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.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
A Chess Dispute (1903, United Kingdom)
A stationary camera looks on as two dapper gents play a game of chess. One drinks and smokes, and when he looks away, his opponent moves two pieces. A fight ensues, first with the squirting of a seltzer bottle, then with fisticuffs. The combatants wrestle each other to the floor and continue the fight out of the camera's view, hidden by the table. The waiter arrives to haul both of them out.
Burstup Homes Murder Case - 1913
American movie. A spoof of Sherlock Holmes who was quite popular at the time.
Directed by Alice Guy Blache in the Solex Studios.
Wiggle Your Ears - 1929
American movie. Ear wiggling--girls can't help falling in love with boys who can do it. Wheezer thinks it's ridiculous.
Authors Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann rightly characterize "Wiggle Your Ears," a 1929 Our Gang short silent film as "an amusing but absolutely bizarre two-reeler." [from their book: THE LITTLE RASCALS: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF OUR GANG] That assessment is spot on in terms of both story and cinematography (the use of disarmingly extreme close-ups).
In this video, you will see that ear-wiggler Harry Spear and blonde bombshell Jean Darling make a cute, but ultimately tragic couple. You will witness Mary Ann Jackson rising from the ashes of thankless toil and heartbreaking despair to fall in love with faux-ear-wiggler Joe Cobb. You will see a bemused contribution by Farina. Best of all, you will behold Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins—willing to connive at deception by pulling Joe;s ear(s) with a string, but who remains absolutely (and wonderfully) unimpressed and derisive about everybody's actions. ("Wheezer" was Our Gang's resident raspberry expert.)
These kids were cast members of Hal Roach's Our Gang on the eve of the motion-picture-sound revolution. They may have been succeeded by the most popular Rascals of all--e.g. Spanky, Darla, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Porky, Butch, et al.--but they were no less charismatic and fun to watch. Their delightful work deserves public rediscovery. This video provides one means to that end.
Shivering Spooks - 1926
American movie. *The kids are playing baseball when a man dressed in Middle-Eastern clothing comes out and tells them to be quiet. They join Mary, Farina, and Scooter in the gang's hide-out while Mary is reading ghost stories. While on the other side of the wall, the Arab-looking man is cheating people out of their money by staging a fake séance using state-of-the-art special effects. The cave entrance for the gang's hide-out collapses, so they light candles and dig into the wall, entering into the house. The "suckers" find out they are being cheated and run to get the cops to book the guys. The guys find out that the kids are in the house, and one dresses up in a ghost costume and chases the kids throughout the house.
*(This is the censored version.)
The Sun Down Limited - 1924
Country: United States
Language:
English
Director: Robert
F. McGowan
Writers: Hal
Roach (story), H.M. Walker (titles)
Stars: Lassie
Lou Ahern, Peggy Ahern and Joe Cobb
Release Date: 21
September 1924 (USA)
Also known as:
Sundown LTD. (USA - alternative title)
Production Co:
Hal Roach Studios
Sound Mix:
Silent
Color: Black and
White
Plot Keywords:
Children | Our Gang | Actor Shares First Name With Character
Genres: Comedy |
Short | Family
Mickey and Joe
manage to climb into the engine car in the railyards and cause all sorts of
mischief until they are thrown out.... so they build their own railroad! Far
more elaborate and far-fetched than this sweet-natured series usually is, once
again, it works because of the playfulness and reality of the kids.
War Feathers - 1926
War Feathers is a 1926 short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan and Robert A. McGowan. It was the 54th Our Gang short subject released.
(From Wikipedia)
WolfBlood - 1925
American movie. Wolf Blood, also known as Wolfblood: A Tale of the Forest, is a silent 1925 werewolf movie starring George Chesebro, who also directed it.
The film has been referenced in a number of books as being the first werewolf movie ever made. There is no official music score primarily because the film was made during the silent era of movie making.
His First Flame - 1927
His First Flame (1927) is an American silent comedy film starring Harry Langdon and directed by Harry Edwards. Additional cast members include Natalie Kingston, Ruth Hiatt, Vernon Dent, and others.
