Thrillers from the Vault – 8 Classic Films
Blu-ray
Mill Creek Entertainment
1935, 1939, 1940 / B&w / 1.33: 1 / Blu ray
Starring Boris Karloff, Ann Doran, Evelyn Keyes,
Written by Arthur Strawn, Karl Brown, Robert Andrews
Directed by Roy William Neill, Nick Grindé
In 1934 Boris Karloff was an unhappy actor, he was one of Universal’s most illustrious stars, yet good parts were scarce, and intelligent horror roles like hen’s teeth—the occasional work at other studios was both a boon and a welcome distraction.
In 1935 the studio loaned him to Columbia for The Black Room, a blood and thunder gothic in which Karloff would play two roles, an aristocrat and his evil twin—a dark fable played out in shadows, but a light at the end of the tunnel for the 47 year old actor who relished a challenge. Even brighter news for Karloff, Roy William Neill was signed to direct. Known for his exacting nature,...
Blu-ray
Mill Creek Entertainment
1935, 1939, 1940 / B&w / 1.33: 1 / Blu ray
Starring Boris Karloff, Ann Doran, Evelyn Keyes,
Written by Arthur Strawn, Karl Brown, Robert Andrews
Directed by Roy William Neill, Nick Grindé
In 1934 Boris Karloff was an unhappy actor, he was one of Universal’s most illustrious stars, yet good parts were scarce, and intelligent horror roles like hen’s teeth—the occasional work at other studios was both a boon and a welcome distraction.
In 1935 the studio loaned him to Columbia for The Black Room, a blood and thunder gothic in which Karloff would play two roles, an aristocrat and his evil twin—a dark fable played out in shadows, but a light at the end of the tunnel for the 47 year old actor who relished a challenge. Even brighter news for Karloff, Roy William Neill was signed to direct. Known for his exacting nature,...
- 2/28/2023
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The experts were right when they said that silent filmmaking was developing something unique and beautiful, before talkies came along and spoiled the party with all that noise. This ‘handy three-pack’ of once-obscure Josef von Sternberg classics proves the theory 100% — his intense dramas excite audiences with something that’s gone missing from the movies, or the cinema or whatever you want to call it: the magic of visual stylization in the service of basic human emotions. Before Marlene there was Evelyn Brent and Betty Compson: Sternberg presents them as shimmering visions.
3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 529, 530, 531
1927-28 / B&w / 1:33 Silent Ap / 81, 88, 75 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 8, 2019 / 79.96
Starring: George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent, Clive Brook; Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent, William Powell; George Bancroft, Betty Compson, Olga Baclanova.
Cinematography: Bert Glennon; Bert Glennon; Harold Rosson
Original Music: multiple scores by Robert Israel,...
3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 529, 530, 531
1927-28 / B&w / 1:33 Silent Ap / 81, 88, 75 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 8, 2019 / 79.96
Starring: George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent, Clive Brook; Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent, William Powell; George Bancroft, Betty Compson, Olga Baclanova.
Cinematography: Bert Glennon; Bert Glennon; Harold Rosson
Original Music: multiple scores by Robert Israel,...
- 10/22/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Ricardo Cortez in 'Ten Cents a Dance,' with Barbara Stanwyck. No matter how unthankful the role, whether hero or heel – or, not infrequently, a combination of both – Cortez left his bedroom-eyed, mellifluous-voiced imprint in his pre-Production Code talkies. Besides Barbara Stanwyck, during the 1920s and 1930s Cortez made love to and/or life difficult for, a whole array of leading ladies of that era, including Bebe Daniels, Gloria Swanson, Betty Compson, Betty Bronson, Greta Garbo, Florence Vidor, Claudette Colbert, Mary Astor, Kay Francis, Joan Crawford, Irene Dunne, Joan Blondell, and Loretta Young*. (See previous post: “Ricardo Cortez Q&A: From Latin Lover to Multiethnic Heel.”) Not long after the coming of sound, Ricardo Cortez was mostly relegated to playing subordinate roles to his leading ladies – e.g., Kay Francis, Irene Dunne, Claudette Colbert – or leads in “bottom half of the double bill” programmers at Warner Bros. or on loan to other studios. Would...
- 7/7/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ricardo Cortez biography 'The Magnificent Heel: The Life and Films of Ricardo Cortez' – Paramount's 'Latin Lover' threat to a recalcitrant Rudolph Valentino, and a sly, seductive Sam Spade in the original film adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's 'The Maltese Falcon.' 'The Magnificent Heel: The Life and Films of Ricardo Cortez': Author Dan Van Neste remembers the silent era's 'Latin Lover' & the star of the original 'The Maltese Falcon' At odds with Famous Players-Lasky after the release of the 1922 critical and box office misfire The Young Rajah, Rudolph Valentino demands a fatter weekly paycheck and more control over his movie projects. The studio – a few years later to be reorganized under the name of its distribution arm, Paramount – balks. Valentino goes on a “one-man strike.” In 42nd Street-style, unknown 22-year-old Valentino look-alike contest winner Jacob Krantz of Manhattan steps in, shortly afterwards to become known worldwide as Latin Lover Ricardo Cortez of...
- 7/7/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Considering everything that's been happening on the planet in the last several months, you'd have thought we're already in November or December – of 2117. But no. It's only June. 2017. And in some parts of the world, that's the month of brides, fathers, graduates, gays, and climate change denial. Beginning this evening, Thursday, June 1, Turner Classic Movies will be focusing on one of these June groups: Lgbt people, specifically those in the American film industry. Following the presentation of about 10 movies featuring Frank Morgan, who would have turned 127 years old today, TCM will set its cinematic sights on the likes of William Haines, James Whale, George Cukor, Mitchell Leisen, Dorothy Arzner, Patsy Kelly, and Ramon Novarro. In addition to, whether or not intentionally, Claudette Colbert, Colin Clive, Katharine Hepburn, Douglass Montgomery (a.k.a. Kent Douglass), Marjorie Main, and Billie Burke, among others. But this is ridiculous! Why should TCM present a...
- 6/2/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Bela Lugosi fan alert! This Monogram horror opus is yet another narrative-challenged fumble of unmotivated, incomprehensible characters… but Bela’s great in it, in a central role. He’s a sympathetic, non- maniac this time, if you don’t count his tendency to go into trances and smother random houseguests. Savant’s review has the lowdown on the interesting cast; Tom Weaver’s commentary has the authoritative lowdown on whole show.
