WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
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drednm
MichiganJ,
Thanks for the info about the serials set, I love those. I have some on the American Archives Film Treasures sets and I have wanted to see more of them. I hope you recover soon
I also prefer Fay Wray as a blonde and King Kong. is one of the first classic films I remember seeing as a kid and it’s one of my faves also. I got a chance to see it this past summer on the big screen and that was really cool. Have you seen One Sunday Afternoon (1933) with Fay and Gary Cooper. She’s a blonde in that one too. She’s kind of a biznatch in it though
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Thanks for the info about the serials set, I love those. I have some on the American Archives Film Treasures sets and I have wanted to see more of them. I hope you recover soon
I also prefer Fay Wray as a blonde and King Kong. is one of the first classic films I remember seeing as a kid and it’s one of my faves also. I got a chance to see it this past summer on the big screen and that was really cool. Have you seen One Sunday Afternoon (1933) with Fay and Gary Cooper. She’s a blonde in that one too. She’s kind of a biznatch in it though
.“I never really thought of myself as an actor. But I’d learned to ride on my dad’s ranch and I could do some roping stunts and working as an extra was better than starving as an artist nobody wanted on the West Coast.” - Gary Cooper
Coopsgirl,
As a kid I tried to see whatever Fay Wray movies I could, but since my only source of her filmography came from the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland (the greatest magazine, ever...except, maybe, for Mad), I only saw The Vampire Bat, Doctor X, The Most Dangerous Game, and the wonderful Mystery of the Wax Museum (alas, as we only had a black and white TV, I missed the two-strip technicolor).
When I was ten or eleven, I actually wrote Ms. Wray a fan letter. But unfortunately, she never wrote back. I suppose the fact that I addressed it to the Empire State Building may have come in to play, but I was pretty disappointed.
Oddly, as a grew up, while King Kong remains my favorite film (I watch it every year), for some reason I never sought out other Fay Wray movies and had no idea that she and Coop actually were in a film together. Now, of course, I have to see it (a “biznatch”, huh? Sounds like a lot of fun!)
You mention seeing Kong on the big screen. What a treat! Here, in Indianapolis, about seven years ago, the Imax theater was showing classic films. I got to see Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Citizen Kane, and, yes, King Kong, projected six-or seven stories tall! Unfortunately, I was one of the few people in attendance, and the program was soon dropped. Now, the only movies found on the big screen either star Richard Gere or feature talking dogs!
CCF:
I have seen The Wedding March, and it is one of my favorite Stroheim films (I think Stroheim is one of the greatest directors of all time). I’d love to see the film restored and made available on DVD, but, if I’m not mistaken, it’s a Paramount film, so chances may be slim.
As a kid I tried to see whatever Fay Wray movies I could, but since my only source of her filmography came from the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland (the greatest magazine, ever...except, maybe, for Mad), I only saw The Vampire Bat, Doctor X, The Most Dangerous Game, and the wonderful Mystery of the Wax Museum (alas, as we only had a black and white TV, I missed the two-strip technicolor).
When I was ten or eleven, I actually wrote Ms. Wray a fan letter. But unfortunately, she never wrote back. I suppose the fact that I addressed it to the Empire State Building may have come in to play, but I was pretty disappointed.
Oddly, as a grew up, while King Kong remains my favorite film (I watch it every year), for some reason I never sought out other Fay Wray movies and had no idea that she and Coop actually were in a film together. Now, of course, I have to see it (a “biznatch”, huh? Sounds like a lot of fun!)
You mention seeing Kong on the big screen. What a treat! Here, in Indianapolis, about seven years ago, the Imax theater was showing classic films. I got to see Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Citizen Kane, and, yes, King Kong, projected six-or seven stories tall! Unfortunately, I was one of the few people in attendance, and the program was soon dropped. Now, the only movies found on the big screen either star Richard Gere or feature talking dogs!
CCF:
I have seen The Wedding March, and it is one of my favorite Stroheim films (I think Stroheim is one of the greatest directors of all time). I’d love to see the film restored and made available on DVD, but, if I’m not mistaken, it’s a Paramount film, so chances may be slim.
