Allow us this tangent for the centennial of the silent comedy The Virtuous Vamp (1919). It starred the then popular actress Constance Talmadge who claims to have been receiving over 60 scripts a week during this period in her career. This particular comedy is among the many honored titles in the Library of Congress National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The Virtuous Vamp is now in the public domain though we haven't found a way to screen it yet. From our understanding, it's not a "lost" film which is always a relief with silent pictures since the bulk of them vanished from existence through Hollywood's own negligence about their movies. Movies were always and remain cultural artifacts rather than disposable "product" to be tossed once they've stopped collecting immediate coin.
The not-at-all sexist plot (joke) is about a virtuous girl who takes a job at an office of...
The not-at-all sexist plot (joke) is about a virtuous girl who takes a job at an office of...
- 11/17/2019
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
In his day Buster Keaton’s popularity trailed that of Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, but now those reputations have switched around. These two ‘lesser’ Keaton features generate more sheer fun than anything going. Seven Chances and Battling Butler are great on remastered Blu-ray — better materials, no missing frames — but do yourself a favor and find a way to see a Keaton picture with a big audience!
Seven Chances & Battling Butler: The Buster Keaton Collection Volume 3
Blu-ray
Cohen Film Collection
Street Date August 20, 2019 / 29.98
Original Music composed and Conducted by Robert Israel
Produced by Joseph M. Schenck
Starring, and Directed by Buster Keaton
Seven Chances
1925 / B&w + Color / 1:37 Silent Ap / 56 min.
Starring: Buster Keaton, Snitz Edwards, Ruth Dwyer, T, Roy Barnes, Jean Arthur, Constance Talmadge.
Cinematography: Elgin Lessley, Byron Houck
Art Direction: Fred Gabourie
Written by Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez, Joseph Mitchell from a play by Roi Cooper Megrue
Directed...
Seven Chances & Battling Butler: The Buster Keaton Collection Volume 3
Blu-ray
Cohen Film Collection
Street Date August 20, 2019 / 29.98
Original Music composed and Conducted by Robert Israel
Produced by Joseph M. Schenck
Starring, and Directed by Buster Keaton
Seven Chances
1925 / B&w + Color / 1:37 Silent Ap / 56 min.
Starring: Buster Keaton, Snitz Edwards, Ruth Dwyer, T, Roy Barnes, Jean Arthur, Constance Talmadge.
Cinematography: Elgin Lessley, Byron Houck
Art Direction: Fred Gabourie
Written by Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez, Joseph Mitchell from a play by Roi Cooper Megrue
Directed...
- 8/20/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
On this day (April 19th) in history as it relates to showbiz...
1770 Marie Antoinette married by proxy to Louis-Auguste. A month later she travels from Austria to the forest of Compiègne to meet her husband (essentially where Sofia Coppola's great 2006 film starring Kirsten Dunst begins) and the two soon have a ceremonial wedding.
1898 Silent screen star Constance Talmadge born (the year is disputed but around there!). One of many silent giants whose fame didn't transfer to "the talkies"...
1770 Marie Antoinette married by proxy to Louis-Auguste. A month later she travels from Austria to the forest of Compiègne to meet her husband (essentially where Sofia Coppola's great 2006 film starring Kirsten Dunst begins) and the two soon have a ceremonial wedding.
1898 Silent screen star Constance Talmadge born (the year is disputed but around there!). One of many silent giants whose fame didn't transfer to "the talkies"...
- 4/19/2017
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
The Academy celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Academy Film Archive with the screening series “Archival Revival – 25 years of the Academy Film Archive,” curated from the extensive, diverse collection of motion pictures that the archive has restored and preserved. The series, which runs fromJuly 18 through September 12, will showcase a broad range of titles – musicals, documentaries, silent films, Pre-Code comedies, experimental films and horror classics.
In 1991 the Academy’s Board of Governors made a commitment to create a world-class archive for the preservation, restoration, documentation and study of motion pictures. The Academy Film Archive currently holds more than 190,000 elements, including trailers, feature films, and the film collections of such artists as Alfred Hitchcock, Penelope Spheeris, James Wong Howe, Albert Maysles and Su Friedrich. It also holds the collections of such institutions and programs as the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival and the Student Academy Awards.
