Get Out and Get Under - 1920

Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Director: Hal Roach
Writer: H.M. Walker (titles)
Stars: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis and Fred McPherson
Release Date: 26 September 1920 (USA)
Also known as: Oh! La belle voiture (France)
Plot Keywords: Title From Song | Auto Repair | Dream | Drug Addict | Gardener | Dog
Photographer | Automobile | Amateur Theater | Mouse | Fly | Two Reeler | Train |
Road Repair | Fire Hydrant | Hose | Motorcycle Cop | African American | Hypodermic Needle | Chase
Genres: Comedy | Short
A young man is awakened from a nightmare by the telephone ringing - his girlfriend is calling him, because he is late for an amateur theatrical production. But before he can leave, he gets into an argument with his neighbor. Then, soon after he gets on the road, his car stalls. If he cannot get to the theater quickly, he might be replaced in the play by a rival.
Fair Harold Lloyd short which presents several gags he would re-use and improve upon in his later feature films. It opens with a scene at a photographer's studio where Harold discovers that his girl Mildred Davis is about to marry another man - but it all turns out to have been just a dream. He's involved in amateur theatricals and, being late for a performance, rushes out to the venue in his beloved car: amid the vehicle's breaking down on him, he falls foul of an elderly neighbor and a colored child; the race-against-time, then, culminates in the usual pursuit by a horde of policemen. The automobile trouble eventually gets a bit repetitive, but the film nevertheless includes the occasional inspired and hilarious gag - such as when Harold 'disappears' inside the car's engine compartment, an actor accidentally falling off the stage (after being 'killed') promptly going back up to resume his performance i.e. affecting a typically melodramatic 'exit' and, especially, when Lloyd sees a junkie getting high in the street and reasons that, if he injects his vehicle with the same substance, it will be likewise revitalized - which is what happens, as the car goes off on its own soon after 'taking' its fix!

Hearts in Exile - 1915

Country: USA
Language: English
Director: James Young
Writers: Owen Davis (scenario), John Oxenham (novel), James Young
Stars: Clara Kimball Young, Montagu Love and Claude Fleming
Release Date: 12 April 1915 (USA)
Also known as: Hearts Afire USA (reissue title)
Production Co: World Film
Runtime: 59 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Nihilist | Bigamy | Chase | Grave | Unrequited Love | Siberia | Flashback | Cross | Marriage Of Convenience | Gunfight | Russia | Love Triangle | Love Rectangle | Charity | Secret Police | Estranged Husband Estranged Wife Relationship | Wedding | Prison Escape | Melodrama | Self Sacrifice | Charity Worker | Presumed Dead | Adultery | Switched Identities | Based On Novel
Genres: Drama
In Czarist Russia, attractive Clara Kimball Young (as Hope aka Anna Ivanovna) has "consecrated her life to work among Russia's persecuted poor." She dispenses food, medicine, and funds to the needy, from a busy charity headquarters. Poor doctor Vernon Steele (as Paul Pavloff) helps as much as he can, and wealthy merchant Claude Fleming (as Serge) donates money. Both men are in love with Ms. Kimball Young. In fact, her "pretty face" attracts most men in Russia. Another significant suitor is married Count Montagu Love (as Nicolai), who doesn't know how to take "Nyet!" for an answer…
Although Mr. Fleming is a nice guy, Kimball Young loves Mr. Steele. However, to help with her work for the poor, she marries the wealthier Fleming. Unfortunately, both men are jailed as the revolution picks up steam. As married Fleming is sentenced to serve more time, Steele decided to trade identities with his friend, to help Kimball Young and Fleming remain together.
But, as fate would have it, a mix-up puts Kimball Young with Steele in Siberia. Since she's still married to Fleming, the two must resist their sexual urges. Then, one day they learn Fleming has died. As she is free from holy matrimony, the lovers call upon Jesus Christ to preside over a hasty wedding ceremony. The couple is happy until "you-know-who" shows up alive…
The story concludes conveniently, as you might expect from seeing this plot play out both before and after this 1915 feature, with various settings. "Hearts in Exile" was one of the last in the series of films Kimball Young made with actor-director and husband James Young. Like much of what she did around the time, it was a success. Kimball Young was, at this time, one of the most popular stars in Hollywood. "Hearts in Exile" was #22 in Motion Picture Magazine's poll for the year; Kimball Young emotes well, but readers preferred her performances in "My Official Wife" (1914) and "Trilby" (1915).

