What's The Last Silent Movie You Watched? [2014-15]

[Mike Gebert]

This is the first time I had seen either Earle Foxe or Victor McLaglen. Foxe made an excellent most weasley villain. I liked the little smirk he would get on his face when contemplating something evil. His character reminds me somewhat of Raymond Hatton as John Tremble in The Whispering Chorus, both in appearance and behavior.

And later he was the head of a boys' school in real life! Imagine being called into THAT office.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

Another nice thing about YT and other sites is the presence of quite a lot of the 'avant-garde' shorts made in France and other countries, which were at one time difficult to see outside of film societies and theatres. NOGENT, ELDORADO DU DIMANCHE (1929) was, I think Marcel Carne's first film, and until recently I had no idea it had survived, though this copy was from 1968. Yet another of those 'city' films, this has a thin storyline (if one can call it that) on which to hang a series of images of (to quote another film) people on Sunday. Brief and attractively shot, with no intertitles, but at least explaining for the uninitiated that Nogent actually is a place - what's called a commune in France. It's quite hard to give an idea of what the film is like. As with a lot of films of this genre (if that's the right term) best to say "Here it is - watch it if you like."

Along with this was the more celebrated MELIMONTANT (1926) - the title being a district of Paris. This one has more of a story, though I found it a little confusing at times. Two orphaned sisters (the parents are murdered at the start of the film) head to Paris. There they find work, and also (they think) love. Betrayal, disillusionment and pregnancy follow in a very stylishly shot piece of work, which until the plot gets under way is a very fast montage of impressions of the city and district. Several cats make appearances, but that is par for the course here. Have only just watched it so will need to allow a while for it to sink in, but an interesting experience nonetheless. I have seen another film by director Dimitri Kirsanoff, BRUMES D'AUTOMNE (1929), which I confess irritated me, though I think I watched it on the laptop only. He made quite a few films until his death in 1957, so will have to do some tracking down...

[Roscoe]

I saw SYNTHETIC SIN today at Film Forum, evidently the American premiere of a restoration of a Colleen Moore vehicle. Good fun from start to finish, even if it could have used a bit of tightening here and there -- the promising climactic comic situation takes a little too long to get going, I think.

It was my first experience with Ms. Moore, aside from some clips in assorted documentaries over the years. I"m now a fan, of course. I'll have to check out WHY BE GOOD?

[Jess McGrath]

I caught tonight's showing of SYNTHETIC SIN at Film Forum. Thought it was hilarious. I would dare say I enjoyed this one more than WHY BE GOOD?, and thought SIN was significantly funnier. Colleen Moore was just great.

They had piano accompaniment up through the final reel, where the Vitaphone disc survives. I wasn't too impressed with the Vitaphone score from that disc - lots of distracting sound effects. The live piano score was much better. I thought they handled the transition from the live piano to the disc very nicely.

Thanks again to everyone involved in the effort to bring this back to the screen - much appreciated!

[drednm]

Finally caught up with Johnny Hines in Burn 'em Up Barnes (1921), a comedy about a banker's son who is kidnapped, saved by hoboes, and then accused of kidnapping a baby ... and with a car race at the finish so all the story elements come together. Breezy Hines is a delight in this fast-moving comedy with some very funny intertitles (when you could read them). While the film was is decent shape, the titles were almost impossible to read.

[Wm. Charles Morrow]

Last week at Film Forum I enjoyed the second rediscovered & restored Colleen Moore vehicle, Synthetic Sin. Once again, the print looks fantastic. Miss Moore is quite funny throughout, and at times reminded me of Lucille Ball. (While watching I wondered if Lucy, who was in her late teens when this and Why Be Good? were released, was a fan.) I thought of Lucy especially during the early scenes, when our leading lady frantically tries to convince the handsome playwright (Antonio Moreno) that she’s a gifted actress. I loved the bit in the drawing room, when Colleen dresses in male drag and impersonates a “long hair” classical musician. The climactic sequence came as something of a surprise; I don’t want to give away any major plot points for those who haven’t seen it, but I will say that the finale is surprisingly dark for a comedy—there’s a shootout with actual fatalities—but the filmmakers managed to pull it off with finesse, without spoiling the mood.

