WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

drednm · Post by **drednm** » February 5th, 2009, 6:59 pm

YIKES... that's steep for a film that exists..... I think I paid $15/hour to watch films at Eastman House

coopsgirl · Post by **coopsgirl** » February 5th, 2009, 7:18 pm

Hey Justin,

In the 50s and 60s when her films were shown on TV, Clara got a big boost again as many younger people saw her for the first time. She was very surprised that anybody still cared or wanted to watch her films and she loved getting the fan mail and responded to them with letters and pictures. I know she would be even more astounded today to know how many fans she still has.

I’ve just recently gotten into colorizing pictures and here’s one I did of Clara. I think this one turned out the best so far.

Legion of the Condemned looks like it was a very well made and interesting film. It’s one of two silent films Gary and Fay Wray made (the other being the also lost First Kiss) and I would love for both of these to turn up someday. I have a lot of beautiful pics from Legion and here's a link to the album of pics.

http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t163 ... Condemned/

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » February 5th, 2009, 7:41 pm

Angie,

All of my recent colorizations of Clara are to large to post here. I could shrink them down, but they have already been shrunken down allot. This board is the same format as NItrateville, and there are no limitations for image size there??? So why here???

I just registered on Youtube for the first time ever. As I posted videos on GAOH last week, those turned out to really drag and not move correctly. Plus they have heavy Ghosting to them. But if I post through Youtube first, this effect is not visible on the links people use on GAOH to Youtube? Those videos look fine. So I may try tt some substitutions later on. This is all pretty new to me.

charliechaplinfan · February 6th, 2009, 6:18 pm

That's a lovely picture Coopsgirl. I'm firmly in the pro Clara camp. She's so natural on screen and always a joy to watch. Just to see her in Wings, she made the film for me. In It the scene I really remember is when she comes home and scoops up the baby. So natural.

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » February 6th, 2009, 6:29 pm

Danielle,

Hey, I haven't heard from you in months on end! Drop me an E-mail over the weekend. Or right now if you have a chance??? I'll be waiting. Thanks.

charliechaplinfan · February 8th, 2009, 3:30 pm

Last night I watched the film King Vidor made about the depression called Our Daily Bread. At first I thought it would be a ilm about a perfect solution to the depression, perhaps that's the film that would have been made if it was left to MGM but King Vidor but up his own money and gave us a look at how desperate some Americans were during those years. I only know one other film that told the Depression of the farming communities and that is The Grapes of Wrath penned by the great John Steinbeck. It's a story about people who are starving, people who have nothing left but the car they drive across country and the clothes they stand up in. They see advertising by the roadside, help wanted and share the profits. It works well as the sow the crops, there's a couple of unsavory characters along the way, then comes drought and a loss of hope. Nobody deserved to succeed more than these people.

Also on the same disc were two newsreels, approved by MGM trying to discredit Upton Sinclair and trying to drum up votes for the Republican candidate. What I know about Upton Sinclair is that he wrote a book called The Jungle which I must read, he was a good friend of Chaplin and he had left wing political ideas. He stood a chance of winning the seat so Hollywood used their strength to try and turn the election against him.

A couple of nights ago I watched Gabriel Over The White House. Much more uplifting fare, still about troubled times but more escapist. One scene featured the President driving hell for leather along country roads, as if anyone would let the President do something like that, well let's say he got his comeuppance for it. Walter Huston played a great President and Franchot Tone played one of those roles he always plays, he never quite made it to the upper echelons of the roster of stars. I always enjoy him in his films but wish he was given more to do.

drednm · Post by **drednm** » February 8th, 2009, 11:08 pm

I rewatched SADIE THOMPSON and thought it superb. The stunning Gloria Swanson gave one of her best silent performances.... not sure about the Kino music score though.

Lionel Barrymore was good in a thankless role, and Raoul Walsh was effective as O'Hara.

But the film belonged to glorious Gloria...

charliechaplinfan · February 9th, 2009, 2:15 pm

My favorite Gloria performance, I like her DeMille films too but I'm dazzled by her costumes and home decor too. I wish someone would release Manhandled or any of her comedies.

myrnaloyisdope · Post by **myrnaloyisdope** » February 9th, 2009, 3:59 pm

I've been slowly trying to work my way through the backlog of DVD's I own but haven't watched...that pile just seems to get bigger.

Anyway I just picked up the Lubitsch in Berlin boxset, and I'm going to try and polish that off in the next little bit.

The first film I've watched from the set is 1919's The Oyster Princess, and I was very impressed. It's such a completely absurd film and really darn funny. The premise of the film is that an American oyster tycoon (Victor Jansen) has a spoiled daughter (Ossi Oswalda) who desperately wants to marry someone with a title. The story itself is pretty simple, but everything else about the film is so absurdly over the top, from the giant cigars that Janson smokes, to the dozens of servants that help Oswalda take a bath, to a wonderful sequence featuring what seems likes hundreds of people dancing the foxtrot in unison. A brilliant and fun film, that somehow manages to fit so much into just 60 minutes.

