And 'Silent Movie' by Mel Brooks, obv.
― Andrew L (Andrew L), Monday, 9 December 2002 16:31 (twenty-one years ago) link
― A Nairn (moretap), Monday, 9 December 2002 17:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
UK version apparently poo, rubly substituting shite talkie Abraham Lincoln for fantastic Orphans Of The Storm, which contains the best car* chase ever.
(* OK, so its really a carriage chase. Still nearly gave me a heart attack.)
― Mooro (Mooro), Monday, 9 December 2002 18:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― mark s (mark s), Monday, 9 December 2002 18:30 (twenty-one years ago) link
silent hitchcoct it had ivor novello
― erik, Monday, 9 December 2002 21:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
Not mentioned yet: von Stroheim's Greed (saw the 4hr reconstructed version in one of its very few theatrical screenings, es war InSaNe) and Lillian Gish's performance in The Wind.
― B.Rad (Brad), Monday, 9 December 2002 23:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
http://www.monteuve.com/miradas/libreria/avarf1.jpg
― erik, Tuesday, 10 December 2002 12:51 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Douglas, Tuesday, 10 December 2002 13:14 (twenty-one years ago) link
In any event, a precis: Search: VICTOR SJÖSTRÖM, the greatest director of silents there was. He made films in Sweden from 1912 to 1922 and in the U.S. from 1922 to 1928. If you can find them: Ingeborg Holm, Terje Vigen, The Girl from the Marsh Croft, The Outlaw and His Wife (available on NTSC VHS), Sons of Ingmar, The Monastery of Sendomir (available on PAL VHS), The Phantom Chariot aka The Phantom Carriage aka The Stroke of Midnight aka Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness (available on PAL VHS), Mortal Clay, He Who Gets Slapped, The Wind (easily available).
Search also: Fritz Lang (Destiny/The Three Lights, Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, The Nibelungen, Spies), Louis Feuillade (Les Vampires, Fantômas), Carl Dreyer (The Pardon's Widow, Michael, Thou Shalt Honor Thy Wife, The Passion of Joan of Arc), and anything you can find by Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu. Those of you in London, keep your eyes peeled, it is a good town for silents.
Many American cities have silent film festivals. New York is of course one of the world's great film towns (Paris being an uncontested no. 1). Chicago is OK, there is a summer silent festival but the Film Center of the Art Institute passed up a recent Mauritz Stiller retrospective (he's another good Swedish filmmaker and the guy who discovered Garbo).
― Amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 31 December 2002 20:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 31 December 2002 20:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
http://www.filmkultura.iif.hu:8080/articles/prints/images/boyer/1.jpg
so, right then, who do you fancy then?
― erik, Wednesday, 1 January 2003 00:51 (twenty-one years ago) link
I still have a backlog of world-conquering ambition (from my childhood you understand) to work past (to once and finally convince myself I have neither the tenacity nor the self-confidence to actually see through a film on my own), but once that's done I think I might be suited to the fields of film preservation and programming.
To veer back on-topic:
My favorite moments in Buster Keaton films, and perhaps in all silent films put together, are when Buster submits dutifully and without complaint to what he perceives to be the natural order of things. For instance in Steamboat Bill Jr. when after a succession of folllies involving people being hurled from a steamboat when someone steps in front of them, Buster simply leaps into the water when he sees that someone is approaching. Or in College, when after having knocked over a long succession of hurdles, Buster finally makes the last, he turns around, does a double take, and then with a faint sigh tips over the final hurdle and walks off.
The greatest silent comic though was Jacques Tati who never made a silent film. He was the center of his films, always silent or nearly so, with the madness of the modern world buzzing and creaking and crashing and whirring and dripping around him.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 1 January 2003 12:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 1 January 2003 13:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 1 January 2003 13:17 (twenty-one years ago) link
Bauer was a major director of the pre-Soviet era in Russian film, an era which was basically completely ignored until glasnost allowed some such films to seep out of the archives where they had been surprsingly well-preserved (those that survived, anyway--I think about 10-20%). He only made films for a few years (1913-17) before an early death but on the evidence of this DVD they were extraordinary. Bauer excelled at complex lighting effects, carefully coordinated tracking shots (very unusual for the time), deep staging, and really astonishingly vivid and terrifying dream sequences. He began as a stage designer and his sets are perhaps the most remarkable aspect of his cinema--they are often quite elaborate and frequently macabre in keeping with the morbid plots of the movies. (He really was Russian.)
