Born into the steam and starch of her father’s Chinese laundry in Los Angeles, Anna May Wong gained a toehold in Hollywood after her debut as an uncredited extra in the 1919 silent film, The Red Lantern, starring Alla Nazimova. Wong’s striking beauty and talent immediately drew the attentionof the … [Read more...] about Pavement Butterfly
Valentino’s Last Words
This feature was published in conjunction with the screening of The Eagle at A Day of Silents 2023. A bodice-breaching lover from a torrid romance novel come to life, Valentino tangoed his way to matinee idol status in that Buenos Aires dive in 1921’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. When … [Read more...] about Valentino’s Last Words
The Eagle
In Silent Stars, Jeanine Basinger notes that for modern audiences Rudolph Valentino has “become an image frozen in time, a still photograph emblematic of the world of the 1920s, that crazy outmoded world of sheiks and flappers.” This static—even fossilized—image robs us of the very elements that … [Read more...] about The Eagle
The Wildcat
A few years ago Bob Dylan released an album entitledRough and Rowdy Ways, a title that reminded me of Ernst Lubitsch. (Apologies—it’s the way my mind works.) To be specific, it reminded me of Ernst Lubitsch’s German comedies. Case in point: Die Bergkatze (The Wildcat). The Wildcat isbasically a … [Read more...] about The Wildcat
Of Mice and Men (and Cats and Clowns)
FANTASMAGORIE (1908) Directed by Émile Cohl, HOW A MOSQUITO OPERATES (1912) Directed by Winsor McKay, ADAM RAISES CAIN (1922) Directed by Tony Sarg, AMATEUR NIGHT ON THE ARK (1923) Directed by Paul Terry, BED TIME(1923) Directed by Dave and Max Fleischer, FELIX GRABS HIS GRUB(1924) Directed by Pat … [Read more...] about Of Mice and Men (and Cats and Clowns)
Nicholas White
Chicago-based musician Nicholas White has amassed the largest number of antique traps (whistles, blocks, bells, ratchets, anvils, and all manner of delightfully specific noisemakers to perform sound effects for silent movies) in the world, along the way researching exactly how they were put to use. … [Read more...] about Nicholas White
Crossover Artist: Maud Nelissen Plays It All
Published in conjunction with the screening of The Merry Widow at SFSFF 2023 When Dutch composer and pianist Maud Nelissen was commissioned to write accompaniment for Erich von Stroheim’s The Merry Widow, the first thing she did was look for the original score. But the music by William Axt and … [Read more...] about Crossover Artist: Maud Nelissen Plays It All
Stefan Drössler Works His Magic
Stefan Drössler received the 2023 SFSFF Award for commitment to the preservation and presentation of silent cinema at the screening of A Daughter of Destiny at SFSFF 2023 World cinema owes an incalculable debt to Germany. Some of the greatest and most iconic treasures ever committed to film come … [Read more...] about Stefan Drössler Works His Magic