In a review of Langdon's collective work, critic Michael Barrett discussed the film and wrote, "His First Flame was Langdon's first feature, made for Sennett but not released until 1927 to cash in on his First National hits. Its central feature is a romantic triangle between rich idiot Langdon, his golddigging fiancee Kingston, and his woman-hating uncle Dent. In a segment of very dark humor on the joys of domestic violence, Harry witnesses two simultaneous donnybrooks in neighboring houses, one in the foreground and the other in deep focus in the background. This is one of the set's clearest examples of Langdon's tendency to exploit humiliation and unease, an area of comedy that crosses into an audience's discomfort zone. Among these early works, this daring sequence is perhaps the clearest application of Agee's warning (or celebration) about Langdon's strange territory, though Agee was probably thinking most of the homicidal feature Long Pants." (From Wikipedia)
Directed by Harry Edwards, Produced by Mack Sennett, Written by Frank Capra and Arthur Ripley, Starring Harry Langdon and Natalie Kingston
The Sealed Room - 1909
American movie. In this movie suggested by Poe's "A Cask of Amontillado", The king constructs a cozy, windowless love-nest for himself and his concubine. However, she is not faithful to her sovereign, but consorts with the court troubadour. In fact, they use the king's new play chamber for their own lovecraft. When the king discovers this, he sends for his masons. With the faithless duo still inside, the masons use stone and mortar to quietly seal the only door to the vault...
Cast
Arthur V. Johnson ... The Count
Marion Leonard ... The Countess
Henry B. Walthall ... The Minstrel
Linda Arvidson ... A Lady-in-Waiting
William J. Butler ... Nobleman at Court
Verner Clarges ... Nobleman at Court
Owen Moore ... Nobleman at Court
George Nichols ... Workman
Anthony O'Sullivan ... Workman
Mary Pickford ... A Lady-in-Waiting
Gertrude Robinson ... A Lady-in-Waiting
Mack Sennett ... A Soldier
George Siegmann ... Nobleman at Court
Directed By D. W. Griffith
Cinematography By G. W. Bitzer
Written By Frank E. Woods
From The Story By Honoré de Balzac "La Grande Breteche"
From The Novel By Edgar Allan Poe "The Cask of Amontillado"
The Golden Louis - 1909
American movie. Directed and Written By D. W. Griffith, Cinematography, Arthur Marvin. As a frail young girl is outside begging in the snow, she collapses from weakness and from the cold. A well-dressed gentleman passes by and sees her, and he leaves a valuable gold coin in the shoe that she was using to collect alms. Meanwhile, at a gambling house nearby, another man is having a bad night and is becoming desperate. He walks outside, and he notices the girl and the coin. He could easily take it, but he is torn between his need and his pity for the girl. Written by Snow Leopard
Anita Hendrie ... The Mother
Adele DeGarde ... The Child
Owen Moore ... The Good Samaritan
Charles Inslee ... The Gambler
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Linda Arvidson ... Reveller
Kate Bruce Gladys Egan George Gebhardt ... Reveller
Arthur V. Johnson ... Gambler
Florence Lawrence Marion Leonard ... Reveller
Wilfred Lucas Mack Sennett ... Gambler / Reveller
Dorothy West ... Reveller
Herbert Yost ... Gambler / Reveller
R.F.D. 10,000 B.C. - 1917
American movie. Unreleased stop motion animation from Edison Studios in 1917.
New York City (Sanitation) Dumping Wharf - 1903
American movie. Photographed April 28, 1903.
Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
Camera: James Blair Smith
The film shows a wharf where a barge is being loaded with trash from two-wheeled, horse-drawn wagons. The trash is dumped off the edge of the pier onto the barge, where men with shovels are spreading the piles of debris. The camera pans left to the next barge, where four-wheeled carts are shown dumping excavation rubble. Probably filmed on the East River, this is one of several New York City Sanitation Department dumping wharves in operation at the time.
New York Police Boat Patrol Capturing Pirates - 1903
American movie. Photographed May 10, 1903.
Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
Camera: Edwin S. Porter, James Blair Smith
This was probably filmed in the southern part of the Upper New York Bay looking towards the Narrows, with Fort Lafayette partly visible in the far background. The subject is a simulated capture of three ''pirates'' in a rowboat by the police gunboat ''Patrol.'' Puffs of smoke appear as the gunboat fires several rounds from the bow cannon, which can be clearly seen later in a side view of the boat [1:04]. The ''Patrol'' was a steel twin screw, 135 foot, 118 ton police boat, built in 1893 at Sparrow's Point, Maryland.
Eastside Urchins Bathing in a Fountain - 1903
American movie. October 30, 1903
Directed by Edwin S. Porter
Original Edison catalog description:
Shows a number of boys bathing in a fountain on the East Side. While they are at the height of their amusement, which consists of splashing the bystanders and swimming around, a policeman suddenly appears. There is immediately a wild scramble from the fountain, the boys seizing their clothing and dashing away, almost nude, through the streets.
"It's da Cops! Cheese it!!"
This is one in a series of films done by Porter for Edison Studios in which he documented the city's ghetto life. While many of the films produced were 'actualities,' there are some like this one, which were set up specifically for the camera.
Film from the Library Of Congress
Railway hopper car dumper in action - 1897
American movie. This movie dates back to 1897 and shows a hopper car dumping machine in operation, quite incredible.
The Astor Tramp - 1899
Country: United States
Release Date: November 1899 (USA)
Filming Locations: Orange, New Jersey, USA
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Runtime: 2 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short | Comedy
"A side splitting subject, showing the mistaken tramp's arrival at the Wm. Waldorf Astor mansion and being discovered comfortably asleep in bed, by the lady of the house."
Annie Oakley - 1894
American movie. Early film of Annie Oakley (Phoebe Moses) shooting, made in Thomas Edison's Black Maria studio.
Carmencita - 1894
American movie. The first woman to ever step in front of a motion picture camera in 1894. No sound.
Ella Lola, a la Trilby - 1898
American movie. A young, dark-haired woman performs a dance inspired by George du Maurier's character Trilby, in an early modern dance style reminiscent of Isadora Duncan. She dances barefoot without stockings and is dressed in a long, flowing gown bound across the bosom in Grecian style, with inside fringe and a draped cape hooked to her wrist. She also wears what appears to be a garland headpiece. Holding her gown with one hand throughout, the dancer performs a series of kicks and turns with leg kicks front and back, rocking, and round de jambe.
Ella Lola - 1898
American movie. Ella Lola - Turkish bellydancer - 1898
From the New York clipper, 4/19/02, p. 167: Ella Lola was born Sept. 2, 1883, in Boston, and made her first appearance as a dancer at the age of eleven years, and by her clever work has steadily come to the fore, until now she takes rank among the best in her class. She has been featured at various times with road companies, and has met with success at the leading vaudeville houses through the country.
Apparently filmed in Edison's "Black Maria" studio in West Orange, New Jersey.
Crissie Sheridan - 1897
American movie. Crissie Sheridan bellydancing with isis wings in 1897. Filmed in Edison's "Black Maria" studio in West Orange, New Jersey.
The Lone Fisherman - 1896
Amnerican movie. A short film from The Edison Manufacturing Company from 1896.
Buster Makes Room for His Mama at the Bargain Counter - 1904
American movie. Summary: By the time Edwin S. Porter made this film, Buster Brown had become a household name. The brain child of comic strip artist Richard Outcault, Brown first appeared in the New York Herald in 1902 and went on to a long career as an advertising icon for Buster Brown shoes.
Bargain Day -14th Street, New York - 1905
Summary:
This short film captured throngs of shoppers crowding into the Rothschild Co. five and dime store in one of the busiest shopping districts in the city. Actuality films such as this turned bargain day and other new experiences of urban life into spectacles to be consumed by movie audiences.
Notes:
Panorama from the Times Building, New York - 1905
Photographed April 11, 1905.
