BLACHEFAN

Lambchops (1929) This short film stars husband and wife comedians George Burns and Gracie Allen as they perform a vaudeville routine to the camera. True to the formula of their successful vaudeville, radio, film and television acts, Burns plays the oft-exasperated straight man to Allen's cluelessly ditzy yet loveable comedienne. Filmed at the Astoria Studios in Queens, New York, the film was not a particular hit, but it did mark Burns and Allen's first foray into motion pictures, a medium which allowed them to hone their craft before the camera and prepare for their highly successful television career. The expanded essay is below this description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/lambchops.pdf

Hallelujah! (1929) The all-black-cast film "Hallelujah" was a surprising gamble by normally conservative MGM, allowed chiefly because director King Vidor deferred his salary and MGM had proved slow to convert from silent to sound films. Vidor had to shoot silent film of the mass-river-baptism and swamp-murder Tennessee location scenes. He then painstakingly synchronized the dialogue and music. Around themes of religion, sensuality and family stability, Vidor molded a tale of a cotton sharecropper that begins with him losing his year's earnings, his brother and his freedom and follows him through the temptations of a dancehall girl (Nina Mae McKinney). The passionate conviction of the melodrama and the resourceful technical experiments make "Hallelujah" among the very first indisputable masterpieces of the sound era.

H2O (1929) Renowned experimental film by Ralph Steiner, who later served as cameraman and/or director on documentary classics such as "The City" and "The Plow that Broke the Plains." "H2O" is a cinematic tone poem to water in all its forms, using lovely images and editing techniques of movement, shading and texture to produce striking visual effects.

Black and Tan (1929) In one of the first short musical films to showcase African-American jazz musicians, Duke Ellington portrays a struggling musician whose dancer wife (Fredi Washington in her film debut) secures him a gig for his orchestra at the famous Cotton Club where she's been hired to perform, at a risk to her health. Directed by Dudley Murphy, who earned his reputation with "Ballet mécanique," which is considered a masterpiece of early experimental filmmaking, the film reflects the cultural, social and artistic explosion of the 1920s that became known as the Harlem Renaissance. Ellington and Washington personify that movement, and Murphy—who also directed registry titles "St. Louis Blues" (1929), another musical short, and the feature "The Emperor Jones" (1933) starring Paul Robeson—cements it in celluloid to inspire future generations. Washington, who appeared with Robeson in "Emperor Jones," is best known as "Peola" in the 1934 version of "Imitation of Life."

Big Business (1929) As gifted in their repartee as they were in their physical antics, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were the perfect team for the transition from silent film comedy to sound. Their legendary career spanned from 1921 to 1951 and included more than 100 films. This two-reeler finds the duo attempting to sell Christmas trees in sunny California. Their run-in with an unsatisfied customer (played by James Finlayson) lays the groundwork for a slapstick melee eventually involving a dismantled car, a wrecked house and an exploding cigar. The film was produced by the team's long-time collaborator, Hal Roach, the king of no-holds-barred comedy. The expanded essay is below this description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/big_business.pdf

Applause (1929) This early sound-era masterpiece was the first film of both stage/director Rouben Mamoulian and cabaret/star Helen Morgan. Many have compared Mamoulian's debut to that of Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" because of his flamboyant use of cinematic innovation to test technical boundaries. The tear-jerking plot boasts top performances from Morgan as the fading burlesque queen, Fuller Mellish Jr. as her slimy paramour and Joan Peters as her cultured daughter. However, the film is remembered today chiefly for Mamoulian's audacious style. While most films of the era were static and stage-bound, Mamoulian's camera reinvigorated the melodramatic plot by prowling relentlessly through sordid backstage life.

The Wind (1928) Southern waif Letty (Lillian Gish) moves to the untamed west to live with her cousin and his family, but her presence creates rifts within the family and inspires jealousy between two brothers Lige (Lars Hanson) and Sourdough (William Orlamond). In addition to family tensions and marital strife, Letty must contend with the neverending wind, which becomes a character in its own right, slowly driving Letty to the edge of sanity. Directed by Victor Sjöström and adapted from Dorothy Scarborough's novel of the same name, "The Wind" was one of the last silent films released by MGM before converting to sound and was the last silent film in which Lillian Gish starred. The expanded essay is below this description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/the_wind.pdf

The Wedding March (1928) Produced, directed, written by, and starring Erich von Stroheim, "The Wedding March" tells the story of poor Austrian aristocrat Nicholas Ehrhart Hans Karl Maria, Prince von Wildeliebe-Rauffenburg (von Stroheim), whose parents are determined he marry for money to increase their family wealth. However, when the prince falls in love with Mitzi (Fay Wray), the daughter of an innkeeper, his plans are put in jeopardy. As was often the case with von Stroheim productions, "The Wedding March" went significantly over schedule and over budget due to the filmmaker's perfectionism. When von Stroheim's initial cut was deemed too long, Paramount took control of the editing process and the film was edited down to the version known today. The expanded essay is below this description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/wedding_march.pdf

