Ten essential silents

March 24, 2007 By urbanora in General 5 Comments

Kevin Brownlow’s “Silents Please” article, published today in The Times, concludes with a list of “ten essential silents” (with his comments):

The Birth of a Nation, 1915 The most influential and controversial of all silents

Broken Blossoms, 1919 Poetry on the screen

The Phantom of the Opera, 1925 Inspired hokum

Variety, 1926 Dazzling sex drama set among trapeze artists

Flesh and the Devil, 1927 Garbo and Gilbert fell in love on this picture – and it shows

Metropolis, 1927 The silliest great film yet made

Napoléon, 1927 The most technically innovative film yet made

Sunrise, 1927 Masterly use of the camera

The Crowd, 1928 A young couple’s fight against poverty

The Wind, 1928 Lillian Gish enduring relentless Texan storms

Those are Kevin’s choices. These are mine:

Satan’s Merry Frolics (Les Quatres Cents Farces du Diable), 1906 Georges Melies’ most dazzling trick film

A Corner in Wheat, 1909 D.W. Griffith’s finest

The Battle of the Somme, 1916 The pity of war

The Rink, 1916 Charlie Chaplin, poetry in motion

Our Hospitality, 1923 Buster Keaton in sweetly nostalgic mood

An Italian Straw Hat (Un Chapeau de Paille d’Italie), 1927 The funniest silent of them all

Hindle Wakes, 1927 Stunning slice of Northern life

The Manxman, 1929 Underrated Hitchcock, technically flawless

Umarete Wa Mita Keredo… (I was Born But…), 1932 Ozu’s wry, sympathetic view of childhood

Tianming (Daybreak), 1933 Chinese emotional masterpiece

Brownlow and the Kelly Gang

March 24, 2007 By urbanora in Events, Festivals, General

There’s a fine article by Kevin Brownlow in today’s edition of The Times, on silent films. It’s called ‘Silents Please‘ and it’s a distillation of Brownlow’s thoughts and feelings about the pre-eminent entertainment medium that is silent film. It focuses more on the technical innovations than the stars, and it is a great piece for waving in front of sceptics to show they why silent films matter. It should certainly make a convert or two.

The piece has been written to coincide with the Silent Film and Live Music series running at the Barbican in London, which today is screening the surviving footage (some 20 minutes) of the world’s first fiction feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), made in Australia, with live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney. Also showing is The Life of John Lee: The Man They Could Not Hang (Australia 1921).

How to Run a Picture Theatre – part 2

March 16, 2007 By urbanora in Cinemas, General

More from How to Run a Picture Theatre, the guide to setting up your own cinema, published in 1910 [correction – probably 1912]. Having chosen our site, we now have to consider the building:

The Building and its Fittings. If your venture is to be a “converted” building, either shop premises, a public hall, or a chapel, make certain that the alterations planned are practicable before you sign a lease …

… In the early days of the picture theatre, the mistake was frequently made by those who should have known better, of thinking that anything was good enough for such a place, with the result that ofttimes endless expense had to be incurred after it was opened, to the dislocation of business and irreparable financial loss to the proprietors.

Strange to say, from the very start a certain type of construction has been adopted and has been followed by nearly everyone; a white exterior, a long hall with very little light, bad ventilation and no gallery, a waste of space for a lobby, open to the winds and decorated with a profusion of plaster reliefs and white and gold paints.

The “converted” is now almost a thing of the past. The successful picture theatre of to-day must not only be especially arranged for the purpose, but it must present as pleasing an architectural and decorative aspect as it is possible to make …

Silent film blogs

March 4, 2007 By urbanora in General

What silent film blogs are there out there? I’ve not been able to find many specifically devoted to the subject. Here they are:

Cartoons on Films (http://cartoonsonfilm.blogspot.com) (mostly silent animation)

Ferdinand von Galizien (http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com) (silent film reviews, warmly recommended)

Louise Brooks (http://louisebrooks.livejournal.com) (anything and everything on the 1920s screen icon)

The Silent Majority (http://silentmajority.tribe.net) (directory of discussion lists)

And one for screen entertainments of an earlier age:

The Magic Lantern Show (http://magiclanternshows.blogspot.com)

Surely there must be more. Any suggestions?

New section added

March 4, 2007 By urbanora in General

The Bioscope is one month old today, and I have now added a new section, Lists. This will contain filmographies and similar listings on early and silent cinema subjects. The first filmography put up is on the silent films of Alfred Hitchcock. Any ideas or contributions for this section will be very welcome.