WHAT SILENTS & PRE-CODES HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[movieman1957]

Wendy, I didn't find anything that I thought would be controversial. As things go this might be later Griffith (1924) and so I thought it pretty straightforward. The only thing might be the relationship between the colonists and the loyalists. They interact fairly often despite their differences. This is particularly so with Hamilton's character and the "Montagues."

The soundtrack is spirited and well played but suffers from being played on a multivoiced keyboard. Not everything sounds genuine. Some borrowed hymns and a melody from Tchaikovsky is sprinkled in along with some variations on patriotic themes.

[Robert Regan]

My friends, I have been lucky enough to see practically all of Griffith's surviving films, and I don't consider any of his work except The Birth of a Nation particularly controversial, then or now, although many of his films of the twenties are shamefully underrated by most commentators. Right after America, which I believe was edited somewhat differently for showing in Britain, he made one of his masterpieces, Isn't Life Wonderful (no question mark!), a moving story of a family suffering through the unemployment and inflation in post-war Germany. Carol Dempster gives her finest performance on the screen, and Neil Hamilton is fine once again. His last large-scale big budget movie was The Sorrows of Satan, a colorful and highly melodramatic story from a best-seller by Marie Corelli. Dempster and Ricardo Cortez are the young lovers, but the show is stolen by Adolphe Menjou as the sophisticated and urbane Prince of Darkness. Another film of the twenties that I am very fond of is The Idol Dancer, maybe not what we expect from a great director, but an entertaining Saturday night date any time. Richard Barthelmess is a drunken beachcomber on a South Sea island who is redeemed by his love for White Almond Flower, "blood of vivacious France, inscrutable Java and languorous Samoa mingled in her veins, untamed by the missionary civilization". If this sounds corny, it is. The joy of the movie comes from the incomparable Clarine Seymour in her first leading role and her last before her unfortunate death at twenty-two. This charming and talented girl, who came close to stealing True Heart Susie from Lillian Gish and Bobby Harron, is given full rein here. Everyone I have shown this film to has been completely won over by her. But for her untimely demise, she surely would have been one of Hollywood's great Flappers.

[CineMaven]

As often happens when I come to the SSO, I learn just a little bit more than I knew before I enter this oasis. Reading Robert's post made me investigate Clarine Seymour a little. I came across these two items on a young actress I have never heard of or seen before in my life. Ya gotta love classic film fans, don'cha? We keep memories alive. Just saying I learn much from many of you.

http://ladailymirror.com/2012/09/24/eve ... e-seymour/

[youtube][/youtube]

[Robert Regan]

Thank you so much, Theresa, for the link to Eve Golden's column on Clarine Seymour. Actually, the real eye-opener for me is the discussion of Bobby Harron's death in the Comments section. He has always been one of my favorite Griffith actors, and Celia wrote a book-length study of his work when at Sarah Lawrence. She and I often talked about his movies and wondered about the mystery surrounding his shooting. He was a devout Catholic from a working-class Irish family, and it always seemed to us that he would not have considered suicide no matter how disturbed he may have been. This is the first time I have heard of the presence of another person or the purple kimono, both of which make the situation even more complex. I have forwarded the Golden piece to Celia, and I am eager to hear her thoughts on this. Still, regardless of the unanswered questions, the very premature demises of Harron and Seymour deprived us of two amazing talents who might have become two of the greatest stars of the twenties.

[JackFavell]

glad to see some love for Griffith as well as two of my very favorites, Clarine Seymour and Bobby Harron here! I really wish Seymour had lived to do more films, I like Carol Dempster but imagine what Clarine Seymour could have done! I've always wondered about Bobby Harron myself, he always struck me as a hugely talented and underrated actor.

Robert, have you seen The Red Man's View? Those who would criticize Griffith for racism ought to see it, just to balance the scales a little. Not saying that The Birth of a Nation doesn't contain some icky and horribly uncomfortable scenes... I just wish that those who talk about Griffith's racism could delve into his other works more, because I find nothing of the racist in any of his other films that I've seen and in fact, quite the opposite as far as The Redman's View is concerned.

[Robert Regan]

Wendy, it has been a long time since I have seen The Red Man's View, but I feel strongly that the iconoclastic portrayal of Griffith as merely a racist is not a complete or even fair picture of a human being, complex as are we all. And, frankly, I wish the bald, seemingly all-inclusive, but actually vague word "racism" had not supplanted the more descriptive "prejudiced" more common in my youth.

I have been very fond of Bobby Harron ever since MOMA's Griffith retrospective in the sixties provided the opportunity to see him grow from a charming boy to an immensely talented young man. That would also have been when I was lucky to discover Clarine Seymour. I believe they could have each become a great star of the twenties. Sad that she was not able to leave behind an Intolerance, or even better The Mother and the Law which gave greater scope for the development of their characters to Harron, Mae Marsh, and Miriam Cooper.

Though just over one hundred years old, the history of movies is never complete, and probably never will be.

[Robert Regan]

Masha, thank you for posting about Vera Kholodnaya. She certainly was spectacularly beautiful, and I look forward to see as many of her films as possible to see that versatility. I have never been very fond of the "classics" of the Soviet cinema, but have recently discovered Russian artists more to my taste like Evgeny Bauer and Boris Barnet. There are always more films, filmmakers, and actors to discover! Thank you again.

[Robert Regan]

Only recently, Masha, did I discover that a Russian film can be funny.

[JackFavell]

Hi Masha! Thank you so much for posting Be Silent, My Sorrow. Be Silent! I look forward to watching it so much and also Jolly Fellows.

Are you Sansfin from over at the TCM site? It's wonderful to see you over here!

[Robert Regan]

Thank you for the tips, Masha. I believe that laughter is one of the things that makes life worth living, and that great comedy leads to a deeper understanding of the human condition than tragedy. I have heard good things about those three, and I am already quite fond of The Girl With the Hatbox and Bed and Sofa. Glad to have you aboard here. Stay swell. Bob

[JackFavell]

I tried so very hard to hide my identity!

Your secret is safe with me! How to Steal a Million was the giveaway.