You can read the program essay for our 2000 screening of The Wedding March here Few people in the history of Hollywood have been as revered and reviled as Erich von Stroheim. Among studio magnates like Irving Thalberg, Stroheim’s inability or unwillingness to deliver a film at a usable length … [Read more...] about The Wedding March
1919: A Decade Ends and an Age Begins
4 JANUARY Hundreds of thousands of Berliners take to the streets in support of police chief Emil Eichhorn fired for refusing to use force to quash demonstrations in the wake of World War I. Rightwing mercenaries known as the Freikorps respond and the fray results in hundreds of deaths. On January … [Read more...] about 1919: A Decade Ends and an Age Begins
You Never Know Women
You Never Know Women brings multiple gifts to lovers of silent film: the serene beauty of Florence Vidor (“the orchid lady of the screen”); two leading men, the handsome Clive Brook and the wryly sophisticated Lowell Sherman; character actors El Brendel and Eugene Pallette; performances from key … [Read more...] about You Never Know Women
Wolf Song
“A gorgeous portrayal of the lives and loves of big outdoorsmen and big-eyed senoritas in the days when a beaver’s pelt was the people’s currency.” That’s how Paramount promoted Victor Fleming’s Wolf Song in 1929—and for once there was truth in advertising. Fleming based his shoot at the just-opened … [Read more...] about Wolf Song
West of Zanzibar
You can read the program essay for our 2009 screening of West of Zanzibar here One of the great creative duos of the silent era was that between “Man of a Thousand Faces” Lon Chaney and his most frequent director, Tod Browning. The two came from similar professional backgrounds—on the low end of … [Read more...] about West of Zanzibar
Tonka of the Gallows
The name Karl (Karel) Anton is unlikely to ring many bells, even for devoted cinephiles. Unlike his fellow Czech director Gustav Machatý, Anton’s prolific output over three countries and five decades has watered down his reputation, not helped by the general unavailability of most of his features. … [Read more...] about Tonka of the Gallows
Strike Up the Orchestra
This feature was published in conjunction with the screening of The Cameraman at SFSFF 2019 The hard-working piano player is an iconic image of silent cinema and with good reason: a 1922 poll of theater owners showed that solo piano was far and away the most popular form of musical accompaniment. … [Read more...] about Strike Up the Orchestra
Sir Arne’s Treasure
Snow is inherently cinematic. It forms a white screen, like a Chinese scroll, on which dark forms have the spare eloquence of calligraphy. And while it may suggest peace, it also evokes the burn and sting of cold, giving bite to scenes of extremity and struggle: Lillian Gish, a frail wisp battered … [Read more...] about Sir Arne’s Treasure