Category Archives: silent movies

Bats: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, July 2022 Edition, Vol. 9

Bats: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, July 2022 Edition, Vol. 9      Surrounded by an unceasing parade of bloodsuckers in human form (y’know, politicians. media -ahem- journalists, phony social activists and lawyers… a veritable Hellzapoppin’ of deceit, deception and … Continue reading

Posted in animation, books, Boston, crime, Drive-In Movies, horror, Movies, Mystery, photography, silent movies, vampires, women, writing | 2 Comments

Barred: Classic Film Photo Quiz, June 2022 Edition, Vol. 25 – Life

Barred: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2022 Edition, Vol. 25 – Life Let us commemorate that happy time of the year when the children of this nation (a.k.a. deadbeats) are about to be released from their grueling three weeks of … Continue reading

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All Creatures Great and Small: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, March 2021 Edition, Vol. 46XXL

All Creatures Great and Small:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, March 2021 Edition, Vol. 46XXL      With the arrival of a theatrical film award season celebrating the achievements of a year completely invisible of theatrical entertainment, it has become … Continue reading

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‘Tis the Season of Excess: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2020 Edition, Vol. 3,000,000,000

‘Tis the Season of Excess: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2020 Edition, Vol. 3,000,000,000 If anything might be guaranteed to emanate on a continuous basis from the deeply humanist and selfless communal mindset that is at the core of … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, biography, books, History, Italian cinema, Movies, photography, Romance, Santa Claus, silent movies, westerns, women, writing | 3 Comments

Reserved Seating: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, July 2019 Edition, Vol. A7

Reserved Seating:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, July 2019 Edition, Vol. A7     Movies are a funny business (Unless the studios are attempting a comedy, in which case Hollywood can be the most depressing place on Earth.) and the … Continue reading

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Silence for Dummies: “Silent Movie” (1976)

       “Silent Movie” (1976)     Mel Brooks’ misplaced ascension as one of the giants of film comedy is brazenly exampled in this woefully constructed comedy of conceptual errors in which the brave artistic instincts of the director-writer-actor is … Continue reading

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Lure of the Siren: “Carmen” (1915)

          “Carmen”  (1915)      If a proper movie translation of Prosper Mérimée’s novella “Carmen” is to be realized, the film must positively reek of earthiness; it must relay a passion so irresistible in its attraction … Continue reading

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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

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Solo: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Jan. 2019 Edition, Vol. 1

Solo:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Jan. 2019 Edition, Vol. 1     The act of being alone comes in many forms in the cinema, from a voluntary solitude to an imposed seclusion, with the reaction to such isolation ranging … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, British films, Bruce Dern, comedy, History, movie remakes, Movies, science fiction, silent movies, Steve McQueen, women | 4 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

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Labor Pains: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Sept. 2018 Edition, Vol. 925/Remedial Reprint

_______________________________________________________________ Labor Pains:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Sept. 2018 Edition, Vol. 925/Remedial Reprint     The American cinema celebrates many things-  vacuous comic book heroics, scatological crudity, infantilism, serial sadism, non-NRA gun violence  -but the labors of the American working … Continue reading

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Stairway to Heaven (Or At Least To The Mezzanine): Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2018 Edition, Vol. 384

Stairway to Heaven (Or At Least To The Mezzanine):  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2018 Edition, Vol. 384     Life has its ups and downs and so do staircases. If you’re looking for a philosophical musing that’s deeper, … Continue reading

Posted in books, horror, Movies, Puzzles, science fiction, short stories, silent movies | 10 Comments

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

  “La petite marchande d’allumettes / The Little Match Girl” (1928) (Originally posted on March 13, 2014)      Jean Renoir’s film version of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1854 story “Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne” (“The Little Match Girl”) alters the … Continue reading

Posted in books, children's books, fantasy, French cinema, Jean Renoir, Movies, religion, short films, short stories, silent movies, writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Out of Touch: “Orlacs Hände” / “The Hands of Orlac” (1924)

   “Orlacs Hände” / “The Hands of Orlac”   (1924)  A Necessary Caveat: The following article contains analysis which reveals details of the subject film’s climactic events. Such details, if one wishes to approach the film with virgin eyes, should be approached with … Continue reading

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Ups and Downs: Classic Film Photo Quiz, March 2018 Edition, Vol. B-10

Ups and Downs: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, March 2018 Edition, Vol. B-10     Life has its ups and downs. One day you’re assured to ascend to the throne of power armed with a sense of entitlement second only … Continue reading

Posted in books, Boston, comedy, crime, grindhouse, humor, Movies, Musicals, Puzzles, Romance, silent movies, women | 11 Comments

The Only Way to Fly: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Feb. 2018 Edition, Vol. 747

The Only Way to Fly: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Feb. 2018 Edition, Vol. 747      How often does this happen to you? You are waiting in endless airport security lines. The attending TSA agents are more suspiciously handsy … Continue reading

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Stolen Kisses: The Birth of Adult Cinema

      The Birth of Adult Cinema:  “The Kiss” / “Après le bal”       (1896/1897) “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [“hard-core pornography”] as I … Continue reading

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All Quiet on the Western Omelette: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Jan. 2018 Edition, Vol. 1/2 & 1/2

All Quiet on the Western Omelette:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Jan. 2018 Edition, Vol. 1/2 & 1/2     The start of a new year brings with it it’s own set of leftover problems to which the average person … Continue reading

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Over Troubled Waters: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Nov. 2017 Edition, Vol. 7384750069858

Over Troubled Waters: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Nov. 2017 Edition, Vol. 7384750069858      As the song goes, “what goes up, must come down”. That’s right, you may have been expecting a little slice of Paul Simon, but it … Continue reading

Posted in book reviews, books, History, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, Reviews, Romance, silent movies, women, World War II, writing | 3 Comments

Damsels in Distress: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Oct. 2017 Edition, Vol. o – o

Damsels in Distress: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Oct, 2017 Edition, Vol. o – o      It may be politically incorrect to point out the obvious fact that holding a door open for a lady might well bring widespread … Continue reading

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Pressure Point: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, October 2015 Edition, Vol. 40

PRESSURE POINT: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, October 2015 Edition, Vol. 40  If one thing is certain, it’s that if the current White House claims the world is enjoying an historically unprecedented condition of peace and harmony, you had better … Continue reading

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From the Crazy, Mixed-Up Files of Chandler Swain: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, September 2015 Edition, Vol. 411

From the Crazy Mixed-Up Files of Chandler Swain:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, September 2015 Edition, Vol. 411 MEMO FROM THE LET’S GET SOMETHING OFF OF OUR CHEST DEPT: There comes a time in the life of every website when a digital version … Continue reading

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Soldier Boy: CLASSIC FILM IMAGES PHOTO QUIZ, MARCH 2015 EDITION, VOL. 1234

SOLDIER BOY:  MARCH 2015 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES PHOTO QUIZ, VOL. 1234 It’s March, that time of the year again when the Ides signify the assassination of Roman dictators, madness creeps into college basketball ranks and most importantly it is time for … Continue reading

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“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”: DEC. 2014 CLASSIC MOVIE PHOTO QUIZ, VOL. 222

“BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE”: DEC. 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES PHOTO QUIZ, VOL. 222 Welcome to yet another edition of the international Interweb’s favorite bored game, the CSR monthly CLASSIC FILM IMAGES PHOTO QUIZ, brought to you- as always  -by those … Continue reading

Posted in books, Cold War, comedy, Film, horror, John Wayne, Movies, science fiction, silent movies, war movies, women | 1 Comment

Gallows Humor: “The Bat” (1926)

      “The Bat” is a rather creaky manor house murder mystery play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, substantially derived from Rinehart’s 1908 novel The Circular Staircase with the embellishment of a costumed super-criminal, all of which has been … Continue reading

Posted in acting, books, comedy, crime, Edgar Allan Poe, Film Reviews, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, Reviews, silent movies, theater, writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

MONTHLY PHOTO QUIZ VOL. 8

“THE OUTLOOK IS DOUBTFUL”- MAGIC 8 BALL EDITION: JUNE 2014  CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, VOL. 8 Welcome to another edition of the monthly Classic Film Images quiz. Today we are doing a bit of Spring cleaning by shaking out the … Continue reading

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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

STATE OF THE ART: To Re or Not To Re; ‘Tis a Question of Film “Revisits”

     To listen to Internet movie sites, one would think that the greatest offense now being committed by the American film industry is the perceived proliferation of the “remake”; so heinous a cultural offense to the millions of films buffs … Continue reading

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The 2013 Annual Critical Establishment Readers Survey

________________________________________________________________ All readers, bloggers and film enthusiasts are encouraged to participate in the following 59 question  survey. ________________________________________________________________________________ 01.  Who/what do you feel is the most overrated actor, actress, director and film?   02.  Who/what do you feel is the … Continue reading

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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

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“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

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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

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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

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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

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Unfair Play: “The Cheat” (1915)

    Cecil B. DeMille’s 1915 “The Cheat” is a morality play that manages the hypocritical feat of allowing the guilty embezzler, the shallow socialite Edith Hardy, to escape punishment from both the law and her particular social class, but excoriate … Continue reading

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