"A Century Ago: The Films of 1908" will be presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday, December 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. The program will be repeated on Thursday, December 4, at 7 p.m. at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, California.
"A Century Ago" will feature a number of 1908 shorts, among them Edison’s Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest (above, lower photo), featuring a performance by none other than D.W. Griffith (right); Biograph’s After Many Years, starring the Official First Film Star, Florence Lawrence, and in which new director Griffith tries out parallel cutting and camera movement; Vitagraph’s trick film The Thieving Hand; Gaumont’s Fantasmagorie, animated by Émile Cohl; Selig's The Count of Monte Cristo (above, top photo), starring Hobart Bosworth; Pathé’s comedy Troubles of a Grass Widower, starring Max Linder (curiously, as per the IMDb, this is a 1912 short); and one of the earliest Italian productions, the hand-tinted Le Farfalle (Butterflies).
As in past years, Randy Haberkamp will provide historical context for the rare films, which will be accompanied by Michael Mortilla.
I'm assuming that Randy (who was a great help when I was working on my Ramon Novarro bio) will have something to say about the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC), founded in December 1908. With an eye on the fast-growing film/nickelodeon business, the MPPC — spearheaded by Thomas Edison (the mean-looking gent in the first row of the picture below, fourth from the left) — did its best to destroy competition from independent filmmakers. The MPPC oligarchy, however, apparently failed to bring the right people on their side. The independents prospered so much (especially after many of them moved to the Los Angeles area and began promoting star attractions) that they eventually became an oligopoly of their own, whereas the MPPC was to have its patents voided a few years later.
Most films will be screened from 35mm prints drawn from the collections of the Academy Film Archive, the Library of Congress, and the UCLA Film & Television Archive, among others.
Tickets to "A Century Ago" in Hollywood are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets are available for purchase online at www.oscars.org, by mail, or at the Academy box office during regular business hours. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All seating is unreserved.
The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. Free parking is available through the entrance on Homewood Avenue (one block north of Fountain Avenue). For additional information, visit www.oscars.org/events or call (310) 247-3600.
Tickets for "A Century Ago" in the San Francisco Bay Area are $10 for the general public and free for Academy members. Tickets may be purchased through the Smith Rafael Film Center. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All seating is unreserved.
The Smith San Rafael Film Center is located at 1118 Fourth Street in San Rafael. For more information, call the Academy at (310) 247-2688, Smith Rafael Film Center at (415) 454-1222, or visit www.cafilm.org.
Photos: Courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library
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