#early film

[retromere]

photos of cary grant early in his career (1930-40s)

[leehallfae]

different from the others (1919) dir. richard oswald

[abstraxia]

English photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) greets one of his models

[nobrashfestivity]

Georges Méliès

The Mermaid (French: La Sirène) is a 1904 French short silent film

[holmesoldfellow]

"Sherlock Holmes Baffled" Mutoscope silent film, earliest known film to feature Sherlock Holmes (1900, Arthur Marvin)

[fullcolorfright]

I just finished watching all (currently) 606 videos in Eye Filmmuseum's Bits and Pieces collection, which collects high quality 1-4 minute fragments of silent films and newsreels from between approximately 1900-1940, many of which no longer exist in a complete form.

Because I want more people to know about this, I compiled 66 of my favorites from the collection here. These include improbable contraptions, early animation, and many short clips of people from the 1910s goofing off.

If you're interested in the full collection, it can be found here. I highly recommend it; the bursts of imagery give a really interesting glimpse into life in the early 1900s

[pinklaceplaybook]

[alabamabeauty]

The Silent Command (1923) is available to watch on The Internet Archives.

I've found it online!!! You can watch for free here:

The Silent Command is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards features Bela Lugosi as a foreign saboteur in his American film debut. The film, written by Anthony Paul Kelly and Rufus King, also stars Edmund Lowe. The film depicts the story of Benedict Hisston (Lugosi), who is part of a plot to destroy the Panama Canal. Initially unable to obtain necessarily intelligence from Richard Decatur (Lowe), a captain in the United States Navy, he enlists the aid of femme fatale Peg Williams (Martha Mansfield). Decatur pretends to be seduced into the conspiracy, costing him his career and marriage, but ultimately betrays the saboteurs in Panama and stops their plan. He returns home to the Navy and his wife and to popular acclaim for his heroics. •

• Benadict Hisston is a foreign agent, part of a conspiracy to destroy the Panama Canal and the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet. He attempts to acquire information about mine placement in the Canal Zone from Captain Richard Decatur but fails. With that information essential to the conspiracy's success, he then hires vamp Peg Williams to obtain the intelligence through seduction. Decatur is not fooled and obeys the "silent command" of the Chief of Naval Intelligence to play along with the spies without revealing his purpose to friends or family. He is court-martialed, stripped of rank, and dismissed from the Navy after he strikes an admiral. His association with Williams estranges him from his wife but earns him the trust of Hisston and the other spies. When the conspirators are ready to enact their plan, he travels to Panama with them. He thwarts their attempt at sabotage, saving the canal and the fleet. He is reinstated into the Navy, reunited with his wife, and honored by the nation for his heroism.

[haroldgross]

New Post has been published on Harold Gross: The 5a.m. Critic

New Post has been published on http://literaryends.com/hgblog/silver-and-the-book-of-dreams/

Silver and the Book of Dreams

[3 stars]

Creating a new story from well tread ground is never easy. But Helena Hufnagel and Sina Flammang still manage to put their own spin on the dreams-as-reality genre (adapted from Kerstin Gier’s novel). This isn’t a Freddy Kruger story, it’s the story of a group of teens trying to find their way in the world and how far they’re willing to go to get to their goals.

But in trying to skip past the drudge of the pretty well understood setup, Hufnagel compacts the action and reduces the reactions to speed things along. Some of this works quite well. Teens are great at just accepting the world at face value and responding to it without questioning the foundation. But some of the logic leaps, and certainly some of the acceptance of disaster and danger, are just too easy. It makes for a breezier movie, but it lessens the credibility and feel of the stakes.

Jana McKinnon is a solid lead with some great screen presence. She takes control of her situation almost immediately and helps drive it through to the end. There are a number of up and coming faces around her as well, Chaneil Kular and Rhys Mannion primarily. But the script limits the impact of anyone’s performance. There is little opportunity for nuance or depth. The story bolts out of the gate quickly and just keeps driving forward. Again, great for a distraction, but not exactly a great flick. But it is reasonable entertainment for an evening if you like teen horror movies. Silver also makes for an interesting calling card for the creatives and what they may come up with next.

Where to watch

[sherlockholmesbracket]

The version of Holmes from *Sherlock Holmes Baffled*, the very first depiction of Holmes on screen

From the first detective movie ever made: Sherlock Holmes!

[retromere]

most daring thing about katherine hepburn? her pants

[leehallfae]

poetry about celluloid film in this article im reading

[m0viebaby]

watched One Week (1920) and Buster Keaton you will always be famous

[i-dont-talk-for-days-on-end]

Because I'm in a very good mood, here is the first [known of] Sherlock Holmes film ever made:

I love how Holmes is like "Huh, the burgler just dissolved into nothing? Fine, I will just sit here and smoke" and "Well, I guess I'll never solve that" in the end.

(Altough this film has almost nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes except showing a mystery. Something to look and marvel at, an attraction.)

I also think it's interesting that this was made in 1900 (and apparently listed for copyright in 1901? I'm not familiar with the provenance), so at this point, Sherlock Holmes was still canonically dead (The Final Problem was published in 1893; The Hound of the Baskervilles is from 1901 and The Empty House from 1903). I wonder if there were any copyright issues back then? It also proves that SH was already a popular icon by 1900 because his name was used as part of the attraction of the film.

This also really makes me wonder if there are/were any amateur SH films at that time? There already were lots of amateur films with many sujets, for documentary purposes as well as just for fun or interest in experimentation (for example Julius Neubronner from Kronberg, Germany, who filmed his family, local festivities and celebrity like the German emperor Wilhelm II. when he came to Kronberg. You can find all his digitised films here, but allow me to show you two of my personal favourites:)

For example "The Hunter's Dream" ["Des Jägers Traum"] from 1903 which has a rather complicated story line but more importantly uses the same stop trick as the SH example above when Neubronner "transforms" the gun with the same baffling comical effect. (And look at the detailed scenery! He was an enthusiast. <3)

And, just because I find it awfully touching (and I'm in a good mood) this little film with his son and his grand daughter (190?).

[celebratetheclassics]

Fascinating stencil color in Three American Beauties (1906) dir. Edwin S. Porter and Wallace McCutcheon

Preserved by the Museum of Modern Art. 

[fullcolorfright]

Houdini’s The Grim Game (1919) studies