Harry Langdon’s movie career peaked in 1926, the year two of his best films were released. He had come to Hollywood after nearly 30 years in vaudeville and refined his gently bumbling stage persona into a unique child-man character referred to as “The Little Elf.” Having graduated from two-reel … [Read more...] about The Strong Man
A Strong Man
One of the few surviving silent films made in Poland, A Strong Man (Mocny Człowiek) is also one of the most stylistically advanced. It opens with a stately pan along the riverfront of Warsaw—capital of the nation’s film production—blending into a montage of majestic old buildings. But something … [Read more...] about A Strong Man
Strike
Once considered one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived, and whose Battleship Potemkin (1925) was once judged by critics and directors to be the greatest film ever made, Sergei Eisenstein has seen his canonization come and go. Now merely a film school requirement, the name never attains front … [Read more...] about Strike
Stella Dallas
Despite being condemned for her vulgarity and criticized in the New York Times as “vain and selfish,” Stella Dallas has lived a long and profitable life. She first appeared in 1922, when author Olive Higgins Prouty published the popular novel. A stage version followed, then two film versions (the … [Read more...] about Stella Dallas
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
It’s appropriate that the elaborate set piece of Steamboat Bill, Jr. is a cyclone. Legend has it that when Joseph Francis “Buster” Keaton was born in Piqua, Kansas, on October 4, 1895, there was a gigantic windstorm. And when he was just 20 months old, he was supposedly sucked out of an open … [Read more...] about Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Stage Struck
“To those who add a glamour to living — to those whose beauty is more than that of other women — to those who command our laughter, our tears, our dreams — to actresses!” — Title card from Stage Struck Early in Stage Struck, the hero makes this toast, which could describe Gloria Swanson herself … [Read more...] about Stage Struck
A Spray of Plum Blossoms
A woman with bobbed hair wears a form-fitting qípáo dress, holds an evening bag, and raises her hand in greeting as she alights from an airplane. This arresting image was used to advertise British American Tobacco Company cigarettes and illustrates the emergence of Shanghai’s “modern woman.” By the … [Read more...] about A Spray of Plum Blossoms
Speedy
Speedy, Harold Lloyd’s last silent film, is a superb valedictory to the silent film era. “Speedy” was Lloyd’s real-life nickname (given to him by his father), and the film lives up to its title. Wonderfully fast-paced and stylish, it is filled with brilliant comedy, thrills, and surprises, climaxing … [Read more...] about Speedy