was very much alive. The corporal takes the new arrivals to the cabin where there is a joyful reunion between husband and wife. The two sisters also take to each other, and the elder one promises the younger to share her fancy New York modes. At this point the corporal heads back to duty: the two sisters watch him go, the younger breaking down in tears to see the love of her life ride away. From a distance he turns round, then continues away. What is not made clear is how the ladies from all mod cons New York are going to cope with the rough and ready life of a cabin in the wilds where water has to be collected from a distant stream! Some of the scenes were well done and well acted; the bar room was risible and the scene appallingly done. The corporal was OK at a distance but as wooden as the trees in close-up; the girl was very attractive and made the most of her part - it is a pity she only made a few films. Nice steam trains though.
The Coming of Amos - 1925
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Paul Sloane
Writers: James Ashmore Creelman (adaptation), Garrett Fort (adaptation), William J. Locke (novel "The Coming of Amos") (as William John Locke)
Stars: Rod La Rocque, Jetta Goudal and Noah Beery
Release Date: 6 September 1925 (USA)
Also known as: L'homme du Ranch (France), O Homem do Rancho (Portugal)
Production Co: Cinema Corporation of America
Runtime: 71 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Melodrama | Based On Novel
Genres: Romance
An Australian sheep rancher fulfills his promise to his dying mother by visiting his uncle on the French Riviera. He meets and falls in love with a Russian princess who was forced into a bad marriage to save her family from the Communists.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The Merchant of Venice - 1910
Country: Italy
Language: Italian
Director: Gerolamo Lo Savio
Writer: William Shakespeare (play)
Stars: Ermete Novelli, Francesca Bertini and Olga Giannini Novelli
Release Date: February 1911 (Italy)
Also known as: Il mercante di Venezia (Original Italian title), Der Kaufmann von Venedig (Austria / Germany), Shyloch, ó el mercador de Venecia (Spain), Shylock, ou le marchand de Venise (France), The Merchant of Venice (UK).
Production Co: Film d'Arte Italiana
Plot Keywords: Partially Lost Film | William Shakespeare | Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice | Based On Play
Genres: Short | Drama
With a friend desperate for money, a merchant takes out a loan from a ruthless money-lender. Confident that his ships will soon be bringing him great wealth, the merchant willingly agrees to conditions of the loan that put him at great personal risk.
King Lear - 1910
Country: Italy
Language: Italian
Director: Gerolamo Lo Savio
Writer: William Shakespeare (play)
Stars: Ermete Novelli, Francesca Bertini and Olga Giannini Novelli
Release date: 12 December 1910 (Spain), 21 December 1910 (UK)
Also known as: El rey Lear (Spain), King Lear (UK), Le roi Lear (France)
Production Co: Film d'Arte Italiana
Runtime: 16 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: King | Murder Of Sister | Loss Of Daughter | Madness | Execution | William Shakespeare | Loss Of Sanity | Tragedy | Betrayal | Sword Fight | Shakespeare's King Lear | Death Of Title Character | Ends With Death | Based On Play
Character Name In Title
Genres: Short | Drama
King Lear decides to divide his kingdom amongst his three daughters. The oldest two daughters fawn insincerely over their father, and get most of his possessions. The youngest daughter, Cordelia, is much less lavish in her displays of affection, and disappoints her father. But events soon lead the old king to find out how each of his daughters really feels about him.
Richard III - 1911
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Frank R. Benson
Writer: William Shakespeare (play)
Stars: James Berry, Alfred Brydone and Kathleen Yorke
Release Date: May 1911 (UK)
Production Co: Co-operative Cinematograph, Stratford Memorial Theatre Company
Runtime: 23 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: William Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Richard III | Based On Play | Character Name In Title
Genres: Short | Biography | Drama | History
Although several others are ahead of him in the line of succession, Richard of Gloucester is determined to gain the throne. Through deceit, manipulation, and murder, he does become King Richard III of England. But once he becomes king, he soon finds out that the many enemies he has made will make it very difficult for him to remain on the throne for long.
The Tempest -1908
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Percy Stow
Writers: William Shakespeare (play), Langford Reed (script)
Release Date: November 1908 (UK)
Production Co: Clarendon
Runtime: 12 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Based On Play
Genres: Short | Drama | Fantasy
Prospero and his daughter Miranda must take refuge on an enchanted island. There Prospero, who himself has magical powers, releases the spirit Ariel from a spell, and also meets the savage Caliban. Then Prospero uses his powers to create a tempest that shipwrecks some of the persons who caused his exile.
The Last Days of Pompeii - 1913
Country: Italy
Language: Italian
Directors: Mario Caserini, Eleuterio Rodolfi
Writers: Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (novel), Mario Caserini
Stars: Fernanda Negri Pouget, Eugenia Tettoni Fior and Ubaldo Stefani
Release Date: 13 August 1913 (USA)
Also known as: Gli ultimi giorni di Pompeii (original Italian title), De laatste dagen van Pompeï (Netherlands - informal literal title), Die letzten Tage von Pompeji (Germany), Les derniers jours de Pompei (France), Los últimos días de Pompeya(Spain), Ostatnie dni Pompei (Poland), Pompejis sista dagar (Sweden).
Production Co: Società Anonima Ambrosio
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Slave | High Priest | Potion | Love Triangle | Sorceress | Prayer |
Murder | Duplicity | Roman Salute | Jealousy | Escape | Spectacle | Volcano | Sea |
Rose | Mount Vesuvius | Self Sacrifice | Arena | Kidnapping | Destruction | Disaster
Blindness | Volcanic Eruption | Epic | Boat | Gladiator | Blind Girl | Physical Abuse | Pigeon | Beating | False Accusation | Witch | Romantic Rivalry | Lion | Pompeii | Lava | Lizard | Fire | Imprisonment | Ancient Rome | Based On Novel
Genres: Adventure | Drama
Well respected Pompeiian Glaucus performs an act of kindness by buying Nidia, a blind slave being mistreated by her owner. Nidia falls in love with her new master, but he only has eyes for Jone. Jone in turn is lusted after by Arbace, an Egyptian high priest of Isis. When Nidia beseeches Isis for help in capturing Glaucus' heart, Arbace gives her a "love" potion, which really will affect his mind and not his heart, thus opening the way to Jone for himself. When Arbace's disciple is murdered Glaucus finds himself in hot water, shortly after which Mt. Vesuvius erupts.
