Silent Film novice in the UK

"Lacey" <laceymitford DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bf0d8068.0309161607.6a815753@posting.google.com...
> Hello everyone,
> I am currently researching a project for which I need to try and have
> a
> look at some 20's 30's era silent movies. Unfortunately I'm a complete
> novice - I know almost nothing at all.
> I'm interested in seeing 'morality tale' style films, you know the
> stereotypical, Mary Pickford style innocent is wooed by evil seducer
> sort of thing.
> I'm wondering if anyone could recommend any particular titles and
> places I might
> be able to watch them (I'm in London)
> Any websites you can recommend would be much appreciated as well.
> Thanks very much,
> Lacey

I that particular story is what you're looking for, you'd be better off
looking for the films of Lillian Gish rather than those of Mary Pickford.
WAY DOWN EAST is a great one and you might also try THE SCARLET LETTER. A
Pickford film you might be interested in is THE LOVE LIGHT. And I suppose
that tangentially you might consider FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE, which
has a redemption theme.

Frederica
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

Frederica wrote:

> "Lacey" <laceymitford DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:bf0d8068.0309161607.6a815753@posting.google.com...
> > Hello everyone,
> > I am currently researching a project for which I need to try and have
> > a
> > look at some 20's 30's era silent movies. Unfortunately I'm a complete
> > novice - I know almost nothing at all.
> > I'm interested in seeing 'morality tale' style films, you know the
> > stereotypical, Mary Pickford style innocent is wooed by evil seducer
> > sort of thing.
> > I'm wondering if anyone could recommend any particular titles and
> > places I might
> > be able to watch them (I'm in London)
> > Any websites you can recommend would be much appreciated as well.
> > Thanks very much,
> > Lacey
>
> I that particular story is what you're looking for, you'd be better off
> looking for the films of Lillian Gish rather than those of Mary Pickford.
> WAY DOWN EAST is a great one and you might also try THE SCARLET LETTER. A
> Pickford film you might be interested in is THE LOVE LIGHT. And I suppose
> that tangentially you might consider FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE, which
> has a redemption theme.
>
> Frederica

Agreed. Mary Pickford would likely threaten to give him a good sock on the
jaw. I think you want films from the 1910s. Beware of the modern stereotype
of the silent film, they are more sophisticated than you think. Actually, by
the 20s, themes like that (particularly in the Griffith style) were beginning
to seem old fashioned, though the seduced and abandoned woman theme turns up
for decades in various guises. If you'd like the gender reversal on that story,
with the man seduced by an evil woman, try A Fool There Was (1914). By 1920
this extreme style, too, was considered passe, though vampdom lives on, as many
of us can personally attest.

greta (kicking her panne velvet train out from under her rolling office chair)
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

"Greta de Groat" <gdegroat.RemoveThis@stanford.edu> wrote in message
news:3F688B7C.1ABB43E9@stanford.edu...
>
> greta (kicking her panne velvet train out from under her rolling office
chair)

Oh, MAN! You ever get one of those puppies caught under the wheels and then
try to stand up? Yikes, the Isadora Duncan effect.

Frederica
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

Frederica wrote:

> "Greta de Groat" <gdegroat.TakeThisOut@stanford.edu> wrote in message
> news:3F688B7C.1ABB43E9@stanford.edu...
> >
> > greta (kicking her panne velvet train out from under her rolling office
> chair)
>
> Oh, MAN! You ever get one of those puppies caught under the wheels and then
> try to stand up? Yikes, the Isadora Duncan effect.
>
> Frederica

Most undignified, and definitely not a pretty sight--speaking of which, i keep
getting this darned kohl in my eyes!

Oh well, back to cataloging a pile of Argentine movies (they could have at least
thown in some silents--the best i've gotten so far was a sort of film noir and a
Nini Marshall comedy, the only b&w ones in the bunch)

greta
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

>I'm wondering if anyone could recommend any particular titles and
>places I might
>be able to watch them (I'm in London)
>Any websites you can recommend would be much appreciated as well.

