Who are you? (Formal introductions)

[Harlett O'Dowd]

[Rob Farr]

Caroline doesn't say whether she is from S. Jersey or N. Jersey, but there may be a proponderance of S. Jerseyites in this group because we had precious few opportunities to watch silent film back in the day. The only example I can think of were the Chaplin feature re-releases in the mid-70s at the Boyd in Philly.
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Rob Farr
www.slapsticon.org

[rudyfan]

[florodoragirl]

Hi Rob,

Well I am actually from Somerset County in Central NJ, but there were not many opportunities to watch silent film there either. Thankfully there was a great video store one town over that carried a lot of silent titles on VHS.

I do have to gve credit to Tom Valasek, my Film professor at RVCC, for showing me "The Birth of a Nation" and how to appreciate the art of pantomine acting.
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Caroline

"They took the idols and smashed them, the Fairbankses, the Gilberts, the Valentinos! And who've we got now? Some nobodies!" -Norma Desmond

[Harlett O'Dowd]

[Ned Thanhouser]

Hi...I'm Ned Thanhouser and I'm new to NitrateVille...but I see many of my friends who have been loyal fans of the Thanhouser film enterprise and the work I've been doing to preserve the Thanhouser legacy and making surviving films available on DVD. You can read about the Thanhouser history and see which films are available by visiting http://www.thanhouser.org and keep posted on activities and events if you are on Facebook by becoming a fan at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thanhouser-Company-Film-Preservation-Inc/47411997092 I will log on regularly and check for posts...you can always reach me thru the Thanhouser web site via the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of each page.
Ned

[Darren Nemeth]

Welcome to Nitrateville town!
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Darren Nemeth
Batboat blog!
http://batboat.blogspot.com

[Eric Cohen]

In 1962, at age 8, I seemed to know who Charlie Chaplin was but hadn't seen him in a movie. At a small county fair, with the guess-your-weight guy and the cheap rides and the cotton candy, was a field house with a chalkboard out front announcing Chaplin shorts in the attic for 50 cents. After much pleading I got to go. They showed Dough and Dynamite. I thought it was the most brilliant thing I had ever seen.

4 years later, at a summer film festival, I saw my first Keaton, a Blackhawk print of The Paleface. I thought that was the most brilliant thing I had ever seen. Soon I was spending every paper route-earned dime on Blackhawk films, each month awaiting the new catalog with those sales. I wrote them asking about The Paleface. They replied simply that it had to be withdrawn. It was over 30 years before I saw it again.

4 years later, after high school classes, I went daily to a university campus to sit in on film course screenings. It was a different time and nobody cared. Squatting on a cold concrete floor in a basement classroom, I saw Sunrise. No movie I've seen since has really topped that experience.

5 years later, not college material, I'm working in Columbus, Ohio and Cinecon comes to town. I remember seeing Mr. Wu at 16 fps. Cinecons certainly have improved.

[Mazamette]

Hi! I'm Cody Kinski, a film-lovin' jamoke from the urban wastelands of Rhode Island.

I grew up in the sixties in one of the old mill towns of Connecticut, mine in particular still being mired in the 19th century. Early on, I started collecting cylinder phonographs, early Victrolas and their records from yard sales and junk shops. I learned a lot of popular songs from the early part of the 20th century, dug the pop culture of those years, and that led to a fascination with old movies, aided and abetted mostly by Hal Stanton's old-movie TV presentations on a channel out of Springfield, Mass.

In my very early twenties, I lived in Hartford, where some very cool cats named Howard, and Roger, and Jeanine often brought 16mm prints of old films to show at gatherings at my friend Henry's apartment. It must have taken considerable patience on their part, but they taught this dumb kid how to look at Sirk, Borzage, Hawks, and many more.

A little later I lived in Cambridge, Mass. during the glory days of film revival in the seventies, with access to the great programming at the Brattle Theatre, the Harvard Film Archive, the Orson Welles Cinema, and Rev. Ed Marks's Sunday night showings of 16mm prints in the sanctuary of the Harvard-Epworth Church. Incredible times -- I'd often spend a whole day migrating from venue to venue, sucking up filmic images like a Hoover eats dust.

I never fully crossed the imaginary "boundary" between sound films and silents until a couple of years ago. That strange, irrational fear of non-talking pictures, I guess. Since I busted through it, I've found that I love silents so much that they're about all I watch anymore.

I've been lurking in the shadows of Nitrateville for some time, and I learn a lot from its intrepid denizens. I still have barely scratched the surface of what there is to know about silents, so I'm sure that whatever contribution I make to the site will be more in the form of questions than answers. I hope they'll be welcome, though I don't know what they'll be just yet, as I can't imagine a better place to ask questions about early films and their production.