The Hazards of Helen - Episode 26 - The Wild Engine - 1915
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: J.P. McGowan
Writer: Edward T. Matlack (story)
Stars: Helen Holmes, Leo D. Maloney and Rex Downs
Release Date: 8 May 1915 (USA)
Also known as: The Wild Engine
Production Co: Kalem Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short | Thriller
Did you know? This film was re-edited with another Hazards of Helen episode by the Aywon company and re-issued in 1919 as chapter one of "The Adventures of Helen".
Helen, informed of the danger which menaces an excursion train because another engine on the same track is running wild, mounts a motorcycle and speeds down the track to warn the passengers of their imminent peril. Nearing a river trestle under repair, she hurtles into the river; undaunted, she swims to the opposite bank and flags down the excursion train in the nick of time, causing the engineer to run his train onto a siding just a few moments before the runaway dashes by.
Spunky gal heroines were all the rage in the years prior to and during World War I. In addition to the famous Perils of Pauline, there were also Adventures of Kathlyn, Exploits of Elaine, Ventures of Marguerite, and Hazards of Helen. This final series encompassed a remarkable 119 episodes, of which The Wild Engine was number 26. Helen Holmes starred as the titular character in dozens of these episodes, including this one, in which she is hired as a railroad telegrapher and ends up forestalling a dreadful locomotive accident. Admirers of rail equipment and rolling stock will be in seventh heaven, as there are three separate trains involved, and we also get a close look at line switching and signals operation. As for Helen, she 'borrows' Hoot Gibson's motorcycle and drives it off the edge of a drawbridge! Holmes is a believable hero and the film an impressive 14-minute thrill ride.
The Abyss - 1910
Country: USA | Denmark
Language: English
Director: Urban Gad
Writer: Urban Gad
Stars: Asta Nielsen, Robert Dinesen and Poul Reumert
Release Date: 18 April 1912 (USA)
Also known as: Afgrunden (original title), A züllés útján (Hungary), Abgründe (Germany), Der Abgrund (Germany), Gøglerblod (Denmark - working title), Przepasc (Poland), The Abyss (undefined), The Woman Always Pays (USA), Woman Always Pays (USA).
Production Co: Kosmorama
Runtime: Denmark: 38 min | Denmark: 37 min (16 fps) (2004 restored version)
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Dance | Tram | Theater | Actress | Letter | Bondage | Murderess |
Stairway | Murder
Genres: Short | Drama
Magda meets her fiancé and he invites her to visit him and his parents. While visiting them, a circus comes to town and Magda asks her fiancé to take her to the show. Afterwards one of the artists shows interest in Magda and her fiancé becomes jealous and brings her home. The artist follows and enters her room through the window. She runs off with the artist leaving a goodbye note. The fiancé later locates Magda, but she rejects him. We see Magda perform a gaucho dance on stage around the artist who she has tied up with a lasso but afterward the artist shows interest in another woman. Magda becomes jealous and starts a fight which gets her and the artist fired. She finds work as a piano player by which time her former fiancé sees her again. He sends her a note asking her to meet him. The artist follows Magda, interrupts their meeting and throws the fiancé out of the room...
Monday, November 14, 2011
Sunday Calm - 1923
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Robert F. McGowan
Writers: Hal Roach (story), H.M. Walker (titles)
Stars: Joe Cobb, Jackie Condon and Mickey Daniels
Release Date: 16 December 1923 (USA)
Production Co: Hal Roach Studios
Runtime: (USA - 20 min)
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Our Gang | Children | Actor Shares First Name With Character
Genres: Comedy | Family | Short
It was the 20th Our Gang short subject released. The gang travels by wagon to go on a picnic with their families. After losing a wheel, the parents put on a new one, and the gang races off with the wagon, leaving the parents behind. They have a picnic without the parents, only to be overrun with insects.
The Goat - 1921
Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Directors: Buster Keaton, Malcolm St. Clair
Writers: Buster Keaton, Malcolm St. Clair
Stars: Buster Keaton, Virginia Fox and Joe Roberts
Release Date: 15 May 1921 (USA)
Also known as: A kecske Hungary (imdb display title); El chivo (Spain); Il capro espiatorio (Italy); Malec l'insaisissable (France); Pulmallisessa asemassa (Finland); Syntipukki Finland (TV title)
Filming Locations: 914 S. Alvarado Street, Los Angeles, California, USA (Weymouth Apartment House); Inglewood Train Station, Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles, California, USA
Production companies: Joseph M. Schenck Productions; Buster Keaton Productions
Runtime: 27 min | Spain: 20 min | USA: 23 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Food Line | Mistaken Identity
Genres: Comedy | Short
Buster is inadvertently identified as the notorious outlaw Dead Shot Dan. He is pursued throughout the city by the local police chief, using disguises and quick-thinking to elude the lawman. He encounters Virginia, a young lady friend, and goes to her home to visit and hide out, only to discover that Virginia's father is the police chief.
The Balloonatic - 1923
Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Directors: Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton
Writers: Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline
Stars: Buster Keaton and Phyllis Haver
Release Date: 22 January 1923 (USA)
Also known as: The Balloonatic USA (original title); A léghajós Hungary (imdb display title); Busterin ilmaseikkailut (Finland); El aeronauta (Spain); Flygteknikern Sweden (DVD menu title); Il matto sul pallone (Italy); Malec aéronaute (France); O Aeronauta (Brazil); Seikkailija (Finland); To aerostato Greece (festival title).
