M’LISS – Mary Pickford, Thomas Meighan
M’Liss (1918)
Direction: Marshall Neilan
Screenplay: Frances Marion; from Bret Harte’s story
Cast: Mary Pickford, Thomas Meighan, Theodore Roberts, Tully Marshall, Charles Ogle, Monte Blue, Winifred Greenwood
Mary Pickford, Thomas Meighan in M’Liss
Directed by Marshall Neilan and written by Frances Marion – two frequent Mary Pickford collaborators — M’Liss is one of Pickford’s very best films. In this comedy-drama, Pickford plays a spirited and unruly mountain girl, that’s the M’Liss of the title, who falls in love with the new schoolteacher (Thomas Meighan) — who is later falsely accused of murder.
Pickford, by then already a superstar, gives a sterling performance; she is ably supported by (future star) Thomas Meighan as the schoolteacher, as well as a fine collection of character actors including [...]
by James Bazen | November 2, 2009
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Tags: Cinesation 2009, Classic Movies, Film Reviews, Frances Marion, M'Liss, Marshall Neilan, Mary Pickford, Silent Films, Theodore Roberts, Thomas Meighan, Walter Stradling
Best Films – 1937
Robert Taylor, Greta Garbo in Camille
FILM
The Awful Truth
d, scr: Leo McCarey
Camille
d: George Cukor; scr: Frances Marion, James Hilton, Zoe Akins
The Hurricane
d: John Ford; scr: Dudley Nichols, Oliver H. P. Garrett
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
d: Richard Boleslawski; scr: Leon Gordon, Samson Raphaelson, Monckton Hoffe
Lost Horizon
d: Frank Capra; scr: Robert Riskin
Night Must Fall
d: Richard Thorpe; scr: John Van Druten
Les Perles de la couronne / Pearls of the Crown
d: Sacha Guitry, Christian-Jacque; scr: Sacha Guitry
The Prisoner of Zenda
d: John Cromwell; scr: Wells Root, John G. Balderstone, Donald Ogden Stewart
Quality Street
d: George Stevens; scr: Mortimer Offner, Allan Scott
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
d: David Hand; scr: Ted Sears, Richard Creedon and others
A Star Is Born
d: William A. Wellman; scr: Dorothy Parker, [...]
by Andre Soares | April 3, 2009
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Tags: A Star Is Born, Alan Campbell, Alan Mowbray, Alfred Newman, Alice Brady, Allan Scott, Anthony Veiller, Arletty, Bert Glennon, Best Films, Brian Aherne, Camille, Carole Lombard, Cary Grant, Christian-Jacque, Claire Trevor, Classic Movies, Colin Clive, Conquest, Constance Bennett, Cora Witherspoon, Dame May Whitty, David Hand, David Miller, Dead End, Dmitri Tiomkin, Donald Ogden Stewart, Dorothy Parker, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Dudley Nichols, Eddie Moran, Edward Ward, Eric Hatch, Erich von Stroheim, Ermete Zacconi, Ernest Vajda, Etienne Girardot, Eve Arden, Frances Marion, Frank Borzage, Frank Capra, Fredric March, George Cukor, George Stevens, Ginger Rogers, Grand Illusion, Gregg Toland, Gregory La Cava, Greta Garbo, Henry Daniell, Herbert Stothart, History Is Made at Night, Irene Dunne, Jack Jevne, James Hilton, James Whale, James Wong Howe, Janet Gaynor, Jean Gabin, Jeanette MacDonald, Joan Crawford, Joel McCrea, John Barrymore, John Cromwell, John Ford, John G. Balderstone, John Van Druten, Joseph Walker, Karl Freund, Katharine Hepburn, Kathleen Harrison, La Grande illusion, Lawrence Hazard, Leo McCarey, Leon Gordon, Les Perles de la couronne, Lillian Hellman, Lost Horizon, Lucille Ball, Luise Rainer, Mannequin, Maria Ouspenskaya, May Robson, Maytime, Merle Tottenham, Monckton Hoffe, Morrie Ryskind, Mortimer Offner, Neil Fitzgerald, Nelson Eddy, Night Must Fall, Noel Langley, Norman Z. McLeod, Oliver H. P. Garrett, Oliver T. Marsh, One Hundred Men and a Girl, Parnell, Pearls of the Crown, Penny Wisdom, Pierre Fresnay, Quality Street, Ray June, Richard Boleslawski, Richard Creedon, Richard Thorpe, Robert Carson, Robert Montgomery, Robert Riskin, Robert Taylor, Robert Z. Leonard, Ronald Colman, Roy Webb, Sacha Guitry, Samson Raphaelson, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Stage Door, Sylvia Sidney, Ted Sears, The Awful Truth, The Good Earth, The Great Garrick, The Hurricane, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, The Old Mill, The Prisoner of Zenda, Topper, True Confession, Wells Root, Wilfred Jackson, William A. Wellman, William H. Daniels, William Powell, William Wyler, Zoe Akins
Best Films – 1930
Made at the dawn of the sound era, All Quiet on the Western Front remains the best war film ever made. Despite some brave (and not so brave) attempts by other filmmakers ever since, no other motion picture I’ve seen has captured the horrors of war with the honesty and the poignancy of Lewis Milestone’s rendition of Erich Maria Remarque’s pacifist novel. Lew Ayres plays the young, idealistic soldier who soon discovers that war has nothing to do with either honor or glory.