Invisible Ghost
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1941 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 64 min. / Street Date March 21, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Polly Ann Young, Clarence Muse, John McGuire, Betty Compson, Ernie Adams, Terry Walker, George Pembroke .
Cinematography: Harvey Gould, Marcel Le Picard
Film Editor: Robert Golden
Original Music: hahahahah, good one.
Written by Helen Martin & Al Martin
Produced by Sam Katzman
Directed by Joseph H. Lewis
Horror movie fans come in two varieties, obsessive and dangerously obsessive. Back...
Invisible Ghost
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1941 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 64 min. / Street Date March 21, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Polly Ann Young, Clarence Muse, John McGuire, Betty Compson, Ernie Adams, Terry Walker, George Pembroke .
Cinematography: Harvey Gould, Marcel Le Picard
Film Editor: Robert Golden
Original Music: hahahahah, good one.
Written by Helen Martin & Al Martin
Produced by Sam Katzman
Directed by Joseph H. Lewis
Horror movie fans come in two varieties, obsessive and dangerously obsessive. Back...
- 3/28/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
March 21st is a big day for cult film fans, not to mention all you RoboCop enthusiasts out there, as Tuesday has a variety of horror and sci-fi offerings that you’ll undoubtedly want to add to your home entertainment collections. Scream Factory is releasing a pair of amazing Collector's Edition Blu-rays for RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3, and Kino Lorber is keeping busy with a trio of HD releases, too: Chamber of Horrors, Invisible Ghost, and A Game of Death.
Other notable titles making their way home on March 21st include Wolf Creek: Season One, Eloise, John Waters’ Multiple Maniacs, and Frankenstein Created Bikers.
Chamber of Horrors (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray & DVD)
Newly Mastered in HD! Chamber of Horrors was based on the classic novel, The Door with Seven Locks by Edgar Wallace (King Kong, The Terror) - it was the second Wallace adaptation brought to the States by Monogram Pictures.
Other notable titles making their way home on March 21st include Wolf Creek: Season One, Eloise, John Waters’ Multiple Maniacs, and Frankenstein Created Bikers.
Chamber of Horrors (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray & DVD)
Newly Mastered in HD! Chamber of Horrors was based on the classic novel, The Door with Seven Locks by Edgar Wallace (King Kong, The Terror) - it was the second Wallace adaptation brought to the States by Monogram Pictures.
- 3/21/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Programming Note: Apologies that we're off schedule on episodes of Pfandom and Three Fittings. Performance anxiety (aka writer's block) at Film Experience HQ. While Nathaniel course corrects...
On this day in showbiz history...
Here are a few cinematic things to think about today March 19th. Which will you feel most festive about?
1859 Charles Gounod's Opera Faust premieres in Paris. There are multiple Faust operas just as there are multiple film versions of the
1897 Betty Compson (The Barker, 1928), the only Best Actress nominee born in Beaver, Utah (I mean, she'd have to be, right?) enters the world.
1915 Happy 102nd birthday today to 40s star Patricia Morrison (Dressed to Kill, Song of the Thin Man). Yes, she's still alive!
1947 Glenn Close is born in Connecticutt. 70 years later she still hasn't won her Oscar! She's back on Broadway in Sunset Blvd at the moment...
On this day in showbiz history...
Here are a few cinematic things to think about today March 19th. Which will you feel most festive about?
1859 Charles Gounod's Opera Faust premieres in Paris. There are multiple Faust operas just as there are multiple film versions of the
1897 Betty Compson (The Barker, 1928), the only Best Actress nominee born in Beaver, Utah (I mean, she'd have to be, right?) enters the world.
1915 Happy 102nd birthday today to 40s star Patricia Morrison (Dressed to Kill, Song of the Thin Man). Yes, she's still alive!
1947 Glenn Close is born in Connecticutt. 70 years later she still hasn't won her Oscar! She's back on Broadway in Sunset Blvd at the moment...
- 3/19/2017
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
The King Baggot Tribute will take place Wednesday September 28th at 7pm at Lee Auditorium inside the Missouri History Museum (Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri). The 1913 silent film Ivanhoe will be accompanied by The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra and there will be a 40-minute illustrated lecture on the life and career of King Baggot by We Are Movie Geeks’ Tom Stockman. A Facebook invite for the event can be found Here
Here’s a look at the final phase of King Baggot’s career.
King Baggot, the first ‘King of the Movies’ died July 11th, 1948 penniless and mostly forgotten at age 68. A St. Louis native, Baggot was at one time Hollywood’s most popular star, known is his heyday as “The Most Photographed Man in the World” and “More Famous Than the Man in the Moon”. Yet even in his hometown, Baggot had faded into obscurity.
Here’s a look at the final phase of King Baggot’s career.
King Baggot, the first ‘King of the Movies’ died July 11th, 1948 penniless and mostly forgotten at age 68. A St. Louis native, Baggot was at one time Hollywood’s most popular star, known is his heyday as “The Most Photographed Man in the World” and “More Famous Than the Man in the Moon”. Yet even in his hometown, Baggot had faded into obscurity.
- 9/20/2016
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, and Ingrid Bergman: The 'Notorious' British (Hitchcock, Grant) and Swedish (Bergman) talent. British actors and directors in Hollywood; Hollywood actors and directors in Britain: Anthony Slide's 'A Special Relationship.' 'A Special Relationship' Q&A: Britain in Hollywood and Hollywood in Britain First of all, what made you think of a book on “the special relationship” between the American and British film industries – particularly on the British side? I was aware of a couple of books on the British in Hollywood, but I wanted to move beyond that somewhat limited discussion and document the whole British/American relationship as it applied to filmmaking. Growing up in England, I had always been interested in the history of the British cinema, but generally my writing on film history has been concentrated on America. I suppose to a certain extent I wanted to go back into my archives,...
- 1/5/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Constance Cummings in 'Night After Night.' Constance Cummings: Working with Frank Capra and Mae West (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Actress Went from Harold Lloyd to Eugene O'Neill.”) Back at Columbia, Harry Cohn didn't do a very good job at making Constance Cummings feel important. By the end of 1932, Columbia and its sweet ingenue found themselves in court, fighting bitterly over stipulations in her contract. According to the actress and lawyer's daughter, Columbia had failed to notify her that they were picking up her option. Therefore, she was a free agent, able to offer her services wherever she pleased. Harry Cohn felt otherwise, claiming that his contract player had waived such a notice. The battle would spill over into 1933. On the positive side, in addition to Movie Crazy 1932 provided Cummings with three other notable Hollywood movies: Washington Merry-Go-Round, American Madness, and Night After Night. 'Washington Merry-Go-Round...