Production Co: Buster Keaton Productions
Runtime: 22 min | 27 min (TCM print)
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Canoe | Waterfall | Balloon | Silent Film | Laying Jacket Over Puddle | Diving | Hunting | Pun In Title | Dam | Fishing | Jacket | Rabbit | Carnival | Bear | Automobile | Hot Air Balloon | Puddle | Shooting | Riding In Car | Falling On Someone | Ukulele | Car | Black Eye
Genres: Comedy | Short | Romance
Continuity: Buster chases the fish up one fork of the creek and builds a dam there, but when the dam breaks he's shown being washed down the other fork of the creek.
After the scene in which she dives onto Buster, Phyllis's camp site inexplicably switches from one side of the river to the other.
Buster and Phyllis endure a number of outdoor adventures trying to prove to each other their survival skills. The balloon which lands Buster in the wilderness proves useful later on as their canoe is about go over a waterfall.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Sinking of the Lusitania - 1918
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Winsor McCay
Writer: Winsor McCay
Release Date: 20 July 1918 (USA)
Production Co: Universal Film Manufacturing Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Ship | Lusitania | Torpedo | U Boat | Sinking | Propaganda | Ocean Liner | Tragedy | Statue Of Liberty | Ship Wreck
Genres: Animation | Short
An animated depiction of the sinking of the Lusitania: In May 1915, the liner leaves the United States, headed for Liverpool with over 2000 passengers on board. As the ship nears its destination, she is struck and severely damaged by a torpedo from a German U-boat. Even as frantic efforts to evacuate the ship are underway, another torpedo strikes the ship, leading quickly to disaster.
The Sentimental Bloke - 1919
Country: Australia
Language: English
Director: Raymond Longford
Writers: C.J. Dennis (poem); Raymond Longford (writer); Lottie Lyell (writer)
Cast: Arthur Tauchert ...The Bloke; Lottie Lyell...Doreen; Gilbert Emery...Ginger Mick; Stanley Robinson...The Bloke's Friend; Harry Young...The Stror 'at Coot; Margaret Reid..Mother; Charles Keegan...Parson; William Coulter...Uncle Jim; Helen Fergus...Nurse; C.J. Dennis...Himself
Filming Locations: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia (shots of sunsets & sunrises for the intertitles); Bondi, New South Wales, Australia (interiors) (open air sets); Hornsby Valley, New South Wales, Australia (orchard scenes) (near Sydney); Manly Beach, Manly, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; New South Wales, Australia; Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (as Royal Botanical Gardens); South Australia, Australia (shots of sunsets & sunrises for the intertitles); Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Wonderland City, Bondi, New South Wales, Australia (interiors) (open air sets); Woolloomooloo, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Production Co: Southern Cross Feature Film Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell, the writers/directors/stars were the most successful film partnership in Australia at the time. This film broke all existing box office records after debuting on October 4 1919 at Melbourne Town Hall in Victoria.
In 1915 C.J.Dennis published a collection of poems telling the story of "The Sentimental Bloke". The poems are spoken by the Bloke himself, telling of his meeting with the girl who wins his heart, his courtship and marriage.
This black and white movie of the silent era captures the spirit of the poetry exactly. Near the beginning are the memorable words- 'The World 'as got me snouted, jist a treat! Cruel Forchin's dirty left 'as smote me soul, And all them Joys o' Life I 'eld so sweet Is up tha pole!
We soon have our Hero proclaiming-'Er name's Doreen! Well, spare me bloomin' days! You could've knocked me down wiv 'alf a brick
Isn't Life Wonderful - 1924
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: D.W. Griffith
Writers: D.W. Griffith, Geoffrey Moss (novel)
Stars: Carol Dempster, Neil Hamilton and Erville Alderson
Release Date: 5 December 1924 (USA)
Also known as: Como a Vida É Bela! (Portugal); Dawn (USA - working title);
Hát nem csodálatos az élet? (Hungary); Ist das Leben nicht wunderbar? (Germany).
Production Co: D.W. Griffith Productions
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Inflation | Poland | Poison Gas | Based On Novel
Genres: Drama | Romance
The story follows a Polish professor and his family who have become refugees in the aftermath of World War I. They try to survive in Germany during the period of the Great Inflation. Carol Dempster is Inga, a Polish war orphan who struggles to provide for the family that has taken her in, while accumulating a meager dowry from the rubble of depression-stricken Berlin so that she can marry Paul. Returning to his family, weakened by the battlefront's poisonous gases, Paul invests in his and Inga's future by tending a secret garden which he hopes will provide the resources for them to live, and which serves as a symbol of optimism for the two young lovers.
The Rough House - 1917
Country: USA
Language: English
Directors: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Buster Keaton
Writers: Buster Keaton, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (story), Joseph Anthony Roach (story)
Stars: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Buster Keaton and Al St. John
Release Date: 25 June 1917 (USA)
Also known as: Fatty chez lui (France); La casa tempestosa (Italy); La casa tempestuosa (Venezuela); Tres pies al gato (Spain-DVD title).
Filming Locations: Norma Talmadge Studio, New York City, New York, USA.
Production Co: Comique Film Company
Genres: Comedy | Short
Directorial debut of Buster Keaton. Buster Keaton hadn't yet solidified his "Great Stone Face" persona; he smiles, laughs, grimaces, and smirks. Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle performs a prototype of the "dancing dinner rolls" that Charles Chaplin used in The Gold Rush. Until "The Rough House" - thought to be lost - was rediscovered, Chaplin was credited with creating the gag.