"Let's be independent together." Dr. Hermey DDS
That's such a shame. These films are immortal classics.You mention seeing Kong on the big screen. What a treat! Here, in Indianapolis, about seven years ago, the Imax theater was showing classic films. I got to see Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Citizen Kane, and, yes, King Kong, projected six-or seven stories tall! Unfortunately, I was one of the few people in attendance, and the program was soon dropped. Now, the only movies found on the big screen either star Richard Gere or feature talking dogs!
When I saw Citizen Kane in film class most of the class left after the first half hour, and in the end only I and one other guy were there. He said it was a good film, although it was a "shame it was in black and white". My teacher said something about colour film being really expensive in those days, and I blubbered something about b&w having artistic merits of its own. How come black and white photos are generally accepted while black and white film is looked down upon like that?
I saw Warning Shadows, a German silent from 1923. I had heard good things about it and I was eager to see it, and it didn't disappoint. It was slow in the beginning of course. I think people must have been much more patient in the past, they lived more slow-moving lives.
The characters in Warning Shadows are mostly just types, but the key characters, the wife, the husband, the young man and the magician all carry off the stylized acting pretty well. In the end this is a haunting film with freudian overtones, about what happens if people's "shadows", their dark passions, take over. It's quite sensual in the beginning, and in the end it's nightmarish. I think it's one of the better German expressionist films, definitively worth seeing.
Last edited by Synnove on October 13th, 2008, 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I am starting to find and tackle some more of those really hard to come by titles, and over the weekend I saw another of these. MAN, WOMAN & SIN (MGM, 1927) Starring John Gilbert, and the tragic Jeanne Eagels, directed by Monta Bell. Apparently this was a blockbuster movie, on about the same scale as FLESH AND THE DEVIL had been for Garbo. Solidifying Jeanne in Hollywood as a ligitimate force to be reckoned with. 
Eagels was of course the biggest Stage actress in America, the original 'Sadie Thompson" on Broadway in "RAIN". She was also widely considered among the most beautiful woman in the world at the time. Her specialty seemed to have been playing ladies of what you might term somewhat "Questionable Character"? Much the same here. 
In MAN, WOMAN, & SIN Eagels portrays a shameless "Kept Woman" the mysterious Vera Worth once an important debutant who's family lost a fortune. She now works as a Society Editor on a newspaper, but She is really the married publisher's Mistress. He pays for her expensive clothes, jewels, even her apartment. Al Whitcomb (John Gilbert) a naive young reporter falls head over heels for the very shady lady, and upsets the dubious arrangement, and the Apple-cart. Captivated by Al's refreshing innocence, She ends up losing her heart to him as well. 
Eventually a blow-up ensues between the publisher and the shattered Whitcomb, who intends to make enigmatic Miss Worth his Wife. He ends up as a fugitive, and ultimately on trial for Murder! Vera can clear him, but that would mean exposing the whole torrid business to the press! Something that she is unwilling to do! 
This is yet another rarely seen Silent feature that Warner's should dust off, and dig out of the vaults. Let's get a Fresh transfer made, and put a score to this one. The print I have is probably missing a reel, or so? Though still quite griping. Definitely, a Pre-code Silent. Not many of Jeanne Eagels movies survive, as she died only two years later in 1929. I'll write a longer review later on. 
Jeanne Eagles, Sweetheart Profile
Jeanne Eagels, Tender Innocence.
Last edited by Gagman 66 on October 13th, 2008, 4:41 pm, edited 10 times in total.
I just watched The Vampire Bat again a couple of days ago. All the others of Fay’s you mentioned are some of my faves too, especially Doctor X and Wax Museum. That’s really neat that you got to see King Kong on an IMAX screen. It’s a shame though that the program wasn’t more popular. We are very fortunate that here in Austin we have two old movie theaters (built in 1915 and 1929) that still show movies and also have stage shows. They aren’t primarily revival theaters but do show old movies at different times of the year and there’s usually always good crowds.
