Saturday, June 30, 2012

Fool There Was (A) - Frank Powell - 1915

Flesh And The Devil - Clarence Brown - 1926

Fig Leaves - Howard Hawks - 1926

Durand of the Bad Lands - Richard Stanton - 1917

Duchess of Buffalo (The) - Sidney Franklin - 1926

Dressmaker From Paris (The) - Paul Bern - 1925

Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall - Marshall Neilan - 1924

Don't Call It Love - William C. de Mille - 1923

Diamond Handcuffs - John P. McCarthy - 1928

Devil's Skipper (The) - John G. Adolphi - 1928

Friday, June 29, 2012

Destiny's Toy - John O'Brien - 1916

Day’s Pleasure (A) - Charles Chaplin - 1919

Dawn of a Tomorrow (The) - George Melford - 1924

Dark Angel - George Fitzmaurice - 1925

Dangerous Proposal (A) - Rune Carlsten - 1919

Dangerous Innocence - William A. Seiter - 1925

Danger Within - Rae Berger - 1918

Dancers (The) - Emmett J. Flynn - 1925

Daddy's Gone A Hunting - Frank Borzage - 1925

County Fair (The) - Maurice Tourneur - 1920

Cossacks (The) -George W. Hill - 1928

Conquering Power (The) - Rex Ingram - 1921

Camille - Ray C. Smallwood - 1921

Broadway Drifter (The) - Bernard McEveety - 1927

Blood and Sand -Fred Niblo - 1922

Big Parade (The) - King Vidor - 1925

Bat (The) - Roland West - 1926

Backstairs - Leopold Jessner and Paul Leni - 1921

Back to God's Country - David Hartford - 1919

Baby Cyclone (The) - A. Edward Sutherland - 1928

Avenging Conscience (The) - D.W. Griffith - 1914

Thursday, June 28, 2012

The Conquering Power - 1921


Country: United States
Director: Rex Ingram
Writers: Honoré de Balzac (story), June Mathis
Stars: Alice Terry, Rudolph Valentino and Ralph Lewis
Release Date: 8 July 1921 (USA)
Also known as: Eugénia Grandet (Portugal), Eugénie Grandet (France), Eugenia Grandet (Spain), Eugenie Grandet (USA - alternative title), Unga hjärtan (Sweden)
Production Co: Metro Pictures Corporation
Runtime: 89 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Drama
Young playboy Charles Grandet is sent to live with his miserly uncle after his father loses his fortune. He and his cousin Eugenie fall in love, but his uncle sends him away and tries to arrange a marriage more to his liking (and profit!). Will true love triumph?
Memorable quotes
Victor Grandet: [in a letter read by his brother Pere Grandet] My dear brother, After twenty years, I am sending my son to you for by the time this letter reached you, I shall be no more. My entire fortune has been swept away by speculation on the stock market. I owe millions. In three days all Paris will say I was a rogue and I shall be wrapped in a winding sheet of infamy. My dying prayer is that you will be a father to my boy and may God bless you as you fulfill this trust. Your despairing brother, Victor Grandet.
Connections
Version of Eugénie Grandet (1994) (TV Movie)    

All Night -1918


Country: United States
Language: English
Director: Paul Powell
Writers: Edgar Franklin (story), Fred Myton (scenario)
Stars: Carmel Myers, Rudolph Valentino and Charles Dorian
Release Date: 30 November 1918 (USA)
Also known as: Cala noc (Poland), One Bright Idea (USA - working title)
Production Co: Universal Film Manufacturing Company
Runtime: 58 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Eccentric | Farce
Genres: Comedy | Drama
A married society couple (Dorian and Warren) persuade an unmarried pair (Valentino and Myers) to take their places at a party while they pretend to be the servants.   
Trivia
A Bluebird Production. Universal utilized a three-tiered brand system until 1929: Red Feather (low-budget programmers), Bluebird (mainstream) and Jewel (prestige pictures). 