Roscoe, his wife and his mother-in-law run a seaside resort. Buster plays a gardener who puts out a fire started by Roscoe, then a delivery boy who fights with the cook St. John, then a cop.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Steamboat Bill Jr. - 1928
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Charles Reisner (as Chas. F. Reisner); Buster Keaton (uncredited)
Writer: Carl Harbaugh (story), Carl Harbaugh scenario (uncredited), Carl Harbaugh titles (uncredited).
Stars: Buster Keaton, Tom McGuire and Ernest Torrence
Release Date: 20 May 1928 (USA)
Genres: Action | Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance
Plot Keywords: Captain | River | Riverboat | Rescue | Banker | Hurricane | Jail |
Ventriloquist Dummy | Rock Through Window | Father Daughter Relationship | Hospital
Actor Performing Own Stunts | Carnation | First Mate | Rainstorm | Bed | Forbidden Love | Ukulele | Chewing Tobacco | Minister | Black Stereotype | Beret | Umbrella |
Hat | Class Differences | Pratfall | Father Son Relationship | Rivalry | Male Female Relationship | Fight | Falling Building | Small Town | Haberdasher | Boat Pilot | Key | Family Relationships | Father Son Reunion | Jailbreak | Window Smashing | Singing | Bread | Barbershop | Slapstick Comedy | Shaving | Life Preserver | Barn | Sheriff | Railway Station | Physical Comedy | Tree | Public Domain | Pram | Sight Gag | Character Name In Title
Also known as: Wasser hat keine Balken Austria / West Germany (TV title); Apofoitos kollegiou Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title); Armastus ei tunne piiri Estonia; Az ifjabb gőzös Hungary; Buster Keaton - Dampfer-Willis Sohn Germany (alternative title); Cadet d'eau douce France; El héroe del río Spain; El loco Bill Argentina; Hans son på galejan Sweden; Io... e il ciclone Italy; L'heroi del riu Spain (Catalan title); Laivakalle nuorempi Finland; Marynarz slodkich wód Poland; O Marinheiro de Água Doce Portugal; Stürmische Zeiten West Germany (TV title); Wasser hat Balken Germany.
Filming locations: Sacramento River, California, USA; Sacramento, California, USA
Production Co: Buster Keaton Productions, Joseph M. Schenck Productions
Runtime: 70 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
The stunt where the wall falls on Buster Keaton was performed with an actual full-weight wall. Half the crew walked off the set rather than participate in a stunt that would have killed Keaton if he had been slightly off position. Keaton himself, told the previous day that his studio was being shut down, was so devastated that he didn't care if the wall crushed him or not.
The hat that Buster Keaton quickly removes from his head and hands back to the clerk with a frown is Keaton's own trademark porkpie hat.
The movie was originally meant to incorporate a large flood as the disaster that hits the town. However, due to a real Mississippi flood and bickering amongst the producers, the flood plot was changed to a "cyclone."
This movie was used as a model for Steamboat Willie, Mickey Mouse's first cartoon with sound.
During the hurricane sequence, there is a scene that pays homage to Buster Keaton's childhood on the vaudeville stage. One brief moment has a table move in the wind, apparently animating the dummy and turning its head to face Keaton. Keaton is startled and runs. This is based on a real experience from when he was a kid and became fascinated with a dummy named Red Top, who belonged to ventriloquist Trovollo. The young Keaton had a "conversation" with the dummy and conspired to kidnap his new friend one night when the theater was empty. Trovollo, anticipating Keaton, slipped to his props offstage and when Keaton approached, brought Red Top to life, scaring Keaton out of the theater.
This and The General are generally considered by critics to be Buster Keaton's last great films. Shortly after these two were made, the independent-minded Keaton made the mistake of signing a contract with MGM, whose regimented ways clashed with his scrupulous perfectionism. Five years after MGM hired him, it dropped his contract and Keaton drifted into obscurity, complicated by a severe drinking problem, from which he didn't emerge for many years.
Marion Byron could not swim, so the scenes where her character is in the river with Buster Keaton were filmed with Buster's real-life sister Louise Keaton serving as Marion's stunt double. The two were both the same size - 4'11". The water was very cold and during a day of filming Buster and Louise consumed 4-5 glasses of French brandy to keep them warm.
For reasons unknown, Buster Keaton did not receive a directing credit, although all involved in the film concur that he co-directed the film.
Included among the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', edited by Steven Jay Schneider.
Crew or equipment visible: Just before the house facade falls on Keaton, a stagehand can be seen through the first floor window giving it an extra push.
Revealing mistakes: During the final cyclone sequence, a cable pulling down the entire front of a building is clearly visible.
For the first time since he was a baby, an effete Buster Keaton comes home from Boston to visit his steamboat captain father, who's being troubled by the head of the other, finer steamboat, J.J. King. Of course King's daughter is home to visit her father, too! This completely delightful comedy glides right along, with outstanding physical comedy from Keaton. The lightness of the film is a benefit, as is the short 70m running time. There's no shortage of brilliant gags, my favorite being Keaton trying to get his jailed father to accept his homemade loaf of bread. ("That must of [sic] happened when the dough fell in the tool chest.") I loved the opening, as well, with Bill going along to different shops with his son in order to prepare him for the boat, and the hilarious scene in the hat shop as Junior eyes himself in the mirror as his father suggests these awful hats. The ending is just amazing (and dangerous!), as buildings fall apart due to an awful wind, with Buster doing a disappearing act and fighting to stand up straight and retain his composure
Song of the Fishermen - 1934
Country: China
Language: Mandarin
Also known as: Yu guang qu
Director: Chusheng Cai
Writer: Chusheng Cai
Stars: Langen Han, Peng Luo and Kwah-Wu Shang
The first social-realist film in the history of Chinese cinema. Won the first international prize for a Chinese film at the 1935 Moscow Film Festival.