[odinthor]

Heimkehr (1928), which is to say Homecoming, a most splendid German film with Gustav Fröhlich, Lars Hanson (incognito in the credits as Lars Hansen), and Dita Parlo; the version I saw had English-language titles. Lars Hanson, as always, completely inhabits his role; but as the role predominantly calls for anguish, Hanson doesn't have much opportunity to display the full range of which he was capable (and which we see in another of his 1928 movies, The Wind, perhaps his finest performance). Fröhlich is magnificent in a much more difficult and wide-ranging role, with many subtle touches in his characterization; and, in truth, this is his character's movie to make or break. Miss Parlo's part is even more straitened than that of Hanson; but there is a depth to her performance, and a humanity, which makes her unforgettable in this film. The direction (Joe May) and camera work (Konstantin Irmen-Tschet and Günther Rittau) are imaginative and often striking; cuts back and forth at certain points point up the ironies in the situation; and I'm sure a second viewing will reveal further sophisticated devices (a ship's propeller at the end recalled to me the view of a watch's inner workings which the audience had near the beginning). The story--war prisoners and a domestic drama--I'll leave to the movie to tell you; but this was a rare case of my very much wondering "OK, just how is this one going to work out?" as the plot thickened; and yet, at the end, it all comes together seamlessly, and one says, "Yes, of course." An enriching, touching, very satisfying movie.

[sepiatone]

"When A Man Loves" (1927), rousing score by Henry Hadley. The picture directed by Alan Crosland.


Also checked out a few reels of the 1926 "Manon Lescaut" on YT, which is based on the same Abbe Prevost story and has a young Marlene Dietrich.
(*there's a ton of silents on YT which is usually the case around Christmas season)

[entredeuxguerres]

"When A Man Loves" (1927), rousing score by Henry Hadley. The picture directed by Alan Crosland.

Notwithstanding the extreme liberties this picture takes with the Abbe's timeless tale, I LOVE this picture, thanks in considerable part to Hadley's great score.

Have to say that Dietrich is as far from my mental image of Manon as it's possible for me to imagine.

[greta de groat]

"When A Man Loves" (1927), rousing score by Henry Hadley. The picture directed by Alan Crosland.

Notwithstanding the extreme liberties this picture takes with the Abbe's timeless tale, I LOVE this picture, thanks in considerable part to Hadley's great score.

Have to say that Dietrich is as far from my mental image of Manon as it's possible for me to imagine.

Lya De Putti plays Manon, Dietrich is her nasty rival. I watched this recently but When a Man Loves is lots more fun!

greta

[oldposterho]

Went on a min-binge thanks to a YT bandit and watched the Brownlow/Gill Hollywood magnum opus for the first time since I saw it on PBS back in the day, (as the kids say). What an absolute treat especially now that I've taken a deeper dive into the subject.

I realize that a rights minefield probably makes a DVD of this extremely unlikely, but what I'd **really** like to see is a compilation of those interviews! A 'Hollywood' Oral History, if you will. What a gold mine of stories told by folks who were there, gotten at the last possible moment. Does anybody know if the unedited interviews are available at any institution? The BFI perhaps?

--Peter

[entredeuxguerres]

Went on a min-binge thanks to a YT bandit...
--Peter

A YT Robin Hood, I'd prefer to think.

[wich2]

Peter, I agree with your high opinion of HOLLYWOOD.

Dunno if the unexpurgated interviews are available; but there is the similar Mutual Radio series, MEMOIRS OF THE MOVIES.

-Craig

[Daveismyhero]

I finally broke my silentless streak last week and watched The Freshman (1925). That was my first Harold Lloyd film in quite some time, and I really enjoyed it. I think I'll bust out his jig the next time I meet someone new.

[odinthor]

The Constant Nymph (1928). The IMDB commenters on this film are enthusiastically favorable; and so I guess that I'm the odd man out in finding it tedious and manipulative (blatantly emotionally manipulative, as soap operas strive to be). Nevertheless, it's well acted, with Ivor Novello as a young composer trying to make his mark and Mabel Poulton as a free-spirited Tyrolean mountain girl, and has high production values with its Alpine scenes (filmed in Austria) and British sets and locations. Of miscellaneous interest will be that Elsa Lanchester makes an impression in a tiny role, and that Alma Reville assisted in the writing. This film will be to the taste of those who are deeply touched by the likes of the death of Little Nell in Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop, or, in film, the general ethos and outcome of, say, the 1931 Mata Hari; other heartless beasts such as myself will find their eye-rolling muscles to be in great need of extended convalescence after a viewing.

[sepiatone]

Terror Island (1920) with Houdini(the original), and Lila Lee on archive.org...absolutely impeccable print. It's not a serial, it's a feature film by Paramount.

