anita

In Max Linder’s final film, he indulged a common childhood fantasy. Expectations had been seeded in his childhood that he would grow up to take over the family business, a vineyard. However, he later wrote that “nothing was more distasteful to me than the thought of a life among the grapes.” What … [Read more...] about King of the Circus

Horror movies, or at least their progenitors, have been haunting audiences since the silent era, and the best ones can still make us shriek a hundred years later. With their sinister killers, hazy nightmares, and pointy-fingered vampires, all wrapped up in the menacing mise-en-scène that came to … [Read more...] about Waxworks

"If we are not very much mistaken, Blind Husbands will introduce to the industry a new ‘super director’—Eric von Stroheim. Unlike many other directors who aspire to the ranks of the fortunate, he is not a near-Griffith, a near-De Mille, or a near-Tourneur. His work is quite in a class by itself.” — … [Read more...] about Blind Husbands

The Primrose Path gives us a blueprint of Jazz Age rendering of cinematic crime. Diamonds are the currency. In its event-packed screenplay, the bosses frame the foot soldiers when the authorities start snooping. There’s a hierarchy of big-time cheats and small-time hustlers, feds and nightclub … [Read more...] about The Primrose Path

Of all the restorations spearheaded by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, is any more shocking than 1919’s Behind the Door, which screened in 2016? The taxidermist turned World War I Navy captain (Hobart Bosworth) wreaks his vengeance on the German U‑boat captain (Wallace Beery) who has led the … [Read more...] about Below the Surface

FIERY EFFECTS | Given the choice between losing a film and being able to save it without color, many archives opted for the latter. And a good thing, too, or more of our silent film heritage could have been lost. But that choice resulted in a persistent misconception about the era’s films as … [Read more...] about Amazing Tales from the Archives 2022

A hundred years ago, and for most of a year, Erich von Stroheim commanded Foolish Wives, as writer, director, and star. Universal had allotted him $250,000 as a budget, but the “Von” took that sum as provocation. His previous film, Blind Husbands, had been costed at just $25,000, but he had spent … [Read more...] about Foolish Wives