The story is about a fisherman's family living near to Shanghai. In the beginning, twin babies are born, a boy and a girl. Their growing-up is briefly sketched, and their friendship with "young master", a boy from rich family about their age. While the fishing business goes from bad to worse, he travels abroad to study ship-building, and later returns to have a rather large, modern trawler built. This of course reduces the chances of the traditional fishermen even more, so the boy and the girl go to Shanghai looking for a job. These scenes are really intensive - the queues forming outside the personnel office (men and women separate), the attempts to get a better place in the queue, the final disappointment when all vacancies are filled.
Robbery Under Arms - 1920
Country: Australia
Director: Kenneth Brampton
Writers: Rolf Boldrewood (novel), Kenneth Brampton
Stars: Jackie Anderson, Vera Archer and Kenneth Brampton
Release Date: 2 October 1920 (Australia)
Production Co: Pacific Photo Plays
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Continuity: When Warrigal sees the troopers arriving to thwart the stage robbery, only three are seen riding up. However, five troopers arrive at the stage coach. Three troopers are seen riding to the gold fields to look for the Marsdens. The shot of these troopers is just a continuation of the shot used for the three troopers arriving at the stagecoach hold-up. When the troopers arrive at the tent, the number of troopers has dropped to two, one of whom is now an officer (white pants).
Plot Keywords: Remake | Based On Novel
Genres: Drama
Kenneth Brampton was one of many Australian film-makers who appeared and disappeared quickly on the silent film scene in Australia. Film distribution was controlled largely by the American studios, and Australian films had real trouble getting a look-in. As a result many great talents were wasted. Kenneth Brampton seems to be one of these - because this film is really very good.
It's a bush-ranging yarn, very popular at the time, about Captain Starlight, played well by Brampton himself, and his co-horts the Marsden family. Dick Marsden is especially well played by Roland Conway, who is the quintessential Aussie bloke.
But it is the excellent cinematography, lovingly filming the Australian bush, that really shines here - and Brampton's strong sense of narrative, perhaps from his stage background, keeps the story moving at a great pace. You'll really feel for the characters - and there is some fabulous surreal stuff toward the end. This is a gem of an Australian silent film
Get Out and Get Under - 1920
Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Director: Hal Roach
Writer: H.M. Walker (titles)
Stars: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis and Fred McPherson
Release Date: 26 September 1920 (USA)
Also known as: Oh! La belle voiture (France)
Plot Keywords: Title From Song | Auto Repair | Dream | Drug Addict | Gardener | Dog
Photographer | Automobile | Amateur Theater | Mouse | Fly | Two Reeler | Train |
Road Repair | Fire Hydrant | Hose | Motorcycle Cop | African American | Hypodermic Needle | Chase
Genres: Comedy | Short
A young man is awakened from a nightmare by the telephone ringing - his girlfriend is calling him, because he is late for an amateur theatrical production. But before he can leave, he gets into an argument with his neighbor. Then, soon after he gets on the road, his car stalls. If he cannot get to the theater quickly, he might be replaced in the play by a rival.
Fair Harold Lloyd short which presents several gags he would re-use and improve upon in his later feature films. It opens with a scene at a photographer's studio where Harold discovers that his girl Mildred Davis is about to marry another man - but it all turns out to have been just a dream. He's involved in amateur theatricals and, being late for a performance, rushes out to the venue in his beloved car: amid the vehicle's breaking down on him, he falls foul of an elderly neighbor and a colored child; the race-against-time, then, culminates in the usual pursuit by a horde of policemen. The automobile trouble eventually gets a bit repetitive, but the film nevertheless includes the occasional inspired and hilarious gag - such as when Harold 'disappears' inside the car's engine compartment, an actor accidentally falling off the stage (after being 'killed') promptly going back up to resume his performance i.e. affecting a typically melodramatic 'exit' and, especially, when Lloyd sees a junkie getting high in the street and reasons that, if he injects his vehicle with the same substance, it will be likewise revitalized - which is what happens, as the car goes off on its own soon after 'taking' its fix!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Hearts in Exile - 1915
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: James Young
Writers: Owen Davis (scenario), John Oxenham (novel), James Young
Stars: Clara Kimball Young, Montagu Love and Claude Fleming
Release Date: 12 April 1915 (USA)
Also known as: Hearts Afire USA (reissue title)
Production Co: World Film
Runtime: 59 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Nihilist | Bigamy | Chase | Grave | Unrequited Love | Siberia | Flashback | Cross | Marriage Of Convenience | Gunfight | Russia | Love Triangle | Love Rectangle | Charity | Secret Police | Estranged Husband Estranged Wife Relationship | Wedding | Prison Escape | Melodrama | Self Sacrifice | Charity Worker | Presumed Dead | Adultery | Switched Identities | Based On Novel
Genres: Drama
In Czarist Russia, attractive Clara Kimball Young (as Hope aka Anna Ivanovna) has "consecrated her life to work among Russia's persecuted poor." She dispenses food, medicine, and funds to the needy, from a busy charity headquarters. Poor doctor Vernon Steele (as Paul Pavloff) helps as much as he can, and wealthy merchant Claude Fleming (as Serge) donates money. Both men are in love with Ms. Kimball Young. In fact, her "pretty face" attracts most men in Russia. Another significant suitor is married Count Montagu Love (as Nicolai), who doesn't know how to take "Nyet!" for an answer…
Although Mr. Fleming is a nice guy, Kimball Young loves Mr. Steele. However, to help with her work for the poor, she marries the wealthier Fleming. Unfortunately, both men are jailed as the revolution picks up steam. As married Fleming is sentenced to serve more time, Steele decided to trade identities with his friend, to help Kimball Young and Fleming remain together.
