Essay

THE COOK, 1918 Directed by Roscoe Arbuckle Cast Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle (The Cook), Buster Keaton (The Pest Waiter), Al St. John (The Toughest Guy), Alice Lake (The Cashier), John Rand (The Proprietor), Bobby Dunn (The Dishwasher), Luke the Dog (Himself) Producer Joseph M. Schenck … [Read more...] about The Big Business of Short, Funny Films, 1918-1929

In 1922, Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino were two of the biggest movie stars in the world. Both were under contract to Paramount, and their first film together was highly anticipated, especially since it was to be based on a novel by the reigning queen of romance novelists, Elinor Glyn. Beyond … [Read more...] about Beyond the Rocks

Presentation by Ron Magliozzi of MoMA—100 YEARS IN POST-PRODUCTION: RESURRECTING A LOST LANDMARK OF FILM HISTORY The rarest of films, Bert Williams: Lime Kiln Club Field Day is one of a handful of surviving silent films with an all-black cast. Produced in 1913, it features legendary entertainer … [Read more...] about Bert Williams: Lime Kiln Club Field Day

You can read the program essay for our 1996 screening of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ here Moviemaking might makes right in Fred Niblo’s Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It marries a rip-roaring saga of vengeance in ancient Antioch and Jerusalem to a reverent vision of Christianity bringing faith, … [Read more...] about Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

You can read the program essay for our 2015 screening of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ here The filming of Ben-Hur began in 1923 when the Goldwyn studio sent cast and crew to historic locations in Italy. But labor strikes and political tension between Fascist and socialist workers soon led to … [Read more...] about Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Although it’s been more than one hundred years since World War I began, the sacrifice, sorrow, fear, and divisions of that great period of unrest are still evident today. When America finally entered the conflict in 1917, three years after it had begun in Europe, the whole nation rallied behind the … [Read more...] about Behind the Door

You can read the program essay for our 2016 screening of Beggars of Life here For today’s viewers, the “hobohemia” so vividly portrayed in Beggars of Life conjures an image of the vagabonds set adrift during the Great Depression. Yet, the movie was released more than a year before the cataclysmic … [Read more...] about Beggars of Life

You can read the program essay for our 2007 screening of Beggars of Life here Louise Brooks has become a legend of cinema  who continues to fascinate and Beggars of Life showcases her timeless beauty, her striking modernity, and the depth of her talent. While costar Wallace Beery receives top … [Read more...] about Beggars of Life