With its horned demons, headless specters, and winged harpies, 1911’s L’Inferno revels in the grotesque, the feudal, and the macabre. Like a fairy tale gone wrong, or a Hieronymus Bosch painting set in motion, the canonical work of Italy’s early silent era infused biblical subject matter with … [Read more...] about L’Inferno
Lights of Old Broadway
By 1924, Metro Pictures was ailing. Founded in 1915 it had major successes with child star Jackie Coogan, “Great Stone Face” Buster Keaton, and sensational Rudolph Valentino in Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921). But Metro lost Valentino to Paramount and was also in need of more theaters to … [Read more...] about Lights of Old Broadway
l’Homme du Large
L’Homme du Large sits near the dawn of Marcel L’Herbier’s career. The director was thirty-one and had completed three films prior, but never with the resources being offered him now. Here was his best chance yet to make a film in the Impressionist mode—testing, redefining the limits of the cinematic … [Read more...] about l’Homme du Large
Letter from Location
This historical reprint was published in conjunction with the screening of The Signal Tower at SFSFF 2019 Northspur, Mendocino County, California 1924 letter sent to Picture-Play magazine Dear Myrtle: Well, I guess I’m “farthest North,” as they say in books; just about as deep into the … [Read more...] about Letter from Location
Léon Beaulieu’s Pocket Cinematograph
This feature was published in conjunction with the Amazing Tales from the Archives presentation by Thierry Lecointe and Robert Byrne at SFSFF 2019 LOST FILMS OF GEORGES MÉLIÈS DISCOVERED IN FIN DE SIÈCLE FLIPBOOKS From peep shows to gifs, moving images have proliferated as novelties inside … [Read more...] about Léon Beaulieu’s Pocket Cinematograph
Keeping Time with Timothy Brock
For more than thirty years, Timothy Brock has made a name for himself as one of the few composer-conductors who specialize in music for silent film. Vogue magazine has called him “the silent-film music guru.” In large part, Brock’s musical life has focused on his own compositions as well as on … [Read more...] about Keeping Time with Timothy Brock
Japanese Girls at the Harbor
When Hiroshi Shimizu released Japanese Girls at the Harbor in 1933, the veteran filmmaker had already made more than eighty-five films. When he died in 1966, he had at least 160 films to his credit in a thirty-five-year career, most of them made at Shochiku, also the home of his friend and colleague … [Read more...] about Japanese Girls at the Harbor
Husbands and Lovers
John M. Stahl is remembered as a master of the Hollywood melodrama, but this vague tribute has long stood in place of any precise understanding of the scope and qualities of his work. He has several strikes against him. The Technicolor noir Leave Her to Heaven (1945), probably his most widely seen … [Read more...] about Husbands and Lovers