That’s so cute that you wrote Fay a letter and sent it to the Empire State Building. I went to New York for the first time this past summer (they were having a Gary Cooper event at the Met and I got to meet his daughter and chat with her for a few minutes about her dad, it was awesome!!!) and when we went to the ESB, I had to do my Kong impression, you know swatting at planes and roaring; of course I didn’t want to look like I was having a fit so I kept it kinda low key.
Fay and Gary actually made four films together which makes her the leading lady he worked with the most. They did two silents (The First Kiss and Legion of the Condemned, both lost) and two talkies (The Texan and One Sunday Afternoon). The Texan is still in print but there are no bootlegs of it so unfortunately I don’t have that one. If you need a copy of Sunday, send me a PM and I’ll send you one. It’s really good quality too. It is kinda fun to see her playing very much against type as a bit of a gold digger. She kinda has a Mae West thing going on at the end too.
John Mulholland, film historian and Gary Cooper expert, told me a story about having dinner with Fay one night in New York back in the 80s or 90s; I can’t remember exactly when. He said they were talking and Fay brought up the subject of Gary. He had affairs with many of his leading ladies but not with Fay. I think he wanted to but she turned him down and she said that she later regretted it as she did have a big crush on him. She also told John that she had a little shrine to him in her closet with pics and stuff. This cracked me up b/c myself and two of my other friends who are huge Coop fans also have pics of him in our closets. When I told John that, he was tickled and said he suspected we weren’t the only ones. He said too she didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed about it either. That did make me feel better since I’m nearly 32 years old . I don’t like bare walls though, not even in the closet so I always put stuff up in there. A while back I put a couple pics of Charles Farrell in there too and told him and Gary not to fight; I think I may need some help.
That’s so cute that you wrote Fay a letter and sent it to the Empire State Building. I went to New York for the first time this past summer (they were having a Gary Cooper event at the Met and I got to meet his daughter and chat with her for a few minutes about her dad, it was awesome!!!) and when we went to the ESB, I had to do my Kong impression, you know swatting at planes and roaring; of course I didn’t want to look like I was having a fit so I kept it kinda low key.
Fay and Gary actually made four films together which makes her the leading lady he worked with the most. They did two silents (The First Kiss and Legion of the Condemned, both lost) and two talkies (The Texan and One Sunday Afternoon). The Texan is still in print but there are no bootlegs of it so unfortunately I don’t have that one. If you need a copy of Sunday, send me a PM and I’ll send you one. It’s really good quality too. It is kinda fun to see her playing very much against type as a bit of a gold digger. She kinda has a Mae West thing going on at the end too.
John Mulholland, film historian and Gary Cooper expert, told me a story about having dinner with Fay one night in New York back in the 80s or 90s; I can’t remember exactly when. He said they were talking and Fay brought up the subject of Gary. He had affairs with many of his leading ladies but not with Fay. I think he wanted to but she turned him down and she said that she later regretted it as she did have a big crush on him. She also told John that she had a little shrine to him in her closet with pics and stuff. This cracked me up b/c myself and two of my other friends who are huge Coop fans also have pics of him in our closets. When I told John that, he was tickled and said he suspected we weren’t the only ones. He said too she didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed about it either. That did make me feel better since I’m nearly 32 years old
. I don’t like bare walls though, not even in the closet so I always put stuff up in there. A while back I put a couple pics of Charles Farrell in there too and told him and Gary not to fight; I think I may need some help. “I never really thought of myself as an actor. But I’d learned to ride on my dad’s ranch and I could do some roping stunts and working as an extra was better than starving as an artist nobody wanted on the West Coast.” - Gary Cooper
Coopsgirl:
It’s funny you mention going to the Empire State Building. Growing up in New Jersey, my family would venture to the city a few times a year, and each time we’d go I’d insist we go to the Empire State Building. But that was never on the agenda. Finally, one year, we were strolling the streets, and my father made a “wrong turn” and there it was, across the street: The building Kong climbed, thinking he was rescuing poor Fay. The elevator ride was thrilling (as I recall, we had to take two, going half way in one, and the second half in the other). When we got to the top, the observation deck, we stepped out...and I froze. Terrified. Couldn’t move a muscle. It was then I learned that I was afraid of heights. The entire time we were up there, I stood with my back firmly against the building, eyes sealed shut, not venturing even the slightest peak. (To this day, it’s one of my sister’s favorite “Thanksgiving dinner stories”; that, and the time she got me smashed at an Elvis Costello concert, which, come to think of it, also happened in NY). The terror didn’t stop me from getting a few, very cheesy (but way-cool), souvenirs, including a stuffed Kong doll (um, action figure), and a six-inch replica of the ESB, which I could then have my plastic dinosaurs attack.