[Mazamette]

[Edited to remove what was my apology for posting my introduction in the wrong place. Thanks for moving it to the proper location!]

[bobfells]

I'm a lifelong old movie buff and starting watch films on TV when I was about 8 in the late 1950s. Ironically, many of those films I saw back then can be seen in better shape today thanks to the wonders of digital restoration and better lab work. I began collecting in 8mm in high school (viva Blackhawk Films!) and in college upgraded to 16mm. I started a film club in college and launched it by showing my own films. During that time I became acquainted with the films of George Arliss and read his two witty autobios. I also wondered why nobody was writing about him.

Moving from NY, my wife and I settled in Virginia where I went to law school but still ran a film series at the local county public library. My day job is in the legal profession but my avocation has always been with vintage films. By the time 2000 rolled around I realized that if anybody was going to write a book about George Arliss, I guess by default it was going to be me. My claim to fame is GEORGE ARLISS: THE MAN WHO PLAYED GOD published in 2004 by Scarecrow Press.

Through the years I was lucky to get to know Wm K. Everson and James Card, and met Gloria Swanson and Esther Ralston. But basically I'm just a fan and I am very grateful to the archivists on this Board and elsewhere who have not only done so much to preserve silent films and early talkies, but have managed to get many of them back into circulation via dvd so people like me can watch them and collect them. Thanks very much!!
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Official Biographer of Mr. Arliss
"I eat nothing I can pat." George Arliss

[Dave Peterzell]

I'm Dave Peterzell. I'm a psychologist and neuroscientist working at UC-San Diego, SDSU, and the VA Hospital.

I'm currently interested in finding more about
1) Early silent films (Flying A / Allen Dwan, other studios) in La Mesa and the greater San Diego area. (I just joined a group of historians and enthusiasts who are interested in commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Flying A's arrival in Lakeside and La Mesa). I'm very excited to see that Bob Birchard and Dana Driskel post here!

2) Anna Q Nilsson. I met her when I was maybe 5 or 6 years old. My parents knew her, and we visited her at her home in Sun City. I recently uncovered the work of Per Sjöberg, and figured he might be interested in my parents' recollections (and he is...). He has a book about her coming out at the end of the year!

Other info:

1) I grew up in West Los Angeles, with Hollywood types all around and the old crumbling studio lots to the south, in Culver City.

2) In the 1970s at Harvard prep school (snooty but high quality private school in North Hollywood, now Harvard-Westlake), they actually offered (I actually took) courses on film (taught by Philip DiFranco), and on film aesthetics/film history (taught by Jeanne Grandilli). The latter course featured plenty of silent films and we had several textbooks on silent films. The one I have still (surprise, surprise) is "Parades Gone By." Others were books (as I recall) on films in the 20s and 30s.

3) When I was in college in the 1980s, I had a job at the UC Berkeley Extension Media Center. It was a brutal job (lots of splicing/repairing of broken film, all in a dreary basement). But one great thing about the job is that they had perhaps a hundred silent films (mostly Blackhawk variety), and I watched most of them!

I haven't thought much about silent films for many years, and now it seems I'm rediscovering an old friend. I'm looking forward to participating here.
Well, that's all for now.
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Researching
1) History of silent films in La Mesa and Lakeside
2) Anna Q Nilsson

[Sisterluke]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I found this site today when looking for some forums specific to Mary Pickford fans. Unfortunately I didnt find any but this interesting silent film forum looks pretty awesome.

I've know about silent cinema and Pickford for a few years however didn't really know either until just recently.

Discovered Pickford in a film titled My Best Girl, however didn't actually fall in love with her until I saw one of her earlier films titled Daddy Long Legs. Then before I knew it, I was reading and learning and watching everything I can get on her. I'm still not over my Pickford obsession yet, it started about 2 months ago so perhaps it could last a while LOL

Anyway, I'm from Los Angeles,CA and I'm 25 years old. Love also Marion Davies, Zasu Pitts,Chaplin,Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo, and of course Lillian Gish and the woman in Passion of Joan of Arc

[Chuck W]

I also wanted to introduce myself as a new member; granted, I've been lurking for ages now, but I figured it might be a wise plan to be a little more sociable and make my first post. And since this is the official "introduce yourself" post, I figured this was as good a place as any.

So, um, hello everyone! Glad I (finally) have some folks to discuss silent and classic film with (none of my friends or colleagues IRL have even a passing interest). Like the previous posters, I'm glad to be here.

I would provide some more info about myself, but I'm drawing a blank--so, um, yeah.

[westegg]

I've been here awhile but not sure if I ever introduced myself. Suffice to say that since the early '60s I've been totally absorbed in early cinema, early musicals, early everything. I never met any old timers (though years later I found out that when a child I was in close proximity to Constance Bennett at a political rally, shortly before she died). Mostly I watch and listen to whatever I can; I'm a great fan of the Vitaphone shorts, Betty Boop, oldtime comedy teams, early musicals etc. My ideal time machine visit would be Times Square circa 1925.

I also have a bit of an obsession to learn of whatever missing/lost/hidden silent movies resurface; I'm sure there's a lot of stuff still out there we can only hope to recover before it's truly too late.

This is a very valuable site.

[Wm. Charles Morrow]

I've been reading this site for at least a year, probably longer, but finally registered a week ago. This is a great site, very informative!

I've been a film buff since the early '60s, i.e. right out of the cradle. I was a Laurel & Hardy fan before I could even read, before I realized that those movies were made long, long ago. (Though I guess I noticed that the clothes and the cars looked a little odd.)

Like other folk at NitrateVille I acquired a projector in the pre-video days and used to collect films from the wonderful, mysterious folks of the Eastin-Phelan Corporation in Davenport, Iowa. When a new Blackhawk Bulletin would arrive in the mail every month it felt like Christmas . . .

I moved to NYC in 1981 and used to haunt the Regency, the Thalia (the old one with sticky floors), Theatre 80 St. Mark's, the Bleecker Street Cinema, the Metro, the Biograph, and other such places. Nowadays it's down to Film Forum, MoMA, and the Silent Clowns shows, not that I'm complaining. And in the days before IMDb and other internet sites I would pore over film reference books: Maltin, Halliwell, Quinlan's, issues of Film Fan Monthly, etc. I still consult them, but it's great to be able to connect with other buffs via sites like this one.

[pathe16mm]

Just wanted to introduce myself to the group. I used to frequent alt.movies.silent years ago. Came across this place recently and am pleased to find a great amount of activity and many familiar posters from alt.movies.silent. Look forward to learning and sharing with you all.

Cheers!

[Darren Nemeth]

[Misanthropic_Flapper]

Hiya there!

My name is Déborah Natanson, I'm 28, French, and living in beautiful Edinburgh, Scotland. I've recently finished a PhD in Classics (about the human condition in Homer's Iliad, If you need to know!) and am know half-heartedly looking for a proper real-world job.

I'm a very recent convert to silent films (it's been less that 2 years, though I've been watching classic films since I was a kid) and I've been lurking here for a while, in awe of the incredible amount of knowledge you can find! I'll try very hard not to lower the tone too much...

My favourites are Valentino, Swanson, Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, Norma Shearer and as for directors, I love Lang, Murnau, von Stroheim as well as the DeMille sex comedies. I also love precode films, Noir stuff (huge fan of Bogart) and I'm embarrassingly obsessed with Orson Welles.

I have a very spoiled cat called Mia.

Déborah x
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"We know a remote farm in Lincolnshire, where Mrs. Buckley lives; every July, peas grow there..."

[Mike Gebert]

Welcome!

If you're obsessed with Welles, be sure to check out the recent posts at one of my favorite blogs (from whom I steal masthead images regularly), Greenbriar Picture Shows. There are two, here and here.
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"Why, everybody at NitrateVille is pixillated— except us."

[rudyfan]

[Misanthropic_Flapper]

Thanks for the welcome and the links!

Mia is absolutely adorable, and she knows it, the bitch...

Déborah
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"We know a remote farm in Lincolnshire, where Mrs. Buckley lives; every July, peas grow there..."

[mmandarano]

Guess I'll make my formal introduction on this thread. My name is Matthew Mandarano, I'm 26 and I live in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I've been a huge cinephile for as long as I can remember. I think a lot of my interest stemmed from watching movies with my dad (who is 92) and grandfather, many being early Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Keaton, etc. So, silent films and classics hold a close place in my heart and it's fun to talk to my dad about some of the early films he actually got to see in theatre at release like Chaplin's "The Gold Rush"!!! I went to college for film and currently work as a freelance cinematographer, as well as holding a full-time position as the resident Director of Photography on a media team for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where I shoot a lot of educational and marketing content for the Office of Online Learning and the university at large. In addition, when I had the time, I volunteered a good deal of hours at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Film Archive, which is one of the largest in the country. In my spare time, I write articles on films, filmmakers and film theory. I hope to pursue a PhD in Cinema Studies next fall and eventually teach at the college level. My research interests are Silent Film (emphasis on the 1920s), Early Comedy, Italian Neorealism, American Cinema of the 1960s and 1970s and the Evolution of Cinematography as an intrinsic psychological storytelling tool through utilization and analysis of composition, light, shadow, color and movement, as opposed to a mere motivation of environment, place and period.

