World-famous preservationist and entertainer Serge Bromberg has long been a collector of celluloid images and has regularly organized cine-shows he calls Retour de Flamme where he presents rare and often unique footage. With the recent discovery of Buster Keaton’s THE BLACKSMITH as a cornerstone for … [Read more...] about Serge Bromberg’s Treasure Trove
Serge Bromberg Presents…
A Collection of Short Films Today when we go to the movies, we can sink into multiplex recliners and absorb the show without acknowledging or interacting with another human being. More than a hundred years ago, early cinema offered an alternative experience, with active audience engagement … [Read more...] about Serge Bromberg Presents…
The Scarlet Letter
When MGM signed Lillian Gish to a contract in 1925, it was a coup for both the studio and the star. MGM had been formed the previous year and needed an actress of Gish’s stature to help bring money through the gates. The studio gave Gish the creative control she wanted, plus $800,000 a year, whether … [Read more...] about The Scarlet Letter
Sangue Mineiro
By the time Brazilian director Humberto Mauro began making films in the mid-I 920s, the early heyday of Brazil's golden age of cinema had already faded into oblivion. The Bela Época of Brazilian Cinema began in 1908 with the true crime dramas of Antônio Leal — his film Os Estranguladores (The … [Read more...] about Sangue Mineiro
The Saga of Gösta Berling
Not only are there countless stories of great talents destroyed by Hollywood, but you could, if you were in a gloomy frame of mind, make a case that this is an overarching theme of the place. With so many tragedies to choose from, it’s hard to stand out. But The Saga of Gösta Berling (Gösta Berlings … [Read more...] about The Saga of Gösta Berling
Safety Last!
Harold Lloyd will forever be associated with Safety Last! because of a single image. Even people who have never seen a Lloyd film are familiar with the iconography of a bespectacled man hanging off the hands of a collapsing clock on the side of a skyscraper high above teeming city streets. It is one … [Read more...] about Safety Last!
Sadie Thompson
Sadie Thompson had the great Raoul Walsh as director and costar, but studying the history of the film leaves little doubt that Gloria Swanson has a strong claim as its auteur. She jumped through hoops to acquire the property, fought the censors to get it produced, cowrote the script with Walsh, … [Read more...] about Sadie Thompson
Rotaie
Italian Director Mario Camerini’s legacy has been tainted because he made films under the Mussolini regime. Film director and critic Carlo Lizzani wrote of Camerini as “sweetly slumbering through the 20 years of Fascism.” While Camerini spent much of the later Fascist era directing light, socially … [Read more...] about Rotaie