By Thomas Gladysz. Arrest Warrant (1926), an Ukrainian film directed by Heorhii Tasin, is a briskly paced gem. It tells the story of Nadia (played by Vira Vareckaja), who’s revolutionary husband flees the city in the midst of civil war, leaving her behind with a cache of secret documents. Expressionist […]
“There Seems to be a Slight Mistake” – Edward Everett Horton: 8 Silent Comedies
By Jeremy Carr. As a silent film comedian, Horton crafted a distinctive identity, and when working under the aegis of Harold Lloyd, starring in a series of two-reel shorts for the celebrated filmmaker’s Hollywood Productions, he reveled in stories perfectly suited to his comic temperament.” Edward Everett Horton looked funny, […]
Shadows: Bela Lugosi on the Hungarian Silent Screen
Lugosi and Ila Lóth in a Hungarian silent film, possibly Leoni Leo (Leo Leoni, 1917)
British Cinema Talks – and Screams!: Hitchcock’s Blackmail (1929) and Murder (1929)
Murder! By Tony Williams. Kino Lorber has continued to fill the gap left by other boutiques by providing both classic and popular films with informative audio-commentaries and features unlike its once prestigious competitor. Despite technological developments that have resulted in far better viewing copies than occurred when the films were […]
Lulu Forever: The 2020 Louise Brooks FilmPodium Retrospective (Zurich)
Fritz Kortner and Louise Brooks in Pandora’s Box (G.W. Pabst, 1929) By Thomas Gladysz. Louise Brooks has been described as a “cult actress”…. But as both the Melbourne and Zurich retrospectives show, there is a good deal more to this singular performer.” Last October, the Melbourne Cinémathèque in Melbourne, Australia […]
The “Russian Griffith” with Jarring Physicality – The Bolshevik Trilogy: Three Films by Vsevolod Pudovkin (Flicker Alley)
John Duncan Talbird
May 1, 2020
By John Duncan Talbird. Vsevolod Pudovkin entered Moscow University to study physical chemistry at the age of seventeen. His studies were disrupted by the start of World War I where he was soon taken prisoner. Reportedly, he saw D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance (1916) in his late twenties and his passion for […]
The Last Silent Hound: Der Hund von Baskerville (1929)
Tony Williams
April 4, 2019
By Tony Williams. Like the recently restored Behind the Door (1919), Der Hund von Baskerville was shown at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival but was supposedly believed lost at one time. However, due to collaboration between Flicker Alley and the Polish film archive Filoteka Narodowa, this last silent version […]
“Lillie Plays Violet”: Exit Smiling (A San Francisco Silent Film Festival Review)
Janine Gericke
February 11, 2019
By Janine Gericke. On Saturday, December 1st, the SF Silent Film Festival held its annual Day of Silents winter program at the famed Castro Theatre. As I’ve previously covered, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival offers a year round celebration of early film. The festival pulls in thousands of silent […]
Redemption: Red Kimona (A San Francisco Silent Film Festival Review)
Janine Gericke
February 4, 2019
By Janine Gericke. During the silent film era, some of the most prolific and highest earning producers, writers, and filmmakers were women. Many of these films involved stories about issues such as prostitution, birth control, and abortion. Issues that continue to cause controversy today. Dorothy Davenport created a trilogy of […]
The “Fourth Face” of Silent Comedy – Harry Langdon: King of Silent Comedy by Gabriella Oldham and Mabel Langdon
September 5, 2018
A Book Review by Louis J. Wasser. Silent film great Harry Langdon died at sixty of a cerebral hemorrhage three years before Christmas day in 1944. He died broke; and Mabel, his third wife, with the help of a friend, managed to secure employment immediately at the Motion Picture Relief […]