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
film
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)
Dickson Experimental Sound Film
Dickson Experimental Sound Film (1894-1895) Director: William Kennedy Laurie Dickson This early experiment in synchronizing sound and film was shot at Thomas Edison's studio in West Orange, New Jersey, sometimes called the "Black Maria". It was a test of Edison's "Kinetophone" project. The wax recording of the sound (as seen in the film) was believed … Continue reading Dickson Experimental Sound Film
Coeur fidèle
Coeur fidèle (Faithful Heart) (1923) Director: Jean Epstein Coeur fidèle is a beautiful and slow-moving French Impressionist film. Jean Epstein once said: its purpose was "to win the confidence of those, still so numerous, who believe that only the lowest melodrama can interest the public... to create a melodrama so stripped of all the conventions ordinarily … Continue reading Coeur fidèle
3 Bad Men
3 Bad Men (1926) Director: John Ford Early cinema was filled with the Western archetype and its accompanying tropes: trains, cowboys, stagecoaches, Indians, covered wagons, and so on. Audiences were enthralled by the American pioneering spirit. However, by the late 1920s and early 1930s, Western films had become a box office dud. John Ford, the … Continue reading 3 Bad Men
Octyabr
Octyabr (1927) Director: Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov In English the film is called "October: Ten Days That Shook the World". The addition of the 'ten days that shook the world' was only part of the release in English for the popular John Reed book of the same name. He was an American Soviet sympathizer who … Continue reading Octyabr
The Kid Brother
The Kid Brother (1927) Director: Ted Wilde (though there were several directors) The Kid Brother is another fun movie from Harold Lloyd. The film is the story of the Hickory family, a respected rural family with three sons of the local sheriff. The two older brothers do not respect the youngest (Harold) for his weakness. A traveling … Continue reading The Kid Brother
La Chienne
La Chienne (1931) Director: Jean Renoir La Chienne (sometimes called "The Bitch") is the second sound film of the great Jean Renoir's career, son of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It was later remade by Fritz Lang as Scarlet Street in 1945. Michel Simon, the lead actor, is best remembered for his roles in other films: Boudu Saved From Drowning and L'Atalante by Jean Vigo. … Continue reading La Chienne
The Freshman
The Freshman (1925) Director: Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor The Freshman is the original college satire film. It was Harold Lloyd's second big hit comedy film after Safety Last! in 1923. The film was shot at a variety of California college campuses, including USC and the sports teams at the close of the film were actually Stanford and UC … Continue reading The Freshman
In Old Arizona
In Old Arizona (1928) Director: Irving Cummings Nominated for Best Picture, this film was based on the story Caballero's Way by O. Henry. It was first "talkie" western film. Its many filming locations included Zion National Park in Utah, Mission San Juan Capistrano, and the Mojave Desert. It tells the story of the Cisco Kid, … Continue reading In Old Arizona