You're in luck living in London as you are near to the National Film Theatre,
which is located near to Waterloo station. They usually show a few silent
films. For instance if you look on the British film institute website
www.bfi.org.uk you will find that they will show the wonderful Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse on October 5th.

The easiest way to see a specific film if you live in Britain is to buy DVDs.
For this you will ideally have a multi region player capable of playing US
DVDs, as there are only a few silent era DVDs produced for the UK market. The
best site I have seen which reviews silent DVD releases is www.silentera.com

If you are interested in morality tales involving seduction you might try
Rudolph Valentino's The Shiek and Son of the Shiek. These films are available
on a US DVD from Image.

Good luck with getting to know silent pictures.

Pete George
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

Both Broken Blossoms and La Boheme are outstanding Lillian Gish performances as
well.They don't exactly fit the mold of "seduced and abandoned",but they do
showcase Gish in roles of frail characthers who are forced to weather harrowing
life circumstances.And how about Madge Bellamy's characther in Hail The Woman?

The theme of "Seduced and Abandoned" turns up a lot in William S Hart
movies.Hart usually plays a man who loves a girl,who almost invariably runs of
with a smooth-talking jerk who ends up deserting her in dire
circumstances.So,if you like Westerns that might be a place to look.

Agreed about being careful of the modern stereotype about silent films.Sure the
silent era produced it's share of bad films and performances,just like any
other era,but I'm always amazed at how many people(Even some folks who like
silent films) *still* insist that the era epitomizes bad acting and over-the
top melodramatic plot lines,especially given the really grating and mannered
style of acting that has come to dominate most mainstream cinema and
television.

Good luck with your project.And let us know how your silent film discovering
progresses.

Best Wishes,
James



>Subject: Re: Silent Film novice in the UK
>From: Greta de Groat gdegroat.TakeThisOut@stanford.edu
>Date: 9/17/2003 12:27 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <3F688B7C.1ABB43E9.TakeThisOut@stanford.edu>
>
>
>
>Frederica wrote:
>
>> "Lacey" <laceymitford.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:bf0d8068.0309161607.6a815753@posting.google.com...
>> > Hello everyone,
>> > I am currently researching a project for which I need to try and have
>> > a
>> > look at some 20's 30's era silent movies. Unfortunately I'm a complete
>> > novice - I know almost nothing at all.
>> > I'm interested in seeing 'morality tale' style films, you know the
>> > stereotypical, Mary Pickford style innocent is wooed by evil seducer
>> > sort of thing.
>> > I'm wondering if anyone could recommend any particular titles and
>> > places I might
>> > be able to watch them (I'm in London)
>> > Any websites you can recommend would be much appreciated as well.
>> > Thanks very much,
>> > Lacey
>>
>> I that particular story is what you're looking for, you'd be better off
>> looking for the films of Lillian Gish rather than those of Mary Pickford.
>> WAY DOWN EAST is a great one and you might also try THE SCARLET LETTER. A
>> Pickford film you might be interested in is THE LOVE LIGHT. And I suppose
>> that tangentially you might consider FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE, which
>> has a redemption theme.
>>
>> Frederica
>
>Agreed. Mary Pickford would likely threaten to give him a good sock on the
>jaw. I think you want films from the 1910s. Beware of the modern stereotype
>of the silent film, they are more sophisticated than you think. Actually, by
>the 20s, themes like that (particularly in the Griffith style) were beginning
>to seem old fashioned, though the seduced and abandoned woman theme turns up
>for decades in various guises. If you'd like the gender reversal on that
>story,
>with the man seduced by an evil woman, try A Fool There Was (1914). By 1920
>this extreme style, too, was considered passe, though vampdom lives on, as
>many
>of us can personally attest.
>
>greta (kicking her panne velvet train out from under her rolling office
>chair)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

