A Selection of Enchanting Short Silent Films In Fond Memory of Film Preservationist David Shepard (1940–2017) The San Francisco Silent Film Festival owes an enormous debt of gratitude to film collector and preservationist extraordinaire David Shepard, a valued member of the festival advisory … [Read more...] about Magic and Mirth
Maciste all’inferno
Between 1909 and 1914, the Italian film industry produced an average of 500 films per year. In contrast to the self-made moguls of American studios, Italian production companies were headed by cultivated members of the aristocracy, who made films based on historical, biblical, or mythological … [Read more...] about Maciste all’inferno
Maciste
The phenomenon known as Maciste was first introduced in the film Cabiria (1914), the most famous of all the early Italian epics. This immensely popular blockbuster was nearly upstaged by one character, Maciste the Nubian slave, portrayed by Bartolomeo Pagano. Maciste proved so popular and … [Read more...] about Maciste
Male and Female
Male and Female, based on Sir James M. Barrie’s comedy of manners The Admirable Crichton, is notable as one of the biggest hits for two Hollywood film legends—the first superstar, Gloria Swanson, and director Cecil B. DeMille. Swanson entered films in 1914 at the age of 15 after a chance visit to … [Read more...] about Male and Female
Lucky Star
Made at the end of the silent era, Lucky Star was released in both silent and part-talking versions, although only the silent version survives today. Advertisements for the film touted "Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell together again in their first talking picture." Known as "America’s Favorite … [Read more...] about Lucky Star
Low Comedy As a High Art
This historical reprint was published in conjunction with the screening of Kings of (Silent) Comedy at Silent Winter 2013 "THAT'S the one thing that I dread,” Buster told me sadly. “I dread the day when we won’t find another new wheeze to wrap up, when all the gags will have been sprung, when … [Read more...] about Low Comedy As a High Art
The Loves of Pharaoh
German director Ernst Lubitsch is best remembered for his sleek, insinuating American comedies of the 1920s and ’30s. In those films, he demonstrates his “Lubitsch Touch,” that lighter-than-a-soufflé comedy style that remains fresh even 80 years later. But the Lubitsch who made his fame in Germany … [Read more...] about The Loves of Pharaoh
The Love of Jeanne Ney
Some pleasures of silent film are less cerebral than others. And I must admit, I love a good movie orgy. Give me women tabletop-dancing in short skirts, give me lurid shots of slavering men, have them pass around enough prop liquor to give all the extras cirrhosis. G.W. Pabst’s The Love of Jeanne … [Read more...] about The Love of Jeanne Ney