Sunday, June 24, 2012

All Wet - 1921


Country: United States
Language: English
Stars: Bud Duncan and Billy Gilbert
Production Co: Schiller Productions (II)
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short | Comedy

All Dressed Up - 1920


Country: United States
Director: Charley Chase
Writer: Hal Roach (story)
Stars: Eddie Boland, Ernie Morrison Sr., Ernest Morrison and 'Snub' Pollard
Release Date: 23 May 1920 (USA)
Production Co: Rolin Films
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Comedy | Short

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Plagues and Puppy Love - 1917


Country: United States
Language: English
Director: Larry Semon
Writer: C. Graham Baker
Stars: Larry Semon, Florence Curtis and Joe Simberg
Release Date: 1 October 1917 (USA)
Production Co: Vitagraph Company of América
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short | Comedy
Larry Semon produces his take on a typical Keystone farce, the flirting-in-the-park routine, where pretty Florence Curtis is pursued by four typical Keystone types: the wealthy geezer, the mustachioed Italian, the derby-wearing tough and, of course, the big-footed cop.... and here comes Larry, if not to save the day, at least to make us laugh.
In this period, when Semon was taking over the Vitagraph comedy unit and changing it from a situational comedy style to a Keystone-farce style, he turned out a number of decent comedies. His unit's camera-work was better than Keystone's -- or at least shot in such a way that , as the prints degraded, they developed chiaroscuro instead of simply becoming unwatchable -- his editing was more understandable to the modern viewer and he had not developed the egotism that blighted his work in the '20s. Everyone has a fair share of gags, even the dog. If you like Keystones, you should give this one a try.

Save the Ship - 1923


Country: United States
Directors: George Jeske, Hal Roach
Stars: Stan Laurel (Husband), Marie Mosquini (Wife) and Mark Jones (Father in law)
Release Date: 18 November 1923 (USA)
Production Co: Hal Roach Studios
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short | Comedy

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Money to Burn - 1920


Country: United States
Language: English
Director: Fred C. Newmeyer
Writer: Hal Roach (story)
Stars: 'Snub' Pollard, Marie Mosquini and Ernest Morrison
Release Date: 29 August 1920 (USA)
Production Co: Rolin Films
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short | Comedy 

Friday, June 15, 2012

School Pals - 1924


Country: United States
Director: Lewis Seiler
Release Date: 13 January 1924 (USA)
Production Co: Fox Film Corporation
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short | Comedy

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The Phoney Cannibal - 1915


Country: United States
Language: English
Director: Chance Ward
Writer: Doty Hobart (story)
Stars: Lloyd Hamilton, Bud Duncan and Charles Inslee
Release Date: 27 April 1915 (USA)
Production Co: Kalem Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Ham And Bud Series | Actor Shares First Name With Character
Genres: Short | Comedy
Ham fears he's accidentally killed his landlady, so he and Bud go on the run, disguised as an explorer and a cannibal.  

The Water Nymph - 1912


Country: United States
Language: English
Director: Mack Sennett
Stars: Mabel Normand, Mack Sennett and Ford Sterling
Release Date: 23 September 1912 (USA)
Also known as: The Beach Flirt (USA - reissue title)
Filming Locations: Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA
Production Co: Keystone Film Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Remake
Genres: Comedy | Short
Mabel and her sweetheart go to the beach and play a trick on the boyfriend's father.
Trivia
Released with Cohen Collects a Debt as the second half of a single reel offering on 23 September 1912, this was the initial Mack Sennett Keystone comedy release.
Connections
Remake of The Diving Girl (1911)

His Mother - 1912


Country: United States
Language: English
Director: Sidney Olcott
Writer: Gene Gauntier
Stars: J.P. McGowan, Gene Gauntier and Jack J. Clark
Release Date: 26 January 1912 (USA)
Filming Locations: Beaufort, County Kerry, Ireland
Production Co: Kalem Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Drama | Short
An Irish mother uses her life savings to pay for her son, a talented musician, to study in America.

What's the World Coming To? - 1926


Country: United States
Language: English
Directors: Richard Wallace, F. Richard Jones
Writers: Malcolm Stuart Boylan (titles), Frank Terry, Stan Laurel, Hal Yates
Stars: Clyde Cook, Katherine Grant and James Finlayson
Release Date: 17 January 1926 (USA)
Production Co: Hal Roach Studios
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Question Mark In Title | Apostrophe In Title | Question In Title | Contraction In Title | Punctuation In Title
Genres: Short | Comedy  