FILM
All Quiet on the Western Front
d: Lewis Milestone; scr: Maxwell Anderson, Del Andrews, George Abbott
The Bishop Murder Case
d: Nick Grindé, David Burton; scr: Lenore J. Coffee
Going Wild
d: William [...]
by Andre Soares | April 3, 2009
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Tags: Alison Skipworth, All Quiet on the Western Front, Armand Bernard, Arthur Edeson, Bess Meredyth, Best Films, Blanche Sweet, Call of the Flesh, Chester Morris, Classic Movies, Edwin Justus Mayer, Ernest Torrence, Frances Marion, Fredric March, George Abbott, George Cukor, Going Wild, Greta Garbo, Herbert Stothart, Herman J. Mankiewicz, In Gay Madrid, Lenore J. Coffee, Let Us Be Gay, Lew Ayres, Lewis Milestone, Marie Dressler, Maxwell Anderson, Merritt B. Gerstad, Nick Grinde, Norma Shearer, Ona Munson, Ramon Novarro, Ray June, Renée Adorée, Robert Z. Leonard, Sous les toits de Paris, The Bat Whispers, The Bishop Murder Case, The Royal Family of Broadway, Under the Roofs of Paris, Warner Oland, William A. Seiter, Xavier Cugat
Best Films – 1926
Mary Pickford in Sparrows
FILM
Dancing Mothers
d: Herbert Brenon; scr: Forrest Halsey
Don Juan
d: Alan Crosland; scr: Bess Meredyth; titles: Walter Anthony, Maude Fulton
Kid Boots
d: Frank Tuttle; scr: Luther Reed, Tom Gibson; titles: George Marion Jr.
The Scarlet Letter
d: Victor Sjöström (aka Victor Seastrom); scr: Frances Marion
The Show
d: Tod Browning; scr: Waldemar Young; titles: Joseph W. Farnham
Sparrows
d: William Beaudine; scr: C. Gardner Sullivan; titles: George Marion Jr.
The Volga Boatman
d: Cecil B. DeMille; scr: Lenore J. Coffee
CHECK THESE OUT
You Never Know Women
d: William A. Wellman; scr: Benjamin Glazer
Old Ironsides
d: James Cruze; scr: Dorothy Arzner, Harry Carr, Walter Woods; titles: Rupert Hughes
Mare Nostrum
d: Rex Ingram; scr: Willis Goldbeck
Tell It to the Marines
d: George Hill; scr: Richard Schayer; titles: Joseph W. Farnham
ACTOR
John Barrymore
Don Juan
Eddie Cantor
Kid Boots
John Gilbert
The [...]
by Andre Soares | April 2, 2009
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Tags: Alan Crosland, Alice Terry, Best Films, Cecil B. DeMille, Classic Movies, Don Juan, Flesh and the Devil, Florence Vidor, Frances Marion, George Hill, Gertrude Astor, John Barrymore, John Gilbert, Kid Boots, Lillian Gish, Mare Nostrum, Mary Pickford, Renée Adorée, Rex Ingram, Silent Films, Sparrows, Tell It to the Marines, The Scarlet Letter, The Show, The Volga Boatman, Victor Sjöström
Best Films – 1919
Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess in Broken Blossoms
FILM
Broken Blossoms
d, scr: D. W. Griffith
Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari / The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
d: Robert Wiene; scr: Carl Mayer, Hans Janowitz
The Hoodlum
d: Sidney Franklin; scr: Frances Marion
CHECK THESE OUT
The False Faces
d, scr: Irvin Willat
The Sentimental Bloke
d: Raymond Longford; scr: Raymond Longford and (possibly) Lottie Lyell
ACTOR
Richard Barthelmess
Broken Blossoms
Werner Krauss
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Thomas Meighan
Male and Female
Arthur Tauchert
The Sentimental Bloke
ACTRESS
Lillian Gish
Broken Blossoms
Lillian Gish
The Greatest Question
Mary Johnson
Herr Arnes pengar / Sir Arne’s Treasure
Mary Pickford
Heart o’ the Hills
Mary Pickford
The Hoodlum
Gloria Swanson
Male and Female
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Lon Chaney
Victory
Conrad Veidt
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Josephine Crowell
The Greatest Question
Lila Lee
Male and Female
Clarine Seymour
The Girl Who Stayed at Home
CINEMATOGRAPHY
G. W. Bitzer
Broken Blossoms
G. W. Bitzer
The Greatest Question
René [...]
by Andre Soares | April 1, 2009
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Tags: Best Films, Broken Blossoms, Carl Mayer, Charles Rosher, Classic Movies, D. W. Griffith, Daddy Long Legs, Frances Marion, G. W. Bitzer, Gloria Swanson, Heart o' the Hills, Irvin Willat, Josephine Crowell, Lila Lee, Lillian Gish, Lon Chaney, Male and Female, Mary Pickford, Raymond Longford, Richard Barthelmess, Robert Wiene, Sidney Franklin, Silent Films, The False Faces, The Greatest Question, The Hoodlum, The Sentimental Bloke, Thomas Meighan, Werner Krauss
Marie Dressler II: Silent Films, Movie Stardom
Marie Dressler Interview: Part I
Marie Dressler was very popular in vaudeville at the turn of the 20th century. Did she try to become a silent-film star? She was in Tillie’s Punctured Romance with Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand in 1914, but she doesn’t seem to have quite caught on. Why not?
As told in the book, Marie was a huge star when Mack Sennett approached her to film a loose adaptation of her stage play Tillie’s Nightmare. The result, Tillie’s Punctured Romance, is quite important in film history. Released in 1914, it was the first feature-length comedy, Marie’s film debut, and an early example of Chaplin honing his skills and developing the Tramp.
The film was a big hit, but Marie [...]
by Andre Soares | February 23, 2008
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Tags: Anna Christie, Charles Chaplin, Classic Movies, Frances Marion, Interviews, Marie Dressler, Matthew Kennedy, Silent Films, The Callahans and the Murphys, Tillie's Punctured Romance
