In 1915, Charlie Chaplin struck up a deal with the Essanay Film Company, a small film company based out of Chicago, IL with another location in California. Through Essanay, Chaplin directed and starred in 14 films in 1915 (there was at least one later film patched together by the studio of Chaplin outtakes during his … Continue reading Charlie Chaplin’s Essanay Shorts
Classic Film
Charlie Chaplin’s Keystone Shorts
In 1913, while on tour in the United States with a British comedy group (Fred Karno's comedy group), Charlie Chaplin accepted a contract to perform in a series of short silent films for Mark Sennett's Keystone film company in Los Angeles, California. Though the film company is now gone, the large warehouse remains standing and … Continue reading Charlie Chaplin’s Keystone Shorts
Cabiria
Cabiria (1914) Director: Giovanni Pastrone Martin Scorcese once said that the true seed of the epic film spring from Pastrone, rather than de Mille or Griffith. Pastrone freed the audience from the static single-shot scenes, thus allowing mobile cameras to take the audience along with the story. Cabiria is the great Italian epic, shot during the years … Continue reading Cabiria
Fantasmagorie
Fantasmagorie (1908) Director: Émile Cohl Fantasmagorie is a stream-of-consciousness, early silent cartoon film. The film uses stop motion techniques pioneered in America. It was produced for the Gaumont Company in France. The title of the film points to the fantasmograph, a 19th century device that predated modern film. Cohl drew the objects on hundreds of … Continue reading Fantasmagorie
L’Inferno
L'Inferno (1911) Director: Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan, Giuseppe De Liguoro "The Inferno" is an early silent Italian film portraying the first (and most important) part of Dante's "Divine Comedy". Spurred on by Italy's War with Libya (1911-1912), the hub for early epic films spawned a burgeoning Italian film industry (see also Cabiria which was released in … Continue reading L’Inferno
Vie et Passion du Christ
Vie et Passion du Christ (1903) Director: Ferdinand Zecca "The Life and Passion of Christ" is a French silent film by Ferdinand Zecca. It succinctly tells the familiar Biblical story of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It lasts slightly longer than 40 minutes. It has been called one of the first feature length … Continue reading Vie et Passion du Christ
The Peloponnesian War, Book VI: Sicily, Alcibiades, and the Hermae
Book VI begins with the Athenians voting to attack Sicily, despite their ignorance of the size of the island and despite Nicias pleas to the Athenians not to invade. Thucydides gives an intriguing overview of the history of the peoples of Sicily, including a settlement of escaped Trojans after the sack of Ilium. He goes … Continue reading The Peloponnesian War, Book VI: Sicily, Alcibiades, and the Hermae
The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots
The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots (1895) Director: Alfred Clark The film is sometimes called "The Execution of Mary Stuart" (1895) and it is the earliest surviving film using special effects, notably the 'stop trick.' It lasts about 18 seconds and was produced by Thomas Edison. A male Shakespearean actor wound up playing Mary being led to … Continue reading The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots
L’Arroseur Arrosé
L'Arroseur Arrosé (1895) Director: Louis Lumière Also called the "The Sprinkler Sprinkled" in English, L'Arroseur Arrosé is a short (45 second) silent film by Louis Lumière. As with many early silent films it bore many different names. IT was screened in 1895. It is quick gag-film in which a young boy plays a prank on … Continue reading L’Arroseur Arrosé
Georges Méliès Short Films (1896-1912)
I recently (re)watched several early and classic Georges Méliès films. These pictures are incredibly ingenious for the time - the cutting room floor plays a key role in the development of each of these films as we see Méliès's chaotic and imaginative world filled with magic and intrigue. His world is often chaotic and scrambled with characters … Continue reading Georges Méliès Short Films (1896-1912)