Take...
In 1991 the Academy’s Board of Governors made a commitment to create a world-class archive for the preservation, restoration, documentation and study of motion pictures. The Academy Film Archive currently holds more than 190,000 elements, including trailers, feature films, and the film collections of such artists as Alfred Hitchcock, Penelope Spheeris, James Wong Howe, Albert Maysles and Su Friedrich. It also holds the collections of such institutions and programs as the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival and the Student Academy Awards.
Take...
- 7/6/2016
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
First Best Actor Oscar winner Emil Jannings and first Best Actress Oscar winner Janet Gaynor on TCM (photo: Emil Jannings in 'The Last Command') First Best Actor Academy Award winner Emil Jannings in The Last Command, first Best Actress Academy Award winner Janet Gaynor in Sunrise, and sisters Norma Talmadge and Constance Talmadge are a few of the silent era performers featured this evening on Turner Classic Movies, as TCM continues with its Silent Monday presentations. Starting at 5 p.m. Pt / 8 p.m. Et on November 17, 2014, get ready to check out several of the biggest movie stars of the 1920s. Following the Jean Negulesco-directed 1943 musical short Hit Parade of the Gay Nineties -- believe me, even the most rabid anti-gay bigot will be able to enjoy this one -- TCM will be showing Josef von Sternberg's The Last Command (1928) one of the two movies that earned...
- 11/18/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Honorary Award: Gloria Swanson, Rita Hayworth among dozens of women bypassed by the Academy (photo: Honorary Award non-winner Gloria Swanson in 'Sunset Blvd.') (See previous post: "Honorary Oscars: Doris Day, Danielle Darrieux Snubbed.") Part three of this four-part article about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Honorary Award bypassing women basically consists of a long, long — and for the most part quite prestigious — list of deceased women who, some way or other, left their mark on the film world. Some of the names found below are still well known; others were huge in their day, but are now all but forgotten. Yet, just because most people (and the media) suffer from long-term — and even medium-term — memory loss, that doesn't mean these women were any less deserving of an Honorary Oscar. So, among the distinguished female film professionals in Hollywood and elsewhere who have passed away without...
- 9/4/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Slapstick Festival | The Loco London Comedy Film Festival | Rybczynski: Exploring Space | CarnyVille
Slapstick Festival, Bristol
With Buster Keaton back in cinemas (The General is on reissue and there's a retrospective at London's BFI), it's a good time to brush up on silent comedy, and this festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary, has done much to spread the word, or maybe the subtitle. This year Charlie Chaplin takes his turn in the spotlight and marks the 100th anniversary of his Little Tramp incarnation, with Omid Djalili introducing an orchestra-backed screening of City Lights at Colston Hall on Friday. The seen-it-all crowd will be more intrigued by celebrations of forgotten stars such as Constance Talmadge, Raymond Griffith and Max Davidson. More up to date, Tim Vine explains why he loves Benny Hill (Watershed, 26 Jan), and Phill Jupitus asks Paul McGann and Ralph Brown about the making of Withnail & I (Bristol Old Vic, 26 Jan).
Various venues,...
Slapstick Festival, Bristol
With Buster Keaton back in cinemas (The General is on reissue and there's a retrospective at London's BFI), it's a good time to brush up on silent comedy, and this festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary, has done much to spread the word, or maybe the subtitle. This year Charlie Chaplin takes his turn in the spotlight and marks the 100th anniversary of his Little Tramp incarnation, with Omid Djalili introducing an orchestra-backed screening of City Lights at Colston Hall on Friday. The seen-it-all crowd will be more intrigued by celebrations of forgotten stars such as Constance Talmadge, Raymond Griffith and Max Davidson. More up to date, Tim Vine explains why he loves Benny Hill (Watershed, 26 Jan), and Phill Jupitus asks Paul McGann and Ralph Brown about the making of Withnail & I (Bristol Old Vic, 26 Jan).
Various venues,...