The notes to the DVD assert that Bauer was the superior of contemporaries like Sjöström and Griffith. I don't buy that, esp. not in the case of Sjöström, but he's a great find nonetheless. The DVD also includes a 30-minute lesson in Bauer's style from Yuri Tsivian, a Russian film scholar who teaches at the University of Chicago. It's put out by the BFI and is Region 2. All of you in Europe might take a look at this.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 02:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 03:03 (twenty-one years ago) link
don't be, your information is very valuable
― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 03:16 (twenty-one years ago) link
I really don't know French Impressionist cinema well at all, and it's hard to track stuff down.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 03:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 03:54 (twenty-one years ago) link
Have you ever seen "Bed and Sofa" by Avram Room?
This is all I will say for now.
― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 04:18 (twenty-one years ago) link
I know precious fuck-all about prewar Soviet cinema outside of the usual suspects--Eisenstein, Kushelov, Vertov, Pudovkin. I've long wanted to see stuff by Kozintsev and Trauberg, Room, Boris Barnet. A lot of good people insist that Barnet's By the Bluest of Seas (actually from 1936) is one of the greatest films ever made. I've always wanted to see Chapayev too. I mean we all know the line about Tarkovsky and Parazhanov rebelling against Socialist Realism or Momumentalism but where are the examples of those genres?
This October the major silent film festival at Pordenone in Italy is featuring a tribute to as Ivan Mosjoukine, the Russian actor and director who left for France during the Revolution and there made Le Brasier ardent (1923) which supposedly anticipates both Soviet montage and French impressionist cinema! He also starred in L'Herbier's Feu Matthia Pascal and Volkoff's Casanova.
Pordenone
― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 15:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 15:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
― von slutsky, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 16:05 (twenty-one years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 27 April 2003 00:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 27 April 2003 01:01 (twenty-one years ago) link
― slutsky (slutsky), Sunday, 27 April 2003 16:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life, made by the same folks who, eight years later, would make King Kong is also pretty damned incredible -- it involves nomadic tribes in Iran carrying their livestock up mountains. It's absolutely exhausting to watch them, in a good way.
The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra. It's like something Joel Hodgson might put together if he was a young turk in the 20's: delirious experimentation, short, art deco, lights and shadow, puppets. Shares the look and feel with more than a few eighties videos.
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Sunday, 27 April 2003 19:17 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Sunday, 27 April 2003 19:22 (twenty-one years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 27 April 2003 20:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Sunday, 27 April 2003 21:34 (twenty-one years ago) link
anyway i'm off to see this film for the umpteenth time at the action ecoles. sadly i couldn't round up anyway to go with me because this is like the greatest date movie ever, except that it's so beautiful you'll probably completely forget about your date which depending on your date might be a good thing!
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 1 November 2003 18:10 (twenty years ago) link
though...
