Phill Hall on THE HISTORY OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA III
Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Lil Dagover in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Phil Hall Interview: Part I
Phil Hall Interview: Part II
What have been the top foreign influences on American independent filmmaking?
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and the European avant-garde films of the 1920s were a huge influence on U.S. underground filmmakers. The Italian neo-realism in the post-World War II era had a strong impact, primarily because it enabled filmmakers to adopt an obvious low-budget approach — with the caveat that the film was appropriately gritty enough to warrant the glamour-free style.
The 1962 Italian feature Mondo Cane helped to inaugurate the shockumentary filmmaking school that is still with us. More recently, the Dogme school of filmmaking had a flurry of [...]
by Andre Soares | May 26, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: American Independent Cinema, Books, Classic Movies, Interviews, Mondo cane, Phil Hall, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The History of Independent Cinema
Phil Hall Interview II
Mary Pickford, one of the first major independent producers, and screenwriter Frances Marion
Phil Hall Interview: Part I
The History of Independent Cinema. I’m assuming that refers to US-made films. Even so, that’s a lot of ground to cover. What sort of parameters did you have to use in order to condense that very long and very diverse history into one volume?
Clearly, I could not accommodate every independent film into the book. I decided to focus primarily on films and creative artists that made a significant contribution to the commercial and/or artistic development of film production and distribution. That helped to eliminate many obscure films and filmmakers from coverage.
There are two genres that were not pursued in depth. I opted not [...]
by Andre Soares | May 26, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Books, Classic Movies, David O. Selznick, Duel in the Sun, Interviews, Mary Pickford, Oscar Micheaux, Phil Hall, The History of Independent Cinema
THE HISTORY OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA: Q&A with Phil Hall
"Independent film is a vast and varied territory, and Phil Hall’s remarkable book explores every inch of it with wit, intelligence, a sympathetic spirit, and a wide-open mind. Fresh discoveries and surprising revelations abound on every topic from Edison to Aronofsky, Anger to Warhol, the silent era to the Internet age. It’s hard to imagine a study more keenly in tune with one of cinema’s liveliest, most multifaceted fields.” — David Sterritt, Ph.D, chairman, National Society of Film Critics
The "remarkable book" in question is called The History of Independent Cinema, which, as the title implies, covers the century-long development of American filmmaking outside the big-studio lots. Published by BearManor Media, The History [...]
by Andre Soares | May 26, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Books, Classic Movies, Interviews, Jane Russell, Otto Preminger, Phil Hall, The Bootleg Files, The History of Independent Cinema, The Moon Is Blue, The Outlaw
Phil Hall on Eleonora Duse
Phil Hall reviews the 1916 melodrama Cenere, starring diva Eleonora Duse, at Film Threat (the clip above was posted by stallano):
"If you say the name ‘Eleonora Duse’ today, there’s an excellent chance that you will be greeted with a blank stare. But a century ago, that name was recognized throughout the world. The great Duse was one of the most beloved and innovative actresses to grace the stage, and her fans included President Grover Cleveland and George Bernard Shaw. Indeed, Duse’s fame was so striking that she earned the distinction of being the first woman to be the subject of a Time Magazine cover story.
"Today, however, Duse’s name is virtually unknown to all but the most ardent historians of late [...]
by Andre Soares | December 5, 2008
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Cenere, Classic Movies, Eleonora Duse, Phil Hall, Silent Films, Trailers
Phil Hall’s Top 50 Lost Films of All Time
At Film Threat, Phil Hall lists the "Top 50 Lost Films of All Time."
According to Hall, "among the missing movies are the world’s first feature film [The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), right], the first Technicolor feature [The Gulf Between (1917)], the first animated feature in both the silent and sound eras [El Apastol (1917) and Peludópolis (1931), respectively], the first werewolf movie [The Werewolf (1913)], the first appearance by Dracula [Drakula halála (1923)], the first kaiju film [King Kong Appears in Edo (1938)], and movies created by Charlie Chaplin [A Woman of the Sea (1926), directed by Josef von Sternberg, produced by Chaplin], Orson Welles [the 40-minute Too Much Johnson (1938)], Woody Allen [the alternate version of [...]
by Andre Soares | January 7, 2008
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Barbara La Marr, Classic Movies, Lost Films, Phil Hall, Ramon Novarro, Rex Ingram, Silent Films, Take It Out in Trade, The Story of the Kelly Gang, Trifling Women
