Silent Beauties: 02/02/12

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, February 2, 2012

Hochwasser in Wetzlar - 1920

Country: Germany
(c) Deutsches Filminstitut - DIF e.V.
Director: Oskar Barnack
English title: The Flood of Wetzlar 1920
Synopsis: The Wetzlar flood of 1920. The film shows the old bridge across the Lahn during the flood and an additional shot from the bridge down at the stream. Am Mühlgraben street is flooded. In Langgasse people are carrying each other to avoid staining themselves. Boats cross before the Goldenes Ross building, a former guest house. Ernst Leitz I stayed here when he came to Wetzlar.

Kinograms Newsreel - 1924

Country: United States
Run time: 11:01

U.S. Army's Basic Hand To Hand Fighting of World War 1 - 1917

Country: United States
Lessons in Boxing from Mike Gibbons (Former & Late Middleweight Boxing Champion of 1909), Captain Allan Corstorphin Smith (3rd degree jujutsu (judo) master), and how to fight with and against the bayonet.

Kinograms Newsreel - 1925

Country: United States
Typical newsreel from the silent era, featuring Jack Dempsey, a balloon race, women dancing in chilly breezes, a juggler, and opium being confiscated and burned in Shanghai.
Producer: Kinograms
Sponsor: N/A
Audio/Visual: Si, B&W
Keywords: Newsreels; China; Substance abuse: Drugs

King John - 1899

Country: United Kingdom
Directors: Walter Pfeffer Dando, William K.L. Dickson
Writer: William Shakespeare (play)
Stars: Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Louis Calvert and S.A. Cookson
Release Date: September 1899 (UK)
Also known as: Beerbohm Tree, the Great English Actor (USA), János király (Hungary)
Production Co: British Mutoscope & Biograph Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: William Shakespeare | Partially Lost Film | Based On Play | Character Name In Title
Genres: Short | Drama
This short film recreates King John's death scene at the end of the play. Based on Shakespeare's play, Act V, Scene vii: King John is in torment, and his supporters fear that his end is near. As he writhes in agony, he is attended by Prince Henry, the Earl of Pembroke, and Robert Bigot. Prince Henry tries repeatedly to comfort his delirious father, but to no avail - John's pain is too great
Trivia: The first known Shakespeare film, only one of the four scenes survives, King John's death scene.

Reduction and Treatment of Fracture of the Clavicle - 1933

Country: Austria
A black and white, silent film from Austria showing the reduction of a fracture by abduction of the shoulder girdle from the chest, under local anaesthesia. A clavicle splint is applied. X-ray pictures before and after reduction are shown and movement is free after four weeks.

Begräbnis von Kaiser Franz Joseph I - 1916

Country: Austria
English title: The funeral of emperor Franz Joseph I.
Here is a biography of Franz Joseph I in Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria