Category Archives: silent films

Primitives: “The Lost World” (1925)

           “The Lost World”  (1925)    Based upon the 1912 adventure novel by Sherlock Holmes scribe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry O. Hoyt’s 1925 “The Lost World” presents Conan Doyle’s less well known but equally estimable … Continue reading

Posted in animation, books, movie reviews, Movies, Romance, silent films, silent movies, women, writing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

From the Ashes: “Frankenstein” (1910)

                “Frankenstein”  (1910)     Though appreciably compromised in its filmic translation from the novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (an introductory title acknowledges the film to be a “liberal adaptation”), not only due … Continue reading

Posted in books, fRANKENSTEIN, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science, silent films, silent movies, theater, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Return of the Classic Film Clip Quiz

  The Return of the Classic Film Clip Quiz     Let us reintroduce this minor little visual quiz where we ask the musical question: Name the film clips shown. (Well, it’s not really a question, but it’s our discretion … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, comedy, dance, erotica, History, horror, Movies, Musicals, Mystery, Romance, silent films, westerns | 8 Comments

Without a Clue: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Aug. 2018 Edition, Vol. 52

Without a Clue:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz,  Aug. 2018 Edition, Vol. 52     With the summer winding down, it seemed appropriate to publish a photo quiz that was (in our estimation, since we know the answers), a breeze, … Continue reading

Posted in books, Boston, History, movie reviews, Movies, photography, Reviews, silent films, theater, women, writing | 2 Comments

SEPTEMBER 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, Vol. 999

METAMORPHOSIS EDITION:  SEPT. 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, Vol. 999 Greetings cinephiles, or Fellowship of Those With Far Too Much Free Time, and welcome to this month’s edition of America’s most persistent irritant not treatable with a topical ointment: the … Continue reading

Posted in comedy, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, religion, Reviews, science fiction, silent films, Woody Allen | 1 Comment

Mismatch: “La petite marchande d’allumettes” / “The Little Match Girl” (1928)

      Jean Renoir’s film version of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1854 story “Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne” (“The Little Match Girl”) alters the original story considerably by featuring the casting of Renoir’s then-wife Catherine Hessling in the title role. Hessling, already … Continue reading

Posted in books, children's books, French movies, Jean Renoir, movie reviews, Reviews, short stories, silent films, silent movies, writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Poe in the Cinema: Two 1909 Griffith Shorts- “Edgar Allen Poe” & “The Sealed Room”

    Despite the endless spate of film either directly drawn from or merely produced through the route of provident inspiration (an exampled by the much of the celebrated Roger Corman adaptations), precious little of value has emerged from film versions of … Continue reading

Posted in Edgar Allan Poe, Film, Film Reviews, movie reviews, Movies, Poe in the Cinema, silent films, silent movies | Tagged | Leave a comment

“Silents” is Golden: “Silent Dreams”, written by Dandi Daley Mackall, illustrated by Karen A. Jerome

   There is no reason to expect less of, nor to set lower standards for, children’s literature than of those expectations and standards demanded by the discriminating adult reader.     In the realm of children’s illustrated books, there is a … Continue reading

Posted in book reviews, books, children, children's books, illustrated books, illustration, Movies, parenting, silent films, silent movies | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Sleepwalking: “Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari” (1920)

     Universally regarded as a landmark in German Expressionistic cinema and one of the first important horror films, Robert Weine’s 1920 “Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari” is many things: a breakthrough in films penetrating the unconscious mind, one of the … Continue reading

Posted in 1920's cinema, art house cinema, cinema, Film, Film Reviews, German cinema, horror films, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, silent films, silent movies | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Soap Opera: “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925)

     How fortunate for Mary Philbin that in her portrayal of fledgling opera singer Christine Baaé, she is not under the technical requirements to convincingly render the voice of an operatic diva, as per the evidence onscreen, the capacity to … Continue reading

Posted in 1920's cinema, cinema, Entertainment, Film, Film Reviews, horror films, Lon Chaney, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, silent films, silent movies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tropical Heat: “Sadie Thompson” (1928)

     Based upon the W. Somerset Maugham short story “Miss Thompson”, (also known as “Rain”) this 1928 silent feature stars a powerhouse pairing of Gloria Swanson as Sadie Thompson and Lionel Barrymore as fundamentalist reformer Davidson under spirited and judiciously impassioned … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Film Reviews, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, silent films, silent movies | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Dead Man’s Hand: “The Ace of Hearts” (1921)

    It is often true that the villain is a far more interesting character than the hero of a film. The more lurid the story, the chances are that the colorful antics of villainy will far outshine the interest generated … Continue reading

Posted in cinema, Culture, Film Reviews, Films, Lon Chaney, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, silent films, silent movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment