NitrateVille.com

Just a note that the final update to The Silent Movie Blog has been posted.

Thanks to all who stopped by over the past three years!

Thanks not only for an always interesting read, but for the kind words about NitrateVille at the end, Chris.

One of my all-time favorite blogs. Was there any particular reason why you'd ending it, Chris, or is it just "time?"

Jack Theakston wrote:One of my all-time favorite blogs. Was there any particular reason why you'd ending it, Chris, or is it just "time?"

Thanks, Jack! It's mostly just time to concentrate on other things--- things that have been exiled to the back burner for too long.

Well Chris, it's been fun. I'll miss the blog but wish you well and go forth to better and bigger projects.

Thanks for the last 3 years of fun, time flies!

Chris,

Boy, I hate to see the blog go away. I hope those other things that are on the back burner you are getting to include future silent comedy releases from Unknown Video.

Gee, what am i going to do now when i need to procrastinate?

greta

Great stuff. I'm not exactly sure what the real story is on THE GOLD RUSH? It must have made money but where??? I had read before that it flopped allot of places. Especially, in the smaller markets. Certainly not a hit anywhere near on the scale of THE BIG PARADE or apparently even THE KEEPER OF THE BEE'S? I find it hard to believe that it out-grossed THE FRESHMAN or LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY either, among others. And Syd's THE BETTER 'OLE in 1926 seems to have been more popular than THE GOLD RUSH was as well. Brother Trumps, The Tramp! Ouch! Why is Syd's career almost completely forgotten?

So do good prints of CHARLIE'S AUNT exist? All I have seen is a lackluster old Grapevine VHS. Apparently, THE MAN ON THE BOX must not be a lost film, or you most likely would have said so? Correct? Was it a Warner Brothers picture? Has anyone seen it? Sorry to see the blog end. Please reconsider after a short hiatus? The photo of Tiny Mary and the Worlds tallest man is extraordinary! Call him "Skyscraper Rob"! Lo!

Thanks for all the kind words, everybody!

Gagman 66 wrote: Great stuff. I'm not exactly sure what the real story is on THE GOLD RUSH? It must have made money but where??? I had read before that it flopped allot of places. Especially, in the smaller markets. Certainly not a hit anywhere near on the scale of THE BIG PARADE or apparently even THE KEEPER OF THE BEE'S?

The Gold Rush definitely made money, a lot of money, especially in the big cities. There's a reference in McCann's book The First Tycoons that The Gold Rush set an opening-week box-office record for its exclusive New York engagement. My creaky memory says the gross was something like $57,000 for just that one week, which is an insanely successful figure for that era. The major reviewers were enthusiastic, and the film played for long runs in a number of prime theaters.

What you see in the Exhibitors Herald reports that I reproduced in my blog are largely from the smaller theaters. The consensus I see is that the exhibitors had to pay a premium to rent the film, and the crowds were often very good, but that many of those customers were disappointed with it. This boils down to big box-office for Chaplin, but too many frowns for the exhibitors.

Audiences were getting their first look at the new (and not necessarily improved) Little Tramp, a somewhat melancholy, lonely outsider who was no longer the mischievous, energetic rascal of old. The exhibitor reviews tell me that the customers in middle America weren't happy with the transformation, but that's just my guess.

Gagman 66 wrote:Brother Trumps, The Tramp! Ouch! Why is Syd's career almost completely forgotten?

So do good prints of CHARLIE'S AUNT exist? All I have seen is a lackluster old Grapevine VHS. Apparently, THE MAN ON THE BOX must not be a lost film, or you most likely would have said so? Correct?

I don't know about The Man on the Box. Charley's Aunt circulates in very nice prints; I had one myself.

I think the gal that started up the Syd Chaplin website is researching his life. That's great news, because he was a much better comedian (and more successful) than he gets credit for. There may not be a lot of under-appreciated silent comedians left to discover, but Syd Chaplin qualifies.

His 1920s features for Warners were hits, but he suddenly pulled up stakes and left the country at the dawn of sound. I don't really know why, apart from a very provocative rumor I heard from a usually-reliable source. I have zero documentation for it, so I'll keep it to myself.

How old was she??

I saw The Man on The Box a few years ago at Niles and really enjoyed it. Syd was a really talented and versatile comedian, but i don't think he ever established a consistent comic persona. He just could do whatever you threw at him. I first saw him in The Better 'Ole, which i expected to hate but quite enjoyed. I thought Syd was a frumpy middle aged guy and was shocked when i saw him in Charlie's Aunt. And nobody does drag better than Syd.

greta

Thanks Chris, for all the wonderful blog postings. I wish someone could talk you out of retiring, but I'm grateful for what you shared with us.

Harlett O'Dowd wrote:Thanks Chris, for all the wonderful blog postings. I wish someone could talk you out of retiring, but I'm grateful for what you shared with us.

Yeah, he's made his fortune out of the blog, now let him retire to his palatial mansion in peace!

Jim

It's sad to see the excellent Silent Movie Blog end. It was witty and informative and didn't really have a rival. But what has happened to the archive? The blog ran for three years, but the present version only has archives going back to July 2010. If we publish blogs, don't we want to keep the information out there forever - or for at least as long as Wordpress survives?

urbanora wrote:If we publish blogs, don't we want to keep the information out there forever - or for at least as long as Wordpress survives?

Depends on the blog, Luke. But we definitely want Chris's archives!

Frederica wrote:Depends on the blog, Luke. But we definitely want Chris's archives!

I'll second that!

Chris Snowden wrote:I think the gal that started up the Syd Chaplin website is researching his life. That's great news, because he was a much better comedian (and more successful) than he gets credit for. There may not be a lot of under-appreciated silent comedians left to discover, but Syd Chaplin qualifies.

His 1920s features for Warners were hits, but he suddenly pulled up stakes and left the country at the dawn of sound. I don't really know why, apart from a very provocative rumor I heard from a usually-reliable source. I have zero documentation for it, so I'll keep it to myself.

If anyone wants some quick and dirty Syd Chaplin background, and plausible theory of why he disappeared, listen to David Kalat's excellent commentary for A SUBMARINE PIRATE on American Slapstick Vol. 1.

And if anyone wants that well researched book on his life.....
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Syd-Chaplin-Bio ... 089&sr=8-1

Gagman 66 wrote:So do good prints of CHARLIE'S AUNT exist? All I have seen is a lackluster old Grapevine VHS.

A good print of CHARLEY'S AUNT is included in American Slapstick Vol. 2, transferred from material provided by David Shepard and David Kalat, but the transfer is oddly pixellated-looking. Not sure what happened with that. I haven't seen the Grapevine VHS.

Speedy,

I dream of seeing THE PERFECT FLAPPER (1924) because it not only Stars Colleen Moore, but her both Syd Chaplin, and Phyllis Haver. Part of the film survives, but I don't know how much of it. I doubt that it is even close to complete. But maybe there are nore elements in the Gosfilmofond Russian Archive. Personally, I would herald this as big a find as if it were FLAMING YOUTH. Disappointed that it has been several months, and no new details have emerged of the 200 American Silents that are said to be in that Collection.