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.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
La maison Ensorcelée (1907, France)
At its heart, this is a variation on one of Melies' most imitated -- especially by himself -- shorts: some travelers enter an abandoned house, and then, inside, everything goes all pear-shaped, as chairs vanish, the house rocks back and forth and the travelers are, eventually, scared out of their wits.
As such, it is not much. However, its director, Segundo de Chomon, elaborates the theme enormously. First, this one is shown in a dozen separate scenes, as first we see the travelers approaching the house and the spirit haunting the place is shown. In the middle are two major stop-motion pieces as food is carved by invisible hands.. The camera also moves, showing the house rocking back and forth.
But although this is much more elaborate than the usual Melies pieces, it does not depart from the basic situation. It uses the tricks, largely, for their own sake. It would be in the next couple of couples that these camera tricks would cease to be the point of the film and become part of the grammar of cinema.
El hotel electrico (1908, Spain-France)
In summation, as baggage is checked in that baggage moves by itself to a room where it opens itself revealing lots of brushes that now move out. We next see a man and a woman sitting down before we see the man's boot get unbuckled by itself. With the boot off, a brush moves itself up and down on the front end. We next see the woman's coat come off by itself before her hair gets a thorough brushing-also by itself-before the hair ties itself into a bun. Then comes a scene of a man in front of a wall full of electrical switches. As he pulls one large switch down, we cut to a scene of various chairs and other furniture moving in chaotic ways as the short ends...Primitive but still fascinating look at trick photography in the early 20th century. Must have truly awed audiences back then. Definitely worth a look for silent film buffs.
An Interesting Story - 1904
American movie. The adventures of an inattentive man. He's at his kitchen table, reading. A woman brings his hat and points to the clock. He continues reading and pours coffee into his hat. He leaves, still reading, trips over a servant who's on her hands and knees cleaning the walk. He walks through jump-roping girls, runs into a mule, walks into the only other person on an empty street, and then walks into the path of a steamroller. Two cyclists approach his flattened body. Out come their air pumps, and soon our genial hero has set off again, nose in his book.
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