[sc1957]

Hello. I decided that if I'm going to read posts here, I might as well sign in so I can post naive questions. I'm in no way an expert on films of any kind -- I just know what I like.

I live out in the sticks in Ohio.

The first silent feature I remember seeing (other than snippets of Chaplin, Keaton, etc.) was Gance's Napoleon when it was making the rounds of theaters back in the 80's. I remember being amazed by the triptychs and by the length of the film. And then there was the 80's Moroder Metropolis... I had posters of both films.

But really I'm just getting started. I'm exploring the more well-known films, and hope to learn about others. I've found publishers like Flicker Alley, Milestone, and Kino. I'm reading books and looking for Web sites. I just watched The Holy Mountain and The White Hell of Pitz Palu. Good movies for a hot, muggy day.

In a couple weeks, I'm looking forward to seeing Metropolis on the big screen in Columbus.

Here's a question... The silent film books I have are from the 60's (Brownlow) and 70's (Everson). Have any good overviews of the silent era been published more recently?
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Scott Cameron

[westegg]

sc1957, try the 2008 book, SILENT MOVIES by Peter Kobel and the Library of Congress.

[brook]

Although I've been here awhile, I'm finally getting around to introducing myself. Raised and living in Illinois, I've loved older and silent movies for years. I discovered silent movies via a book in my junior high school library more years ago than I'd like to admit. I've been hooked ever since. I love Buster Keaton.

I also collect older juvenile series books and follow baseball, among other interests. My teams are the Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals.
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Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?-The Brain

[Shorty]

Birthplace; Long Branch NJ - Child Actor, Film Collector since about 1962 (along with comics, monster kits and such), all started with teh pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland and TV - !6mm, then 8mm to date - Call me Shorty, specializing in the selected short subject - Have over 1000 - Yes, I have a want-list - jvcaruso1@verizon.net

[didi-5]

Hello everyone

I live in London, UK, and have been interested in silent films since the days of the Thames Silents on Uk television. In no way an expert but try to watch several silent films every year. Favourites include the usual suspects (Metropolis, Nosferatu, Dr Caligari, Faust, Chaplin, Lloyd, Keaton) plus anything I can find with Ivor Novello or Wallace Reid.

Happy to have found this forum and will pitch in now and then.

-d-

[Jason Liller]

My name is Jason Liller and I was a lurker and an occasional contributor at AMS. My interest in the silent period goes back to my middle school days when I discovered ruins in the wooded section of a nearby county park. A trip to the library revealed that the ruins were the remains of a trolley park* that had closed in 1923. It was haunting to see photographs of families on outings on hot summer days, their children riding the carousel where now only concrete abutments remained.

This discovery led to a fascination with early 20th century culture which continues to this day. I initially viewed silent films primarily as an archeological or sociological resource: just one more way to understand the world of that time. They're certainly valuable in this capacity, but it wasn't long before I learned to appreciate them for what they really are: entertainment and, sometimes, art.

I have an interest in any and all silent film with specific focus on Mary Pickford, DW Griffith, and early actualities. (For a while I was purchasing every silent DVD as they came out. The quickening pace of releases put a stop to that. Has there ever been a better time to be a classic film fan?)

I'm married with a nine year old daughter who loves to perplex her teachers and friends with beguiling descriptions of movies that none of them have ever seen (her ballet instructor once asked, "Who is this fuzz-faced phantom?" It seems my daughter had been talking up the virtues of Charley Bowers' THERE IT IS!) I currently work for a small publishing house in central Pennsylvania where I've been unsuccessful in my efforts to goad my coworkers into building a time machine. Oh well.

Oh, and I'm the guy who, over at AMS, thought that Dwight Frippery was funny. I wonder if he's still poking around in Stanley Kubrick's secret Turkish vault for that lost copy of CHIMPS AHOY.

Well, enough about me. Thanks to all AMS / NitrateVille contributors! What I've learned from you over the years is beyond measure.

--Jason Liller

Blog: TheCenturyBook.WordPress.com
Twitter: TheCenturyBook

*The trolley park was Brandywine Springs Park in Wilmington, Delaware. TURNING THE TABLES, included in Kino's "Edison: The Invention of the Movies" DVD set, was shot by Alfred C. Abadie for N. Dushane Cloward who ran the moving picture theater at this park.

[Harlett O'Dowd]