Synnnove:
I really liked Warning Shadows. I was amazed at how sexually charged the whole film was. From the beginning, with the three courtiers watching the wife primp in the full-length mirror, while their shadows all but molest her shadow; and when the magician/hypnotist comes in and removes everyone’s shadow, boy the shenanigans really begin. I believe this is the first film done without any intertitles, and with all those silhouettes and shadows (not to mention reflections!), the entire film feels like an experiment, which I think, succeeds quite well.
gagman.
Any movie called Man, Woman & Sin is a must see...
It’s funny you mention going to the Empire State Building. Growing up in New Jersey, my family would venture to the city a few times a year, and each time we’d go I’d insist we go to the Empire State Building. But that was never on the agenda. Finally, one year, we were strolling the streets, and my father made a “wrong turn” and there it was, across the street: The building Kong climbed, thinking he was rescuing poor Fay. The elevator ride was thrilling (as I recall, we had to take two, going half way in one, and the second half in the other). When we got to the top, the observation deck, we stepped out...and I froze. Terrified. Couldn’t move a muscle. It was then I learned that I was afraid of heights. The entire time we were up there, I stood with my back firmly against the building, eyes sealed shut, not venturing even the slightest peak. (To this day, it’s one of my sister’s favorite “Thanksgiving dinner stories”; that, and the time she got me smashed at an Elvis Costello concert, which, come to think of it, also happened in NY). The terror didn’t stop me from getting a few, very cheesy (but way-cool), souvenirs, including a stuffed Kong doll (um, action figure), and a six-inch replica of the ESB, which I could then have my plastic dinosaurs attack.
Synnnove:
I really liked Warning Shadows. I was amazed at how sexually charged the whole film was. From the beginning, with the three courtiers watching the wife primp in the full-length mirror, while their shadows all but molest her shadow; and when the magician/hypnotist comes in and removes everyone’s shadow, boy the shenanigans really begin. I believe this is the first film done without any intertitles, and with all those silhouettes and shadows (not to mention reflections!), the entire film feels like an experiment, which I think, succeeds quite well.
Walking out on Citizen Kane, especially in a film class? Grounds for expulsion, no question....When I saw Citizen Kane in film class most of the class left after the first half hour
gagman.
Any movie called Man, Woman & Sin is a must see...
"Let's be independent together." Dr. Hermey DDS
It was really neat going up the elevators and my ears popped when we went up the first one that takes you up 80 floors in the blink of an eye. It was smooth though and barely felt like we were moving. Talk about a bad place to realize you’re afraid of heights. I don’t like climbing ladders and stuff like that b/c I don’t feel steady but I don’t mind heights when I know I’m on something solid. It’s a beautiful view from the top of the ESB and we took lots of pics. We went during the day and again at night. I also got a cool souvenir. It’s a gold replica of the ESB, about a foot high with King Kong hanging on the top. It’s in my cube at work next to my pics of Gary and Clara Bow.
Thanks to Justin I got to see The Truth About Youth (1930) starring Loretta Young, Myrna Loy, David Manners and Conway Tearle. It’s only a little over an hour long so I had time to work it in this weekend.
It was quite enjoyable and one of the things I liked the most was that it had incidental music; rare for most early talkies. I’m not real crazy about David Manners, sometimes he was good and sometimes not. Here he’s mostly not except in the scenes when he comes home drunk. I’ve only ever seen him play pretty straight laced characters and I was impressed at how well he played those scenes.
Loretta and Myrna also did good jobs and it’s fun (albeit still strange for me) to see Myrna playing a gold digging vamp. She’s a nightclub singer named Kara the firefly and I don’t know who they had dubbing her, but it was hilarious!! The voice didn’t match her at all and I can imagine more of a Sophie Tucker like big boisterous blonde belonging to that voice and not Myrna
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David is supposed to be engaged to Loretta but instead he falls for and marries Myrna on the sly but she rejects him on their wedding night when she learns he’s broke
. Loretta and her mother live with Conway Tearle’s character (her mom is his housekeeper) and he is David’s guardian. He’s in love with Loretta and she’s in love with him and once David confesses to the marriage Loretta is thrilled and she runs to Conway to confess her love for him. She did a really good job in this scene and her youthful exhuberance is very cute.
One of the supporting characters who along with Conway and one other gentleman helped raise David after his parents died was played by J. Farrell MacDonald. The first thing I saw him in was Meet John Doe and he played a character called “Sourpuss” Smithers. When I was watching that one with my mom once she said he looked like her grandpa on her dad’s side and since I never knew him, I think it’s cool to be able to see someone who looked like him up on the screen.
Thanks to Justin I got to see The Truth About Youth (1930) starring Loretta Young, Myrna Loy, David Manners and Conway Tearle. It’s only a little over an hour long so I had time to work it in this weekend.
It was quite enjoyable and one of the things I liked the most was that it had incidental music; rare for most early talkies. I’m not real crazy about David Manners, sometimes he was good and sometimes not. Here he’s mostly not except in the scenes when he comes home drunk. I’ve only ever seen him play pretty straight laced characters and I was impressed at how well he played those scenes.
Loretta and Myrna also did good jobs and it’s fun (albeit still strange for me) to see Myrna playing a gold digging vamp. She’s a nightclub singer named Kara the firefly and I don’t know who they had dubbing her, but it was hilarious!! The voice didn’t match her at all and I can imagine more of a Sophie Tucker like big boisterous blonde belonging to that voice and not Myrna
. David is supposed to be engaged to Loretta but instead he falls for and marries Myrna on the sly but she rejects him on their wedding night when she learns he’s broke
. Loretta and her mother live with Conway Tearle’s character (her mom is his housekeeper) and he is David’s guardian. He’s in love with Loretta and she’s in love with him and once David confesses to the marriage Loretta is thrilled and she runs to Conway to confess her love for him. She did a really good job in this scene and her youthful exhuberance is very cute. One of the supporting characters who along with Conway and one other gentleman helped raise David after his parents died was played by J. Farrell MacDonald. The first thing I saw him in was Meet John Doe and he played a character called “Sourpuss” Smithers. When I was watching that one with my mom once she said he looked like her grandpa on her dad’s side and since I never knew him, I think it’s cool to be able to see someone who looked like him up on the screen.
“I never really thought of myself as an actor. But I’d learned to ride on my dad’s ranch and I could do some roping stunts and working as an extra was better than starving as an artist nobody wanted on the West Coast.” - Gary Cooper
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charliechaplinfan
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Dredm, I agree Monte Carlo isn't as good as The Love Parade, Jack Buchanan doesn't have the same sparkle as Maurice Chevalier.
Jeffrey, the pictures of Jeanne Eagels are lovely, she was such a gorgeous woman, so innocent looking.
Michagan, The Wedding March is a perfect silent. I never tohught Von Stroheim could convey a sexy persona but he's so well suited to the role, I love the scene where he sees Fay Wray for the first time. I must watch King Kong again, even if it is sad.
Jeffrey, the pictures of Jeanne Eagels are lovely, she was such a gorgeous woman, so innocent looking.
Michagan, The Wedding March is a perfect silent. I never tohught Von Stroheim could convey a sexy persona but he's so well suited to the role, I love the scene where he sees Fay Wray for the first time. I must watch King Kong again, even if it is sad.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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Ann Harding
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Yesterday I watched Raffles (1917) with John Barrymore. Unlike many of his other silent performances, John is very understated there. The film follows a play made after Hornung's novel rather than the novel itself, like the later remakes. It gives the film some kind of a stagey quality. Only the prologue on a ship is taken from the novel. I was struck how youthful and energetic John Barrymore looked in this film. I also noticed an almost unrecognisably young Frank Morgan without his moustache! 