American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
Location: Broadway and 7th Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd Streets
Camera: Wallace McCutcheon
The view is from the top of 1 Times Square Originally named Longacre Square, it was renamed Times Square on April 8, 1904, by proclamation of Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. at the urging of Adolph Ochs, owner and publisher of the New York Times. It is also known as 1475 Broadway, New York Times Building and New York Times Tower. The north end later became Duffy Square. The building is a 25 story, 365 foot (110.6 m) high skyscraper at 42nd and Broadway in Times Square. It was the second tallest building in the world when it opened.
The camera pans to the north over the tops of the buildings from Bryant Park, south of 42nd Street (behind the New York Public Library) [0:39] up 6th Avenue to the Hippodrome Theatre, between 43rd & 44th Streets [1:04]. A marquee on the theater reads 'A Yankee Circus On Mars.' The camera continues to rotate toward 44th and 45th Streets between 6th and 7th Avenues, until coming to rest looking directly north up Times Square to 46th Street, where Broadway (left) and 7th Avenue (right) diverge again.
The Hippodrome Theatre [1:04] also opened in 1905 and was, at the time, New York's largest indoor stage. It was built and owned by Frederick Thompson, the man responsible for creating Luna Park in Coney Island. The Hippodrome closed in 1939.
Recommended reading:
AIA Guide to New York City
- Norval White and Elliot Willensky
(The most essential reference guide to New York's architecture)
The Devils Playground / A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square - James Traub
The Kid of Coney Island / Fred Thompson and the Rise of American Amusements - Woody Register
Children in the Surf, Coney Island -1904
Filmed August 3, 1904.
American Mutoscope & Biograph Company
Coney Island's Sea Gate in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Cameraman: G. W. Bitzer
Ring-around-the-rosie
Young children wade and play in the surf at Sea Gate in Coney Island as some women swim in the distance. A jump cut [2:40] shows a toddler as he moves for the camera holding a cricket paddle. A moment later a man fetches the paddle out of the water, leaving the boy with a toy boat with which to play. He seems more interested in the real schooner sailing far out in the distance, but only momentarily. He'd rather be back on the beach with everyone else. After a few more attempts at making him a star the boy picks up the toy and leaves.
By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea!
You and me, you and me, oh how happy we'll be!
When each wave comes a-rolling in
We will duck or swim,
And we'll float and fool around the water.
Over and under, and then up for air,
Pa is rich, Ma is rich, so now what do we care?
I love to be beside your side, beside the sea,
Beside the seaside, by the beautiful sea!
- By The Beautiful Sea (Harold Atteridge / Harry Carroll) (1914)
The X Rays (1897, United Kingdom)
Also known as 'The X-Ray Fiend', this comedy by G.A. Smith combines two very recent innovations: Wilhelm Roentgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895, and Georges Méliès' accidental realisation of the special-effects potential of the jump-cut in 1896. The central couple is played by the Brighton comedian Tom Green and Smith's wife Laura Bayley, and we know that they were filmed in October 1897 from Smith's cashbook, now preserved in the BFI National Archive. (Michael Brooke)
Dock Front, Galveston -1900
American movie. A film from the Edison Manufacturing Company, done in 1900.
Betsy Ross Dance - 1903
SUMMARY
Opens on a bare stage with a painted backdrop of an interior theater wall and pillar. From screen right, a woman twirls onstage and performs an enthusiastic dance. It appears she is a woman dressed to look like a little girl, in a short, ruffled dress and sash, tights, and ballet slippers, with long, dark hair worn in curls. Her movements include some with an apparent ballet influence, such as pirouettes and walking on pointe. She also performs various feet and leg movements, leg kicks both to the front and side, spins, and twirls, all the while flouncing and lifting her skirt and smiling coquettishly. She ends by throwing a kiss to the camera as she twirls offstage.
From R. Snyder, The voice of the city, 1989: The "Betsy Ross Dance," filmed in 1903, shows a young girl in a frilly skirt cut above the knee. As she dances, she kicks her leg, swings her skirt, climbs up on pointe, lifts her skirt and twirls around. The camera catches an occasional glimpse of a garter just above her knee (p. 137).
