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.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
The Courage of the Commonplace - 1913
Cast: Edwin August [a farm worker], Mary Charleson [the farm worker’s older daughter], Myrtle Gonzalez [the farm worker’s younger daughter], Charles Bennett, Loyola O’Connor
a young farm woman dreams of a better life.
The Vitagraph Company of America production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Scenario by William E. Wing. / Released 1 August 1913. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.37:1 format.
Get Rich Quick - 1911
Get Rich Quick: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, May 26, 1911.
A moral tale about material wealth, with William Garwood, William Russell and Marguerite Snow.
Print source: The Museum of Modern Art, 13 minutes, Cast: William Russell (bunco artist), William Garwood (husband), Marguerite Snow (wife), Marie Eline (daughter of poor widow).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
The moral tale, a staple of early film, observes in this case how an elaborate swindle, the "Utopia Investment Corporation," affects one of its participants. The film challenges the quest for material wealth without concern for those victimized.
A review in The Billboard praised Marguerite Snow's acting as being "the most natural we have ever seen in a moving picture, the story as "excellent," and the picture as "splendidly photographed." Another review noted the "novel" technique of "the dissolving picture appearing through the newspaper headlines." The narrative progression is smooth without having to depend on too many titles.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Cry of the Children - 1912
The Cry of the Children: Two reels, approx. 2,000 feet, released April 30, 1912.
Critical pre-World War I film on child labor reform, photographed by Carl Lewis Gregory.
Directed by George O. Nichols, Photographed by Carl L. Gregory, Print source: George Eastman House, 28 minutes.
Cast: Marie Eline (Alice, the little girl), Ethel Wright (the working mother), James Cruze (the working father), William Russell (the factory owner), Lila H. Chester (the factory owner's wife), David H. Thompson (the factory manager).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
The Cry of the Children is the most famous and best documented of all Thanhouser films. In its day it was recognized as one of the most important expressions of the pre-World War One reform movement, in particular child labor. Perhaps because the uncompromising content drew all the attention, the film was not then recognized as the artistic masterpiece it is.
The title and basic outline of the scenario were taken from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's popular poem which was quoted in the intertitles. The antique sentimental quality of the poem contrasts sharply with the gritty realism of the visual images. Likewise, the story contrasts scenes of the mill owner's home life with that of the poor working family. An unsuccessful strike, poverty, death, and hardship threaten to tear the poor family apart.
Although location work was frequent in those days, the real factory setting was unusual and strikingly authentic. Dramatic depiction of the poor family is largely understated. The remarkably fluid editing foreshadows the editing style that became commonplace in the 1920's. Lap dissolves are used for psychological effect, and subtle and skillful camera tilting follows the actors. Excellent staging usually emphasizes depth and fore-to-back movement, and groups are handled well. Twice as long as most films of that period, the picture reflected Edwin Thanhouser's advocacy of "natural length" films rather than the standard one-reel film demanded by exhibitors for commercial reasons.
Although some elements of the story are melodramatic, clichés are to be expected from that era. However, the cinematic skill and social importance certainly contributed to a new social-realism style. The film marked the emerging political power of film, and the potential for making contributions to society.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Cinderella - 1911
Cinderella: One reel of approximately 900 feet, December 22, 1911.
Energetic cinematic pacing and intimacy show rapidly improving narrative technique and realism well beyond the limitations of the stage.
Adapted from the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. Directed by George O. Nichols.
Print source: British Film Institute/National Film and Television Archive, 14 minutes, 23 seconds.
Cast: Florence LaBadie (Cinderella), Harry Benham (the prince), Anna Rosemond, Frank H. Crane, Alphonse Ethier, Isabelle Daintry.
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
An elaborately mounted version of the well-known fairy tale is interrupted by just a few summarizing intertitles. Although in-camera trick photography is important for the story, it is rather conventional, having been introduced over ten years earlier by French filmmaker Georges Méliès. Costumes, sets, and locations make it a visual feast, and some stylistic skill is used with brief shots and cross cutting to quicken the pace as Cinderella flees at midnight.
The intense competition between film producers of the time is indicated by the near-simultaneous release of this one-reel version by Thanhouser, and the release, one week later, of a three-reel version by Selig. A holiday release was just as important then as now — Cinderella was produced the previous summer but released at Christmas.
The next step for Thanhouser was the move to multi-reel features. The release following Cinderella was an adaptation of Rider Haggard's She, Thanhouser's first two-reel release.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
A Dog's Love - 1914
A Dog's Love: One reel of 1,007 feet, released October 4, 1914.
Fantasy about the love between a child (Helen Badgley "The Kidlet") and her dog ("Shep" The Thanhouser Collie).
