A dot of light appears in the corner of the black screen, swelling and growing. Soon it’s large enough to be identified: it’s a subterranean train station and it’s not moving, we are, perched with the camera at the front of a train, rushing toward the lit platform from the darkness of a … [Read more...] about Underground
Under the Lantern
A study in passion and compassion, filmmaker Gerhard Lamprecht was a prolific pillar of mainstream German cinema from the 1920s through the 1950s. His unique ability to sustain a career before, during, and after the Third Reich can be attributed to an exceptional talent for telling lucid, rousing … [Read more...] about Under the Lantern
Another Fine Mess: Silent Laurel and Hardy Shorts
SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME? Directed by James Parrott, 1928 Supporting Cast Edgar Kennedy, Edna Marian, and Viola Richard Production Hal Roach Studios Supervising Director Leo McCarey Photography George Stevens Editor Richard Currier Titles H.M. Walker Print Source UCLA Film and Television … [Read more...] about Another Fine Mess: Silent Laurel and Hardy Shorts
Song of the Fishermen
Wang Renmei’s star was rising fast. Her first film appearance in 1931 had ended up on the cutting room floor. But within the next two years she triumphed in two films: Wild Rose (1932) and The Morning of a Metropolis (1933). Her next film turned out to be a motion picture with international … [Read more...] about Song of the Fishermen
The Son of the Sheik
In the 1920s Bedouin chieftains prowled the movie screens much as vampires do today. “There are more sheiks here than in the Sahara,” complained a Photoplay reporter in 1923. Perhaps the craze for the desert romance was fed by Lowell Thomas who exhibited footage of the dashing World War I exploits … [Read more...] about The Son of the Sheik
The Sign of Four
Each generation has its own screen Sherlock Holmes. Today it is Benedict Cumberbatch; in the ’80s Jeremy Brett; in the ’40s (and for all time) Basil Rathbone—Holmeses who define the look and manner of the master detective. For the silent era, the great cinematic Holmes was Eille Norwood. Although by … [Read more...] about The Sign of Four
Seven Years Bad Luck
Gabriel-Maximilien Leuvielle, better known as Max Linder, began his movie career in 1905. Working for France’s Pathé-Frères until 1914, he made more than 400 films, quickly becoming the studio’s major star, portraying a French dandy, always elegant and usually desperately in trouble while trying to … [Read more...] about Seven Years Bad Luck
Serge Bromberg’s Treasure Trove
World-famous preservationist and entertainer Serge Bromberg has long been a collector of celluloid images and has regularly organized cine-shows he calls Retour de Flamme where he presents rare and often unique footage. With the recent discovery of Buster Keaton’s THE BLACKSMITH as a cornerstone for … [Read more...] about Serge Bromberg’s Treasure Trove