Helen Hunt Jackson wrote her 1884 novel Ramona as a beacon against racism and injustice, the Uncle Tom’s Cabin for the Native American. Jackson, a writer and U.S. Interior Department agent, became radicalized after attending a lecture given by Ponca Chief Standing Bear, who told harrowing tales of … [Read more...] about Ramona
The Parson’s Widow
Called his first “real film” by historian Tom Milne, Carl-Theodor Dreyer’s The Parson’s Widow announced the arrival of an artist. An uncompromising stickler for authenticity in settings and genuineness in performance, he spent weeks and months in libraries poring over research for his sets and … [Read more...] about The Parson’s Widow
Our Mutual Friend: Three Chaplin Shorts, 1916-1917
THE VAGABOND (1916) Director Charles Chaplin Cast Charles Chaplin (Street musician), Edna Purviance (Gypsy drudge), Eric Campbell (Gypsy chief), Lloyd Bacon (Artist), Charlotte Mineau (Mother) Producer Henry P. Caulfield Scenario Charles Chaplin, Vincent Bryan, Maverick Terrell Photography William … [Read more...] about Our Mutual Friend: Three Chaplin Shorts, 1916-1917
A Night at the Cinema in 1914
Part of the appeal of silent-era movies is their ability to give today’s audiences a glimpse of lost worlds. With these newsreels, travelogues, animation, comedy, and adventure films, the British Film Institute provides a look at what average British moviegoers might have seen at their local picture … [Read more...] about A Night at the Cinema in 1914
The Navigator
While Buster Keaton was winding up production on his second feature film, Our Hospitality, in the summer of 1923, his technical director, Fred Gabourie, was loaned out to First National Pictures to look for suitable sailing ships for the studio’s upcoming production The Sea Hawk (1924). During his … [Read more...] about The Navigator
Midnight Madness
The title Midnight Madness might conjure images of frothy, sophisticated high comedy, but the Cecil B. DeMille production is part of a cycle of city-woman-in-the-wilderness films released in the late silent era. Of Paramount’s The Canadian (1926) and Mantrap (1926), DeMille Pictures’ White … [Read more...] about Midnight Madness
The Little Tramp at 100
On Saturday, January 11, 2014 the beautiful Castro Theatre was the site of our celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp Character. No human being is more responsible for cinema’s ascendance as the dominant form of art and entertainment in the 20th century than … [Read more...] about The Little Tramp at 100
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