- 11/5/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Constance Cummings: Actress in minor Hollywood movies became major London stage star. Constance Cummings: Actress went from Harold Lloyd and Frank Capra to Noël Coward and Eugene O'Neill Actress Constance Cummings, whose career spanned more than six decades on stage, in films, and on television in both the U.S. and the U.K., died ten years ago on Nov. 23. Unlike other Broadway imports such as Ann Harding, Katharine Hepburn, Miriam Hopkins, and Claudette Colbert, the pretty, elegant Cummings – who could have been turned into a less edgy Constance Bennett had she landed at Rko or Paramount instead of Columbia – never became a Hollywood star. In fact, her most acclaimed work, whether in films or – more frequently – on stage, was almost invariably found in British productions. That's most likely why the name Constance Cummings – despite the DVD availability of several of her best-received performances – is all but forgotten.
- 11/4/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Sorrell and Son' with H.B. Warner and Alice Joyce. 'Sorrell and Son' 1927 movie: Long thought lost, surprisingly effective father-love melodrama stars a superlative H.B. Warner Partially shot on location in England and produced independently by director Herbert Brenon at Joseph M. Schenck's United Artists, the 1927 Sorrell and Son is a skillful melodrama about paternal devotion in the face of both personal and social adversity. This long-thought-lost version of Warwick Deeping's 1925 bestseller benefits greatly from the veteran Brenon's assured direction, deservedly shortlisted in the first year of the Academy Awards.* Crucial to the film's effectiveness, however, is the portrayal of its central character, a war-scarred Englishman who sacrifices it all for the happiness of his son. Luckily, the London-born H.B. Warner, best remembered for playing Jesus Christ in another 1927 release, Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings, is the embodiment of honesty, selflessness, and devotion. Less is...
- 10/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Vivien Leigh ca. late 1940s. Vivien Leigh movies: now controversial 'Gone with the Wind,' little-seen '21 Days Together' on TCM Vivien Leigh is Turner Classic Movies' star today, Aug. 18, '15, as TCM's “Summer Under the Stars” series continues. Mostly a stage actress, Leigh was seen in only 19 films – in about 15 of which as a leading lady or star – in a movie career spanning three decades. Good for the relatively few who saw her on stage; bad for all those who have access to only a few performances of one of the most remarkable acting talents of the 20th century. This evening, TCM is showing three Vivien Leigh movies: Gone with the Wind (1939), 21 Days Together (1940), and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Leigh won Best Actress Academy Awards for the first and the third title. The little-remembered film in-between is a TCM premiere. 'Gone with the Wind' Seemingly all...
- 8/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Crawford Movie Star Joan Crawford movies on TCM: Underrated actress, top star in several of her greatest roles If there was ever a professional who was utterly, completely, wholeheartedly dedicated to her work, Joan Crawford was it. Ambitious, driven, talented, smart, obsessive, calculating, she had whatever it took – and more – to reach the top and stay there. Nearly four decades after her death, Crawford, the star to end all stars, remains one of the iconic performers of the 20th century. Deservedly so, once you choose to bypass the Mommie Dearest inanity and focus on her film work. From the get-go, she was a capable actress; look for the hard-to-find silents The Understanding Heart (1927) and The Taxi Dancer (1927), and check her out in the more easily accessible The Unknown (1927) and Our Dancing Daughters (1928). By the early '30s, Joan Crawford had become a first-rate film actress, far more naturalistic than...
- 8/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine' 1938: Jean Renoir's film noir (photo: Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine') (See previous post: "'Cat People' 1942 Actress Simone Simon Remembered.") In the late 1930s, with her Hollywood career stalled while facing competition at 20th Century-Fox from another French import, Annabella (later Tyrone Power's wife), Simone Simon returned to France. Once there, she reestablished herself as an actress to be reckoned with in Jean Renoir's La Bête Humaine. An updated version of Émile Zola's 1890 novel, La Bête Humaine is enveloped in a dark, brooding atmosphere not uncommon in pre-World War II French films. Known for their "poetic realism," examples from that era include Renoir's own The Lower Depths (1936), Julien Duvivier's La Belle Équipe (1936) and Pépé le Moko (1937), and particularly Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows (1938) and Daybreak (1939).[11] This thematic and...
- 2/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The King Baggot Tribute will take place Friday, November 14th at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium beginning at 7pm as part of this year’s St. Louis Intenational FIlm Festival. The program will consist a rare 35mm screening of the 1913 epic Ivanhoe starring King Baggot with live music accompaniment by the Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra. Ivanhoe will be followed by an illustrated lecture on the life and films of King Baggot presented by Tom Stockman, editor here at We Are Movie Geeks. After that will screen the influential silent western Tumbleweeds (1925), considered to be one of King Baggot’s finest achievements as a director. Tumbleweeds will feature live piano accompaniment by Matt Pace.
Here’s a look at the final phase of King Baggot’s career.
King Baggot, the first ‘King of the Movies’ died July 11th, 1948 penniless and mostly forgotten at age 68. A St. Louis native, Baggot...
Here’s a look at the final phase of King Baggot’s career.
King Baggot, the first ‘King of the Movies’ died July 11th, 1948 penniless and mostly forgotten at age 68. A St. Louis native, Baggot...
- 11/6/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Wallace Beery: Best Actor Academy Award winner and Best Actor Academy Award runner-up in the same year (photo: Jackie Cooper and Wallace Beery in ‘The Champ’) (See previous post: “Wallace Beery Movies: Anomalous Hollywood Star.”) In the Academy’s 1931-32 season, Wallace Beery took home the Best Actor Academy Award — I mean, one of them. In the King Vidor-directed melodrama The Champ (1931), Beery plays a down-on-his-luck boxer and caring Dad to tearduct-challenged Jackie Cooper, while veteran Irene Rich is Beery’s cool former wife and Cooper’s mother. Will daddy and son remain together forever and ever? Audiences the world over were drowned in tears — theirs and Jackie Cooper’s. Now, regarding Wallace Beery’s Best Actor Academy Award, he was actually a runner-up: Fredric March, initially announced as the sole winner for his performance in Rouben Mamoulian’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, turned out to have...
