Top Hat (1935) dir. Mark Sandrich. USA. Because we are human, because we are bound by gravity and the limitations of our bodies, because we live in a world where the news is often bad and the prospects disturbing, there is a need for another world somewhere, a world where Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers … Continue reading Film 32: Top Hat
Tag: storytelling
Film 16: The Circus
The Circus (1928) dir. Charlie Chaplin. USA. Charlie Chaplin was a perfectionist in his films and a calamity in his private life. These two traits clashed as he was making "The Circus," one of his funniest films and certainly the most troubled. When he sat down to write his autobiography, he simply never mentioned it, … Continue reading Film 16: The Circus
Film 14: Wings
Wings (1927) dir. William A. Wellman. USA. "Ironically, a mass-market silent spectacular like William Wellman's Wings effortlessly showcases far more visual variety than mainstream American films have offered since: it displays shifts from brutal realism to nonrealistic techniques associated with Soviet avant-garde or impressionistic French cinema - double exposures, subjective point-of-view shots, trick effects, symbolic … Continue reading Film 14: Wings
Film 13: The Passion of Joan of Arc
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer, France To modern audiences, raised on films where emotion is conveyed by dialogue and action more than by faces, a film like "The Passion of Joan of Arc” is an unsettling experience--so intimate we fear we will discover more secrets than we desire. Our … Continue reading Film 13: The Passion of Joan of Arc
Film 12: Faust
Faust (1926) dir. F.W. Murnau. Germany. Like all silent-film directors, Murnau was comfortable with special effects that were obviously artificial. The town beneath the wings of the dark angel is clearly a model, and when characters climb a steep street, there is no attempt to make the sharply angled buildings and rooflines behind them seem … Continue reading Film 12: Faust
Film 10 : Greed
Greed (1925) dir. Erich von Stroheim. USA. 'Indeed the film is realistic. Opening scenes were shot in the very gold mine that Norris wrote about; it was reopened for the movie. The San Francisco dentist's office was not a set but a real second-floor office, which still exists. Von Stroheim could have shot his desert scenes … Continue reading Film 10 : Greed
Film 9: The Gold Rush
The Gold Rush (1924) dir. Charlie Chaplin. USA. 'The Tramp—small, innocent, beleaguered, romantic, oblivious, resourceful, idealistic—lives inside everyone, but Charlie Chaplin made him manifest, with humor that is never cruel, never aggressive, and always speaks to our best selves. The Gold Rush takes the Tramp, in his longest outing to date, from rags to riches, … Continue reading Film 9: The Gold Rush
Film 8: The Last Laugh
The Last Laugh (1924) dir. F. W. Murnau. Germany. 'F.W. Murnau's "The Last Laugh" (1924) tells this story in one of the most famous of silent films, and one of the most truly silent, because it does not even use printed intertitles. Silent directors were proud of their ability to tell a story through pantomime … Continue reading Film 8: The Last Laugh
Film 7: Sherlock Jr.
Sherlock, Jr. (1924) dir. Buster Keaton. USA. (NB: We switched film 7 and 8 on our docket for timing purposes. They were both released in 1924.) 'The greatest of the silent clowns is Buster Keaton, not only because of what he did, but because of how he did it. Harold Lloyd made us laugh as … Continue reading Film 7: Sherlock Jr.
Film 6: Souls For Sale
1 Souls for Sale (1923) dir. Rupert Hughes. USA. 'This is a prime example of the mid-range entertainment Hollywood was producing so skillfully at the time. Filled with actors who were then stars, fast-moving, entertaining, with a spectacular circus action sequence at the climax, it is drama, melodrama, romance and satire all at once -- … Continue reading Film 6: Souls For Sale
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