The Silver Screen Oasis

I have this thread in TCM forum but I bring it here also. I hope that those who have dual-citizenship here and there do not mind repetition.

I know of no other board to place this other than: General Chat because I do not wish to limit to one genre or source.

I wish to discuss movies which are not typical in very grand manner.

I begin by introducing very wonderful little gem: The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916).

It is Douglas Fairbanks as detective and Bessie Love as his love interest.

I believe this is far cry from gallant swashbuckling role which would become his specialty. I can think of no other Douglas Fairbanks slapstick comedy.

He is here: "Coke Ennyday" who has large container of cocaine on his desk and bandoleer of syringes for quick pick-me-ups. He eats opium by the fingerful in same manner as child eating icing from a bowl.

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My knowledge of the silent era is so terrible. Thanks for posting this!

Lomm wrote:My knowledge of the silent era is so terrible. Thanks for posting this!

I am sorry to have to say that I believe that I have not expanded your knowledge of silent movies in any significant manner. I have watched many silent movies and this is very much unlike any of them.

This is clip of typical silent movies which I know:

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Well the thing is, I always think of the silent era as being from 1919 or so until 1928 or so. That's just me being uninformed and not really looking into it all that much. So yes, that is a pretty unusual film, but it still made me look back and realize there were about two decades of films being made during a time I have always thought of as "before cinema". So it was indeed an education.

Masha,

Leaping Fish is the movie that introduced me to Doug, Sr almost forty years ago. I was already a major film buff but my knowledge of silents back then were the films of Keaton, Chaplin, and mainly the Mack Sennett studios thanks to Robert Youngston's compilation films. The only other silents I had access to were the big D.W. Griffith epics like Nation, Intolerance, and Way Down East.

As I sat in a screening of this film, I fell in love with Doug, Sr. Thankfully, the film society I belonged to at college decided to do a retrospective of Doug and I was lucky to see many more of his films.

Leaping Fish makes little sense but Coke Ennyday is quite a film character.

Thanks so much for bringing this up to talk about!

To remain for the nonce in silent era:

Raja Harishchandra (1913) is credited as first feature-length movie made in India.

It is the story of a king who gives his kingdom to a sage.

I believe it qualifies as atypical because male actors fill female roles. This was due to belief that it was improper for women to appear in movies. I knew that this was true of stage in time of Shakespeare but I had not heard of such belief persisting into Twentieth Century nor it being true of movies.

There is historical information at beginning of this video. The movie begins at: twelve minute mark. Move slider under image to change to that time.

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One more silent movie which is atypical is: The Cameraman’s Revenge (1911).

The plot is very typical for the era in that stories of wandering spouses were quite popular. What I feel is very atypical is the species of the characters. I believe it is outrageously atypical in that it depicts inter-species love affairs!

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I believe that: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) is very atypical. I feel that intelligent comedies are rare and this is one of the best.

It is atypical in that we are seeing characters in a play when they are not on stage. I do not mean by this that we see characters who are actors. This is two minor characters in: Hamlet. Their lives include what would be seen of them on stage during performance of: Hamlet.

I find it wonderful that their characters are so thinly limned for: Hamlet that there are many things which they do not know of their life. One such thing is that they do not know which one of them is: Rosencrantz and which one of them is: Guildenstern. We know which is which by what they say to others but they have no realization that they are at those times within a play and so can not refer to playscript for identification.

I love also that Rosencrantz has epiphanies concerning scientific principles but his demonstrations of them fail so perfectly. I am sorry to say that I can not speak of them because it would spoil very wonderful moments in movie.

There is much more that could be said of this movie but the level of meta is so high that it is difficult to describe.

I can find no good source for entire movie on-line but this is playful scene:

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I feel: Happy End (1967) is typical of a certain class of Czech movies of its period in that it has no typical nor predictable elements.

It is simple story of life of a butcher. It is complex because it is told from end to beginning.

English subtitles are available by using: Settings -> Subtitles/CC -> English:

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I believe that: Les Enfants Terribles (1950) is very atypical movie.

I feel it is nearly documentary of whims. It is of confusion and determination. It is of clinging to innocence while relishing depravity.

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I believe that: The Black Cauldron (1985) was very atypical movie.

Disney was known as studio for delightful and innocent children's movies. Violence was comic and never serious.

This movie was great departure from that legacy. Villains were serious and truly frightening. Threats were very real. Even the landscape was taken from nightmare.

I feel that this is very under-rated movie also. People remember well: Fantasia (1940), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) but few remember this classic movie even in long lists.

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Deleted because video content exists no longer.

A mention of Sir Christopher Lee in different thread reminded me of: The Return of Captain Invincible (1983).

It is Alan Arkin as title superhero who suffered public shaming and hid away in Australia. He is now alcoholic. He is called from his retirement to face new evil.

Sir Christopher Lee is that evil as: Mr. Midnight.

Mr. Midnight: Same old dreary demands. Self righteous, messianic, moralistic and increasingly tedious.
Captain Invincible: Fine talk from a sociopath paranoid schizophrenic with delusions of grandeur.
Mr. Midnight: Thank you.

It is sad to say that I can find only clip:
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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) might seem nearly typical because it could be seen as remake of 1943 movie of same name.

I feel this is atypical because it has zaniness which can come only from Terry Gilliam as director and writer. I do not have high regard for his movie: Brazil (1985) but this is him in full-romp mode. It is nearly blending of Marx Brothers and Monty Python.

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Hausu (1977) is comedy horror fantasy which belies common genre descriptions. Horrors are very visceral as is most Japanese horror but it transcends simple descriptions.

It is available to watch or download at:
http://archive.org/details/Mag104Movie

Trailer for it is at:
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