- 8/17/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
November seems to be the month for exciting things in the world of film preservation. Last year, Martin Scorsese released Hugo, a lovely film that was just as much about the value of George Melies’ films as it was the titular character. This year, Alfred Hitchock fans are in for a treat.
Although Hitchcock, the recently released film about the making of Psycho, has been drawing in decidedly mixed reviews, the National Film Preservation Foundation has successfully restored part of The White Shadow, Hitchock’s earliest surviving film. The film, a 1924 melodrama that Hitchcock wrote, edited, assistant directed and headed the art direction for, is streaming for free here for the next two months.
The White Shadow is very much a work of its time. Its silent actors are far more physical than most of their modern contemporaries, and communicate more through body language and gesture than the intertitles. Its...
Although Hitchcock, the recently released film about the making of Psycho, has been drawing in decidedly mixed reviews, the National Film Preservation Foundation has successfully restored part of The White Shadow, Hitchock’s earliest surviving film. The film, a 1924 melodrama that Hitchcock wrote, edited, assistant directed and headed the art direction for, is streaming for free here for the next two months.
The White Shadow is very much a work of its time. Its silent actors are far more physical than most of their modern contemporaries, and communicate more through body language and gesture than the intertitles. Its...
- 11/27/2012
- by Justin Harrison
- We Got This Covered
There are two stories I want to tell with this glorious 1922 poster: one is about the film itself—a forgotten silent melodrama—and the sad fates of its main protagonists, and the other is about the artist Henry Clive.
The Green Temptation, a film which I’m not even sure is extant (the silent film database silentera.com says “survival status: unknown”), starred Betty Compson as Genelle, a member of the Parisian underworld who, along with her partner Gaspard, runs a travelling theatre as a ruse to pickpocket their patrons and burgle their homes while they’re watching the show. When the First World War starts, Genelle joins the Red Cross as a nurse to evade the police and after the War emigrates to America to start a new life. But her attempt to turn over a new leaf is foiled by the reappearance of Gaspard who forces her to...
The Green Temptation, a film which I’m not even sure is extant (the silent film database silentera.com says “survival status: unknown”), starred Betty Compson as Genelle, a member of the Parisian underworld who, along with her partner Gaspard, runs a travelling theatre as a ruse to pickpocket their patrons and burgle their homes while they’re watching the show. When the First World War starts, Genelle joins the Red Cross as a nurse to evade the police and after the War emigrates to America to start a new life. But her attempt to turn over a new leaf is foiled by the reappearance of Gaspard who forces her to...
- 3/30/2012
- MUBI
Last year, the New Zealand Film Archive and the National Film Preservation Foundation announced that they'd discovered a tinted print of The White Shadow (1924), "an atmospheric melodrama starring Betty Compson, in a dual role as twin sisters — one angelic and the other 'without a soul.' With mysterious disappearances, mistaken identity, steamy cabarets, romance, chance meetings, madness, and even the transmigration of souls, the wild plot crams a lot into six reels." As David Sterritt noted in that announcement, though he was only 24 at the time, "Alfred Hitchcock wrote the film's scenario, designed the sets, edited the footage, and served as assistant director to Graham Cutts, whose professional jealousy toward the gifted upstart made the job all the more challenging."
Today, Farran Nehme, Marilyn Ferdinand and Roderick Heath have announced that their third For the Love Film blogathon, running from May 13 through 18, will be a fund-raising drive to rouse up...
Today, Farran Nehme, Marilyn Ferdinand and Roderick Heath have announced that their third For the Love Film blogathon, running from May 13 through 18, will be a fund-raising drive to rouse up...
- 2/1/2012
- MUBI
Beverly Hills, CA . The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will present the American re-premiere of the first three reels of “The White Shadow,” the 1924 movie thought to be the earliest surviving feature film work of Alfred Hitchcock, on Thursday, September 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Following the screening, Oscar®-winning actress Eva Marie Saint, who starred in Hitchcock.s “North by Northwest,” will offer a description of the remaining scenes which are still lost. Michael Mortilla and Nicole Garcia will provide live musical accompaniment on piano and violin.
The evening also will include a screening of “Won in a Closet” (1914), a film starring and directed by Mabel Normand, and “Oil.s Well,” a Monty Banks comedy. Both films were part of the New Zealand Film Archive collection and have now been added to the collection of the Library of Congress and the Museum of Modern Art,...
The evening also will include a screening of “Won in a Closet” (1914), a film starring and directed by Mabel Normand, and “Oil.s Well,” a Monty Banks comedy. Both films were part of the New Zealand Film Archive collection and have now been added to the collection of the Library of Congress and the Museum of Modern Art,...
- 9/12/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
According to New Zealand news website Scoop, three reels of The White Shadow, a silent feature film from 1923 have been discovered in the New Zealand Film Archive. What makes the discovery so special is that it is believed to be the earliest example of the work of legendary British director Alfred Hitchcock.
While he did not direct the film, the then 24 year old Hitchcock is credited as the assistant director and also wrote the scenario, designed the sets and edited the film. Author of The Films of Alfred Hitchcock and Chairman of the National Society of Film Critics, David Sterritt, said that;
“These first three reels offer a priceless opportunity to study his visual and narrative ideas when they were first taking shape. What we are getting is the missing link, one of those few productions where we are able to bridge that gap of Hitchcock, the young guy with all these ideas,...
While he did not direct the film, the then 24 year old Hitchcock is credited as the assistant director and also wrote the scenario, designed the sets and edited the film. Author of The Films of Alfred Hitchcock and Chairman of the National Society of Film Critics, David Sterritt, said that;
“These first three reels offer a priceless opportunity to study his visual and narrative ideas when they were first taking shape. What we are getting is the missing link, one of those few productions where we are able to bridge that gap of Hitchcock, the young guy with all these ideas,...
- 8/5/2011
- by Chris Wright
- Obsessed with Film
Combine the gory antics of the "Final Destination" franchise with the '80s goofball sitcom "Saved By the Bell" and you get "Final Destination 5" star's Miles Fisher's latest video, starring the cast of the soon to be released film.
Set to his latest song "New Romance," the vid spoofs on the cheesy teen TV show in the bloodiest of ways — killing off the high school kids one by one. It's a fun way to get pumped for the deadly "Destination" film, which hits theaters on August 12. The new installment in the horror franchise follows a group of suspension bridge collapse survivors who fight for their lives a second time once Death realizes they got away.