But, as fate would have it, a mix-up puts Kimball Young with Steele in Siberia. Since she's still married to Fleming, the two must resist their sexual urges. Then, one day they learn Fleming has died. As she is free from holy matrimony, the lovers call upon Jesus Christ to preside over a hasty wedding ceremony. The couple is happy until "you-know-who" shows up alive…
The story concludes conveniently, as you might expect from seeing this plot play out both before and after this 1915 feature, with various settings. "Hearts in Exile" was one of the last in the series of films Kimball Young made with actor-director and husband James Young. Like much of what she did around the time, it was a success. Kimball Young was, at this time, one of the most popular stars in Hollywood. "Hearts in Exile" was #22 in Motion Picture Magazine's poll for the year; Kimball Young emotes well, but readers preferred her performances in "My Official Wife" (1914) and "Trilby" (1915).
A Tour of the Thomas Ince Studio - 1924
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Hunt Stromberg
Stars: Enid Bennett, Hobart Bosworth and Ralph Dixon
Also known as: A Tour of the Ince Studio USA (alternative title)
Production Co: Thomas H. Ince Corporation
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Behind The Scenes | Negative Footage
Genres: Documentary | Short
A behind-the-scenes look at Thomas H. Ince Studios in Culver City, California.
This short publicity film takes a look behind the scenes at producer Thomas H. Ince's studio at Culver City, California. Other studios made similar films, including MGM's '1925 Studio Tour', which has, apparently, been broadcast on the Turner Classic Movies channel. (MGM's studio had been Ince's prior studio for the Triangle Corporation.) Shown here are the technical aspects of film-making, including the making of sets, lighting practices, behind the scenes of the wardrobe department, and the negative developing room where tinting and editing practices are demonstrated. Inceville's private fire department is even acknowledged and shown performing a drill. A couple interesting scenes show sets from how they're photographed and how they appear beyond the frame. Additionally, there are some shots of cameramen filming, including the short's opening shot of seven cameramen shooting at the camera recording them. In another scene, a title card states, "How we photographed that auto chase," and then they show the filming of a trucking shot; then, another title card, "How they photographed us!," reveals a cameraman shooting the cameraman photographing the auto chase scene. Clever.
In addition to a behind-the-scenes look at film-making, including footage of the seemingly real making of films (one scene is said to be the shooting of a film starring Louise Glaum and James Kirkwood, and the only film I see that those two starred in was 'Love' (1920), which doesn't seem to be available anywhere), we are introduced to (or sold) the studio's stars. I don't know who most of the mentioned "stars" were, or at best I've seen them if not recalled them in a few films, and they seem to be mostly lost to history. Some of them, like Margaret Livingston, who would have a role in 'Sunrise' (1927), may be recognizable for their supporting work in some rather popular films.
The biggest name in this short, however, at least by today, is the producer Thomas H. Ince. Here, there is some rather odd footage of him exercising and showing off how youthful and fit he was, which I found surprising. By the end of 1924, he would be dead. The cause of death seems to be a bit of a mystery, involving murder conspiracies and media mogul William Randolph Hearst, but the official story, at least, seems to be that he died of heart failure. Ince is probably one of the most influential movie makers in the industry's history, as he introduced the classic studio system, adopting assembly-line practices and promoting the producer to the head supervisor, who through script authorizing and editing, took control from the director and cameraman over the final appearance of films--a system adopted later by David O. Selznick and others.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Aelita, Queen of Mars - 1924
Country: Soviet Union
Language: Russian (intertitles)
Director: Yakov Protazanov
Writers: Aleksei Fajko, Fyodor Otsep and Aleksei Tolstoy (play)
Stars: Yuliya Solntseva, Igor Ilyinsky and Nikolai Tsereteli
Release Date: 25 September 1924 (Soviet Union)
Also known as: Aelita Soviet Union (original title); Aelita Greece / Hungary (imdb display title) / Poland / Portugal; Аэлита Soviet Union (Russian title)
Aelita - A Rainha de Marte Brazil; Aelita - Der Flug zum Mars Germany; Aelita: Queen of Mars International (English title); Aelita: Reina de Marte Argentina (imdb display title); Revolt of the Robots USA (subtitle)
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Engineer | Spaceship | Proletarian | Radio | Telescope | Murder |
Queen | Revolution | Propaganda | Totalitarianism | Robot | Police | Silent Film |
Mars The Planet | Sidekick | Secret Police | Suspected Adultery | Slave | Martian
Film Within A Film | Inventor | Communism | Alien Contact | Husband Accused Of Murdering His Wife | Skyscraper | Future | Construction Work | Flower Shop | 1920s
False Accusation | Space Time | Husband Wife Relationship | Kiss | Orphanage | Food Shortage | Architecture | Surrealism | Flying Machine | Soldier | Soviet Union | Voodoo | Marriage | Refugee Camp | Daydream | Epic | Good Versus Evil | Outer Space | Rebellion | Jealousy | Informant | Accused Of Murder | Cryptography |Expressionism | Based On Play | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title
Genres: Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi
This movie became such a hit in the Soviet Union that many new parents named their little girls "Aelita". This was director Yakov Protazanov's first film after returning to the Soviet Union from his exile in Paris. At the international exhibition of decorative arts, 1925 Paris Expo, Yakov Protazanov was given an award for this film.
This is called the first Soviet science fiction film because of its "futuristic" sets on Mars, although most of it takes place in Moscow. The movie is set at the beginning of the NEP (New Economic Policy) in December, 1921. A mysterious radio message is beamed around the world, and among the engineers who receive it are Los, the hero, and his colleague Spiridonov. Los is an individualist dreamer. Aelita is the daughter of Tuskub, the ruler of a totalitarian state on Mars in which the working classe are put into cold storage when they are not needed. With a telescope, Aelita is able to watch Los. As if by telepathy, Los obsesses about being watched by her. After some hugger-mugger involving the murder of his wife and a pursuing detective, Los takes the identity of Spiridonov and builds a spaceship. With the revolutionary Gusev, he travels to Mars, but the Earthlings and Aelita are thrown into prison by the dictator...