There It Is (1928) One of the increasingly famous Charley Bowers surrealist shorts, this film combines live action with stop-motion object animation in settings where the usual rules do not apply. This "Scotland Yard investigates Haunted House" spoof features the adorable animated bug MacGregor. The expanded essay is below this description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/there_it_is.pdf

Steamboat Willie (1928) Generally thought of as the film that introduced the world to Mickey Mouse, "Steamboat Willie" proved a huge success and established Walt Disney as a key player in the animation industry, setting a standard that would influence all other animation pioneers. Mickey's character in the film is a nod to Buster Keaton's recent film "Steamboat Bill, Jr." The expanded essay is below this description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/steamboat_willie.pdf

Show People (1928) This silent gem directed by King Vidor showcased Marion Davies' deft touch for light comedy in a story about a young girl from Georgia who goes to Hollywood to become an actress. Befriended by a working actor (William Haines), the aspiring star gradually gets small comic roles but dreams of being a serious actress. When she finally gets her big break, she abandons her old studio and friends, but eventually sees the errors of her ways and is reunited with her actor beau. Gently skewering the industry that created it, "Show People" features cameos by some of the biggest stars of the era — including Charlie Chaplin and Davies as herself.

The Sex Life of the Polyp (1928) Humorist Robert Benchley's career was both varied and distinguished: essayist, member of the Algonquin Round Table, writer for "Vanity Fair" and "The New Yorker," actor in Hollywood features ("Foreign Correspondent") and several dozen short comedy subjects. "The Sex Life of the Polyp," Benchley's second short (following "The Treasurer's Report") features him as a daft doctor giving a droll but earnest lecture on polyp reproductive habits to a women's club. The expanded essay is below the description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/polyp.pdf

The Power of the Press (1928) Dexterous newspaper yarn features Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as a reporter investigating a murder. When he discovers rampant political chicanery afoot, what's a clever young Capra hero to do? Expose the corruption, of course, and set his hometown right.

Pass the Gravy (1928) Max Davidson was a German-Jewish comedian whose films, made at the Hal Roach studio, typically caricatured established Jewish stereotypes of the day. This short film features Davidson's escapades with a neighbor's stolen chicken. The expanded essay is below the description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/pass_gravy.pdf

Lonesome (1928) "Lonesome" is the first of only a few American feature films directed by Hungarian-born filmmaker and scientist Paul Fejös. Recognized by today's audiences as a comic melodrama about young lovers separated during a thunderstorm at Coney Island, the film was not particularly well received upon its release. Restored by the George Eastman House, "Lonesome" has proven popular among repertory audiences due in large part to its successful early use of dialogue and two-color Technicolor. Universal's first big excursion into sound, legend has it that the studio outfitted the film with its music and effects track and three talking sequences by clandestinely using a Fox Movietone News truck on loan to Universal for conducting sound tests. As Universal hurriedly "sounded" three other features, Fox repossessed their truck. The talking sequences, better for their technological innovation than their wit, hardly diminish Fejos' eloquent and brilliantly photographed tale of a lonely machinist and an equally lonely telephone operator who fall in love during one enchanted day. The expanded essay is below this description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/Lonesome.pdf

The Last Command (1928) This film is Josef von Sternberg's powerful drama of exiled Russian general Emil Jannings, who is reduced to the scraps of "extra" roles in Hollywood. Jannings' Academy Award-winning performance towers over the screen, showcasing emotions ranging from his forceful leadership as a tsarist general, to incredulous dismay at the loss of his beloved country and his lover who helped him escape. Shaken out of his stupor when cast in a film about the Russian Revolution, Jannings summons his thunderous charisma in one final bid to somehow win the war for Mother Russia. The ending, considered one of cinema's most memorable, remains heart-wrenching.

Fox Movietone News: Jenkins Orphanage Band (1928) Newsreel footage of the renowned African American touring musical group of Charleston, S.C. The Jenkins Orphanage Band of Charleston has been recognized as one of the country's important jazz "incubators." This Fox Movietone News film is the earliest extant sound recording of the band and shows close ups of the of the youthful musicians comprising the brass and percussion ensemble playing their instruments as they perform on a local sidewalk. Young boys and girls dance in front of the band. The expanded essay is below this description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/jenkins.pdf

The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) Edgar Allen Poe's classic tale of the macabre serves as the foundation for this 13-minute avant-arde film by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber. Startlingly stylized in composition, costume and set design, this version of the horror classic is as much interested in the tale's psychological underpinnings as its haunting story. Filled with innovative editing, lighting and camerawork, "Usher" appears as modern today as when it premiered at the Film Arts Guild in 1929. The expanded essay is below this description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/fall_house_usher.pdf

The Docks of New York (1928) The "Daily Variety" review from 1928 called "The Docks of New York" a good entertaining picture that misses greatness by a whisker." Masterfully directed by Josef Von Sternberg, complete with a characteristic slow pace and atmospheric scenes, the film's stark beauty is expertly photographed by Harold Rosson. The film tells the tale of a sailor (George Bancroft) who rescues a prostitute (Betty Compson) from suicide, and the relationship that develops between the two.