Check out the rest of this week's Horror Bites past the jump!
The "Sexiest Woman Alive" Gets Bloody for "Nurse 3D"
Esquire named "30 Rock's" Katrina Bowden the "Sexiest Woman Alive" this year, and...
Set to his latest song "New Romance," the vid spoofs on the cheesy teen TV show in the bloodiest of ways — killing off the high school kids one by one. It's a fun way to get pumped for the deadly "Destination" film, which hits theaters on August 12. The new installment in the horror franchise follows a group of suspension bridge collapse survivors who fight for their lives a second time once Death realizes they got away.
Check out the rest of this week's Horror Bites past the jump!
The "Sexiest Woman Alive" Gets Bloody for "Nurse 3D"
Esquire named "30 Rock's" Katrina Bowden the "Sexiest Woman Alive" this year, and...
- 8/5/2011
- by Alison Nastasi
- MTV Movies Blog
The name Alfred Hitchcock is synonymous with mystery and suspense filmmaking, and even those not familiar with his work still know the name. The man is a legend, and will remain so for all eternity.
So you'll understand the elation being felt at the discovery of Hitchcock's earliest of works, a film titled The White Shadow.
Only three film reels of a total of six have been found so far, but the movie was first released back in 1924 when Hitchcock was only 24 years of age. He didn't direct the movie as he would go on to do with so many classics such as North by Northwest, Pyscho, Rear Window, and Vertigo—that credit went to Graham Cutts—but he did act as writer, assistant director, editor, and art director on it.
The silent film pulled off something done much more often in recent times, in that it had an actor playing two roles.
So you'll understand the elation being felt at the discovery of Hitchcock's earliest of works, a film titled The White Shadow.
Only three film reels of a total of six have been found so far, but the movie was first released back in 1924 when Hitchcock was only 24 years of age. He didn't direct the movie as he would go on to do with so many classics such as North by Northwest, Pyscho, Rear Window, and Vertigo—that credit went to Graham Cutts—but he did act as writer, assistant director, editor, and art director on it.
The silent film pulled off something done much more often in recent times, in that it had an actor playing two roles.
- 8/4/2011
- by The Movie God
- Geeks of Doom
Alfred Hitchcock was one of the most talented filmmakers to ever come around, his films are incredible, but before he became the big brand name that he did the director had to start somewhere.
The National Film Preservation Foundation and the New Zealand Film Archive have discovered the first 30 minutes of a 1923 silent British film, called The White Shadow, which is considered to be the earliest feature film in which Alfred Hitchcock was given credit.
Hitchcock was 24 years old when this film was made and he served as the writer, assistant director, editor and production designer on the project. The movie starred Betty Compson who played twin sisters in the story. One was good and the other was bad. Clive Brook also starred in the film.
The actual director of the film was Graham Cutts who was described by National Society of Film Critics chairman and Hitchcock expert David Sterritt...
The National Film Preservation Foundation and the New Zealand Film Archive have discovered the first 30 minutes of a 1923 silent British film, called The White Shadow, which is considered to be the earliest feature film in which Alfred Hitchcock was given credit.
Hitchcock was 24 years old when this film was made and he served as the writer, assistant director, editor and production designer on the project. The movie starred Betty Compson who played twin sisters in the story. One was good and the other was bad. Clive Brook also starred in the film.
The actual director of the film was Graham Cutts who was described by National Society of Film Critics chairman and Hitchcock expert David Sterritt...
- 8/4/2011
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
[1] The New Zealand Film Archive and the National Film Preservation Foundation (Nfpf) announced this week that they had discovered the first 30 minutes of The White Shadow, a 1923 silent film considered to be the first credit by Alfred Hitchcock. Although Hitchcock did not direct the movie -- Graham Curtis did -- the now-legendary filmmaker, then 24, served as assistant director, editor, and production designer. The British melodrama follows twin sisters -- one evil, one good -- both played by Betty Compson, and co-stars Clive Brook. Read more details, including information on its American "re-premiere," after the jump. The La Times [2] reports that film was recently rediscovered when the Nfpf received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, allowing an archivist to sort through American films within the New Zealand archive's collection of nitrate prints. The White Shadow had been brought there in 1989 by Tony Osborne, grandson of New Zealand projectionist and collector Jack Murtagh,...
- 8/4/2011
- by Angie Han
- Slash Film
The earliest surviving film by director Alfred Hitchcock has been found at the New Zealand Film Archive in Wellington. Three of the six reels that make up the 1924 film The White Shadow were discovered. This is thought to be the only known copy in existence. Hitchcock served as assistant director, art director, editor and writer for the British melodrama when he was 24. In The White Shadow, actress Betty Compson plays twin sisters – one angelic and the one “without a...
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- 8/4/2011
- by Matt Chapman
- TotalFilm
Los Angeles -- Alfred Hitchcock is still surprising his fans.
Film preservationists said Wednesday they've found the first half of the earliest known surviving feature film on which Hitchcock has a credit: a silent melodrama called "The White Shadow."
The first three reels of the six-reel film, made in 1923, were discovered by the National Film Preservation Foundation at the New Zealand Film Archive.
"The White Shadow" was directed by Graham Cutts, and the 24-year-old Hitchcock was credited as writer, assistant director, editor and art director.
Hitchcock made his own directing debut two years later with the chorus-girl melodrama "The Pleasure Garden." He went on to direct such suspense classics as "Psycho," "The Birds," "Rear Window" and "Vertigo."
"The White Shadow" is a "missing link, one of those few productions where we are able to bridge that gap of Hitchcock, the young guy with all these ideas, and Hitchcock the filmmaker,...
Film preservationists said Wednesday they've found the first half of the earliest known surviving feature film on which Hitchcock has a credit: a silent melodrama called "The White Shadow."
The first three reels of the six-reel film, made in 1923, were discovered by the National Film Preservation Foundation at the New Zealand Film Archive.
"The White Shadow" was directed by Graham Cutts, and the 24-year-old Hitchcock was credited as writer, assistant director, editor and art director.
Hitchcock made his own directing debut two years later with the chorus-girl melodrama "The Pleasure Garden." He went on to direct such suspense classics as "Psycho," "The Birds," "Rear Window" and "Vertigo."
"The White Shadow" is a "missing link, one of those few productions where we are able to bridge that gap of Hitchcock, the young guy with all these ideas, and Hitchcock the filmmaker,...
- 8/4/2011
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Betty Compson, Clive Brook, Woman to Woman Despite some confusion in various reports, the 1923 melodrama The White Shadow, half of which was recently found at the New Zealand Film Archive, is not Alfred Hitchcock's directorial debut. It isn't Hitchcock's first ever credited effort, either. That honor apparently belongs to Woman to Woman, which came out earlier that same year. The White Shadow, in fact, was a Woman to Woman afterthought. Both movies were directed by Graham Cutts, both were produced by future British film industry stalwarts Victor Saville and Michael Balcon, both were based on works by Michael Morton (the earlier film was taken from a Morton play; the later one from a Morton novel), and both starred Clive Brook and Hollywood import Betty Compson. (Compson plays two parts in both films as well; but whereas in The White Shadow she plays two actual characters, in Woman to Woman...
- 8/3/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Betty Compson, The White Shadow About thirty minutes from the long thought-lost The White Shadow / White Shadows (1923), believed to be the earliest surviving feature with an Alfred Hitchcock credit, has been unearthed at the New Zealand Film Archive. Directed by Graham Cutts, and starring Betty Compson and Clive Brook, The White Shadow was found among a number of unidentified American nitrate prints safeguarded for more than two decades at the archive. Based on Michael Morton's novel Children of Chance, The White Shadow was written and edited by Hitchcock, who also served as assistant director and production designer. The future director of Blackmail, The Lady Vanishes, Rebecca, Lifeboat, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds, was 24 years old at the time. Three out of The White Shadow's six reels have been found. In the words of National Society of Film Critics Chairman David Sterritt,...
- 8/3/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The White Shadow was a 1970s hit TV show, but for film buffs, its title will now give them the chills. The White Shadow is the earliest known work by Hollywood icon Alfred Hitchcock and has been found in a film archive in New Zealand.
The 1924 British film was thought to be lost in the sands of time.
It was announced today by the New Zealand Film Archive and the National Film Preservation Foundation that not only were three of the six reels of Hitchcock’s first film found in the Kiwi nation, but also over 60 other films that were also previously thought to be gone.
The White Shadow is the story of twin sisters where each is at the polar opposite of the personality spectrum than the other. The film starred Betty Compson as the twins.
So, what now?
The reels will be headed to the British Film Institute...
The 1924 British film was thought to be lost in the sands of time.
It was announced today by the New Zealand Film Archive and the National Film Preservation Foundation that not only were three of the six reels of Hitchcock’s first film found in the Kiwi nation, but also over 60 other films that were also previously thought to be gone.
The White Shadow is the story of twin sisters where each is at the polar opposite of the personality spectrum than the other. The film starred Betty Compson as the twins.
So, what now?
The reels will be headed to the British Film Institute...
- 8/3/2011
- by webmaster@moviefanatic.com (Movie Fanatic Staff)
- Reel Movie News
The first half of an early Alfred Hitchcock film called The White Shadow, made in 1923, has been unearthed in New Zealand at the national film archive. It is a silent melodrama starring period actress Betty Compson in a dual role as twi sisters, one good and the other "soulless."
It is the earliest of any of Hitchcock's films, and although it isn't technically his (head director was someone called Graham Cutts), Hitchcock was credited as writer, assistant director, editor and art director. Jeez. Gaffer, too? He was only 24 when The White Shadow came out.
read more...
It is the earliest of any of Hitchcock's films, and although it isn't technically his (head director was someone called Graham Cutts), Hitchcock was credited as writer, assistant director, editor and art director. Jeez. Gaffer, too? He was only 24 when The White Shadow came out.
read more...
- 8/3/2011
- by Anna Breslaw
- Filmology
A new - or rather, very, very old - Alfred Hitchcock film has surfaced in New Zealand. Thought to be the master of suspense's first film, The White Shadow stars Betty Compson as twins - "one angelic, and the other without a soul." The film is dated 1924, a year before Hitchcock's known directorial debut, The Pleasure Garden. More after the break. Hitchcock did not direct The White Shadow; he is credited as assistant director, art director, editor, and writer. Only three reels of the six-reel silent film have been found, but that amounts to more than half the film, and is thought to be the only copy in existance. The nitrate print was found in the collection of New Zealand projectionist and collector Jack...
- 8/3/2011
- FEARnet
It’s the kind of discovery movie geeks dream about – combing through a film vault and finding a lost work by a master of cinema – and it just happened in New Zealand. The National Film Preservation Foundation and the New Zealand Film Archive will announce today that they’ve found the first 30 minutes of a 1923 British film entitled The White Shadow – a title considered to be the earliest feature that a young filmmaker named Alfred Hitchcock worked on. The master of suspense served multiple roles on the melodrama – assistant director, writer, production designer, and editor – and was a mere 24 years old when the film was made. The silent feature, which starred Betty Compson as twin sisters, will have it’s re-premiere on...
Read More...
Read More...
- 8/3/2011
- by Movies.com
- Movies.com - Celebrity Gossip
It’s the kind of discovery movie geeks dream about – combing through a film vault and finding a lost work by a master of cinema – and it just happened in New Zealand. The National Film Preservation Foundation and the New Zealand Film Archive will announce today that they’ve found the first 30 minutes of a 1923 British film entitled The White Shadow – a title considered to be the earliest feature that a young filmmaker named Alfred Hitchcock worked on. The master of suspense served multiple roles on the melodrama – assistant director, writer, production designer, and editor – and was a mere 24 years old when the film was made. The silent feature, which starred Betty Compson as twin sisters, will have it’s re-premiere on...
Read More...
Read More...
- 8/3/2011
- by Movies.com
- Movies.com
Great news for fans of cinema, namely the work of Alfred Hitchcock.
A New Zealand team of preservationists have announced the found the first half of one of Hitch’s earliest known works, in 1924′s White Shadow. As THR reports, Hitchcock is credited as assistant director, art director, editor and writer. He was 24 when he worked on the film; his feature directorial debut would come soon afterward on The Pleasure Garden (1925).
“These first three reels of The White Shadow — more than half the film — offer a priceless opportunity to study [Hitchcock’s] visual and narrative ideas when they were first taking shape,” said David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics and author of The Films of Alfred Hitchcock.
The film, which stars Betty Compson in a dual role as twin sisters — one angelic and the other “without a soul” — turned up among the cache of unidentified American nitrate prints...
