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The Soviet film corpus of the silent era—the mass of films that survived that tumultuous era, at least—is famous for formal innovation, social realism, and headlong propaganda. But not for farce. Comedy was the commercial lifeblood of silent film; without it, a national industry could scarcely hope … [Read more...] about Pigs Will Be Pigs

There is no greater physical symbol of the Czech people than the Gothic cathedral of St. Vitus in Prague. Construction began in the tenth century, during the reign of the legendary Wenceslaus, with additions continuing for several hundred years. It was only finally completed the year that this film … [Read more...] about The Organist at St. Vitus Cathedral

All losses are restored” wrote Shakespeare in Sonnet 30, and while we can only wish that were true in terms of film survival, it remains remarkable how often titles long considered lost suddenly turn up out of the blue. Ein Sommernachtstraum, shot in 1924 and released in 1925, is one such film … [Read more...] about A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The sound shorts of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are iconic, well-known from decades of availability on television, and although numerous incomplete and damaged original elements survive on each title, the rights-holders have not invested in their long-term survival. These films have been part of … [Read more...] about Stan & Ollie

Some believe “Old Dark House” thrillers began with J.B. Priestley’s 1927 novel Benighted, which was adapted for the screen by James Whale as The Old Dark House in 1932. The reality is that the template had already been created by Mary Roberts Rinehart in her 1908 novel The Circular Staircase, which … [Read more...] about The Cat and the Canary

After making his name in films like The Wrath of the Gods and The Cheat, matinee idol Sessue Hayakawa was ready for a change. “Such roles are not true to our Japanese nature …,” he explained in the March 1916 issue of Photoplay. “They are false and give people a wrong idea of us. I wish to make a … [Read more...] about The Dragon Painter

 A century ago, both Los Angeles and the new movie industry within its borders were growing, and evolving, at breakneck speed. In 1923, after making nineteen independently-made short films for producer Joseph M. Schenck, Buster Keaton released his first comedy feature, Three Ages, a parody of D.W. … [Read more...] about Three Ages

Over the years, Allan Dwan told dozens of different stories about how he got into the picture business. Most involved some combination of a youthful stint as an actor, a gig helping to install mercury-vapor arc lights at Essanay Studios in Chicago, and his instant success selling original stories to … [Read more...] about Padlocked