Directed by John Harvey. Scenario by Nolan Gane
Print source: Museum of Modern Art, 11 minutes, 12 seconds.
Cast: Shep (The Thanhouser Collie, as himself), Helen Badgley (Baby Helen), Arthur Bauer (Helen's father), Ethyle Cooke Benham (Helen's mother), Fan Bourke (a visitor).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
The fantasy centers on a dog and a child, a universally appealing movie subject. The loyal dog's attachment to his little girl playmate is treated with pictorial beauty and simple, honest sentiment. Reviewers of the time praised the double-exposure passages for their dramatic effectiveness.
Baby Helen, also known as The Thanhouser Kidlet, was a precocious child actress who was very comfortable and expressive in front of the camera. Also a regular, Shep, The Thanhouser Collie, was a well-trained member of the studio's repertory company.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Petticoat Camp - 1912
Petticoat Camp: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, released November 3, 1912.
Early "women's lib" with a comedy twist, with Florence LaBadie, William Russell and William Garwood.
Print source: Library of Congress, 14 minutes, 50 seconds
Cast: Florence LaBadie, William Garwood, the Jordan Sisters (divers).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
This comedy capitalizes on the booming pastime of a newly mobile American middle class — fishing and camping. Not only is the woodsy lakeside photogenic, but it also provides a charming locale for a light-handed battle-of-the-sexes comedy.
With a fresh and energetic attitude, the story portrays several married couples vacationing on an island. The boys play and the girls work. The girls rebel and move to an island of their own. The boys scheme to show how necessary they are as protectors, but the plan backfires and a truce is reached.
The accomplished swimmers in one commercially appealing scene were non-actress stand-ins who performed as the Jordan Sisters in aquatic shows.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Decoy - 1914
The Decoy: One reel of 1,018 feet, released July 3, 1914, a Princess film.
Complex story of romance and crime, with Murial Ostriche and Morgan Jones.
Scenario by Philip Lonergan.
Print Source: British Film Institute National Film and Television Archive, 16 minutes, 2 seconds.
Cast: Charles Horan (John Henderson/Mr. Vincent). Marie Rainford (his wife), Virginia Waite (Jane Phelps, their distant relative, a widow), Muriel Ostriche (her daughter Muriel, who becomes a decoy), Morgan Jones (a millionaire), Boyd Marshall (Boyd, a businessman, Muriel's lover), John Reinhard.
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
A rather complex interweaving of romance and crime is squeezed into one reel. A "respectable" couple of city "card sharpers" invite a distant country relative to visit, then use her as a pretty, unwitting decoy to lure rich victims. They flee town a step ahead of the law. At a resort, the innocent girl falls in love with the latest victim, but they help expose and apprehend the guilty parties.
The attractive story is worthy of two-reel-length development, which would probably have been the case under Edwin Thanhouser's management. On the other hand, fast-paced storytelling was a popular new trend in films, thanks to the influence of D. W. Griffith at Biograph
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Star of Bethlehem - 1912
The Star of Bethlehem: One reel, released December 24, 1912.
Biblical tale about the birth of Christ told with a cast of 100's, one reel British version edited from original three reel release.
Directed by Lawrence Marston. Production supervised by Edwin Thanhouser. Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan. Original length three reels (3,000 feet); surviving version edited to one real (1,000 feet)
Print source: British Film Institute National Film and Television Archive, 15 minutes, 13 seconds.
Cast: Florence LaBadie (Mary), James Cruze (Micah, Joseph), William Russell (Herod), Harry Benham (Angel Gabriel), Justus D. Barnes (Gaspar, one of the Magi), Charles Horan (Melchior, one of the Magi), Riley Chamberlin (Balthasar, one of the Magi), Harry Marks (scribe), N. S. Woods (scribe), Lawrence Merton (scribe), David H. Thompson (Pharisee, rabbi), Lew Woods (Pharisee, scribe), Joseph Graybill (Roman messenger), Carl LeViness (shepherd), Frank Grimmer (shepherd), Ethyle Cooke; total cast of 200 persons.
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
Thanhouser's ambitious Star of Bethlehem was one of the first steps toward true feature-length films (more than two reels long). It appeared the year before the Italian epic Quo Vadis? was viewed in the U. S., and two years before the first Hollywood feature, The Squaw Man. The original negatives were destroyed in the Thanhouser studio fire just three weeks after its first release.
Preparation of this epic was one of the last duties of Edwin Thanhouser before leaving the studio that bore his name. He had sold it to Mutual in April of 1912 and continued to work as studio manager until he "retired" in November, 1912, only to return in 1915. Thanhouser's biggest production up to that point in time, the film required a one-month shooting schedule, employed a cast of 200 (including forty principals), and cost a hefty $8,000. Special effects alone took a full week's work.
