Search found 101 matches

by bdp
May 7th, 2009, 4:09 pm
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Harold Lloyd
Replies: 47
Views: 51576

Re: Harold Lloyd

Langdon's early films are as mediocre as any Sennett short, and Harry not much different in appearance from any other Sennett comedian. THE TEAM - Carpa, Ripley, Edwards, Langdon - was the winning combination. Period. And besides, The General is a great film, and Three's A Crowd sucks.
by bdp
May 7th, 2009, 2:07 pm
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Harold Lloyd
Replies: 47
Views: 51576

Re: Harold Lloyd

But given Three's A Crowd Langdon had no clue of how to create an effective context FOR his character - I don't say Capra alone did that, there was a specific team in place, but Kerr does evaluate the films on their own merits, of which Three's A Crowd has none and it was all Langdon's.
by bdp
May 7th, 2009, 10:27 am
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Harold Lloyd
Replies: 47
Views: 51576

Re: Harold Lloyd

Kerr did NOT take Capra at his word and says as much - his book is an essay on the content of the films, his analysis of Langdon is based on what's in the films. Subjective interpretation, which everyone is free to disagree with, however I find his analysis to be spot on even if he doesn't remember ...
by bdp
May 5th, 2009, 9:15 pm
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Harold Lloyd
Replies: 47
Views: 51576

Re: Harold Lloyd

Hot Water doesn't hold together for me - it really is like three two-reelers slapped together with no central, over-arching plot.
by bdp
May 4th, 2009, 10:15 pm
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Harold Lloyd
Replies: 47
Views: 51576

Re: Harold Lloyd

Wasn't the now-lost Heart Trouble a silent? Langdon was unique; I've been getting into some of the Allday set of his Sennett shorts, and his character and way of working are absolutely unique, but it all had to be framed properly. Many of the Sennett shorts are no different than any other Sennett sh...
by bdp
May 4th, 2009, 11:19 am
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Harold Lloyd
Replies: 47
Views: 51576

Re: Harold Lloyd

I loved Girl Shy, but I did think that the chase at the end went on for too long.
by bdp
May 3rd, 2009, 7:30 pm
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Harold Lloyd
Replies: 47
Views: 51576

Re: Harold Lloyd

MichiganJ wrote: In their shorts, Harold and Bebe are pretty hot
I bet Bebe in her shorts would be pretty hot... :twisted:


The more I see of Langdon the less I am able to rate him; The Strong Man is great, Three's A Crowd is an unmitigated disaster, and the rest fall indifferently between. *shrugs*
by bdp
April 23rd, 2009, 2:04 pm
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
Replies: 3714
Views: 1046785

Re: WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Yeah, I know it's not the ending anyone connected with the film wanted - Lillian and Lars seem to be saying 'Ya want happy? We'll give you happy' and just over-playing that to the hilt. Could just be me though...
by bdp
April 22nd, 2009, 5:07 pm
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
Replies: 3714
Views: 1046785

Re: WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

The ending of The Wind is so upbeat that I almost think that Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson were enacting a parody or burlesque.
by bdp
April 11th, 2009, 3:05 pm
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Intolerance (D.W. Griffith, 1916)
Replies: 2
Views: 2448

Re: Intolerance (D.W. Griffith, 1916)

The original version of Intolerance was much longer - either four or eight hours, depending on the source - but Griffith had to cut it down and the French and Babylonian stories were where most of the cuts happened.
by bdp
April 9th, 2009, 3:32 pm
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Glorious Betsy (1928) In May On TCM!
Replies: 2
Views: 2342

Re: Glorious Betsy (1928) In May On TCM!

Didn't this get pulled from TCM's schedule?
by bdp
April 7th, 2009, 7:21 pm
Forum: Classic Film on DVD
Topic: The Warner Archive
Replies: 260
Views: 139974

Re: The Warner Archive

R. Emmett Sweeney's comment: "Chapters are programmed every ten minutes regardless of the shot." appears to jibe with what Miss Goddess posted, and with other posts I've seen on these DVDs so far, and with my own experience. The DVDs don't have traditional chapter markers as most of us th...
by bdp
March 27th, 2009, 10:11 pm
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Way Down East (1920) and Griffith's editing style
Replies: 34
Views: 13698

Re: Way Down East (1920) and Griffith's editing style

No, the 'race' issues are not bogus at all. Just because Griffith threw in historical names and places does not make it a historical film - it isn't, it's a polemic.
by bdp
March 24th, 2009, 2:00 pm
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Way Down East (1920) and Griffith's editing style
Replies: 34
Views: 13698

Re: Way Down East (1920) and Griffith's editing style

I've read that the 'black background' closeups were a conscious choice, so that the viewer would be focused solely on the actor's face and expressions.
by bdp
March 14th, 2009, 7:48 am
Forum: Silents & PreCodes
Topic: Kevin Brownlow/Coppola Napoleon
Replies: 8
Views: 4559

Re: Kevin Brownlow/Coppola Napoleon

I don't mind the Coppola version as such, and I don't think the projection rate is all that bad. I do think it a travesty that the most complete version cannot be made available; I'm not familiar enough with it yet to have an opinion of the Davis score compared to Coppola's. There's no reason both c...