Time for another modern silent, and my thanks to The Mysterious Ad)ri.an B(e;ta[m.a.x. (possibly not the name on his birth certificate) at Cahiers2Cinéma for alerting me to La Promenade Des Papillons, written and directed by Los Angeles filmmaker Josie Basford. Here’s how she describes it:
Lillian Lavender loves to stroll with her pet butterflies, greeting her neighbors all along the way. When Monsieur Dastard hatches a plan for Lillian’s demise, her walk takes a dark turn. What will happen to dear sweet Lillian and her butterflies?
So long as you don’t ask too many questions along the lines of, why would anyone go for a walk with butterflies, then this is a pleasing, quirky film, put together with some inventiveness and a good eye for pastiche. It also boasts a very enterprising score. Interestingly, the intertitles are in French (with English subtitles). It would be interesting to know what you think of it.
Badford has made at least one other silent pastiche, a very short comedy entitled The Freeloader, which you can view on YouTube.
The Bioscope 
Very charming! I note the heroine’s name is “Lillian” and the actress has done an excellent job of rendering “The Sickening Gish Flutter.” There is even an episode of Gish-esque bird-kissing (an unhygienic and frankly rather icky practice). I’m particularly enjoying the palm trees of…er…Gay Paree.
I do like the model birds (a little more hygienic than the kind preferred by Gish) and the surprise switch to cut-out models.