The first women filmmakers are the topic of Anthony Slide’s book The Silent Feminists. In a q&a with Alt Film Guide, the author and film historian discusses Weber, Arzner et al.
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Alice Guy Blaché: The world’s first woman director is remembered in this q&a with film historian Anthony Slide, who also discusses the republication of her book of memoirs.
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Legendary Broadway actor John Barrymore also enjoyed an impressive and enduring – yet vastly undervalued – movie career in the 1920s and 1930s.
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Lillian Gish Bowling Green University Theatre gone: The outraged ones vs iconic actress seen in D.W. Griffith’s landmark (racist) epic The Birth of a Nation.
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Antihero Ricardo Cortez: Best movies and roles during Pre-Code and silent eras + Oscar-Winning Cinematographer brother Stanley Cortez.
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How to Be a Latin Lover: Ricardo Cortez leading ladies and marriage to drug-addicted Hollywood star plus directing Dalton Trumbo socially conscious drama.
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Latin Lover Ricardo Cortez was 2nd Valentino and 1st (and best) Sam Spade: Interview with biographer re: actor who worked with Griffith, DeMille + Capra.
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The Doll (movie 1919) review: Ernst Lubitsch satire features incredibly inventive production design. Ossi Oswalda (‘the German Mary Pickford’) and Hermann Thimig stars.
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Amazing Tales from the Archives: SFSFF spotlights unusual movie audio system, pioneering female documentarian and memorably inventive comedy fantasies.
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Comediennes of the Silent Era and Film Historian Anthony Slide at American Cinematheque as reminder of cinema’s largely forgotten pioneering women.
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Mothers of Men (movie 1917) review: Remarkable women’s suffrage tale asks whether the female right to vote would destroy American society. Dorothy Davenport stars.
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The Strongest (1929) movie review: The first feature (co-)directed by Alf Sjöberg is a visually splendid Arctic adventure that moves at glacial speed.
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San Francisco Silent Film Festival highlights include hand-tinted color fantasies by Segundo de Chomón and Louis Feuillade in the days before Technicolor.
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Ernst Lubitsch movies’ subtle touch now passé in our age of sledgehammer filmmaking but The Student Prince and The Merry Widow still delight.
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Around China with a Movie Camera (film 2015) review: British Film Institute compilation offers a magical window into long-gone Chinese sights.
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Ben-Hur movie: Christian epic was biggest and most expensive Blockbuster until Gone with the Wind. Mexican Ramon Novarro played Jewish hero.
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Rediscovering long-forgotten Silent Film Star known for ‘the most beautiful’ back reportedly insured for (an adjusted) million dollars.
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Greta Garbo movies: Rare Silent Era Superstar is still remembered Today in 2 of her biggest hits and best-known MGM films.
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Bert Williams: Lime Kiln Club Field Day (movie 1913) review: Long-forgotten silent offers a rare look at black people’s lives in the early 20th century.
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The Donovan Affair (movie 1929) review: Frank Capra’s largely forgotten first all-talkie is now a silent. Jack Holt and Agnes Ayres star.
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Ménilmontant (movie 1926) and Emak-Bakia (1927) reviews: Avant-Garde Paris’ memorable offerings for those willing to take a chance.
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The San Francisco Silent Film Festival program ‘Amazing Tales from the Archives’ discussed the discovery of the 1916 Sherlock Holmes.
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First Best Actor and Best Actress Oscar Winners: Emil Jannings, Janet Gaynor plus silent superstars Norma Talmadge, Constance Talmadge.
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The San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s ‘A Night at the Cinema in 1914’ was the second best thing to a time machine. World War I and Charles Chaplin featured.
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Sherlock Holmes with William Gillette. Sherlock Holmes movie found at Cinémathèque Française Sherlock Holmes, a long-thought-lost 1916 feature starring stage performer and playwright William Gillette in the title role, has…
“Movies” or…? Quo Vadis: One of the first feature films ever made, Enrico Guazzoni’s Italian epic came out in 1913, going on to become a global sensation. Should American “moving…
Ricardo Cortez: Latin Lover from Manhattan Jewish family was the perfect Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon and Paramount’s threat to Rudolph Valentino.
Comedy Actress Rediscovered: She Could Be Chaplin! But could she really? Interview with film historian Anthony Slide about rare female silent movie comedian.
Die Nibelungen: Siegfried and Kriemhild’s Revenge (movie 1924) review: Semi-historical Fritz Lang epic fantasy is a cinematic masterpiece. Paul Richter stars.
L’Inhumaine (movie 1924) review: Uniquely modernistic Marcel L’Herbier silent mixes sex melodrama, revenge thriller and science fiction.
The Cave of the Silken Web (movie 1927) review: Long thought lost Chinese blockbuster remains intriguing thanks to its focus on some fierce women.
Early Woman Director Lois Weber Film to be shown. Socially Conscious drama with Mary MacLaren tackles working class issues and prostitution.