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

How Jones Lost His Roll - 1905


Country: United States
Language: English
Director: Edwin S. Porter
Release Date: May 1905 (USA)
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Neighbor | Dinner | Miser | Skinflint | Cigar Smoking  | Card Playing | Cardsharp | Card Scam | Wearing Barrel | Cheating | Lighting Someone's Cigar | Handshake | Playing Card | Card Shark | Dinner Invitation | Card Cheat | Mirror | Invitation | Cheating At Cards | Suburbia
Genres: Comedy | Short
Jones is on his way home, carrying a roll of money, when he meets a neighbor who is a notorious miser. The neighbor unexpectedly invites Jones to dinner, and serves him a large meal with plenty of wine. After dinner, the neighbor suggests a way of passing the time - and soon his real intentions become clear. 
Trivia
This film is notable for its early use of animation, which is limited strictly to the intertitles. A jumble of letters from off-screen appears and forms the words and sentences. One of the intertitles also features two pictures of hands performing a very crude animated handshake.  

Yes, Yes, Nanette - 1925


Country: United States
Language: English
Directors: Clarence Hennecke, Stan Laurel
Writer: Carl Harbaugh
Stars: James Finlayson, Grant Gorman and Jack Gavin
Release Date: 19 July 1925 (USA)
Also known as: Ja, Ja, Nanette (Netherlands - DVD title)
Production Co: Hal Roach Studios
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Dog | Letter | Wig | Collapsing Chair | William Jennings Bryan  | Cigar Smoking | Family Relationships | Hal Roach | Husband Wife Relationship | Family Home | Piano | Character Name In Title
Genres: Family | Short | Comedy
Nanette sends a letter to her family telling of her new husband, Hillory. When Hillory arrives to meet the family, he gets insulted by each member, including the dog, and loses his wig. After having dinner with the family, Nanette's former lover returns, and Hillory must confront him. 
Trivia
The title is a spoof of the name of a hugely successful Broadway musical from 1925, "No, No, Nanette". 

The Battle Royal - 1916


Country: United States
Director: Willard Louis
Stars: Oliver Hardy, Billy Ruge and Elsie MacLeod
Release Date: 13 April 1916 (USA)
Also known as: A Battle Royal (USA - alternative title)
Filming Locations: Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Production Co: Vim Comedy Film Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Hill | Neighbor | Kentucky | Bootlegger | Backwoods  |  Still | Illegal Still | Rifle | Chop Down Tree | Off Screen Narration | Feuding Families | Whiskey | White Lightning | Alcohol | One Reeler | Treasury Agent
Genres: Comedy | Short
In the hills of Kentucky, the Plumps and the Runts are neighbors and bootleggers. Peter Plump is in love with one of the Runts, and her brother is in love with one of the Plumps. The courting and the spooning go well until Peter and his future brother-in-law hook the same fish and start a fight over whose it is. The fracas escalates, and soon the two families are shooting at each other. If love can't bring the two sides back together, what can? 

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Look Out Below - 1929


Country: United States
Language: English
Director: Stephen Roberts
Stars: Raymond McKee, Thelma Todd and Clem Beauchamp
Release Date: 18 August 1929 (USA)
Production Co: Jack White (as Cameo Comedies)
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Beautiful Woman
Genres: Comedy | Short

Saturday, June 9, 2012

New York City Willoughbys - 1920


Country: United States
Director: Ray Foster

Cornwall, NY. Memorial Day - 1920


Country: United States
Cornwall, NY is a small town located 52 miles North of New York City on the West side of the Hudson River. Here is an old movie as the town prepared for a Memorial Day Parade back in 1920. Of special interest is the presentation of a captured German gun by the French to the officials of Cornwall, NY.
PS: The cameraman sure enjoyed using his circular iris attachment over the lens!
Filmed: May 31, 1920

Thursday, June 7, 2012

A Prodigal Bridegroom - 1926


Country: United States
Language: English
Directors: Lloyd Bacon, Earle Rodney
Writers: Randall Faye (story), Al Giebler (titles), James Gruen (story), Reed Heustis (titles),  Harry McCoy (story),  Jefferson Moffitt (story), Mack Sennett 
Stars: Ben Turpin, Thelma Hill and William McCall
Release Date: 26 September 1926 (USA)
Production Co: Mack Sennett Comedies
Runtime: USA: 18 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Vamp | Sweetheart | Scheme | Big City | USA  |  Bride | Two Reeler |
Duplicity | 1920s | Deception | Parody | Bridegroom | Small Town | Gold Digger | Slapstick | Crossed Eyes | Farce | Deceit | Marriage | Minister | Seduction | Actor Shares First Name With Character
Genres: Short | Comedy
Ben returns from the big city with his pockets full of cash. A hard-hearted, gold-digging vamp ensnares him. Ben enjoys being ensnared. In order to get rid of his faithful sweetheart, he schemes up a preposterous tale. 