[Michael O'Regan]

Sparrows(26) - 'twas OK, nothing great. Nice restoration by LoC.

Was the swamp footage location or studio?

[entredeuxguerres]

Herd them 'gators into a studio? Have my doubts about that.

It was abhorrent animal cruelty, by the way, to tease the poor hungry creatures with those succulent urchins & not let them have even one to play with.

[drednm]

The Constant Nymph (1928). The IMDB commenters on this film are enthusiastically favorable; and so I guess that I'm the odd man out in finding it tedious and manipulative (blatantly emotionally manipulative, as soap operas strive to be). Nevertheless, it's well acted, with Ivor Novello as a young composer trying to make his mark and Mabel Poulton as a free-spirited Tyrolean mountain girl, and has high production values with its Alpine scenes (filmed in Austria) and British sets and locations. Of miscellaneous interest will be that Elsa Lanchester makes an impression in a tiny role, and that Alma Reville assisted in the writing. This film will be to the taste of those who are deeply touched by the likes of the death of Little Nell in Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop, or, in film, the general ethos and outcome of, say, the 1931 Mata Hari; other heartless beasts such as myself will find their eye-rolling muscles to be in great need of extended convalescence after a viewing.

I guess I'm one you target. I thought it a beautiful production and very moving. What film isn't manipulative? Ivor Novello was fine and Mabel Poulton superb (my opinion) with an ending to match.

[R Michael Pyle]

The Constant Nymph (1928). The IMDB commenters on this film are enthusiastically favorable; and so I guess that I'm the odd man out in finding it tedious and manipulative (blatantly emotionally manipulative, as soap operas strive to be). Nevertheless, it's well acted, with Ivor Novello as a young composer trying to make his mark and Mabel Poulton as a free-spirited Tyrolean mountain girl, and has high production values with its Alpine scenes (filmed in Austria) and British sets and locations. Of miscellaneous interest will be that Elsa Lanchester makes an impression in a tiny role, and that Alma Reville assisted in the writing. This film will be to the taste of those who are deeply touched by the likes of the death of Little Nell in Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop, or, in film, the general ethos and outcome of, say, the 1931 Mata Hari; other heartless beasts such as myself will find their eye-rolling muscles to be in great need of extended convalescence after a viewing.

I guess I'm one you target. I thought it a beautiful production and very moving. What film isn't manipulative? Ivor Novello was fine and Mabel Poulton superb (my opinion) with an ending to match.

I'm there with you, Ed. I thought the film was fabulous. Of the three versions I have, that is definitely my favorite; then followed by the Brian Aherne version; then the version with Joan Fontaine. The last one's the famous one, but I liked it least - found it distant. I thought Novello gave one of his best performances in the silent. So many people criticize his acting, but the more I watch his films the more I enjoy them.

[odinthor]

The Constant Nymph (1928). The IMDB commenters on this film are enthusiastically favorable; and so I guess that I'm the odd man out in finding it tedious and manipulative (blatantly emotionally manipulative, as soap operas strive to be). Nevertheless, it's well acted, with Ivor Novello as a young composer trying to make his mark and Mabel Poulton as a free-spirited Tyrolean mountain girl, and has high production values with its Alpine scenes (filmed in Austria) and British sets and locations. Of miscellaneous interest will be that Elsa Lanchester makes an impression in a tiny role, and that Alma Reville assisted in the writing. This film will be to the taste of those who are deeply touched by the likes of the death of Little Nell in Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop, or, in film, the general ethos and outcome of, say, the 1931 Mata Hari; other heartless beasts such as myself will find their eye-rolling muscles to be in great need of extended convalescence after a viewing.

I guess I'm one you target. I thought it a beautiful production and very moving. What film isn't manipulative? Ivor Novello was fine and Mabel Poulton superb (my opinion) with an ending to match.

I'm there with you, Ed. I thought the film was fabulous. Of the three versions I have, that is definitely my favorite; then followed by the Brian Aherne version; then the version with Joan Fontaine. The last one's the famous one, but I liked it least - found it distant. I thought Novello gave one of his best performances in the silent. So many people criticize his acting, but the more I watch his films the more I enjoy them.