Thanks very much for all your help everyone, it's very kind of you
all.
I've ordered some of the films you reccomended and bought myself a
ticket of the Four Horsemen at the NFT (I had fun looking through the
listings, I forgot how many excelent films they show there.)
The reason I'm reaserching silent films is, I am a caberet performer
and my partner and I discovered that if you shine a strobe light on
stage of moving
performers it gives an effect similar to the jumping film (techincal
term there)
that I remeber seeing on the silent films my dad watched when I
was a little girl. That's the reason I'm going for the more
steriotypical idea of a
silent film, you need the highest level of recognision from your
audience, alas that is the probelm with what I do, meticulous and
loving reaserch can often make your act less well recieved
rather than more.
Thanks again everyone and keep reccomending if you have the mind to.
Laceyx
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

Greta de Groat <gdegroat RemoveThis @stanford.edu> wrote in message news:<3F688B7C.1ABB43E9 RemoveThis @stanford.edu>...
> Frederica wrote:
>
> > "Lacey" <laceymitford RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:bf0d8068.0309161607.6a815753@posting.google.com...
> > > Hello everyone,
> > > I am currently researching a project for which I need to try and have
> > > a
> > > look at some 20's 30's era silent movies. Unfortunately I'm a complete
> > > novice - I know almost nothing at all.
> > > I'm interested in seeing 'morality tale' style films, you know the
> > > stereotypical, Mary Pickford style innocent is wooed by evil seducer
> > > sort of thing.
> > > I'm wondering if anyone could recommend any particular titles and
> > > places I might
> > > be able to watch them (I'm in London)
> > > Any websites you can recommend would be much appreciated as well.
> > > Thanks very much,
> > > Lacey
> >
> > I that particular story is what you're looking for, you'd be better off
> > looking for the films of Lillian Gish rather than those of Mary Pickford.
> > WAY DOWN EAST is a great one and you might also try THE SCARLET LETTER. A
> > Pickford film you might be interested in is THE LOVE LIGHT. And I suppose
> > that tangentially you might consider FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE, which
> > has a redemption theme.
> >
> > Frederica
>
> Agreed. Mary Pickford would likely threaten to give him a good sock on the
> jaw.

Or a lap full of boiling water, or the business end of a pitchfork. If
you want to see Mary in action in such a tale, you should check out
TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY (on video from Milestone). She's not the one
seduced, but there IS such a seduction and Mary takes the rap to
defend her friend's reputation. It's also a good film to dispel the
myth of Pickford as victim -- morally she's pure and innocent, mind
you, but she's no shrinking violet, is violent to anyone who gets in
her way, and walks straight in where she knows she's not wanted. TESS
also has that wonderful "personal faith vs. corrupt organized
religion" message that was such an interesting aspect of many movie
plots back then. Probably a left-over from melodrama, but in TESS and
SPARROWS I found it surprisingly moving.

Rodney
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

Lacey wrote:

> Thanks very much for all your help everyone, it's very kind of you
> all.
> I've ordered some of the films you reccomended and bought myself a
> ticket of the Four Horsemen at the NFT (I had fun looking through the
> listings, I forgot how many excelent films they show there.)
> The reason I'm reaserching silent films is, I am a caberet performer
> and my partner and I discovered that if you shine a strobe light on
> stage of moving
> performers it gives an effect similar to the jumping film (techincal
> term there)
> that I remeber seeing on the silent films my dad watched when I
> was a little girl. That's the reason I'm going for the more
> steriotypical idea of a
> silent film, you need the highest level of recognision from your
> audience, alas that is the probelm with what I do, meticulous and
> loving reaserch can often make your act less well recieved
> rather than more.
> Thanks again everyone and keep reccomending if you have the mind to.
> Laceyx

Ah, i see. Yes, performance is different than a research paper. If you
are looking to make it comic, then you might actually try some Keystone
comedies. They were already sending up melodrama conventions. In fact,
a lot of "typical" silent film clips that are commonly shown (and an
audience recognizes), are actually parodies already (notably the girl
tied to the railroad tracks scenes in Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life,
and Teddy at the Throttle). Ok, you comedy fans out there, help me with
some titles--there's lots of Keystone on video but i don't know which
ones in particular would be the most help here.