A Tour of the Thomas Ince Studio - 1924

Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Hunt Stromberg
Stars: Enid Bennett, Hobart Bosworth and Ralph Dixon
Also known as: A Tour of the Ince Studio USA (alternative title)
Production Co: Thomas H. Ince Corporation
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Behind The Scenes | Negative Footage
Genres: Documentary | Short
A behind-the-scenes look at Thomas H. Ince Studios in Culver City, California.
This short publicity film takes a look behind the scenes at producer Thomas H. Ince's studio at Culver City, California. Other studios made similar films, including MGM's '1925 Studio Tour', which has, apparently, been broadcast on the Turner Classic Movies channel. (MGM's studio had been Ince's prior studio for the Triangle Corporation.) Shown here are the technical aspects of film-making, including the making of sets, lighting practices, behind the scenes of the wardrobe department, and the negative developing room where tinting and editing practices are demonstrated. Inceville's private fire department is even acknowledged and shown performing a drill. A couple interesting scenes show sets from how they're photographed and how they appear beyond the frame. Additionally, there are some shots of cameramen filming, including the short's opening shot of seven cameramen shooting at the camera recording them. In another scene, a title card states, "How we photographed that auto chase," and then they show the filming of a trucking shot; then, another title card, "How they photographed us!," reveals a cameraman shooting the cameraman photographing the auto chase scene. Clever.
In addition to a behind-the-scenes look at film-making, including footage of the seemingly real making of films (one scene is said to be the shooting of a film starring Louise Glaum and James Kirkwood, and the only film I see that those two starred in was 'Love' (1920), which doesn't seem to be available anywhere), we are introduced to (or sold) the studio's stars. I don't know who most of the mentioned "stars" were, or at best I've seen them if not recalled them in a few films, and they seem to be mostly lost to history. Some of them, like Margaret Livingston, who would have a role in 'Sunrise' (1927), may be recognizable for their supporting work in some rather popular films.
The biggest name in this short, however, at least by today, is the producer Thomas H. Ince. Here, there is some rather odd footage of him exercising and showing off how youthful and fit he was, which I found surprising. By the end of 1924, he would be dead. The cause of death seems to be a bit of a mystery, involving murder conspiracies and media mogul William Randolph Hearst, but the official story, at least, seems to be that he died of heart failure. Ince is probably one of the most influential movie makers in the industry's history, as he introduced the classic studio system, adopting assembly-line practices and promoting the producer to the head supervisor, who through script authorizing and editing, took control from the director and cameraman over the final appearance of films--a system adopted later by David O. Selznick and others.

