Pordenone 2009: THE MERRY WIDOW
Mae Murray shows her legs in The Merry Widow
At The Bioscope: Pordenone Film Festival Day I
"The main event, though, is the Erich Von Stroheim version of The Merry Widow (USA 1925), introduced by Leatrice Joy Fountain and featuring a new orchestral score by Maud Nelissen. The film itself is almost a checklist of Von’s obsessions; militaria, aristocrats at play, wedding processions, grotesques, fetishes and matters of honour; how close it all is to the source material I’m not qualified to say, but it’s a superior piece of froth; the score, using Lehar lightly but effectively matched it to perfection. And every new film I see John Gilbert in, my perception of him changes; [...]
by Andre Soares | October 18, 2009
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Tags: Classic Movies, Erich von Stroheim, Film Festivals, John Gilbert, Mae Murray, Pordenone Film Festival, Silent Films, The Merry Widow
San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2009
The Fall of the House of Usher (top); John Gilbert, Eleanor Boardman in Bardelys the Magnificent (middle); Douglas Fairbanks, Lupe Velez in The Gaucho (bottom)
Douglas Fairbanks, John Gilbert, and Lillian Gish are only a few of the superstars to be found at the 14th San Francisco Silent Film Festival, which will take place July 10-12 at the Castro Theatre. Among those scheduled to provide musical accompaniment to the on-screen action are the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Philip Carli, Stephen Horne, Dennis James, and Donald Sosin.
Among the San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s highlights are:
The Gaucho (1927), an adventure tale involving faith and redemption, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Lupe Velez in her first important film role.
"A daring departure," is how [...]
by Andre Soares | June 23, 2009
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Tags: Bardelys the Magnificent, Classic Movies, Douglas Fairbanks, Eleanor Boardman, Erotikon, Film Festivals, John Gilbert, King Vidor, Lillian Gish, San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2009, Silent Films, The Gaucho, Victor Sjöström
WUTHERING HEIGHTS Screening
The 1939 Best Picture nominee Wuthering Heights, directed by William Wyler, and starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier, will be the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ series “Hollywood’s Greatest Year: The Best Picture Nominees of 1939.” The Wuthering Heights screening will take place on Monday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Starting at 7 p.m., the feature will be preceded by the fourth chapter of the 1939 serial Buck Rogers, starring Buster Crabbe and Constance Moore, and the animated short The Pointer, starring Mickey Mouse and Pluto.
According to Samuel Goldwyn biographer A. Scott Berg, Wuthering Heights was the producer’s favorite among his films. [...]
by Andre Soares | June 3, 2009
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Tags: A. Scott Berg, Academy Awards, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Alfred Newman, Ben Hecht, Buck Rogers, Buster Crabbe, Charles MacArthur, Charlotte Brontë, Classic Movies, Constance Moore, David Copperfield, David Niven, David O. Selznick, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Emily Brontë, Flora Robson, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Gone with the Wind, Gregg Toland, Greta Garbo, James Basevi, Jane Eyre, John Gilbert, Laurence Olivier, Little Women, Los Angeles Screenings, Merle Oberon, Mickey Mouse, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Myron Selznick, Oscar 1939, Pluto, Queen Christina, Robert Newton, Samuel Goldwyn, Sylvia Sidney, The Pointer, Vivien Leigh, William Wyler, Wuthering Heights
QUEEN CHRISTINA – Greta Garbo, John Gilbert
Queen Christina (1933)
Direction: Rouben Mamoulian
Screenplay: H. M. Harwood and S. N. Behrman
Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith, Lewis Stone, Elizabeth Young, C. Aubrey Smith, Reginald Owen, David Torrence
One of the most ambitious productions of the early 1930s, Queen Christina remains surprisingly modern in its execution thanks in large part to Rouben Mamoulian’s assured hand. Those looking for historical accuracy in the film, however, will be greatly disappointed, for credited screenwriters H. M. Harwood and S. N. Behrman kept themselves busy concocting a highly fictionalized version of the Swedish queen; one who experiences an all-consuming and ultimately tragic love affair with a Spanish envoy. (Garbo biographer Mark Vieira explains [see below] that credited screenwriter — and close Garbo friend [...]
by Andre Soares | April 14, 2009
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Tags: C. Aubrey Smith, Classic Movies, Crossdressing, David Torrence, Elizabeth Young, Film Reviews, Five-Star Movies, Gay Interest, Greta Garbo, H. M. Harwood, Historical Movies, Ian Keith, John Gilbert, Laurence Olivier, Lewis Stone, Mark Vieira, Queen Christina, Reginald Owen, Romantic Movies, Rouben Mamoulian, S. N. Behrman, Salka Viertel
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
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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 – 1925
Ramon Novarro and May McAvoy in Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
FILM
Ben-Hur
d: Fred Niblo (assisted by Christy Cabanne, Alfred L. Raboch, B. Reeves Eason); scr: Carey Wilson, Bess Meredyth, June Mathis; titles: Katherine Hilliker, H. H. Caldwell
The Big Parade
d: King Vidor; scr: Laurence Stallings, Harry Behn; titles: Joseph W. Farnham
Her Sister from Paris
d: Sidney Franklin; scr: Hans Kräly
Lady Windermere’s Fan
d: Ernst Lubitsch; scr: Julien Josephson; titles: Maude Fulton, Erik Yorke
The Merry Widow
d: Erich von Stroheim; scr: Benjamin Glazer, Erich von Stroheim; titles: Marian Ainslee
Battleship Potemkin
CHECK THESE OUT
Bronenosets Potyomkin / Battleship Potemkin
d: Sergei Eisenstein; scr: Nina Agadzhanova, Sergei Eisenstein; titles: Nikolai Aseyev, Sergei Tretyakov
Renée Adorée, John Gilbert in The Big Parade
ACTOR
John Gilbert
The Big Parade
Constance Talmadge, Ronald [...]
by Andre Soares | April 2, 2009
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Tags: Alice Joyce, Belle Bennett, Ben-Hur, Best Films, Betty Bronson, Charles Van Enger, Classic Movies, Constance Talmadge, Eleanor Boardman, Erich von Stroheim, Ernst Lubitsch, Fred Niblo, Hal Mohr, Hans Kraly, Her Sister from Paris, Irene Rich, John Arnold, John Gilbert, Joseph W. Farnham, Julien Josephson, Karl Struss, King Vidor, Lady of the Night, Lady Windermere's Fan, Lois Moran, Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, May McAvoy, Norma Shearer, Ramon Novarro, Renée Adorée, Ronald Colman, Sidney Franklin, Silent Films, Stella Dallas, The Big Parade, The Merry Widow
Best Films – 1923
I must admit that I’m not a fan of Charles Chaplin’s comedies. Heresies aside, I did very much enjoy Chaplin’s dramatic A Woman of Paris, an attempt to turn his frequent leading lady Edna Purviance into a star. The film was a box-office success (despite rumors to the contrary), but Purviance’s career never took off. That is unfortunate, as she gives a moving performance in this tale of lost love and single motherhood. She is with Carl Miller in the photo. Things are obviously not going very well for the couple, but Purviance is surely suffering in style.
FILM
Cameo Kirby
d: John Ford; scr: Robert N. Lee
Scaramouche
d: Rex Ingram; scr: Willis Goldbeck
The White Rose
d, scr: D. W. Griffith
A Woman of Paris
d, scr: [...]
by Andre Soares | April 2, 2009
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Tags: A Woman of Paris, Alice Terry, Best Films, Cameo Kirby, Charles Chaplin, Classic Movies, D. W. Griffith, Edna Purviance, Eleanor Boardman, G. W. Bitzer, John F. Seitz, John Ford, John Gilbert, Karl Brown, Lewis Stone, Mae Marsh, Nita Naldi, Ramon Novarro, Rex Ingram, Scaramouche, Silent Films, Souls for Sale, The Covered Wagon, The Ten Commandments, The White Rose, Willis Goldbeck
Best Films – 1922
Ok, so Max Schreck (literally, Max Fright) was not romantic leading man material, but he did quite well for himself as the creepiest vampire of them all, Nosferatu. Those who think of director F. W. Murnau as the creator of film poetry in pictures such as Sunrise and Tabu should realize that Murnau was equally adept at creating sheer horror. No other vampire movie I’ve seen is as eerie as Nosferatu the Vampire. Max Schreck’s ratman-like presence, of course, is an enormous help.
FILM
Monte Cristo
d: Emmett J. Flynn; scr: Bernard McConville
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens / Nosferatu the Vampire
d: F. W. Murnau; scr: Henrik Galeen
The Prisoner of Zenda
d: Rex Ingram; scr: Mary O’Hara
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Back Pay
d: Frank Borzage; scr: Frances [...]
by Andre Soares | April 2, 2009
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Tags: Alice Terry, Back Pay, Best Films, Classic Movies, F. W. Murnau, Frank Borzage, John Gilbert, Max Schreck, Monte Cristo, Moran of the Lady Letty, Nosferatu the Vampire, Ramon Novarro, Rex Ingram, Seena Owen, Silent Films, The Prisoner of Zenda
BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT at the Kansas Silent Film Festival 2009
Eleanor Boardman, John Gilbert in Bardelys the Magnificent
Kansas Silent Film Festival 2009: Feb. 27
Rudolph Valentino at the Kansas Silent Film Festival 2009
5:15 to 6:45pm
The first ever KANSAS SILENT FILM FESTIVALCINEMA-DINNER
Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center (17th & Jewell) – Washburn University campus
This special Dinner Event will begin with a reception followed by a buffet. Guests will be seated and have dinner in the Thompson Center’s banquet room on the main floor.
Special guest David Shepard – film restoration expert will be speaking about his recent film projects including our main feature for the evening – the previously ‘lost’ BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT. Attendees will receive a special gift before departing for White Concert Hall and the Cinema [...]
by Andre Soares | January 27, 2009
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Tags: Bardelys the Magnificent, Classic Movies, D. W. Griffith, Eleanor Boardman, Film Festivals, John Gilbert, King Vidor, Mont Alto Orchestra, Oliver Hardy, Silent Films, Stan Laurel
Kansas Silent Film Festival 2009
The 13th annual Kansas Silent Film Festival (KSFF) will be held on February 27 and 28, 2009, at the White Concert Hall on the Washburn University campus in Topeka, Kansas. Sponsored by Washburn, admission is free.
This year’s KSFF highlight is the American premiere of the restored 1926 swashbuckler Bardelys the Magnificent, which until recently was thought to be a lost film. Based on a novel by Rafael Sabatini, and starring John Gilbert and Eleanor Boardman, Bardelys the Magnificent is set in 17th-century France, where a local Don Juan steals female hearts but is unable to conquer the one woman he truly loves. Directed by King Vidor, Bardelys was a major hit for [...]
by Andre Soares | January 27, 2009
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Tags: Bardelys the Magnificent, Classic Movies, Constance Talmadge, David Shepard, Eleanor Boardman, Film Festivals, Her Sister from Paris, John Gilbert, King Vidor, Mont Alto Orchestra, Silent Films