A New Zealand team of preservationists have announced the found the first half of one of Hitch’s earliest known works, in 1924′s White Shadow. As THR reports, Hitchcock is credited as assistant director, art director, editor and writer. He was 24 when he worked on the film; his feature directorial debut would come soon afterward on The Pleasure Garden (1925).
“These first three reels of The White Shadow — more than half the film — offer a priceless opportunity to study [Hitchcock’s] visual and narrative ideas when they were first taking shape,” said David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics and author of The Films of Alfred Hitchcock.
The film, which stars Betty Compson in a dual role as twin sisters — one angelic and the other “without a soul” — turned up among the cache of unidentified American nitrate prints...
- 8/3/2011
- by Jon Peters
- Killer Films
It's been a big year for Hitchcock devotees. First, there was the latest unveiling of the 12-hour audio file from Hitchcock's famous interview with French critic and director Francois Truffaut. Now, the National Film Preservation Foundation and the New Zealand Film Archive have announced their discovery of the opening half-hour of The White Shadow, Hitchcock's first credited film. In 1923, a 24-year old Hitchcock served as the writer, director, editor and production designer for a melodrama starring Clive Brook and Betty Compson, who played two twin sisters, one good, one bad. Hitchcock scholar David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics, calls the find a "missing link" between the director's early years as a writer and his eventual rise as a major filmmaker. ...
- 8/3/2011
- Thompson on Hollywood
It’s odd to think that a cavalcade of releases from iconic master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock are lost to history. Involved in 17 silent-era efforts, the director may be better known for his talkies, but these silent projects are the films that have become the topic of conversation thanks to the National Film Preservation Foundation.
According to the La Times, the Nfpf has revealed that roughly thirty-minutes, three reels in total, have been uncovered from a film entitled The White Shadow. Penned by Hitchcock, the 1923 film features Hitchcock aboard as an assistant director, an editor, and even as a production designer.
Starring Betty Compson and Clive Brook, the film is considered by many historians to be Hitchcock’s first major film. Sitting comfortably in the New Zealand Film Archive for damn near two decades, the Nfpf was able to gain access to the American films within the archive, which happened to include this film,...
According to the La Times, the Nfpf has revealed that roughly thirty-minutes, three reels in total, have been uncovered from a film entitled The White Shadow. Penned by Hitchcock, the 1923 film features Hitchcock aboard as an assistant director, an editor, and even as a production designer.
Starring Betty Compson and Clive Brook, the film is considered by many historians to be Hitchcock’s first major film. Sitting comfortably in the New Zealand Film Archive for damn near two decades, the Nfpf was able to gain access to the American films within the archive, which happened to include this film,...
- 8/3/2011
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Now this is just the kind of news we like having on hump day (which by the way is nowhere near as fun as it sounds)! The earliest surviving film from the great Alfred Hitchcock has been found! Well, at least some of it has.
According to THR, just in time for the filmmaker’s 112th birthday, archivists and preservationists in New Zealand have announced the discovery of the first half of a 1924 film thought to be Alfred Hitchcock’s earliest surviving feature.
In 1924's The White Shadow, an atmospheric British melodrama picked up for international distribution by Hollywood’s Lewis J. Selznick Enterprises, Hitchcock is credited as assistant director, art director, editor and writer. He was 24 when he worked on the film; his feature directorial debut would come soon afterward on The Pleasure Garden (1925).
The film, which stars Betty Compson in a dual role as twin sisters — one angelic...
According to THR, just in time for the filmmaker’s 112th birthday, archivists and preservationists in New Zealand have announced the discovery of the first half of a 1924 film thought to be Alfred Hitchcock’s earliest surviving feature.
In 1924's The White Shadow, an atmospheric British melodrama picked up for international distribution by Hollywood’s Lewis J. Selznick Enterprises, Hitchcock is credited as assistant director, art director, editor and writer. He was 24 when he worked on the film; his feature directorial debut would come soon afterward on The Pleasure Garden (1925).
The film, which stars Betty Compson in a dual role as twin sisters — one angelic...
- 8/3/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Alfred Hitchcock's 1925 film "The Pleasure Garden" is generally recognized to be his first work as a credited director. But for years prior, the film legend worked as both art director and assistant director on a number of silent films. Now, one of those movies, "The White Shadow," has been unearthed in New Zealand, and it is thought to be Hitchcock's oldest surviving film.
A silent British melodrama starring Betty Compson, "The White Shadow," known as "White Shadows" on this side of the Atlantic, told the story of two twins - one good and one evil, but both played by Compson. Hitchcock was only 24-years-old when he collaborated with Graham Cutts on the film, working as assistant director, art director, editor and writer.
"The White Shadow" we believed lost up until recently, when the first three reels of the original six were found sealed away in the New Zealand Film Archive in Wellington,...
A silent British melodrama starring Betty Compson, "The White Shadow," known as "White Shadows" on this side of the Atlantic, told the story of two twins - one good and one evil, but both played by Compson. Hitchcock was only 24-years-old when he collaborated with Graham Cutts on the film, working as assistant director, art director, editor and writer.
"The White Shadow" we believed lost up until recently, when the first three reels of the original six were found sealed away in the New Zealand Film Archive in Wellington,...
- 8/3/2011
- by Aubrey Sitterson
- ifc.com
Filed under: Movie News
In a major film find, the very first movie by Alfred Hitchcock has just been discovered in a New Zealand archive.
The archive announced the discovery of the first 30 minutes of a 1923 British film, 'The White Shadow,' believed to be the earliest feature film directed by the master of suspense. Their find is the only known copy in existence. "[They] offer a priceless opportunity to study [Hitchcock's] visual and narrative ideas when they were first taking shape," said David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics and author of 'The Films of Alfred Hitchcock.'
Hitchcock was only 24 when he wrote and edited the melodrama, which stars Betty Compson in a dual role as good and bad sisters. He was also the art director and assistant director of the piece. Sterritt says that the film's director was a "hack" who resented the "gifted upstart" working under him.
In a major film find, the very first movie by Alfred Hitchcock has just been discovered in a New Zealand archive.
The archive announced the discovery of the first 30 minutes of a 1923 British film, 'The White Shadow,' believed to be the earliest feature film directed by the master of suspense. Their find is the only known copy in existence. "[They] offer a priceless opportunity to study [Hitchcock's] visual and narrative ideas when they were first taking shape," said David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics and author of 'The Films of Alfred Hitchcock.'