Aelita, Queen of Mars - 1924

Country: Soviet Union
Language: Russian (intertitles)
Director: Yakov Protazanov
Writers: Aleksei Fajko, Fyodor Otsep and Aleksei Tolstoy (play)
Stars: Yuliya Solntseva, Igor Ilyinsky and Nikolai Tsereteli
Release Date: 25 September 1924 (Soviet Union)
Also known as: Aelita Soviet Union (original title); Aelita Greece / Hungary (imdb display title) / Poland / Portugal; Аэлита Soviet Union (Russian title)
Aelita - A Rainha de Marte Brazil; Aelita - Der Flug zum Mars Germany; Aelita: Queen of Mars International (English title); Aelita: Reina de Marte Argentina (imdb display title); Revolt of the Robots USA (subtitle)
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Engineer | Spaceship | Proletarian | Radio | Telescope | Murder |
Queen | Revolution | Propaganda | Totalitarianism | Robot | Police | Silent Film |
Mars The Planet | Sidekick | Secret Police | Suspected Adultery | Slave | Martian
Film Within A Film | Inventor | Communism | Alien Contact | Husband Accused Of Murdering His Wife | Skyscraper | Future | Construction Work | Flower Shop | 1920s
False Accusation | Space Time | Husband Wife Relationship | Kiss | Orphanage | Food Shortage | Architecture | Surrealism | Flying Machine | Soldier | Soviet Union | Voodoo | Marriage | Refugee Camp | Daydream | Epic | Good Versus Evil | Outer Space | Rebellion | Jealousy | Informant | Accused Of Murder | Cryptography |Expressionism | Based On Play | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title
Genres: Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi
This movie became such a hit in the Soviet Union that many new parents named their little girls "Aelita". This was director Yakov Protazanov's first film after returning to the Soviet Union from his exile in Paris. At the international exhibition of decorative arts, 1925 Paris Expo, Yakov Protazanov was given an award for this film.
This is called the first Soviet science fiction film because of its "futuristic" sets on Mars, although most of it takes place in Moscow. The movie is set at the beginning of the NEP (New Economic Policy) in December, 1921. A mysterious radio message is beamed around the world, and among the engineers who receive it are Los, the hero, and his colleague Spiridonov. Los is an individualist dreamer. Aelita is the daughter of Tuskub, the ruler of a totalitarian state on Mars in which the working classe are put into cold storage when they are not needed. With a telescope, Aelita is able to watch Los. As if by telepathy, Los obsesses about being watched by her. After some hugger-mugger involving the murder of his wife and a pursuing detective, Los takes the identity of Spiridonov and builds a spaceship. With the revolutionary Gusev, he travels to Mars, but the Earthlings and Aelita are thrown into prison by the dictator...

The King of Paris - 1917

Country: Russia
Original Russian title: Korol Parizha
Directors: Yevgeni Bauer, Olga Rakhmanova
Writer: Georges Ohnet (novel)
Stars: Vjacheslav Svoboda, Nikolai Radin and Emma Bauer
Production Co: Khanzhonkov
Plot Keywords: Based On Novel

Twelfth Night - 1910

Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Directors: Eugene Mullin, Charles Kent
Writers: William Shakespeare (play), Eugene Mullin (scenario)
Stars: Julia Swayne Gordon, Charles Kent and Florence Turner
Release Date: 5 February 1910 (USA)
Production Co: Vitagraph Company of America
Plot Keywords: William Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Twelfth Night | Based On Play | Number In Title
Genres: Short | Comedy | Drama | Romance
When Viola and her twin brother Sebastian are shipwrecked and separated, Viola dresses in her brother's clothes and becomes a page in the palace of the Duke of Orsino. Thinking Viola is a boy, the Duke sends her with a message to Olivia, whom he loves. A series of complications begins when Olivia falls in love with the page 'boy'.
This concise telling of the Shakespeare play runs for around 12 minutes and is well worth seeing - covering most of the action, the shipwreck, Malvolio and the letter, the duel between Andrew and 'Cesario', the meeting of Olivia and 'Cesario' and the final resolve of all muddles. Just a lovely little film!

Just Rambling Along - 1918

Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Hal Roach
Stars: Stan Laurel, Clarine Seymour and Noah Young
Release Date: 3 November 1918 (USA)
Production Co: Rolin Films
Runtime: 9 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Cafeteria | Wallet | Trick | Policeman | Check | Slapstick | One Reeler | Food | Theft
Genres: Short | Comedy
A man and a boy both notice a wallet that has been left on the sidewalk, but the man relinquishes his claim to it when the boy's father, a policeman, arrives. Soon afterward, the man joins several others in following an attractive woman into a cafeteria. When he is ejected because of not having any money, he goes back and tricks the boy out of some change, and then makes another attempt.