The Crowd (1928) With "The Crowd," King Vidor repeated the artistic success he had achieved a few years earlier with "The Big Parade," but the film's downbeat realism thwarted the commercial success of his earlier effort. It stars Vidor's wife Eleanor Boardman and James Murray, whom the director had discovered, ironically, in a crowd of extras just prior to filming. In this realistic tale of a young couple's struggles, the film's cinematography plays a role as big as those of its two lead actors. Its most memorable interior shot climbs from street level, up columns of skyscrapers through a window into a sea of desks manned by pencil pushers, until the camera finally reveals a close-up of the lead character played by Murray. Cinematographer Henry Sharp mastered inventive and visceral interior shots, and with the help of a hidden camera, his New York exteriors, including scenes at Coney Island, convey excitement and spontaneity. The dynamic visuals of "The Crowd" are alternately in concert and in contrast with the highly emotional screenplay written by John V.A. Weaver and director Vidor and the naturalistic performances of Boardman and Murray as they explore the faceless, soulless nature of the modern city.

The Cameraman (1928) This film marked the last of Buster Keaton's silent comedy classics. Here Keaton is an aspiring newsreel cameraman out to win the heart of studio secretary Marceline Day. Ostensibly directed by Edward Sedgwick, the film is all Keaton and includes some of the best treatises on the techniques and psychology of shooting motion pictures. Keaton is at his most deft in responding to the most outrageous situations with matter-of-fact naturalism and wearing his great stone face. A seamless, ingenious blend of comedy and pathos, featuring countless creative gags involving fantastical double exposures, swimming pool changing rooms, and an organ grinder's monkey.

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) If Charlie Chaplin can be called the "poet" of American comedy and Harold Lloyd its "everyman" with a keen eye for contemporary tastes and attitudes, Buster Keaton can best be seen as an ingenious craftsman whose films adopt an outlook more in tune with later generations: his films with rare exception hold up better than those of his contemporaries. Born in Piqua, Kansas to vaudevillian parents, Keaton as a toddler was given the name "Buster" by Harry Houdini for his ability to survive falls. Keaton's fame rests on his array of work from 1920 to 1928 when, in both shorts and feature films, he displayed a seamless mastery of film comic technique, from superb cinematography and editing to brilliant, intricately visual gags. "Steamboat Bill, Jr." opens with ship captain Steamboat Bill (Ernest Torrence) awaiting the arrival of his long-unseen son (Buster Keaton) whom he hopes to groom as his successor. Keaton, fresh from Boston schooling, turns out to be a dandy wearing a striped blazer and sporting a ukulele. Impatient parent Torrence wearily begins the daunting makeover. The film is remembered for its breath-stopping stunts and cyclone finale. After making the film, Keaton made a disastrous move to MGM, which, combined with personal difficulties, ended his productive career.

The Beau Brummels (1928) Al Shaw and Sam Lee were an eccentrically popular vaudeville act of the 1920s. In 1928 they made this eight-minute Vitaphone short for Warner Bros. The duo later appeared in more than a dozen other films, though none possessed the wacky charm of "The Beau Brummels." As Jim Knipfel has observed: "If Samuel Beckett had written a vaudeville routine, he would have created Shaw and Lee." Often considered one of the quintessential vaudeville comedy shorts, the film has a simple set-up—Shaw and Lee stand side by side with deadpan expressions in non-tailored suits and bowler hats as they deliver their comic routine of corny nonsense songs and gags with a bit of soft shoe and their renowned hat-swapping routine. Shaw's and Lee's reputation has enjoyed a recent renaissance and their brand of dry, offbeat humor is seen by some as well ahead of its time. The film has been preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Wings (1927) Dazzling aerobatic dogfights mark "Wings" as one of the last epics of the silent era and the first winner of the Oscar for what would become known as Best Picture. William Wellman, a former World War I pilot, directed John Monk Saunders' story of two childhood friends (Buddy Rogers and Richard Arlen) and the women who love them ("It Girl" Clara Bow and Jobyna Ralston). Short on story but long on action, the film employed a reported 17 assistant cameramen to choreograph its extended flying sequences and hundreds of Army extras, giving many in the audience the closest glimpse of flight that they would ever experience. The expanded essay is below this description. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/wings.pdf

Sunrise (1927) "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans" explores the relationship between a farmer (George O'Brien) and his wife (Janet Gaynor) when the farmer's metropolitan mistress (Margaret Livingston) suggests he kill his wife so he can run away with her to the city. Directed by German auteur F.W. Murnau, "Sunrise" bears the hallmarks of German Expressionism and continues the director's tradition of introducing new technical methods of enhancing the storytelling process. "Sunrise" is perhaps most historically and technologically significant because it was the first feature film to be released using Fox's Movietone sound system, which allowed the film score and sound effects to be synchronized with the moving image by recording the soundtrack as an optical track on the same film that captures the image. "Sunrise" won multiple Academy Awards, including best actress for Janet Gaynor, best cinematography, and a special Academy Award for "unique and artistic production," the first and only time that award was ever given.