WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[charliechaplinfan]

It's such a shame, CCfan. I am not sure we ever got back what we lost when they started making talkies. I still wonder if we have gotten up to that level again even yet....

I know. There was City Lights and then, that was it. I wish it had dawned on them at the time how beautiful silents could be and that they could still make some silents side by side with the talkies.

[JackFavell]

Some of them have such an unearthly beauty.... they seem ghostlike to me.... maybe heaven looks like that. Watching those films is like time travel to me, .... they transport you in a way that a talkie cannot. No pesky words to jar you out of your reverie.

[silentscreen]

Some of them have such an unearthly beauty.... they seem ghostlike to me.... maybe heaven looks like that. Watching those films is like time travel to me, .... they transport you in a way that a talkie cannot. No pesky words to jar you out of your reverie.

I love silents too, but I guess you must have the ability and desire to pay attention. Some people are just too lazy to do that. In my opinion, you had to have more talent to convey the character's feelings and persona when you couldn't speak the dialogue except with title cards. Actually some of the best silents use the fewest title cards. Sunrise comes to mind.

[The Ingenue]

...I guess you must have the ability and desire to pay attention.

That reminds me of the very first time I saw a silent film--Wild Orchids (1929), it was. While I kept my eyes on the film, I didn't notice the lack of dialogue at all; but then, I looked away for a moment, and was astounded that I couldn't follow the film by ear. I looked away, and the world of the film was lost to me. And so I carefully rewound the tape, to pick up where I'd left off...

Ever since then, silents have seemed, to me, like wonderful secrets waiting to be told; and their telling is so personal. Even in a crowded room, I imagine, it would seem the film was unfolding for you alone; in the way that dreams are your own, and no one else's.

[MichiganJ]

I think silents require active participation from the audience, much like reading or listening to a radio drama. For me, with the exception of Michael Bay films, most talkies are passive.

[drednm]

I watched the 1922 potboiler Trapped by the Mormons starring a young Evelyn Brent as the impressionable Nora, who gets mesmerized by the fiendish Isoldi Keene (Louis Willoughby) and taken away to London where he plans to marry her.

Not sure what the historical thing was for these kinds of stories about Mormons. Mae Murray had starred in the equally lurid 1917 film A Mormon Maid in which the Mormons were equally evil.

[feaito]

I continue watching Kevin Brownlow's "Hollywood" -I'm in chapter six- and I've enjoyed it immensely. I've been specially pleased watching Viola Dana and Blanche Sweet, whom I had never seen interviewed. The chapter regarding Hollywood and its scandals, especially the Arbuckle affair, has been very enlightening, due to the the mature and balanced viewpoint of the producers. The chapter that deals with stuntmen is also superb. My brother-in-law who's not even interested in Classic films and doesn't understand always English, saw it with me and enjoyed very much.

[charliechaplinfan]

It's a great documentary, such an achievement to find all these people and get them to speak on camera about their memories. His other documentaries are worth watching too.

[feaito]

It's a great documentary, such an achievement to find all these people and get them to speak on camera about their memories. His other documentaries are worth watching too.

And a great "companion piece" while parallely reading his "The Parade's Gone By". Kevin Brownlow is for sure on the finest gents ever!

[charliechaplinfan]

I heartily concur

[drednm]

Yes Kevin Brownlow is terrific. His documentaries and books are all first rate. We've been emailing sporadically since he was a guest on this board, and he has loaned me films I couldn't find (like Slide, Kelly, Slide as well as sharing info from his many interviews.

[MichiganJ]

Brownlow's books and documentaries are not only very informative but are also enjoyable to watch and read. After reading Behind the Mask of Innocence, I looked forward to seeing many of the films discussed, and as they become available, I find myself returning to his books again.

I'd love to see his documentary on Universal Horror.

[MichiganJ]

The Origins of Cinema VI contains a number of amazing early films from American independent producers from 1899 thru 1908. My favorite was The Girl From Montana (1907) which is an interesting Western with a woman as the hero. There are also a number of Melies special effects films, my favorite being The Mermaid (1904).

By far the best films in the collection are the movies produced in Great Britain between 1903 and 1905. Highlights include:

How the Woman Caught the Ominbus(1903) is downright hysterical as an old woman (obviously a man in drag) flags down a horse-drawn double-decker omnibus by waving her furled umbrella. When the bus passes her by, she bustles up to it, hooks the back with her umbrella, and pulls it back. Climbing aboard, her umbrella is used to physically reprimand the conductor!

An Englishman's Trip to Paris From London (1904) is just that. A man boards a train at the station (Victoria, I believe) and heads to a steam ship, crossing the channel. The chap then strolls down the dusty Champ-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe and then sits at a café sipping a biere.

The Child Stealers (1904) has unattended children being kidnapped and used to beg for money

Rescued By Rover (1904) neither Lassie nor Rin Tin Tin have it over "Rover", who also rescues a kidnapped baby.

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched Traffic In Souls, having read so much about it in Behind the Mask on Innocence (Kevin Brownlow again!). In some ways I'm aghast at what I'm watching on the screen, abducting young girls getting off the boat and setting them up in bordellos. Yet is it any different from girls who get trafficked here from Eastern Europe.

The film is snatched on the street in places and possibly at the ferry terminal, in fact I'm certain there were actors in amongst real immigrants. There is some difference of opinion as to whether this was made in secret or with full cooperation from the studio and a story concocted years afterwards. It is a long film for the year it was made 1913 and moves quite quickly and sometimes gives the impression that you'd missed something whilst you were blinking.

[MichiganJ]

I watched The Love Goddesses, a documentary, which chronicles the history of on-screen sex and the sex symbol from silents to the "present" (the documentary was made in 1965). Beginning with The Kiss, the film celebrates many of the beautiful actresses in some of their most memorable scenes. Lillian Gish (oddly, from True Heart Susie), Theda Bara, Clara Bow (from It and Hula) are featured as is Valentino, the only male highlighted in the film (the "Sex Goddess" is supposed to be Agnes Ayres, but who are they kidding?), Nita Naldi, etc. DeMille and bathtubs get their due, as do some of the international stars like Bridgitte Helm, Hedy Lamarr (yes, from Ecstasy), and Dietrich from Blue Angel.

Many clips from pre-codes, particularly Love Me Tonight, No Man of Her Own and of course, Baby Face are also featured.

According to the documentary, the Production Code ushered in the "age of innocent love goddesses", but after a clip of Shirley Temple we're back to more mature love goddesses like Lana Turner and Betty Grable. Hayworth, Liz Taylor, and, of course, Marilyn are featured and the 50's really heat up with Sophia Loren (in a clip with Clark Gable), and Bardot brings us into the 60s.

The film has only nominal narration and is made up entirely of clips and stills. The films themselves aren't identified until the end credits, as are the "leading men". Considering when the documentary was made, it is quite good as a brief overview of the subject.