(swedish and bay area ILXors take notes)
a COMPLETE RETROSPECTIVE OF THE SILENT FILMS OF VICTOR SJOSTROM is coming first to sweden, some time in january i think, and then eventually to the pacific film archive in berkeley, in february. GO GO GO GO GO
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 1 November 2003 18:11 (twenty years ago) link
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Saturday, 1 November 2003 18:49 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 1 November 2003 21:14 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 1 November 2003 21:15 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 1 November 2003 21:21 (twenty years ago) link
http://cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/comunicati_stampa/COMUNICATI_LIVE_03/COMUNICATI_STAMPA_imgs/Mosjoukine.jpg
rowr
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 1 November 2003 21:32 (twenty years ago) link
― eriik, Saturday, 1 November 2003 22:07 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 1 November 2003 22:11 (twenty years ago) link
― A Nairn (moretap), Saturday, 1 November 2003 22:15 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 1 November 2003 22:18 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 1 November 2003 22:24 (twenty years ago) link
― Girolamo Savonarola, Sunday, 2 November 2003 04:57 (twenty years ago) link
― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Sunday, 2 November 2003 05:01 (twenty years ago) link
― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Sunday, 2 November 2003 05:03 (twenty years ago) link
― nickn (nickn), Sunday, 2 November 2003 06:03 (twenty years ago) link
― Lara (Lara), Sunday, 2 November 2003 20:16 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 20:56 (twenty years ago) link
― ryan (ryan), Sunday, 2 November 2003 21:00 (twenty years ago) link
How are YOU celebrating National Silent Film Day (September 29)?― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Saturday, September 11, 2021 1:14 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Saturday, September 11, 2021 1:14 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
I am disappointed that I will be observing Silent Film Day 2022 at home for a condo association meeting, rather than the screening of The Spanish Dancer at AFI Silver. Anyone here observing the day in a more agreeable fashion?
― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Wednesday, 28 September 2022 23:55 (one year ago) link
Here's a question: what's an example of a bad silent film?
It feels like since so much of the silent era still had the rules of film being written there's less examples of the "rules" being broken in an inept manner.
I've heard ppl point to Oscar Micheaux but frankly taking into account the conditions he was working under it's impressive that he managed to do what he did.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 29 September 2022 10:08 (one year ago) link
According to silent comedy aficionados, Al Joy is the worst comedian, narrowly beating out the team Ham and Bud. And watching Billy West or other Chaplin impersonators go through the motions is a waste of time and energy.
As for feature-length films (especially drama), I can't think of any that are actively bad, as opposed to just boring hackwork. But there's still a barrier to accessing most surviving silent films--there may be awful works decaying in an archive because the archivist doesn't want to inflict them on the community.
As for Oscar Micheaux, part of it is the nonexistent production values, part the acting style. While most of what I've seen makes me cringe, it probably is based in 19th century stage acting styles, as developed on the stage by Black performers for Black audiences--there's probably a continuity between Micheaux and Tyler Perry, but I couldn't trace it.
What I wonder about is the audience for Micheaux and other contemporary "Colored" films. Did they grind their teeth at the slipshod production and over-the-top acting, or did they appreciate works in which people who looked like themselves played the lead characters?
― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Thursday, 29 September 2022 10:47 (one year ago) link
Mixture of both I'd guess? Certainly still see ppl joke about supporting stuff from their community even if they think it's pretty slipshod now.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 29 September 2022 10:54 (one year ago) link
_How are YOU celebrating National Silent Film Day (September 29)?― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Saturday, September 11, 2021 1:14 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink_I am disappointed that I will be observing Silent Film Day 2022 at home for a condo association meeting, rather than the screening of _The Spanish Dancer_ at AFI Silver. Anyone here observing the day in a more agreeable fashion?
― sweating like Cathy *aaaack* (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, 29 September 2022 13:01 (one year ago) link
I don't know what people are talking about when they say Micheaux was bad
― Bait Kush (Eric H.), Thursday, 29 September 2022 15:59 (one year ago) link
The performances in Micheaux' silent-era films aren't much worse than the run of silent film acting. But in his sound films that I've seen, the performances are disconcertingly stagey in ways that the major studios ironed out in a hurry after sound definitively came in.
The question of Black-made films for Black audiences reminded me to look at the films of James and Eloyce Gist (Hell-Bound Train, 1930; Verdict: Not Guilty, 1934; and Heaven-Bound Travelers, 1935), collected in the Pioneers of African-American Cinema compilation and currently available via the Criterion Channel. The Gists were missionaries and self-taught filmmakers who toured churches and community centers in African-American neighborhoods for years, screening their films. The films are about as amateur as it gets, shot on handheld 16mm cameras without synchronized sound, and costumes, sets, and performances out of a poorly rehearsed pageant. But as images of African-American communities, fragile and vulnerable right then and there to the vices condemned in these productions, these films are priceless social documents.