CREATED/PUBLISHED
United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1903.
NOTES
Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 25June1903; H32944.
Camera, G.W. "Billy" Bitzer.
Performer: Little Anita.
Filmed June 18, 1903 in the Biograph New York City studio.
SUBJECTS
Dance--United States.
Dancers--United States.
Ballet dancing--United States.
Silent films.
Dance.
Vaudeville.
Shorts.
RELATED NAMES
Little Anita, performer.
Bitzer, G. W., 1872-1944, camera.
American Mutoscope and Biograph Company.
Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
Dog Factory - 1904
SUMMARY
In the middle of a store or factory set sits a machine identified as the "Patent Dog Transformator." On the walls behind it are coils of sausages or hot dogs, labeled with the name of the dog they represent: Pointer, Setter, Fighting Bull, Bull, Terrier, Spaniel, Poodle, Plain Dog, Trained Dog, Bull Pups, Boston Bull, Daschund [sic], Mut, and Pug. At the top of the back wall is a sign that reads "Dogs made while you wait--Dog Factory--Dogs mixed to order." A bearded man in a suit stands by the machine looking bored, as his partner in a cap and apron dusts the rows of sausages. A tramp enters the store with a string of three dogs, which he sells to the man in the suit. One by one, the three dogs are loaded into the top of the machine, cranked by the man in the apron, and transformed into links of sausage that come out the right end of the contraption. These links are then hung up in their proper places on the wall: Plain Dog, Trained Dog, and Boston Bull. A man identified as a dandy with his cane and straw topper enters and orders a spaniel. The process is then reversed, as the appropriate coil of meat is taken off the wall and put in the top of the machine, resulting in a dog exiting from the left end of the transformator. The next customer, a woman, orders a dachshund, but the dog proves too jumpy for her and is changed back to a sausage; the woman then settles on a terrier, and leaves happily with her purchase.
A man in a suit enters the factory and orders a trained dog. The resulting canine does tricks such as a back-flip at the urging of the owner in the apron, and the customer leaves satisfied. When the next woman requests a small dog, a string of bull pups are produced for her, from which she selects her favorite; the rest of the puppies are turned back to sausage. Finally, a "tough" enters the store and orders a Boston Bull, but he rejects the resulting dog as not mean enough. The factory owners then create a fighting bull, which comes out of the transformator biting. In the resulting commotion, with the Boston Bull also running around the store, the fighting bull grabs the tough by the seat of his pants and the two wrestle. The factory owners laugh as the bull and customer exit the shop, still fighting.
From Edison films catalog: On the walls of the factory a lot of different varieties of frankfurters are hung. Each is marked with the breed of dog it is made from. A combined dog and bologna making machine is seen in the foreground, and two Germans are working industriously over it. A tramp enters with about a dozen dogs of various types, and sells them to the Germans. They are soon transformed into sausage and the tramp departs with his cash. A dude now enters who wants to buy a spaniel. The dog is quickly made and sold. A number of customers follow and are supplied with dogs that suit their fancies. Finally a tough enters who wants a bull dog. A Boston Bull is produced, but does not suit him. He wants a fighting bull. The dog is made, and as he jumps from the machine he grabs the tough by the pants, and dog and man mix up in a rolling match all over the floor. The tough finally releases himself and disappears, leaving the fighting bull dog to be again turned into bologna. 240 ft. $36.00.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
United States: Edison Manufacturing Co., 1904.
NOTES
Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 21Apr1904; H44668.
Camera, Edwin S. Porter.
Filmed in Edison's New York City studio.
SUBJECTS
Dogs--United States--Buying--Drama.
Dog industry--United States--Drama.
Dog owners--United States--Drama.
Factories--United States--Drama.
Sausages--United States--Drama.
Frankfurters--United States--Drama.
Bulldog--United States--Drama.
Silent films.
Comedies.
Vaudeville.
Shorts.
RELATED NAMES
Porter, Edwin S., camera.
Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
Aunt Sallie's Wonderful Bustle - 1901
American movie. A short film from The Edison Manufacturing Company from 1901.