The King of Paris - 1917
Country: Russia
Original Russian title: Korol Parizha
Directors: Yevgeni Bauer, Olga Rakhmanova
Writer: Georges Ohnet (novel)
Stars: Vjacheslav Svoboda, Nikolai Radin and Emma Bauer
Production Co: Khanzhonkov
Plot Keywords: Based On Novel
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Twelfth Night - 1910
Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Directors: Eugene Mullin, Charles Kent
Writers: William Shakespeare (play), Eugene Mullin (scenario)
Stars: Julia Swayne Gordon, Charles Kent and Florence Turner
Release Date: 5 February 1910 (USA)
Production Co: Vitagraph Company of America
Plot Keywords: William Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Twelfth Night | Based On Play | Number In Title
Genres: Short | Comedy | Drama | Romance
When Viola and her twin brother Sebastian are shipwrecked and separated, Viola dresses in her brother's clothes and becomes a page in the palace of the Duke of Orsino. Thinking Viola is a boy, the Duke sends her with a message to Olivia, whom he loves. A series of complications begins when Olivia falls in love with the page 'boy'.
This concise telling of the Shakespeare play runs for around 12 minutes and is well worth seeing - covering most of the action, the shipwreck, Malvolio and the letter, the duel between Andrew and 'Cesario', the meeting of Olivia and 'Cesario' and the final resolve of all muddles. Just a lovely little film!
Just Rambling Along - 1918
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Hal Roach
Stars: Stan Laurel, Clarine Seymour and Noah Young
Release Date: 3 November 1918 (USA)
Production Co: Rolin Films
Runtime: 9 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Cafeteria | Wallet | Trick | Policeman | Check | Slapstick | One Reeler | Food | Theft
Genres: Short | Comedy
A man and a boy both notice a wallet that has been left on the sidewalk, but the man relinquishes his claim to it when the boy's father, a policeman, arrives. Soon afterward, the man joins several others in following an attractive woman into a cafeteria. When he is ejected because of not having any money, he goes back and tricks the boy out of some change, and then makes another attempt.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The Danger Girl - 1916
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Clarence G. Badger
Stars: Gloria Swanson and Bobby Vernon
Release Date: 25 August 1916 (USA)
Production Co: Keystone Film Company
Runtime: USA: 18 min | 20 min (DVD)
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Actor Shares First Name With Character
Genres: Comedy | Short
Madcap Gloria disguises herself as a man, in order to lure a "dangerous" vamp away from her beau, Bobbie. Although some sources list Mack Swain in the cast of this film, he does not appear. The rotund actor who appears briefly in the restaurant sequence is not Swain.
Hilarious 1916 comedy short teaming Gloria Swanson with Bobby Vernon.
Swanson is slightly bored with her beau (Vernon) until he starts being interested in another girl. She's also being pestered by "last season's beau" so she decides (of course) to dress as a boy and cause some trouble.
Swanson as a boy is just terrific. She has fun with all the "boy" mannerisms and is a terrific physical comic. Vernon is also a top comic but long forgotten because his career was mostly in shorts and died with the coming of sound.
In 1916 Swanson was still a teenager and already a star. The way she uses her smile and eyes is just amazing and you can'y take your eyes off her. It's no wonder she would go on to be one of the biggest stars of the 20s. She is amazing.
The Tourists - 1912
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Mack Sennett
Stars: Mabel Normand, Charles West and William J. Butler
Release Date: 5 August 1912 (USA)
Filming Locations: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Production Co: Biograph Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Comedy | Short
A print of this film survives in the UCLA Film and Television Archives.
Released as a split reel along with the comedy What the Doctor Ordered.
What the Doctor Ordered - 1912
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Mack Sennett
Writer: Dell Henderson
Stars: Mack Sennett, Kate Toncray and Mabel Normand
Release Date: 5 August 1912 (USA)
Filming Locations: Rubio Canyon, California, USA
Production Co: Biograph Company
Runtime: 10 min (16 fps)
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Comedy | Short
Released as a split reel along with the comedy The Tourists.
Carmen - 1915
Country: USA
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Writers: William C. de Mille, Prosper Mérimée (novel)
Stars: Geraldine Farrar, Wallace Reid and Pedro de Cordoba
Release Date: 31 October 1915 (USA)
Production Co: Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Gypsy | Bullring | Bullfighter | Seville | Toreador | Suicide | Military | Flamenco | Cigarette Factory | Spoof | Tavern | Bullfighting | Stabbed To Death | Smuggling | Arena | Catfight | Tarot Card | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title
Genres: Drama
In order to help her smuggler kinsmen, a sultry gypsy seduces and corrupts an officer of the Civil Guard turning him into a traitor and murderer.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
List of Motion pictures, 1894-1912
Motion pictures, 1894-1912 ([n.d.])
Author: Library of Congress. Copyright Office
Subject: Motion pictures
Publisher: [Washington]
Possible copyright status: NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT
Language: English
Call number: 9698
Digitizing sponsor: MSN
Book contributor: Prelinger Library
Collection: additional_collections; americana
To read the document on line, click here
Author: Library of Congress. Copyright Office
Subject: Motion pictures
Publisher: [Washington]
Possible copyright status: NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT
Language: English
Call number: 9698
Digitizing sponsor: MSN
Book contributor: Prelinger Library
Collection: additional_collections; americana
To read the document on line, click here
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
The Exploits of Elaine - 1914 (Chapter 9)
Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Directors: Louis J. Gasnier, George B. Seitz, Leopold Wharton
Writers: Charles W. Goddard (screenplay), Arthur B. Reeve (novel), Basil Dickey (screenplay) uncredited, George B. Seitz
Stars: Pearl White, Arnold Daly and Creighton Hale
Release Date: 29 December 1914 (USA)
Also known as: Las peripecias de Elena (Argentina)
Les mystères de New York (France)
Production Co: Wharton
Plot Keywords: Serial | Character Name In Title
Genres: Action
This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1994.