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Bacon Grabbers - 1929


Country: United States
Language: English (intertitles)
Director: Lewis R. Foster
Writer: H.M. Walker (titles), Leo McCarey (uncredited)
Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and Edgar Kennedy
Release Date: 19 October 1929 (USA)
Also known as: Gli acchiappamosche (Italy); Príncipe Sem Sorte (Brazil); Schnorrer (Germany); Squadra sequestri (Italy); Une saisie mouvementée (France)
Filming Locations: 10341 Bannockburn Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA
Production Co: Hal Roach Studios
Runtime: 20 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Beautiful Woman
Genres: Comedy | Short
Stan & Ollie find work as debt collectors. Their first assignment is to collect a late payment on a radio set. The owner refuses to pay the debt, so Stan & Ollie decide to reclaim the set. The owner will not let the duo in to reclaim the radio, and a fight breaks out as Stan & Ollie try to break in while the owner tries his hardest to keep them out.
While it isn't among the best-known Laurel & Hardy films, and isn't as readily available as some, Bacon Grabbers is well worth seeking out for anyone who enjoys slapstick comedy crafted by experts. This movie marked the boys' penultimate appearance in silent films before the switch to talkies, and, like many late silents, it presents the medium in its purest form: the story is told with a minimum of title cards, the wording is witty, and the cinematography (allowing for brief tattered portions in surviving prints) is a joy to behold. Most of this film takes place outdoors in the Culver City sunshine, giving us interesting glimpses of a bygone suburban lifestyle: the cars, the clothes, the houses, etc., of 1929. But best of all we have a great comedy team in peak form, surrounded by familiar faces from the Hal Roach stock company.
Stan and Ollie work best when they aren't overly hampered with plot, so it's nice to report that the premise here is simple: because Edgar "Collis P." Kennedy has stopped making payments on his radio, the sheriff sends two men over to serve a summons and repossess it. The boys have a number of difficulties delivering the document to the uncooperative Kennedy, but, once they succeed in this, they find that seizing the radio itself is no easy matter. And by the way, this is no dinky table-top radio we're talking about here, it's a massive wooden console, about the size of a 3-drawer file cabinet.
This is the ideal structure for a Laurel & Hardy comedy: they are given an assignment, conflict arises instantly, and then complications-- many of which are self-generated --set in. And then the complications develop complications. When we view a Keystone comedy of the 1910s we often sense that the actors were improvising their knockabout while the cameras rolled, come what may. The Roach comedians of the '20s and '30s were more methodical, and yet they kept the structure loose enough to allow room for spontaneity. The first big laugh sequence in Bacon Grabbers comes at the sheriff's office, when Stan and Ollie encounter great difficulty simply leaving the room with their hats and the summons they're supposed to deliver. The scene rolls along quite smoothly, and may well have been improvised on the spot, but without the mugging and hokey shtick we get from the Keystone comics. Has anyone noticed what good actors Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were? They do their stuff so naturally, we don't even think of them as actors.
One additional treat is offered in the final scene: when the young actress playing Edgar Kennedy's wife arrives with important information, we are given a peek at Jean Harlow, still a teenager and strikingly pretty. Her brief appearance serves as icing on the cake, for even without her Bacon Grabbers stands as a fast-paced and funny example of silent comedy at its apex.
Connections
Featured in The Crazy World of Laurel and Hardy (1967)  

