goldensilents
-
Posts
803 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Never
Posts posted by goldensilents
-
-
Thanks Dan!
-
I watched Charles Farrell's *Lilliom* from the Murnau-Borzage DVD box set last night. I thought it was ok, the cinematography was nice, the print excellent, the acting was good (Charles made an effort to lower his rather high pitched voice) but the story seemed too stilted to me. I didn't care for the After Death sequences. I think it's a difficult story to film well because the male lead isn't sympathetic.
If you've seen it what were your thoughts on it?
-
-
Hey does anyone know why the silent The River is not in the Murnau Borzage DVD box set? I am amazed I don't see it here. I have the Filmmuseum's PAL DVD release from a few year's back, but I would think in a set this big that they would have included the restoration of The River on NTSC disc in this set? Totally weird!
-
Oi vey! I think I am switching to the early talkies in this set next. My ears need a break.
-
I delved into *Lucky Star* first, which I had seen years before but in a lousy print. This print was nice in the Murnau-Borzage set, but the "music"? AWFUL! My fifteen year old son who plays the French horn and enjoys writing music could do a better job scoring this film. Ugh! I had to turn the sound down real low. What a shame, the film deserved a much nicer romantic score.
-
-
Haha! Lawrence Welk, eh? Well, whatever floats his boat.
I feel like I am climbing out of a dark tunnel re: this headcold. I opened my lovely new Murnau-Borzage box set, put it on my bed, said to myself, "I'll watch something in a few minutes", put my head on the pillow and was out for another 9 hours!
Maybe tonight I'll get to something, there's so many goodies I don't know what to start with first.
-
Thank you.
I think I also share a birthday with Dorothy Gish. I have a terrible headcold right now and feel awful. I guess I won't be going out tonight, but I do know that my wonderful hubbie got me the Murnau-Borzage box set, so maybe if I feel a bit revived later I can watch something from that tonight. Any recommendations at to what to start with first?
-
I'm always going back and forth on my favorite Lloyd feature between Girl Shy and The Freshman. I enjoy both of them very much in different ways.
-
It looks more like Aileen Pringle to me than Renee. Renee was more beautiful in an exotic way.
http://www.allstarpics.net/pic-gallery/aileen-pringle-pics.htm
Here's a photo of Aileen. Her eyes are pretty, but not as pretty as Renee's.
-
Back in the day, TCM was promoting Treasures 2 and aired many films from that collection, including Gretchen. If you don't already have Treasures volumes 1 through 3 consider purchasing them. They have so much enjoyment to them! (especially 3, which is my favorite).
Apparently they are out with an avant garde Treasures 4 but there are no silents. I don't plan on getting that one.
-
I watched a real oddity tonight, a German silent starring Brigette Helm called *Alraune* (1928), a kind of reverse Frankenstein tale, where instead of an ugly male monster being created a beautiful blonde monster is created instead.
The film is on YouTube but in a mediocre print. Always neat to watch Brigette in something new though. Apparently this film was remade later as a talkie, also starring Brigette.
The scientist is played by Paul Wegener of Golem fame. The nephew of the scientist who eventually rescues his uncle's creation from destruction was played by Ivan Petrovich.
I'll bet this would be a stunning film if it was restored properly and had a good score. The Frankenstein myth is always popular with people, especially when, in this case, it is combined with sensuality. Brigette had a great challenge with this role and she performed admirably.
Not for everyone, but try it if you're in the mood for something oddball and funky.
-
My husband bought me the big Borzage-Murnau box set for my birthday on March 11. So I haven't watched any of the films in it yet. I see a conspicuously big wrapped gift in his walk in closet and know that's what it is.
I can't imagine that they wouldn't provide some way to shut off subtitles. The Spanish PAL DVD release of Seventh Heaven, which someone gifted me with before the Borzage-Murnau box set was announced, had an easy way to turn them off. I'll let you know when I finally get around to watching the films on the new set.
I was finalizing a bunch of discs that have been waiting around for several weeks and stopped for a half an hour or so and watched Harold Lloyd's *High and Dizzy* last night. I've seen it before but it always makes me laugh. I like when he takes the dummy head and puts it over his coat and pretends he's a very tall new patient. That always cracks me up.
-
I love *Street Angel* too, MissGoddess. You probably saw the Critics Choice print. It was adequate but no great shakes.
My favorite moment: when she sees the portrait for the first time and drops the apple she is eating. The various expressions running across her face at that moment are a study in complexity. Janet Gaynor was such a brilliant actress.
-
You described *A Throw Of Dice* beautifully, MissGulch: a jewel.
