The spinning of a child’s toy top or the whir of a film strip running through the wheel of an editing table—differing legends explain the inspiration for David Kaufman to adopt the alias that history immortalized: Dziga Vertov. In the new Soviet state, the onomatopoetic nom de plume of the … [Read more...] about Man With A Movie Camera
L’Heureuse mort
A frothy farce of false identity, L’heureuse mort reveals little of the upheavals—wars, revolution, exodus—that lie behind its existence. It was produced by Russian filmmakers who fled the rising tide of revolution and landed in Paris. It was directed by Serge Nadjedine, a shadowy figure with little … [Read more...] about L’Heureuse mort
The Iron Horse
Under the best of conditions, the grueling, day-to-day pace of feature film production is exhausting. Factor in the hazards and pressure of shooting on a difficult location, and the shoot extracts an incalculable toll on the mind and body. Even if this stress is not evident on the screen, it still … [Read more...] about The Iron Horse
Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages
The 1910s were Danish cinema’s Golden Age. In this decade Denmark produced an explosion of erotic melodramas for international export, the first films written by Carl Theodor Dreyer, and movies featuring cinema’s first superstar, Asta Nielsen. The first Danish film to make an international splash … [Read more...] about Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages
The Flying Ace
African-Americans were not allowed to serve as pilots in the United States Armed Forces until 1940, but that didn’t stop Richard Norman from making a black fighter pilot the hero of The Flying Ace. In this 1926 film, Captain Billy Stokes returns home victorious after World War I to resume his … [Read more...] about The Flying Ace
Diary of a Lost Girl
“At the Eden Hotel, where I lived in Berlin,” recalled Louise Brooks in her memoir Lulu in Hollywood, “the café bar was lined with the higher-priced trollops. The economy girls walked the street outside. On the corner stood the girls in boots, advertising flagellation. Actors’ agents pimped for the … [Read more...] about Diary of a Lost Girl
Cinema’s First Virtuoso: Georges Méliès
A selection of Georges Méliès short films played throughout the festival. Special thanks to Lobster Films. On December 28, 1895, in the Grand Café on le boulevard des Capucines in Paris, a 34-year-old magician sat among the other 30-odd guests, which included the directors of the Folies Bergère … [Read more...] about Cinema’s First Virtuoso: Georges Méliès
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