The 'Teddy' Bears - 1907


Country: United States
Release Date: 2 March 1907 (USA)
Also known as: Teddy Maci (Hungary)
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Runtime: 13 min (2004 National Film Preservation Foundation print)
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White (tinted)
Plot Keywords: Bear | Teddy Bear | Goldilocks | Girl | Bed  |  Chase | Escape | Based On Fairy Tale | Snow | Animated Sequence | Cottage | Theodore Roosevelt | Jumping From Height | Spanking | Rescue | Shooting | Breaking And Entering | Stop Motion  | Satire
Genres: Short | Comedy | Family
Seven toy teddy bears of varying sizes suddenly come to life, getting in all sorts of merry misadventures.
A combination of the story of Goldlocks and the Three Bears with the true story of how Teddy Roosevelt spared a bear cub after killing its mother while hunting, an event which led to the popularization of the teddy bear. Goldilocks goes to sleep in the bears' home after watching six teddy bears dance and do acrobatics, viewing them through a knothole in the wall. When she is awoken by the returning bear family, they give chase through the woods, but she runs to the aid of the Old Rough Rider, who saves her. 
Trivia
One of the 50 films in the 3-disk boxed DVD set called "More Treasures from American Film Archives, 1894-1931" (2004), compiled by the National Film Preservation Foundation from 5 American film archives. This film has a running time of 13 minutes, an added piano music score.and is preserved by the Library of Congress (from the Richard Marshall collection, with supplementary portions).

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Scorching Sands - 1923


Country: United States
Language: English (intertitles)
Directors: Hal Roach, Robin Williamson
Stars: Stan Laurel, James Finlayson and Katherine Grant
Release Date: 9 December 1923 (USA)
Production Co: Hal Roach Studios
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short | Comedy
Plot Keywords: French Foreign Legion
Connections
Spoofs Burning Sands (1922)

Hello Sailor - 1927


Country: United States
Director: Mark Sandrich
Stars: Lupino Lane, Wallace Lupino and Charlene Aber
Release Date: 25 December 1927 (USA)
Production Co: Lupino Lane Comedy Corporation
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short | Comedy

Monday, June 4, 2012

Taxi Dolls - 1929


Country: United States
Language: English
Director: Del Lord
Writers: Robert Eddy (story), Harry McCoy (story)
Stars: Jack Cooper, Otto Fries and Virginia Vance
Release Date: 14 April 1929 (USA)
Production Co: Mack Sennett Comedies
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short | Comedy

Pass the Gravy - 1928


Country: United States
Language: English (intertitles)
Directors: Fred Guiol, Leo McCarey
Stars: Max Davidson, Martha Sleeper and Spec O'Donnell
Release Date: 7 January 1928 (USA)
Also known as: Und ein stolzer Hahn dazu (Germany - alternative title)
Production Co: Hal Roach Studios
Runtime: 23 min  | Germany: 25 min (2011 restoration)
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Chicken As Live Animal | Chicken As Food | Two Reeler
Genres: Short | Comedy
Max's neigbour Schultz is breeding chicken, that are always after Max's flower seed, and Schultz bride is his rooster Brigham. Max's daughter loves Schultz's son, so they try to forget their battling, and decide to have a nice engagement party. Max gives his son $2 to buy a chicken, but he wants to keep the money and takes one of Schultz's chicken - Brigham. At the table he notices his mistake, informs his sister, who informs her fiancee. Only Max and Schultze don't notice and the evidence of Max's son's misdoings, the rooster's ring is on Schultze's plate. The two lovebirds try to inform Max who first doesn't understand, neither does Schultz, who notices them doing strange things behind his back. When Max realises, what is on his table, it is almost too late...  

Friday, June 1, 2012

President Coolidge's Inauguration - 1925


Country: United States
On March 4, 1925, Calvin Coolidge was inaugurated the 30th President of the United States. He was sworn in by Chief Justice William H. Taft on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. Coolidge was already President after the death of President Harding in 1923 and this was to become his only elected term.
From this old silent newsreel, you'll see Coolidge along with his wife and Senator Curtis leaving by automobile. You'll see the swearing in and the many bands that played in the parade in Washington, DC. Also there is official duties and speeches at various events including Arlington National Cemetery.
Calvin Coolidge died in January of 1933 and had some important firsts: his inauguration was the first broadcast on radio, he was the first President to make a sound film, and was the first to be on a coin during his lifetime.
Even many years ago, the Inauguration of a President was a grand event.
Filmed: March 4, 1925

Tombs and Temples of the Pharoahs - 1920s


Country: Egypt
A tour of Egyptian tombs and temples in the 1920s.
To purchase a clean DVD or digital download of this film for personal home use or educational use only contact us at questions@archivesfarms.com.
To license footage from this film for commercial use visit: www.travelfilmarchive.com