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.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Tilly, the Tomboy, Visits the Poor - 1910
Produced by British film pioneer Cecil Hepworth, around 20 of the popular series of 'Tilly' films were made between 1910 and 1915. Surviving episodes are brimming with a sense of anarchic fun as they follow the adventures of naughty schoolgirls Tilly and Sally, played by Chrissie White and Alma Taylor, who went on to become major stars of '20s British cinema.
'Tilly, the Tomboy...' is available to view here in a version re-edited to approximate the original cut (surviving archive materials were out of sequence). The sheer energy and silliness of this mischievous pair is infectious, further proof - if it were needed - of women's contribution to the tradition of slapstick in British comedy. (Simon McCallum)
A Day in the Hayfields - 1904
Very often when people think of England, they conjure up images of an idealised rural landscape on a hot summer's day; in 'A Day in the Hayfields', Cecil Hepworth gives us just that. We see the men and horses reaping and stacking as the village babies play in the piles of hay, throwing themselves into the soft grass with unalloyed abandon.
The film is a classic example of the 'interest film' - in one of its manifestations, the interest film would document agricultural or industrial process from beginning to end - here we see the haymaking from reaping to the finished rick, filmed with an eye for the picturesque.
Although made before the book was even written, the film will strike a chord with anyone who has read Flora Thompson's 'Lark Rise to Candleford' - this is the genuine article. (Bryony Dixon)
Friday, March 11, 2011
The Country Doctor - 1909
Film directed by David Wark Griffith, produced by Biograph Studio, Manhattan, New York City, in 1909. Prints of the film exist in the film archives of the Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Congress
With:
Kate Bruce ... Poor Mother
Adele DeGarde ... Poor Mother's Sick Daughter
Gladys Egan ... Edith Harcourt - Daughter
Rose King ... Maid
Florence Lawrence ... Mrs.Harcourt
Mary Pickford ... Poor Mother's Elder Daughter
Frank Powell ... Doctor Harcourt
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Le Monstre (The Monster)- 1903
An Egyptian prince has lost his beloved wife and he has sought a dervish who dwells at the base of the sphinx. The prince promises him a vast fortune if the dervish will only give him the opportunity of gazing once more upon the features of his wife. The dervish accepts the offer. He brings in from a neighboring tomb the receptacle containing the remains of the princess. He opens it and removes the skeleton, which he places upon the ground close beside him. Then, turning to the moon and raising his arms outstretched toward it, he invokes the moon to give back life to her who is no more. The skeleton begins to move about, becomes animated, and arises. The dervish puts it upon a bench and covers it with a white linen; a masque conceals its ghostly face. At a second invocation the skeleton begins again to move, arises, and performs a weird dance. In performing its contortions it partly disappears in the ground. While performing its feats it increases gradually in size, its neck assuming enormous proportions, much to the horror of the prince, who fails to see in this grotesque character the wife whom he has lost. The dance ceases. The dervish throws a veil over the hideous creature. Then appear the real princess as she was when her husband possessed her. The prince darts forward to take her into his arms to give her a last kiss, but the dervish stops him, wraps the young lady in the veil and throws her into the arms of the prince. When he removes the veil he finds only the skeleton of his former wife. The vision has disappeared, and the princess has returned to dust. The dervish withdraws, and the prince pursues him with his threats and curses.
Interior N.Y. subway, 14th St. to 42nd St. - 1905 (Part2)
The camera platform was on the front of a New York subway train following another train on the same track. Lighting is provided by a specially constructed work car on a parallel track. At the time of filming, the subway was only seven months old, having opened on October 27, 1904. The ride begins at 14th Street (Union Square) following the route of today's east side IRT, and ends at the old Grand Central Station, built by Cornelius Vanderbuilt in 1869. The Grand Central Station in use today was not completed until 1913.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