I like Novello very much, in fact, it was on the strength of his being in the film that I took in The Constant Nymph. I considered the acting in the film very fine, Novello's and everyone's; but, eh, I kept waiting for a reason to care about the fate of the people in the film, something that would justify the emotions the audience is being dragged through. I'm still waiting. We all have aspirations and disappointments, we all make mistakes and have times of anguish. We turn to the arts and entertainment for insights into these matters, or for a different take on them, not for just a rehearsal of them. On a brighter note:

Spring Fever (1927). William Haines, Joan Crawford. Some laughs, some touching moments, and being awash in golf was not too annoying. This is only the second film of Haines I've seen; his fine work in Show People prompted me to look further into his doings; and, to a lesser degree, he impressed me here too. Joan Crawford seemed especially empathetic, as well as especially beautiful, in this film. I blinked in surprise to see a face from Flesh and the Devil, George Fawcett (Pastor Voss in the earlier film), present; but I see that Fawcett has a solid record including some other very fine films. George K. Arthur appears in a secondary part, and will perhaps be recognized from his bit part in The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg. The film is well-written and witty, and indeed it plays with the audience. I especially liked the wedding-night black-out sequence. A good, unpretentious, light on its feet film. Did it give us "insights into these matters, or [...] a different take on them, not [...] just a rehearsal of them"? Yes--yes, I think so.

[entredeuxguerres]

Spring Fever (1927). William Haines, Joan Crawford. Some laughs, some touching moments, and being awash in golf was not too annoying. This is only the second film of Haines I've seen; his fine work in Show People prompted me to look further into his doings; and, to a lesser degree, he impressed me here too....

I like this picture quite a bit, & most of his others too, more or less, but as demonstration that he could, once in a while, step out of his sometimes wearisome "wild & crazy" manic persona, try Just a Gigolo, a particular favorite of mine.

Very much like Georgie K., who seldom garnered major parts, but in Lady of the Night scored a memorable one & made the very most out of it.

[sepiatone]

Midnight Faces (1926) directed by Bennett Cohen. I was just examining the lineup of haunted house/old dark house theme films in the order they were made in the silent days. This film by one Bennett Cohen is basically a rip-off of Griffith's own "One Exciting Night", itself a mish-mash of two Broadway plays "The Cat and the Canary" and "The Bat". The Only differences was a far less running time than DW's film and the usage of a real black man as butler/comedy-relief as opposed to Griffith's blackening up Porter Strong .

[drednm]

The Constant Nymph (1928). The IMDB commenters on this film are enthusiastically favorable; and so I guess that I'm the odd man out in finding it tedious and manipulative (blatantly emotionally manipulative, as soap operas strive to be). Nevertheless, it's well acted, with Ivor Novello as a young composer trying to make his mark and Mabel Poulton as a free-spirited Tyrolean mountain girl, and has high production values with its Alpine scenes (filmed in Austria) and British sets and locations. Of miscellaneous interest will be that Elsa Lanchester makes an impression in a tiny role, and that Alma Reville assisted in the writing. This film will be to the taste of those who are deeply touched by the likes of the death of Little Nell in Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop, or, in film, the general ethos and outcome of, say, the 1931 Mata Hari; other heartless beasts such as myself will find their eye-rolling muscles to be in great need of extended convalescence after a viewing.

I guess I'm one you target. I thought it a beautiful production and very moving. What film isn't manipulative? Ivor Novello was fine and Mabel Poulton superb (my opinion) with an ending to match.

I'm there with you, Ed. I thought the film was fabulous. Of the three versions I have, that is definitely my favorite; then followed by the Brian Aherne version; then the version with Joan Fontaine. The last one's the famous one, but I liked it least - found it distant. I thought Novello gave one of his best performances in the silent. So many people criticize his acting, but the more I watch his films the more I enjoy them.

I think Mabel Poulton would have a terrific reputation as a silent actress if more of her films were available. Her Cockney accent supposedly doomed her transition to talkies since it didn't mesh with her silent image, and her talkie debut in Taxi for Two (1929) was a bomb (I haven't seen it). Yet her supporting work in Escape!) in 1930 is quite good as is her work in Crown Vs Stevens in 1936. Poulton didn't get the chance to remake The Constant Nymph as a talkie thought the film makers used quite a few of the players from the silent in the talkie version. And in Victoria Hopper, they found an actress who very much resembled Mabel Poulton.

[CJBx7]

The Last Command (1928) and Seven Chances (1925).

