Essay

In his epic multivolume Histoire du cinéma, French film theoretician and historian Jean Mitry wrote, “If I had to choose one film of all the French productions of the 1920s, it is undoubtedly Visages d’enfants I would save … It is the only one that is still modern today.” That was written more than … [Read more...] about Visages d’enfants

One of the outstanding examples of the mid-twenties golden age of German cinema, Ewald André Dupont’s Varieté has a plot that would work nicely for a late-forties film noir, complete with an alluring femme fatale, betrayal, and death. It begins in a bleak prison where Boss Huller (Emil Jannings) is … [Read more...] about Varieté

It’s often lamented that only ten to twenty per cent of films made in the silent era still exist. So whenever a coveted film thought lost suddenly turns up, it’s just cause for celebration. But what of the many worthy films no one is looking for, their directors neglected, their stars forgotten, … [Read more...] about The Valley of the Giants

Most filmgoers think of John Ford primarily as a director of westerns, with 1939’s Stagecoach as his first important film. However, of Ford’s more than 140 titles, only about a third are westerns and nearly half are silents of which only 15 percent survive. The discovery in 2009 of a complete print … [Read more...] about Upstream

When Upstage, originally known as The Mask of Comedy, opened in 1926, it was praised for its behind the scenes look at the life of traveling vaudevillians. “The troupers are shown in their dressing rooms, in the restaurant, and even at the railroad station. You sense the tediousness of the existence … [Read more...] about Upstage

When they made The Unknown in 1927, star Lon Chaney and director Tod Browning were among the biggest names in Hollywood. Joan Crawford was a starlet on the rise, striving for recognition. The Unknown gave it to her, and the following year she got her breakout starring role. Crawford would have … [Read more...] about The Unknown

The Unholy Three is the third film by Tod Browning starring Lon Chaney, as well as their first together at MGM and the start of their collaboration as purveyors of the tragic and the bizarre. The two could not have been more different. Chaney was a model of American “bootstraps” discipline—hard work … [Read more...] about The Unholy Three