Not a silent film, but in some ways similar to *I Was Born, But ...* is the incredible film *Twenty-Four Eyes* (1954, Criterion Collection restoration) a masterpiece of Japanese cinema. I recently bought it on a lark because it sounded interesting but little did I realize I would be watching a film that would wipe me out emotionally like no other film I've ever seen. It tells the story of twenty years in the life of a quiet and intelligent rural Japanese schoolteacher and how she grows to deeply care about the children she teaches. Half way through I started weeping and couldn't stop. The Japanese are master storytellers about families, and whether the format is silent or sound films, their movies are unforgettable.
-
Most other boards have a thread like this, to keep the conversation going about the latest silents fans have watched (or re-watched). I didn't see one here, though I might have missed it, so I'm starting a new one.
What was the last silent movie you watched?
The other night I watched *The Girl With The Hatbox* (1927) with Anna Sten, a Russian comedy silent. It was very cute though a little choppy. My 12 year old daughter watched with me all the way through and I was surprised; she kept laughing and asking me questions about it, so I consider the evening's silent viewing a success.
-
For me it's a way to travel back in time and to see the kinds of films my grandparents probably watched in the theaters back in the teens and twenties when they were coming of age.
My mother always loved old movies too and when I was five years old I'd climb down the stairs and lay on the floor of her sewing room while she worked and watched old films on the Late Shows on WPIX and WOR in New York. It was a way for me to feel closer to her and I began to love the old black and white films. Then I started watching some silent films, mostly Chaplin's, when Channel 13 (PBS) would show them. When they aired *Hollywood* (1980) I watched that for the first time and loved it.
People who love history generally enjoy silent films. You can learn a lot about that time period of history (often neglected in current educational systems) by watching silent films, from America and many other countries. Pictures are worth a thousand words.
I also have always loved the process of images combined with music. My music website is like that; I started it in 1997 and combined public domain songs with vintage customized graphics, like an antique song book. So after a few years I got back into silent films again because I had already been geared toward appreciating images with music for quite some time in another venue. The films that got me back in were Mary Pickford silents, because I found her so charming (and still do). Then I discovered that the WWW was a great place to track down these rarities and have been basically doing that since the early 1990's, as my pocketbook can well attest.
-
Oh well, turns out this rumor was a hoax. Too bad. It would be great if it were found.
-
As far as I can recall, the only two silents I've seen her in are *The Three Musketeers* (1916) put out by Grapevine and *Moran of the Lady Letty* (1922) which is in the Valentino DVD collection.
-
Oh I *must* have one of those for my birthday coming up! Where can I tell my husband to order one for me?
-
It's seems that Herbert Brenon's 1916 hit *War Brides* starring Nazimova and Richard Barthelmess in his first real film role has been found, or there are rumors to that effect. That would be neat if true and if it's in good enough shape to make DVD. Imagine seeing Richard Barthelmess in his first important role. Sigh.
-
I've always been impressed with White Shadows. Monte Blue gives his best performance. I understand that the front office at the time wanted a more classically handsome man to play this role but I think that would have Hollywoodized it. Monte makes it look more authentic because he isn't a pretty boy, though attractive enough in his own way.
My favorite will always be the whistling scene. I usually have a grin from ear to ear while watching it.
-
I'm falling over and yawning like crazy, so I'll type quickly before I crash. If you can spare 100 dollars a year you can get your own server and host several gigs worth of images, videos, html files, whatever. Then you don't have to rely on the whims of Photobucket. You have more control.
I think I also share a birthday with Dorothy Gish.
What was the last silent movie you watched?
in Silent
Posted
I watched *The Rat* (1925) this afternoon, starring Ivor Novello and Mae Marsh. It wasn't anything too original but still entertaining because of the stars' performances, especially Mae Marsh, who is just the sweetest thing going.
===== spoilers ======
The story is about two young people living platonically together, almost like brother and sister, though it is clear the girl (Mae) is head over heels in love with "the Rat" (Ivor). The Rat hangs out in a nightclub each evening called The White Coffin. He's quite the ladies' man but the women all sense that he isn't interested in them for more than brief relationships. They debate the reason why but it never occurs to them (or to the Rat) that his real affections are centered on prim and proper little Mae, who waits for him each night, cooks and cleans for him and listens to his stories. This young couple become mixed up with a wealthy older couple; the husband is after sweet little Mae and the middle aged wife is after the Rat. A confrontation develops when the rich man tries to attack Mae. The Rat kills him, but when the police arrive Mae takes the blame. She goes to jail with the result that the Rat finally realizes he's been in love with Mae the whole time. There's a happy ending when Mae's character is released due to self-defense.
I liked the film. It was obvious Ivor was trying to compete with Rudolph Valentino. There's even a tango dance scene similar to Four Horsemen, but honestly Ivor doesn't hold a candle in the Dancing Department to Rudy!