The Pathé Frères US company took over the Eclectic Film Company and renamed it Pathé Exchange Inc. in early 1915. This is why both the old Eclectic and Pathé Exchange Inc. are listed as original theatrical distributors for this title.
The novel of the same name by Arthur B. Reeve was published serially in newspapers while the film was playing in theaters. It was later published in book form.
Basil Dickey claimed to have written the screenplay with his brother in law Charles W. Goddard
The titles of the fourteen chapters are: 1. The Clutching Hand2. The Twilight Sleep3. The Vanishing Jewels4. The Frozen Safe5. The Poisoned Room6. The Vampire7. The Double Trap8. The Hidden Voice9. The Death Ray10. The Life Current11. The Hour of Three12. The Blood Crystals13. The Devil Worshippers14. The Reckoning
Favorite film of Tsar Nicholas II.
Elaine Dodge (White) is the beautiful young daughter of Taylor Dodge, president of the Consolidated Insurance Company. When Mr Dodge is murdered by a mysterious cloaked figure known only as the Clutching Hand, Elaine enlists the aid of Craig Kennedy to unmask the killer ... who is obviously an entrusted figure in the insurance company. The two sleuths get some help (of a sort) from Jameson, Taylor Dodge's bumbling but faithful secretary. Along the way, they have some hair's-breadth escapes and some bizarre adventures ... including a seance at which Elaine encounters a bodiless voice claiming to be Iko, the spirit of Taylor Dodge.
The Exploits of Elaine - 1914 (Chapter 3)
Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Directors: Louis J. Gasnier, George B. Seitz, Leopold Wharton
Writers: Charles W. Goddard (screenplay), Arthur B. Reeve (novel), Basil Dickey (screenplay) uncredited, George B. Seitz
Stars: Pearl White, Arnold Daly and Creighton Hale
Release Date: 29 December 1914 (USA)
Also known as: Las peripecias de Elena (Argentina)
Les mystères de New York (France)
Production Co: Wharton
Plot Keywords: Serial | Character Name In Title
Genres: Action
This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1994.
The Pathé Frères US company took over the Eclectic Film Company and renamed it Pathé Exchange Inc. in early 1915. This is why both the old Eclectic and Pathé Exchange Inc. are listed as original theatrical distributors for this title.
The novel of the same name by Arthur B. Reeve was published serially in newspapers while the film was playing in theaters. It was later published in book form.
Basil Dickey claimed to have written the screenplay with his brother in law Charles W. Goddard
The titles of the fourteen chapters are: 1. The Clutching Hand2. The Twilight Sleep3. The Vanishing Jewels4. The Frozen Safe5. The Poisoned Room6. The Vampire7. The Double Trap8. The Hidden Voice9. The Death Ray10. The Life Current11. The Hour of Three12. The Blood Crystals13. The Devil Worshippers14. The Reckoning
Favorite film of Tsar Nicholas II.
Elaine Dodge (White) is the beautiful young daughter of Taylor Dodge, president of the Consolidated Insurance Company. When Mr Dodge is murdered by a mysterious cloaked figure known only as the Clutching Hand, Elaine enlists the aid of Craig Kennedy to unmask the killer ... who is obviously an entrusted figure in the insurance company. The two sleuths get some help (of a sort) from Jameson, Taylor Dodge's bumbling but faithful secretary. Along the way, they have some hair's-breadth escapes and some bizarre adventures ... including a seance at which Elaine encounters a bodiless voice claiming to be Iko, the spirit of Taylor Dodge.
The Exploits of Elaine - 1914 (Chapter 1)
Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Directors: Louis J. Gasnier, George B. Seitz, Leopold Wharton
Writers: Charles W. Goddard (screenplay), Arthur B. Reeve (novel), Basil Dickey (screenplay) uncredited, George B. Seitz
Stars: Pearl White, Arnold Daly and Creighton Hale
Release Date: 29 December 1914 (USA)
Also known as: Las peripecias de Elena (Argentina)
Les mystères de New York (France)
Production Co: Wharton
Plot Keywords: Serial | Character Name In Title
Genres: Action
This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1994.
The Pathé Frères US company took over the Eclectic Film Company and renamed it Pathé Exchange Inc. in early 1915. This is why both the old Eclectic and Pathé Exchange Inc. are listed as original theatrical distributors for this title.
The novel of the same name by Arthur B. Reeve was published serially in newspapers while the film was playing in theaters. It was later published in book form.
Basil Dickey claimed to have written the screenplay with his brother in law Charles W. Goddard
The titles of the fourteen chapters are: 1. The Clutching Hand2. The Twilight Sleep3. The Vanishing Jewels4. The Frozen Safe5. The Poisoned Room6. The Vampire7. The Double Trap8. The Hidden Voice9. The Death Ray10. The Life Current11. The Hour of Three12. The Blood Crystals13. The Devil Worshippers14. The Reckoning
Favorite film of Tsar Nicholas II.
Elaine Dodge (White) is the beautiful young daughter of Taylor Dodge, president of the Consolidated Insurance Company. When Mr Dodge is murdered by a mysterious cloaked figure known only as the Clutching Hand, Elaine enlists the aid of Craig Kennedy to unmask the killer ... who is obviously an entrusted figure in the insurance company. The two sleuths get some help (of a sort) from Jameson, Taylor Dodge's bumbling but faithful secretary. Along the way, they have some hair's-breadth escapes and some bizarre adventures ... including a seance at which Elaine encounters a bodiless voice claiming to be Iko, the spirit of Taylor Dodge.
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