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
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
Love
Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (1877) was re-titled Love when it reached the screen in November of 1927, but it’s possible that any story starring John Gilbert and Greta Garbo would have been given this title by studio executives. What better way to capitalize on the movie magazines, which were … [Read more...] about Love
The Lost World
Sherlock Holmes made his first print appearance in 1887 and quickly became a widespread sensation. Unlike the public, British writer Arthur Conan Doyle grew quickly sick of him and tried to abandon him for other literary endeavors, creating another character with an enduring impact, though he’s … [Read more...] about The Lost World
Lost Films, 1907–1928
AMERICAN VENUS (1926) Coming Attraction Preview (Library of Congress) Louise Brooks plays a supporting role in this comedy about the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, which also stars Fay Lanphier, Miss America 1925. Two-strip Technicolor was used in some sequences. SHORE … [Read more...] about Lost Films, 1907–1928
The Lodger
“The Lodger was the first true ‘Hitchcock’ movie.” —Alfred Hitchcock The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog was Hitchcock’s first thriller, and his first critical and commercial success. Made shortly after Hitchcock’s return from Germany, the film betrays the influence of the German expressionist … [Read more...] about The Lodger