Thanhouser studio's flair for sumptuous costumes, crowds of actors, and rich staging is evident in this epic. Some of the larger scenes reportedly were filmed with two or even three cameras shooting from different angles. The ratio of two-and-a-half feet of film exposed per foot of film used is modest by today's standards, but was extravagant for 1912.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Dr. Jekll and Mr. Hyde- 1912
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, January 16, 1912.
James Cruze featured as Jekyll/Hyde in this second U.S. film version of the classic novel by Robert Lewis Stevenson.
Based on the Thomas Russell Sullivan stage adaptation (with romantic story added) for Richard Mansfield, of the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Directed by Lucius Henderson.
Print source: Blackhawk Films, 11 minutes, 31 seconds
Cast: James Cruze (Jekyll/Hyde), Harry Benham (Hyde in several scenes), Florence LaBadie (his sweetheart), Marie Eline (little girl knocked down by Hyde).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
This famous tale, made even more sensational by Richard Mansfield's stage performance, was filmed in at least nine silent versions. Thanhouser's was the second U. S. film version, after Selig in 1908, but was the first based on the stage adaptation.
The Thanhouser version downplays the horror element in favor of the thematic conflict between the good and evil sides of one personality. Perhaps unique among all Jekyll/Hyde adaptations is using two actors to portray the two aspects of the same character. The credits list James Cruze in both parts, but Harry Benham played the crazed Hyde in several scenes, simplifying production. Transformation trickery was done with careful cuts and quick in-camera dissolves with no changes in light
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Only in the Way - 1911
Only in the Way: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, released January 31, 1911.
Family disharmony with a happy ending, featuring Marie Eline "The Thanhouser Kid".
Print source: Library of Congress, 12 minutes, 14 seconds.
Cast: Marie Eline (Marie).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
Through most of 1910, the first year of Thanhouser releases, the studio created vehicles around one of its earliest stars, child actress Marie Eline. She was one of the few movie players to receive screen credit in those early days. Her film role previous to this one was Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop.
The dramatic theme of Only in the Way centers on a universal topic, family disharmony. In this film, the parents' treatment of the grandmother affects the little girl who identifies with her grandmother. Thanhouser scenarists seemed to have had a special sensitivity for the feelings of children which is reflected in this film. The sentimental approach was expected in 1911.
Titles are used here in an old-fashioned way, simply to describe what was about to happen in the next scene.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Coffin Ship - 1911
The Coffin Ship: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, June 20, 1911).
Love story filmed in Long Island Sound with a stowaway and a shipwreck, featuring William Garwood.
Print source: Nederlands Filmmuseum, 14 minutes, 37 seconds.
Cast: William Garwood.
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
Because of 1911 production convention, a sprawling adventure is truncated to one-reel length. Good location work, a strength of Thanhouser pictures, creates a visually strong seagoing story of a stowaway and a shipwreck. Long Island Sound locations were near the studio.
A review of The Coffin Ship in The Moving Picture World criticized at length errors of accuracy in the depiction of the merchant ship and its sailors, and technicalities of sailing and of the shipwreck, despite the good story and its dramatic effectiveness. Such criticism disproves the myth that critics and audiences accepted anything on the screen at face value.
This print's original German intertitles have been replaced by a new English translation.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Crossed Wires - 1915
Crossed Wires: Two reels, released June 29, 1915.
Directed by Frederick R. Sullivan. Scenario by Philip Lonergan.
Popular suspense drama in two reels with innovative camera technique, with Florence LaBadie and Morris Foster.
Print source: British Film Institute National Film and Television Archive, 30 minutes, 58 seconds.
Cast: Inda Palmer (Mrs. Angell, an old woman), Morris Foster (Will Drake, her nephew), Florence LaBadie (Flo Drake, his sister), Boyd Marshall (Benton, a civil engineer), Ina Hammer (Susan Watson, the housekeeper), Morgan Jones, Ernest Warde.
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
In the spirit of the enormously popular mystery and crime pulps of the day, Crossed Wires is a suspense picture with a flair for good storytelling and stylistic innovation, strikingly similar to the later filmmaking style of Hitchcock.
