The sky was the limit during the 1920s as aviators conquered the airways. The first practical airliner, the 12-passenger Ford Trimotor, debuted in 1925. The world’s stock markets also reached for the stratosphere, with the value of common stock rising an average of 22 percent each year from 1925 … [Read more...] about L’Argent
Lady Windermere’s Fan
In June of 1925 Motion Picture World announced “‘Lady Windermere’s Fan’ Is Lubitsch’s New Warner Film.” Industry insiders must have marveled at the news that Rin Tin Tin, Warners’ profitable pup, would soon be sharing space with the dead, gay, Irish playwright whose 1892 hit play was known for … [Read more...] about Lady Windermere’s Fan
Lady of the Pavements
Lady of the Pavements opened in 1929 to rave reviews. Although directed by the distinguished D.W. Griffith, recognized as a master even then, it was Lupe Vélez’s performance both on and off screen that got all the attention. While Griffith was reinventing his style with the emergence of sound, Vélez … [Read more...] about Lady of the Pavements
Lady of the Night
In the 1930s, Norma Shearer was the Queen of MGM. She had elegant screen presence, a string of successful films, and an Oscar—and she was married to Irving Thalberg, the studio’s head of production. (As driven and ambitious as Shearer, Joan Crawford famously quipped, “What chance do I have? She … [Read more...] about Lady of the Night
A Kiss From Mary Pickford
When Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks visited Moscow on a vacation trip in 1926, they were the most famous couple in the world. Among the first Hollywood celebrities, they were idolized everywhere, even in the Soviet Union, where audiences preferred American and German films to groundbreaking … [Read more...] about A Kiss From Mary Pickford
Kings of (Silent) Comedy
FELIX GOES WEST Directed by Otto Messmer, USA, 1924 With a few exceptions—notably Winsor McCay’s 1914 Gertie the Dinosaur—early film animation made little impact until 1919. That’s when producer Pat Sullivan’s Feline Follies, starring the rowdy cat Master Tom, captured the public’s attention. A … [Read more...] about Kings of (Silent) Comedy
The Kid Brother
In the 1960s and 1970s, the only exposure to silent films available to most Americans was on syndicated television programs like Fractured Flickers, which played the films at a faster-than-normal speed and featured narration that mocked the films and the actors. The Harold Lloyd Show, which … [Read more...] about The Kid Brother
The Kid
If the 12 Mutual-Chaplin Specials of 1916–1917 served as Chaplin’s early comedic laboratory, the best of the films he created for the First National Exhibitors’ Circuit reveal a filmmaker growing into his full artistic power. The First Nationals contain some of Chaplin’s best constructed and most … [Read more...] about The Kid