I also watched 1924's The Marriage Circle, which I had been meaning to revisit. I remember not being especially impressed on first viewing, but the second time everything sunk in. A fun, elaborate, and elegant marriage farce, it really showcases the so-called "Lubitsch touch", despite the complexity of the plot with multiple infidelities (real and suspected), the film never becomes complicated. Marie Prevost stood out as the vamp, I had mainly seen her in talkies, but it was interesting to see her play a sexier role rather than the wise-cracking sidekick.

I also rewatched 1927's It, and let's just say It doesn't do it for me. I just find the movie boring for the most part, even though Clara Bow is quite good, and it's not hard to see why she was so big. It just don't think the film is very funny, or even especially sexy, though Clara does have a certain energy. It's a film I want to like, but just can't.

drednm · Post by **drednm** » February 9th, 2009, 4:36 pm

I also like Swanson's underrated DeMille domestic dramas as showcases for Swanson's acting, but I also find the clothing and especially the decor of the interiors fascinating. DeMille was possibly the first director to push the envelope of interior decors and whittle away at the Victorian era of frou-frou.

I agree that Swanson is generally ignored as a comedienne, partly because of her non-work with Chaplin, who fired her because she had no sense of humor (which was baloney--Swanson didn't want to be stereotyped as a comic). Her comic work in in silents like ZAZA, FINE MANNERS, MANHANDLED, and especially in STAGE STRUCK certainly proves she had a great sense of humor and cmic timing. A DVD set would be great....

coopsgirl · Post by **coopsgirl** » February 9th, 2009, 6:50 pm

Hey Justin,

I enjoyed The Marriage Circle too. That's funny that you've mostly seen Marie Prevost in talkies and I've mostly seen her in silents. Even though Esther Ralston only has a small part, I got this one to see her. I also like Florence Vidor and Adolphe Menjou and they were very good too.

I can't believe you don't like It. To steal an oft used line from I Love Lucy, "Are you crazy or something?"

It and Hula are my very faves of Clara's. Neither one are exactly ground breaking cinema; just fun rom-com's - silent movie style. Antonio Moreno did a good job as the object of Clara's desire in It but he turns me off. He looks too old; maybe it's the moustache. I did like the guy playing the young reporter who rushes up to Clara's apartment when her pal's baby is about to be taken away. He really had something. I wonder what became of him?

myrnaloyisdope · Post by **myrnaloyisdope** » February 9th, 2009, 8:05 pm

On the subject of that mystery man, I watched Lubitsch's Bluebeard's Eighth Wife today, and was very impressed. A very funny film, with Claudette Colbert at her finest, I think I might even like it more than Midnight. Edward Everett Horton is pretty hysterical as Colbert's father. And you know what? I was really impressed with Gary Cooper, it's probably the first time I've seen him act natural in a non-western. He just seemed really comfortable, and was actually quite funny. The reviews I've read suggest that the film fell victim to the production code, thereby undermining it, but I actually liked how it turned out, the ending didn't seem out of place to me.

feaito · Post by **feaito** » February 9th, 2009, 8:09 pm

Myrnaloyisdope, when I saw "The Marriage Circle" (1924) it also did not make the impression on me that I was expecting...in fact, I still prefer the talkie remake "One Hour With You" (1932). I'll definitely watch it sometime again.

But, as for "It" (1927), it's definitely one of the best Silent Comedies I've ever seen! I just loved Clara in this one. Really superb. I know that feeling of wanting or trying too hard like a particular movie, and the frustration when it doesn't happen....

coopsgirl · Post by **coopsgirl** » February 9th, 2009, 10:42 pm

I'm glad you liked Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, Justin. It is a very funny film and I think my fave part is when Gary and Claudette get home from book shopping and he drops his and as he's picking them up he mumbles "If you'd be a little nicer to me I wouldn't need these."

Another reason that one didn't do too well was audiences had a hard time seeing Gary Cooper - Mr. All American Good Guy - as someone who would marry and divorce so glibly. He did enjoy doing light comedies and it's a shame this one didn't do well b/c then he was leary of doing any more for a while after that. He was the first choice to be in Ninotchka the year after Bluebeard but he turned it down. Many people lament that but as I'm not a Garbo fan, I'm not one of them.

I recently saw Midnight and really liked that one too. This was the first movie I'd seen with Don Ameche when he was young. It was weird b/c I'm used to seeing him old. Also, I don't think Claudette ever gave a bad performance, at least not one I've seen yet.

Ann Harding · Post by **Ann Harding** » February 10th, 2009, 4:20 am

myrnaloyisdope wrote:I also rewatched 1927's It, and let's just say It doesn't do it for me. I just find the movie boring for the most part, even though Clara Bow is quite good, and it's not hard to see why she was so big. It just don't think the film is very funny, or even especially sexy, though Clara does have a certain energy. It's a film I want to like, but just can't.

Well, Myrnaloyisdope, you are not the only one to find It disappointing. I agree with you that the plot and direction are weak. If it weren't for Clara Bow's wonderful personality, the film would be completely forgotten.

The Silver Screen Oasis

The Silver Screen Oasis

WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?