An innocent man is accused and convicted of murder, and when the facts finally surface, the innocent man's sister sets about trapping the guilty party. The courtroom scene, though not unusual, includes a dramatic pan between two close-ups for purely psychological effect. Other advances in cinematography are a close-up reaction shot and two insert shots of objects. The surprise psychological climax is also novel. Stylistically, lighting effects for the dark house scenes are very effective, and in one scene a flashlight, the only illumination on the set, is actually shined into the camera. This treatment is decades ahead of its time.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Soap Suds Star - 1915
The Soap Suds Star: One reel of 1,025 feet, released October 28, 1915, a Falstaff release.
Comedy about a down-and-out vaudeville team who attempt Shakespeare and destroy their career.
Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan.
Print source: Museum of Modern Art, 14 minutes, 38 seconds.
Cast: Carey L. Hastings (Sophie, the star), Reginald Perry (husband).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
Theater, particularly vaudeville, has been an endless source of material for movies. This energetic comedy features a down-and-out actor and a funny laundry proprietor who are hired as a vaudeville act. They become a big hit, but when they try Shakespeare, they destroy their showbiz career.
The Soap Suds Star was released under the Falstaff banner, the comedy arm of Thanhouser.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The World and the Woman - 1916
The World and the Woman: Five reels of approximately 5,000 feet, released November 19, 1916, Pathé Exchange.
Jeanne Eagel's film debut tells the story of a prostitute turned faith healer in this five reel feature, released by Pathé.
Directed by W. Eugene Moore. Scenario by Philip Lonergan, possibly based on the play Outcast.
Print source: George Eastman House, 1 hour, 6 minutes.
Cast: Jeanne Eagels (woman of the streets), Ethelmary Oakland (Sunny, her daughter), Boyd Marshall (the man), Thomas A Curran (James Palmer), Wayne Arey (Jim Rollins), Grace DeCarlton (Rollins' wife), Carey L. Hastings (Anna Graham).
Original music composed and performed by Andrew Crow (thanhouser.org/people/crowa.htm.)
The World and the Woman is historically important as the screen debut of legendary actress Jeanne Eagels. The role of a prostitute turned faith healer is suitably challenging for the star.
Edwin Thanhouser began phasing down production at the studio in early 1917, so this is a very late Thanhouser film. The World and the Woman demonstrates many important advances of the previous few years such as feature length, editing techniques (for instance, watch here for camera-position changes in the middle of action), and more complex, expressive, and thoughtful story development. Part of the story is based on one of Eagels' stage successes, The Outcast.
Locations, a strength of Thanhouser pictures, included Manhattan and the Adirondack mountains in addition to studio interiors. The Woman and the World was released as a "Pathé Gold Rooster Play," in accordance with Thanhouser's releasing contract with the Pathé Exchange.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Vicar of Wakefield - 1910
One reel version of Oliver Goldsmith's classic 1766 novel.
The Vicar of Wakefield: One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, released December 17, 1910.
Print source: Nederlands Filmmuseum, 13 minutes 20 seconds.
Original music composed and performed by Raymond A. Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
Adapted from the novel by Oliver Goldsmith. Cast: Martin J. Faust (the Vicar of Wakefield), Frank H. Crane, Anna Rosemond, William Garwood, Marie Eline, Bertha Blanchard, Lucille Younge, William Russell.
Edwin Thanhouser, and Lloyd F. Lonergan who wrote or supervised screenplays for hundreds of Thanhouser films, often turned to classic plays and novels for quality source material. The Vicar of Wakefield was an enormously popular English novel for 150 years, offering a complex but accessible mix of Georgian English characters, situations, mores and manners. All this had to be simplified and distilled down to one reel of story, which was done better by Thanhouser than any other studio could have done.
In 1910 virtually all movies were developed in the director’s mind, improvised during filming, and made into a narrative by the film editor. Theater veteran Edwin Thanhouser and journalist Lonergan were possibly the first movie professionals to begin each new production with a complete screenplay (which they called a “continuity”). Within a year after its first release, the studio had a reputation for the best-developed stories in the business.
Also contributing was Gertrude (Mrs. Edwin) Thanhouser who helped on the scenarios and film editing.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Vicar of Wakefield - 1917
The Vicar of Wakefield: Seven or eight reels, released February 25, 1917. Print source: EmGee, 1 hour, 29 minutes, 30 seconds.
Elaborate remake starring Frederick Warde released by Pathé.
Directed by Ernest C. Warde. Scenario by Emmett Mix, based on the novel by Oliver Goldsmith. Photographed by William M. Zollinger. Cast: Frederick Warde (the Vicar of Wakefield), Boyd Marshall (George Primrose), Kathryn Adams (Olivia Primrose), Gladys Leslie (Sophia Primrose), Thomas A. Curran (Geoffrey; Mr. Burchell), Robert Vaughn (Squire Thornhill; Squire Wilmot), Carey L. Hastings (Mrs. Primrose), William Parke, Jr. (Moses Primrose), Tula Belle (Dick Primrose), Barbara Howard (Bill Primrose), Grace DeCarlton (Arabella Wilmot), Arthur Bauer (Mr. Wilmot), Morgan Jones (Jenkinson), Joseph H. Phillips, Nellie Parker Spaulding, Oscar W. Forster.
