The Black Pirate is the epitome of motion picture art and science in the Hollywood of the 1920s. Whereas previous Douglas Fairbanks productions such as Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood (1922) and The Thief of Bagdad (1924) employed size and scope to push the limits of cinema production, The Black … [Read more...] about The Black Pirate
The Big Parade
In 1924, three companies merged to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The new studio’s first original production was He Who Gets Slapped (1924), starring Lon Chancy and two actors who soon became bright MGM stars: John Gilbert and Norma Shearer. That same year, director King Vidor made two films for MGM … [Read more...] about The Big Parade
The Big Business of Short, Funny Films, 1918-1929
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
Beyond the Rocks
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
Bert Williams: Lime Kiln Club Field Day
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
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
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
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
Behind the Door
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