Trapeze disrobing act - 1901
American movie. A woman on a trapeze strips down to her undergarments and does a few tricks.
No sound.
Rip Van Winkle - 1896
Country: USA
Actor Joseph Jefferson, famed for his stage plays on Rip Van Winkle, appeared in this series of short films by The American Mutoscope & Biograph Company in 1896. These re-edited (and preserved) clips from the collection were done in 1902.
As In a Looking Glass - 1903
American film. A short film from The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company from 1903.
Gordon-Bennett-Autorennen (17.6.1904)
(c) Deutsches Filminstitut - DIF e.V.
Germany 1904
Director: Julius Neubronner
English title: Gordon Bennett Motor Race
Synopsis: Julius Neubronner (1852-1932), a chemist and inventor from Kronberg was one of the first people to film in the Rhine-Main region. He purchased his first camera in 1903, a "Kino" manufactured by Dresdner Foto-Firma. With his camera Neubronner recorded historical events as well as the everyday life of his family. Furthermore, he also shot short sketches performed by himself and his family on a stage set-up in the garden of their home. For "Gordon Bennett Motor Race" Neubronner positioned his camera next to the track of the then highly popular race (1 million onlookers along the 40 kilometer track) and recorded the passing race cars. Through the use of a visual trick the footage makes the cars appear much closer to each other than they actually were.
Brought to you by 'filmarchives online', the web gateway to European film archives:
The 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
The 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race was the first international road race held in the United States. Eighteen cars from France, Germany, Italy and the USA competed for William K. Vanderbilt, Jr.'s 30-pound Tiffany cup on 30 miles of public Long Island roads. George Heath representing France won the race averaging 52.2 mph in a 90-hp Panhard. In one of the earliest sports films ever made, the race action was captured by cameramen G.W. Bitzer and A.E. Weed of the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company in Westbury and Plainedge. Note the last segment where 21-year-old driver Albert Clement, Jr. was seen protesting the race to referee William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. The original film was preserved by the Library of Congress Paper Print Collection. This edited film includes subtitles to describe the action, cars and drivers. More information can be found at VanderbiltCupRaces.com .
Molchi, grust... molchi (1918) / 2
Soviet silent movie «Molchi, grust... molchi» («Молчи, грусть... молчи...» или «Сказка любви дорогой»)
Director: Pyotr Chardynin
Starring: Vera Kholodnaya, Pyotr Chardynin, Vitold Polonsky
Molchi, grust... molchi (1918) / 1
Soviet silent movie «Molchi, grust... molchi» («Молчи, грусть... молчи...» или «Сказка любви дорогой»)
Director: Pyotr Chardynin
Starring: Vera Kholodnaya, Pyotr Chardynin, Vitold Polonsky
Alice's Day at Sea - 1924 - Part 2
This was Walt Disney's second Alice cartoon, and the first to be contracted by M.J. Winkler, released first on March 1st, 1924.
Alice's Day at Sea - 1924 - Part 1
This was Walt Disney's second Alice cartoon, and the first to be contracted by M.J. Winkler, released first on March 1st, 1924.
Alice's Spooky Adventure - 1924
This was Walt Disney's Third Alice cartoon, released first on April 1st, 1924.
Alice and the Three Bears - 1924
This was Walt Disney's Tenth Alice cartoon, released first on December 1st, 1924.
Alice and the Dog Catcher - 1924 - Part 1
This was Walt Disney's sixth Alice cartoon, released first on July 1st, 1924.
The tantalizing fly out of the inkwell - 1919
The tantalizing fly out of the inkwell. Max Fleischer 1919
Fantasmagorie - 1908
Émile Cohl created Fantasmagorie in 1908.
To make this film, Cohl placed each drawing on an illuminated glass plate and then traced the next drawing-with variations-on top of it until he had some 700 drawings. In 1908, chalkboard caricaturists were common vaudeville attractions and the characters in the film look as though they've been drawn on a chalkboard, but it's an illusion. By filming black lines on paper and then printing in negative Cohl makes his animations appear to be chalk drawings.
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