As a variation, you still might still have fun with a vamp routine.
Besides A Fool There Was, also check out Blood and Sand and The Ten
Commandments (the silent one--and the second, modern, part of the
story). You'd have a ball with the costuming.

Enjoy Four Horsemen--you'll be blown away by the beautiful Rudolph
Valentino.

Best of luck with your act,
greta
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

Has the very funny Sydney Drew picture GOODNESS GRACIOUS
ever come out on video or DVD? That's a wonderful, very strange
parody of melodramatic conventions.

Bill Coleman

===============================

"greta de groat" <gdegroat RemoveThis @stanford.edu> wrote in message
news:3F69D98F.3E06D6BF@stanford.edu...
>
> Lacey wrote:
>
> > Thanks very much for all your help everyone, it's very kind of you
> > all.
> > I've ordered some of the films you reccomended and bought myself a
> > ticket of the Four Horsemen at the NFT (I had fun looking through the
> > listings, I forgot how many excelent films they show there.)
> > The reason I'm reaserching silent films is, I am a caberet performer
> > and my partner and I discovered that if you shine a strobe light on
> > stage of moving
> > performers it gives an effect similar to the jumping film (techincal
> > term there)
> > that I remeber seeing on the silent films my dad watched when I
> > was a little girl. That's the reason I'm going for the more
> > steriotypical idea of a
> > silent film, you need the highest level of recognision from your
> > audience, alas that is the probelm with what I do, meticulous and
> > loving reaserch can often make your act less well recieved
> > rather than more.
> > Thanks again everyone and keep reccomending if you have the mind to.
> > Laceyx
>
> Ah, i see. Yes, performance is different than a research paper. If you
> are looking to make it comic, then you might actually try some Keystone
> comedies. They were already sending up melodrama conventions. In fact,
> a lot of "typical" silent film clips that are commonly shown (and an
> audience recognizes), are actually parodies already (notably the girl
> tied to the railroad tracks scenes in Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life,
> and Teddy at the Throttle). Ok, you comedy fans out there, help me with
> some titles--there's lots of Keystone on video but i don't know which
> ones in particular would be the most help here.
>
> As a variation, you still might still have fun with a vamp routine.
> Besides A Fool There Was, also check out Blood and Sand and The Ten
> Commandments (the silent one--and the second, modern, part of the
> story). You'd have a ball with the costuming.
>
> Enjoy Four Horsemen--you'll be blown away by the beautiful Rudolph
> Valentino.
>
> Best of luck with your act,
> greta
>
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

> I'm wondering if anyone could recommend any particular titles and
> places I might
> be able to watch them (I'm in London)
> Any websites you can recommend would be much appreciated as well.
> Thanks very much,
> Lacey

Why don't you check out the Very Nice People who make up the Bristol
Silent Film Society?

They sometimes run programs in London, and they have a great website
(just google Bristol and silent film) and you can ask them about local
resources.
Lokke
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

Well everyone I can safely say that I've had my head blown open by
some of the silent
films I've seen - He Who Gets Slapped, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari,
The Unknown. I know none of these are the kind of films I was asking
about, but I got sidetracked and I'm glad I did. I never knew how
amazing some silent films are, I watched the Cabinet of Dr Caligari
three times in a row! Such inteligence and artistry - I believe I may
be hooked.
Lacey
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK 

"Lacey" <pinball46.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7a00d16d.0310050334.64df403b@posting.google.com...
> Well everyone I can safely say that I've had my head blown open by
> some of the silent
> films I've seen - He Who Gets Slapped, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari,
> The Unknown. I know none of these are the kind of films I was asking
> about, but I got sidetracked and I'm glad I did. I never knew how
> amazing some silent films are, I watched the Cabinet of Dr Caligari
> three times in a row! Such inteligence and artistry - I believe I may
> be hooked.
> Lacey

Our work here is done.

Frederica
 >> Stay informed about: Silent Film novice in the UK