Original music composed and performed by Ray Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
After affiliating with Pathe in late 1916, Thanhouser produced only feature-length dramas. In 1917 the studio had a roster of only four stars, none of them a commercial match for the personality-stars created by the publicity machines of other studios. Frederick Warde, like his Thanhouser colleague Jeanne Eagels, was one of the most talented and famous stage actors in New York City, and was the perfect choice for the popular title character of the 1766 English novel. The production vindicated the new feature-length movie format by restoring several characters, plot complications, and atmosphere that had been truncated in Thanhouser’s 1910 version of less than one-sixth the length.
Warde, forgotten today, was best known for his classic stage work, but starred in several films including the title role in Richard III in 1913, the first American feature film (not a Thanhouser production). The director is the star’s son.
The elaborate production required several months to produce, working around Warde’s busy Chautauqua lecture schedule, and includes incidents vividly remembered by the novel’s readers, such as the green spectacles, the debtor’s prison, the sham marriage, and the burning of the vicarage.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Just a Shabby Doll - 1913
Just a Shabby Doll: One reel, approx. 1,000 feet, released March 11, 1913. Print source: British Film Institute, 14 minutes, 40 seconds.
A romantic story utilizing flashback sequences, featuring Harry Benham, Mignon Anderson and Helen Badgley.
Cast: Mignon Anderson (the wife), Harry Benham (the husband), Lila Chester (the governess), Helen Badgley (little daughter who listens to her father's tale), Marie Eline (little girl of long ago), David H. Thompson (drayman).
Original music composed and performed by Ray Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
A relatively complex original romantic story is squeezed onto only one reel, but this was the last year that such a constraint was taken for granted. Of special interest here are the 1913 New York City backgrounds. In 1913 the inter-titles became more frequent and, for the first time, primarily represented dialogue. This narrative is unusual in its fluid use of flashback (complete with anachronisms!).
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Shep's Race with Death - 1914
Shep’s Race with Death: One reel, approx. 790 feet, released November 1, 1914
Heroic dog "Shep" saves the day, also featuring the "Thanhouser Twins" Marion and Madeline Fairbanks.
Directed by John Harvey.
Print source: Museum of Modern Art, 12 minutes, 15 seconds.
Cast: Mrs. Whitcove (Mrs. Mateland), J.S. Murray (Mr. Stearns), Marie Rainford (Mrs. Stearns), Marion and Madeline Fairbanks (the twins), Shep (the Thanhouser Collie, as himself).
Original music by Ray Burbacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
The simple story of a heroic dog that saves the day appealed to audiences (especially with a well-trained animal as attractive and energetic as Shep), and became a movie staple for generations.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser,
visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
The Evidence of The Film - 1913
Discovered in 1999 on the floor of a Montana projection booth, this is a good crime tale with film making as a subject.
"The Evidence of the Film" was selected in 2001 for inclusion in the National Film Registry by the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress because of its cultural, historical or aesthetic significance.
Directed by Edwin Thanhouser and Lawrence Marston.
Original music composed and performed by Ray Brubacher thanhouser.org/people/Rayb.htm.
Print source: Library of Congress, 14 minutes, 30 seconds.
Recently discovered and rescued, "The Evidence of the Film" is a particularly clever and unusual early example of a fictional dramatic movie with filmmaking as a subject. The portrayal of a movie crew that just happens to be at work on a street corner is accurate. The director is seen consulting a shooting script, something a Thanhouser director would do but probably not another studio’s director. The film laboratory and editing scenes are of enormous interest as historical document as well as ingeniously integrated in the crime tale.
Source: www.thanhouser.org
For futher information on films by Thanhouser, visit the site above. Let’s keep memories of this great studio alive.
Sunrise a song of two Humans - F.W. Murnau - 1927
Country: USA
Release Date: 4 November 1927 (USA)
Filming Locations: Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
Director: F.W. Murnau
Writing credits: Hermann Sudermann(original theme "Die Reise nach Tilsit")
Carl Mayer (scenario), Katherine Hilliker (titles) and H.H. Caldwell (titles)
Stars: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor and Margaret Livingston
In this fable-morality subtitled "A Song of Two Humans", the "evil" temptress is a city woman who bewitches farmer Anses and tries to convince him to murder his neglected wife, Indre.
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