So overall, even if the film is not a masterpiece, it's really fasscinating to see such an early Barrymore feature.
So overall, even if the film is not a masterpiece, it's really fasscinating to see such an early Barrymore feature. -
Ann Harding
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Yesterday I went to a special screening of films dealing with WWI. I saw several newsreels then afterwards, a Chaplin short: The Bond (1918) where Charlie smashes the Kaiser.
Then we got to see Léonce Perret's Les Etoiles de la Gloire (The Unknown Love, 1919) shot in New York and around. A young America girl starts a correspondance with an unknown American soldier who is fighting in France.
The film had an amazing cinematography mostly on locations: New England sunlit terraces surrounded by hydrangea, sunset with the heroine in shadows, battle front with a pole and barbed wires and in the sky some tiny planes like insects...Unfortunetaly the print was not great with poor contrast. The film was apparently found recently. It was made in America with American actors for the American public. Perret made few films in the US. I felt the film had a lovely poetic feeling for a feature dealing with the war.
Very interesting!
Then we got to see Léonce Perret's Les Etoiles de la Gloire (The Unknown Love, 1919) shot in New York and around. A young America girl starts a correspondance with an unknown American soldier who is fighting in France.
The film had an amazing cinematography mostly on locations: New England sunlit terraces surrounded by hydrangea, sunset with the heroine in shadows, battle front with a pole and barbed wires and in the sky some tiny planes like insects...Unfortunetaly the print was not great with poor contrast. The film was apparently found recently. It was made in America with American actors for the American public. Perret made few films in the US. I felt the film had a lovely poetic feeling for a feature dealing with the war.
Very interesting!
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feaito
Yesterday I re-watched "The Love Parade" (1929). A wonderful, Pre-code. Just my type of film. It was good to see a good quality print (from the Eclipse Set), because previously I had seen a so-so copy taped from an old TV airing. Chevalier, Mac Donald, Lupino Lane & Lillian Roth are superb. An elegant, witty, sophisticated film. Full of subtle risqué elements. Superior dialogue. Lubitsch is a master!
I also watched "The Blackbird" (1926) (thanks Jeff) and I really liked the film a lot. The Robert Israel score is superb! Such a score helps the enjoyment of a film; and since Tod Browning is one of my favorite directors, it was a joy from start to finish. Lon Chaney is genial in the double role and Renée Adorée & Owen Moore are very good too. Renée should have a day devoted to her in TCM, she made so many good, enjoyable movies: "La Bohème", "The Cossacks", the masterpiece "The Big Parade", the excellent Tod Browning feature "The Show", "The Pagan".... and I have been lucky enough to watch them thanks to the generosity of my friends from overseas!
I also watched "The Blackbird" (1926) (thanks Jeff) and I really liked the film a lot. The Robert Israel score is superb! Such a score helps the enjoyment of a film; and since Tod Browning is one of my favorite directors, it was a joy from start to finish. Lon Chaney is genial in the double role and Renée Adorée & Owen Moore are very good too. Renée should have a day devoted to her in TCM, she made so many good, enjoyable movies: "La Bohème", "The Cossacks", the masterpiece "The Big Parade", the excellent Tod Browning feature "The Show", "The Pagan".... and I have been lucky enough to watch them thanks to the generosity of my friends from overseas!
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drednm
I need to watch THE BLACKBIRD again... I just didn't like it at all but everyone else seems to like it....
Also just got a copy of Theda Bara's 1925 THE UNCHASTENED WOMAN with one of those wheezing organ scores. It's her last feature; she made a film short in 1926 and called it quits at age 41 or so. Anyone seen THE UNCHASTENED WOMAN?
Also just got a copy of Theda Bara's 1925 THE UNCHASTENED WOMAN with one of those wheezing organ scores. It's her last feature; she made a film short in 1926 and called it quits at age 41 or so. Anyone seen THE UNCHASTENED WOMAN?