Animal Cruelty-No Animals Were Harmed

[Spiny Norman]

On the other hand plenty of countries still allow bullfighting or foxhunting, which is essentially also killing animals purely for entertainment. Only it's live instead of filmed.

[westegg]

One grotesque relic of circa '30s movies is seeing allegedly fashionable women wearing furs that include the head of the dead animal draped around their neck.

As for fox hunting and bullfighting, it'd be a better world without those barbaric "sports."

And don't get me started about the new Todd Solodnz "Weiner Dog" movie. Even if faked, it's a hateful sounding movie.

[Brooksie]

Some of us who were at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival have been discussing the shocking sequence that opens the Ukranian film Dva Dni, aka Two Days (1927), which was shown over the weekend (spoilers ahead).

The film opens with a family of aristocrats packing their belongings to escape the Bolsheviks. There's a small black puppy running around, and in the confusion, a suitcase falls on him and he's killed. This brought an audible gasp from the audience, because it appeared that the animal was crushed for real. Even worse, its corpse becomes a symbol of what happens to the household when the Bolsheviks take over - one of their dogs digs it up and drags it out of the ground.

You can tell yourself that standards were different at the time, but it seemed pretty extreme even for 1927. I'd be interested to know how that went over with original audiences. To disconcert us from the start was no doubt the filmmaker's intention, but it still left a lot of us ill-disposed to the film, and thinking that the point might have been made just as well via implication.

[greta de groat]

Some of us who were at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival have been discussing the shocking sequence that opens the Ukranian film Dva Dni, aka Two Days (1927), which was shown over the weekend (spoilers ahead).

The film opens with a family of aristocrats packing their belongings to escape the Bolsheviks. There's a small black puppy running around, and in the confusion, a suitcase falls on him and he's killed. This brought an audible gasp from the audience, because it appeared that the animal was crushed for real. Even worse, its corpse becomes a symbol of what happens to the household when the Bolsheviks take over - one of their dogs digs it up and drags it out of the ground.

You can tell yourself that standards were different at the time, but it seemed pretty extreme even for 1927. I'd be interested to know how that went over with original audiences. To disconcert us from the start was no doubt the filmmaker's intention, but it still left a lot of us ill-disposed to the film, and thinking that the point might have been made just as well via implication.

It's been a long time since i saw it, but didn't Lacombe, Lucien begin with him picking up a chicken or something and then casually wringing its neck?

greta

[George O'Brien]

That mean ole Murnau got a little pig drunk in SUNRISE.

Which brings to mind the W. C. Fields line, "It was a woman who drove me to drink. And I never had the decency to thank her"

[Rick Lanham]

In October (1927), at about 16 minutes in there is a horse that is certainly "stressed" if not killed. The implication is that it is shot, along with a number of people. It is later shown as if it is dead, with a fluid under it, indicating blood, and then later very dead looking…

In the recently restored Little Orphant Annie (1918), a little kitten is thrown around several times. I hope it wasn't really hurt. Maybe the goblins'll git whoever did that.

Rick

[The Blackbird]

Don't forget the stunning moment in IN OLD KENTUCKY where a galloping horse is tripped by a wire so violently you'll think the poor thing must have broken every bone in its body. Thank you, Will Rogers!

[ChrisStockslager]

So I have read rumors about horse and human injuries in the making of both Ben Hur films. Can someone fill me in on what exactly happened during the production of both films?

[westegg]

I believe the first Ben Hur resulted in horse deaths.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

With "performing" elephants becoming a thing of the past,
perhaps, too, will pass circus films set in the modern era.
(The downside for the species is that it now has one less sanctuary from the "ivory hunters.")





Horse "Racing"

Two horses die in first four races on Preakness Saturday
By Dillon Mullan and Cindy Boren May 22 2016
Exaggerator wins Preakness, two horses die before main event
Exaggerator overtook Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist at the Preakness on Saturday, May 21. Two other horses died before the main event. One collapsed after winning the first race and the other was euthanized after fracturing a bone. (Reuters)

Died ? Sounds more like they were murdered, for the entertainment of gamblers and TV viewers.
Imagine a World Series where two players expired on camera

Don't give the producers any ideas...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/ear ... -saturday/
According to a New York Times article from 2012, 24 horses die each week at racetracks in the United States. PETA released a statement on Saturday calling for the immediate release of the horses’ veterinary records and a list of any medications they were given in the two weeks leading up to their races.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

Don't forget the stunning moment in IN OLD KENTUCKY where a galloping horse is tripped by a wire so violently you'll think the poor thing must have broken every bone in its body. Thank you, Will Rogers!

On that front you have THE ROPIN' FOOL (1922) as well...

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

One grotesque relic of circa '30s movies is seeing allegedly fashionable women wearing furs that include the head of the dead animal draped around their neck.

As for fox hunting and bullfighting, it'd be a better world without those barbaric "sports."

And don't get me started about the new Todd Solodnz "Weiner Dog" movie. Even if faked, it's a hateful sounding movie.

One reason the heads would have been kept was to prove that they were real fox or whatever animal the dealer was claiming to offer. And this would carry on with the wearer who didn't want people to think it was Tiddles instead...

And yes, despite the real dangers involved, they are not really 'sports' as to be a sport, surely all the participants need to be willing...

[Jim Roots]

One grotesque relic of circa '30s movies is seeing allegedly fashionable women wearing furs that include the head of the dead animal draped around their neck.

As for fox hunting and bullfighting, it'd be a better world without those barbaric "sports."

And don't get me started about the new Todd Solodnz "Weiner Dog" movie. Even if faked, it's a hateful sounding movie.

One reason the heads would have been kept was to prove that they were real fox or whatever animal the dealer was claiming to offer. And this would carry on with the wearer who didn't want people to think it was Tiddles instead...

And yes, despite the real dangers involved, they are not really 'sports' as to be a sport, surely all the participants need to be willing...

Actually the heads were kept for a practical reason. The lower part of the jaw would be replaced by a clothespin-like clasp. When the fur was draped around the woman's neck, the tail would then be held in the "mouth", thus turning the fur into a kind of scarf to protect the throat from wind and cold weather. I know because my mother had one, a million years ago.

Jim