From the Lumières’ point-and-shoot street scenes to Méliès’s fantastical trick films, from the thrilling serials of Feuillade to the foible-filled folly of Max Linder, French filmmakers enthralled global audiences with the worlds they created on-screen. But then the war came and German and American … [Read more...] about The Italian Straw Hat
It Just Has a Sound
Rodney Sauer and the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra Rummaging through a collection of musical scores at the University of Colorado for his ballroom dance band, Rodney Sauer came across some silent-era music cues donated by the widow of music director Al Layton. Leader at the time of the Mont … [Read more...] about It Just Has a Sound
It
You can read the program essay for our 2001 screening of It here Clara Bow is the quintessence of what the term “Flapper” signifies as a definite description: pretty, impudent, superbly assured, as worldly-wise, briefly-clad and “hard-berled” as possible. — F. Scott Fitzgerald Made at the … [Read more...] about It
It
You can read the program essay for our 2005 screening of It here Looking at Clara Bow and the era that made her famous, it seems inevitable that she led the life she did. The daughter of an estranged, unloving father and an abusive mother, she escaped into the dream life of a Hollywood film star … [Read more...] about It
Irvin Willat’s Bungalow
This feature was published in conjunction with the screening of Behind the Door at SFSFF 2016 When I worked for the American Film Institute in the late 1960s, my wife and I, renting an apartment in West Hollywood, discovered that director Irvin Willat lived right behind us. I had only seen a … [Read more...] about Irvin Willat’s Bungalow
The Irrepressible Felix the Cat, 1924–1928
A collection of rare silent cartoons Felix the Cat was the most successful cartoon figure of the silent era. In his own time, he ruled animation as Chaplin ruled live-action comedy, Babe Ruth baseball, or Man o’ War horse racing. He was the mirthful personality kid, the effervescent trickster who … [Read more...] about The Irrepressible Felix the Cat, 1924–1928
The Iron Horse
Under the best of conditions, the grueling, day-to-day pace of feature film production is exhausting. Factor in the hazards and pressure of shooting on a difficult location, and the shoot extracts an incalculable toll on the mind and body. Even if this stress is not evident on the screen, it still … [Read more...] about The Iron Horse
Intolerance
It is not surprising that D. W. Griffith set some of the great scenes in The Birth of a Nation during the Civil War, given his next project. Interested in conflicts that tear at the fabric of society, Griffith fought a battle within himself that pitted his vision, his talents and his nagging doubts … [Read more...] about Intolerance