I do recommend viewing these films. But even more than the most polished and high-production-value titles from the silent era, they have to be approached as artifacts of a different place, time, and sensibility.
― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Tuesday, 4 October 2022 23:07 (one year ago) link
This reminded me of Babylon, which I just watched the other night, and how the central sadness of that film is that all those 1920s silent stars thought they would live forever in celluloid and their exploits would be legendary, and -- spoiler alert! -- nobody remembers them now.
― trishyb, Thursday, 27 July 2023 09:25 (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
and how the central sadness of that film is that all those 1920s silent stars thought they would live forever in celluloid and their exploits would be legendary, and -- spoiler alert! -- nobody remembers them now.
Interesting, this feels almost the opposite of what happened IRL - 1920's movie stars lived in a world without rep screenings, film preservation or home video, it was taken as granted that they'd be forgotten...and yet as recently as my childhood ppl like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were still amongst the most recognizable figures worldwide (and I'm going to assume this is still the case as obv the passage of time stops at my birth and all my subsequent experiences representative of the Present).
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 27 July 2023 10:38 (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
1920's movie stars lived in a world without rep screenings, film preservation or home video,
I think a lot of them thought the films were the preservation, for a while at least. Anyway, there is maybe a better thread for chat about cultural memory, I don't want to derail SNW chat.
― trishyb, Thursday, 27 July 2023 15:21 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 27 July 2023 16:28 (eleven months ago) link
anyone have thoughts? my impression of the period is everyone involved in movies viewed them as super ephemeral, but this is perhaps overstating it
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 27 July 2023 16:29 (eleven months ago) link
I will admit that my main reason for assuming that at least the "serious" stars thought they would live on is the films of the 50s where everyone realizes that no they won't, and people are sad about it. Singin' in the Rain, Sunset Boulevard, that kind of thing (I say "that kind of thing" because those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head).
― trishyb, Thursday, 27 July 2023 17:03 (eleven months ago) link
When sound came in, certain high-profile silent films (Birth of a Nation, Ben Hur, the 1929 goat-glanding of The Phantom of the Opera) were rereleased with musical tracks.
Iris Barry created MoMA's film studies department in 1932; this included film archiving and preservation.
Beginning in the 1930s, there were film libraries that rented films for home viewing (plus there was some very limited sale of films for at-home viewing). Ben Model coined "Accidentally Preserved" for titles that survived this way.
The U.S. studios made some efforts to preserve their archives, but they seem to have been thinking more of preserving their rights in case someone wanted to make a talkie remake.
― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Thursday, 27 July 2023 17:05 (eleven months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwPZuyF2Th0
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 20 September 2023 18:57 (nine months ago) link
cool! just looked Theda up (only know her from Hollywood Babylon) and it's heartbreaking how many of her films are lost
― ( X '____' )/ (zappi), Wednesday, 20 September 2023 20:39 (nine months ago) link
In my house growing up we had a poster of Theda Bara as Cleopatra attached to the cabinet where we kept our TV. Kind of a striking, sexy image. It was heartbreaking to learn much later that the film is basically gone.
― Josefa, Wednesday, 20 September 2023 21:58 (nine months ago) link
"found in a toy projector"Does this mean it was an 8mm film? Especially impressive restoration if so.
― nickn, Wednesday, 20 September 2023 22:17 (nine months ago) link
Was really impressed by Pandora's Box (the new Eureka bluray) and all the backstory about Brooks in the bonus features. Silent films and this one in particular give me a feeling of "what could have been" like little else and I really want to see more because it's been a long time since I seen many. Was wondering if a Bluray of Diary Of A Lost Girl would follow but there already is one from 2014.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 2 December 2023 23:51 (six months ago) link
Haven't watched this yet but I'll just leave it here https://archive.org/details/Wind1928
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 2 December 2023 23:54 (six months ago) link