The Last Command features the highly acclaimed Emil Jannings as a general in czarist Russia who, after the revolution, moves to the USA and ekes out a living as a movie extra in Hollywood. Most of the film is the backstory of his dealings with two revolutionaries, each played by William Powell and Evelyn Brent. Jannings was great, Powell was superb, and Evelyn Brent was Evelyn Brent. Well, I had seen her in Underworld and I thought she was ok, but she seems to scowl or glare a lot and didn't strike me as very expressive, and I had my concerns here, but she proved herself to me in the end. It did strike me as a little lengthy in spots, but overall it was very accomplished and powerful.

Seven Chances (1925) was funny. It struck me that the Chris O'Donnell film The Bachelor (1999) was a complete remake of the earlier Keaton flick, minus Buster Keaton and plus Chris O'Donnell I thought it was mildly amusing at first, then kind of funny later, then hilarious and stunningly inventive at the end. Could've done without the blackface schtick, of course, but I guess it comes with the territory sometimes...I'll take it over The Bachelor any day.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

The Last Command (1928) and Seven Chances (1925).

The Last Command features the highly acclaimed Emil Jannings as a general in czarist Russia who, after the revolution, moves to the USA and ekes out a living as a movie extra in Hollywood. Most of the film is the backstory of his dealings with two revolutionaries, each played by William Powell and Evelyn Brent. Jannings was great, Powell was superb, and Evelyn Brent was Evelyn Brent. Well, I had seen her in Underworld and I thought she was ok, but she seems to scowl or glare a lot and didn't strike me as very expressive, and I had my concerns here, but she proved herself to me in the end. It did strike me as a little lengthy in spots, but overall it was very accomplished and powerful.

Seven Chances (1925) was funny. It struck me that the Chris O'Donnell film The Bachelor (1999) was a complete remake of the earlier Keaton flick, minus Buster Keaton and plus Chris O'Donnell I thought it was mildly amusing at first, then kind of funny later, then hilarious and stunningly inventive at the end. Could've done without the blackface schtick, of course, but I guess it comes with the territory sometimes...I'll take it over The Bachelor any day.

Take it you mean when Keaton realises the woman he's been trailing is black. Had forgotten about this until my last viewing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand inter-racial marriage was illegal at the time, so Buster would've missed out on the millions...

[Mike Gebert]

Yeah, it's too bad that one gag is there in Seven Chances. All the blackface humor in Keaton's work otherwise seems to be in College, the part where he's working in the restaurant.

The Bachelor is in fact a remake of Seven Chances. Its WGA writing credits not only cite the original play, but also Jean Havez, Clyde Bruckman and Joseph A. Mitchell for the screenplay of the 1925 film. I think by the end Seven Chances is one of Keaton's best films, but it definitely has a lightweight first half before an epic second half (as does Steamboat Bill Jr. to some extent).

[elliothearst]

Yeah, it's too bad that one gag is there in Seven Chances. All the blackface humor in Keaton's work otherwise seems to be in College, the part where he's working in the restaurant.

The Bachelor is in fact a remake of Seven Chances. Its WGA writing credits not only cite the original play, but also Jean Havez, Clyde Bruckman and Joseph A. Mitchell for the screenplay of the 1925 film. I think by the end Seven Chances is one of Keaton's best films, but it definitely has a lightweight first half before an epic second half (as does Steamboat Bill Jr. to some extent).

I read somewhere (sorry for being vague -- memory is the second thing to go) that BK was not fond of Seven Chances, mainly because it was adapted from a stage play and was not really an original Keaton production.

[Wm. Charles Morrow]

Yeah, it's too bad that one gag is there in Seven Chances. All the blackface humor in Keaton's work otherwise seems to be in College, the part where he's working in the restaurant.

Actually, the slow-moving messenger in Seven Chances was played by a white actor, Jules Cowles, in blackface. He played another blackface role the same year in The Lost World, and on other occasions as well.

[CJBx7]

Yeah, it's too bad that one gag is there in Seven Chances. All the blackface humor in Keaton's work otherwise seems to be in College, the part where he's working in the restaurant.

Actually, the slow-moving messenger in Seven Chances was played by a white actor, Jules Cowles, in blackface. He played another blackface role the same year in The Lost World, and on other occasions as well.

Yes, I was referring to both the messenger and the woman Keaton trails from behind. However, I did enjoy the movie overall.

As a side note: Isn't it interesting that Keaton's movie tells the same story as The Bachelor in a lot less time? What's up with the runtime bloat on movies these days? I personally feel that most movies of now that are 2 hours + should be no longer than 1 hour 20 minutes or 1 1/2 hours. There's just so much padding now. Thoughts?