Hitchcock was only 24 when he wrote and edited the melodrama, which stars Betty Compson in a dual role as good and bad sisters. He was also the art director and assistant director of the piece. Sterritt says that the film's director was a "hack" who resented the "gifted upstart" working under him.
- 8/3/2011
- by Sharon Knolle
- Moviefone
Footage from 1923 melodrama The White Shadow, one of the first films that Hitchcock worked on, identified in New Zealand film archive
It's the kind of unpredictable twist that even the celebrated film-maker might have found surprising: footage from a lost silent movie featuring work by Alfred Hitchcock has been discovered in New Zealand.
The White Shadow, from 1923, is a melodrama starring Us actor Betty Compson as twin sisters – one good, one evil – and Clive Brook. It was the first film that the 24-year-old Hitchcock worked on. He was writer, assistant director, editor and production designer on the project. Three reels comprising the first 30 minutes of the movie were left at the New Zealand Film Archive in 1989 by the family of a New Zealand projectionist and film collector, but were only recently identified. No one knows where the remaining three reels are and no other copy of the film is thought to exist.
It's the kind of unpredictable twist that even the celebrated film-maker might have found surprising: footage from a lost silent movie featuring work by Alfred Hitchcock has been discovered in New Zealand.
The White Shadow, from 1923, is a melodrama starring Us actor Betty Compson as twin sisters – one good, one evil – and Clive Brook. It was the first film that the 24-year-old Hitchcock worked on. He was writer, assistant director, editor and production designer on the project. Three reels comprising the first 30 minutes of the movie were left at the New Zealand Film Archive in 1989 by the family of a New Zealand projectionist and film collector, but were only recently identified. No one knows where the remaining three reels are and no other copy of the film is thought to exist.
- 8/3/2011
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Coming straight from THR.com is the news that Alfred Hitchcock (who would be turning 112) has a lost film that was currently found by archivists and preservationists in New Zealand. The film, dated 1924, is titled "The White Shadow" which stars Betty Compson in a dual role as twin sisters one angelic and the other without a soul turned up among the cache of unidentified American nitrate prints safeguarded at the New Zealand Film Archive in…...
- 8/3/2011
- Horrorbid
The Barker (1928) Direction: George Fitzmaurice Cast: Milton Sills, Dorothy Mackaill, Betty Compson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Sylvia Ashton, George Cooper Screenplay: Benjamin Glazer; dialogue by Joseph Jackson; titles by Herman J. Mankiewicz, from Kenyon Nicholson's 1927 play Oscar Movies, Pre-Code Movies Dorothy Mackaill, Milton Sills, The Barker Directed by George Fitzmaurice, by then already a film veteran, The Barker is one of those strange hybrids made at the dawn of the sound era: some sequences feature dialogue, others have intertitles and musical accompaniment. The Barker, in fact, is perhaps stranger than most for the dialogue isn't restricted to one specific reel or two. Characters start talking unexpectedly, only to go silent again a few scenes later. Besides its historical importance as one of those transitional curiosities, this B-movie melodrama produced with a mostly A-class talent has enough intriguing elements to keep viewers at least moderately entertained. The basic plot, from Kenyon Nicholson...
- 3/9/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Traffic in Souls (1913) Direction: George Loane Tucker Screenplay: Walter MacNamara Cast: Ethel Grandin, Matt Moore, Jane Gail, William H. Turner At the time of its release, the scandalous Traffic in Souls, one of the first feature films made in the United States, became a huge moneymaker. This moralistic/sensationalistic melodrama about the white slave trade — immigrant women are forced into prostitution in New York City — remains watchable chiefly because of director George Loane Tucker‘s sure touch. Tucker became a major name in the 1910s — The Miracle Man (1919), starring Thomas Meighan, Betty Compson, and Lon Chaney was another major hit — but he had his career cut short by illness. He died in 1921 at the age of 49. Unfortunately, most of his films are now lost. (Just as unfortunately, only fragments remain from The Miracle Man.) Traffic in Souls stars Ethel Grandin and Matt Moore, both of [...]...
- 8/25/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Above: Betty Compson and George Bancroft in Josef von Sternberg's The Docks of New York (1928). Courtesy of the Criterion Collection.
George Bancroft, that clay lump of an actor, is not Marlene Dietrich; it seems obvious but it's true. Neither is Emil Jannings, another majestically bulky silent star. Yet after the new set of silent films directed by Josef von Sternberg are released by The Criterion Collection, the fickle tides of film history and cinephilia may shift again, away from Sternberg's famed evocations of female glamour and towards heavyset giants lit like Caravaggios under Klieg lights.
No other auteur is so associated in his auteurship with an actor than Sternberg with Dietrich (I often seem to refer to them as Dietrich-Sternberg, like Straub-Huillet); yet these three films—Underworld (1927), The Last Command (1928), and The Docks of New York (1928), with the immovable Bancroft leading the first and the last, sandwiching an Academy...
George Bancroft, that clay lump of an actor, is not Marlene Dietrich; it seems obvious but it's true. Neither is Emil Jannings, another majestically bulky silent star. Yet after the new set of silent films directed by Josef von Sternberg are released by The Criterion Collection, the fickle tides of film history and cinephilia may shift again, away from Sternberg's famed evocations of female glamour and towards heavyset giants lit like Caravaggios under Klieg lights.
No other auteur is so associated in his auteurship with an actor than Sternberg with Dietrich (I often seem to refer to them as Dietrich-Sternberg, like Straub-Huillet); yet these three films—Underworld (1927), The Last Command (1928), and The Docks of New York (1928), with the immovable Bancroft leading the first and the last, sandwiching an Academy...
- 8/23/2010
- MUBI
The Pony Express (1925) Direction: James Cruze Screenplay: Walter Woods; from Woods and Henry James Forman’s story Cast: Betty Compson, Ricardo Cortez, George Bancroft, Ernest Torrence, Wallace Beery, Al Hart The Pony Express is a rousing James Cruze Western depicting the founding of the Pony Express with a backdrop of political ambitions concerning a senator’s plans to get California to secede from the United States so he can build his own empire. A great cast and Cruze’s direction keep this one interesting — even though Ricardo Cortez in a period film seems woefully out of place and pretty Betty Compson’s role is more or less that of an ingenue, merely requiring her to look good while reacting to the things going [...]...
- 11/2/2009
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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