- 1/18/2014
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
‘Gilda,’ ‘Pulp Fiction’: 2013 National Film Registry movies (photo: Rita Hayworth in ‘Gilda’) See previous post: “‘Mary Poppins’ in National Film Registry: Good Timing for Disney’s ‘Saving Mr. Banks.’” Billy Woodberry’s UCLA thesis film Bless Their Little Hearts (1984). Stanton Kaye’s Brandy in the Wilderness (1969). The Film Group’s Cicero March (1966), about a Civil Rights march in an all-white Chicago suburb. Norbert A. Myles’ Daughter of Dawn (1920), with Hunting Horse, Oscar Yellow Wolf, Esther Labarre. Bill Morrison’s Decasia (2002), featuring decomposing archival footage. Alfred E. Green’s Ella Cinders (1926), with Colleen Moore, Lloyd Hughes, Vera Lewis. Fred M. Wilcox’s Forbidden Planet (1956), with Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, Robby the Robot. Charles Vidor’s Gilda (1946), with Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready. John and Faith Hubley’s Oscar-winning animated short The Hole (1962). Stanley Kramer’s Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), with Best Actor Oscar winner Maximilian Schell,...
- 12/20/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
‘Mary Poppins’ among 25 films chosen for the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry (photo: Julie Andrews in ‘Mary Poppins’) The powers-that-be at the United States’ Library of Congress have chosen to give the Walt Disney Studios a little support. Saving Mr. Banks, directed by John Lee Hancock, and starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers, opened to solid — though hardly outstanding — box office numbers at 15 North American venues last Friday, December 13, 2013. The movie, which also features Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, and Rachel Griffiths, opened in wide release in the U.S. and Canada today, Dec. 20. On Wednesday, Dec. 18, the Library of Congress announced that Mary Poppins (1964) had been included among the 25 movies added to the National Film Registry "to be preserved as cinematic treasures for generations to come." Directed by Robert Stevenson, Mary Poppins remains one of the biggest blockbusters ever,...
- 12/20/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Nov. 5, 2013
Price: DVD $39.99, Blu-ray $49.98
Studio: Cohen Media
D.W. Griffith's 1916 silent epic Intolerance
Just one year after the huge success of his Birth of a Nation, pioneering filmmaker D.W. Griffith was emboldened to prove his faith in the new medium of motion pictures with his historical silent epic Intolerance.
Four separate stories are interwoven: the fall of Babylon, the death of Christ, the massacre of the Huguenots, and a contemporary (early 20th Century) drama — all crosscut and building with enormous energy to a thrilling chase and finale. Through the juxtaposition of these well-known sagas, Griffith joyously makes clear his markedly deterministic view of history, namely that the suffering of innocents makes possible the salvation of the current generation, symbolized by the boy in the modern love story.
Many of the leading stars of the silent screen appear in the classic movie, including Griffith regular Lillian Gish (Broken Blossoms), Mae Marsh,...
Price: DVD $39.99, Blu-ray $49.98
Studio: Cohen Media
D.W. Griffith's 1916 silent epic Intolerance
Just one year after the huge success of his Birth of a Nation, pioneering filmmaker D.W. Griffith was emboldened to prove his faith in the new medium of motion pictures with his historical silent epic Intolerance.
Four separate stories are interwoven: the fall of Babylon, the death of Christ, the massacre of the Huguenots, and a contemporary (early 20th Century) drama — all crosscut and building with enormous energy to a thrilling chase and finale. Through the juxtaposition of these well-known sagas, Griffith joyously makes clear his markedly deterministic view of history, namely that the suffering of innocents makes possible the salvation of the current generation, symbolized by the boy in the modern love story.
Many of the leading stars of the silent screen appear in the classic movie, including Griffith regular Lillian Gish (Broken Blossoms), Mae Marsh,...
- 10/28/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
You want action? Movie-movie action? Then forget The Avengers, which opens in the Us on May 4. The following day, head instead to the Niles Essanay Film Museum in the northern Californian town of Fremont, where they’ll be screening two action-packed flicks: Laughing at Danger and "The Tragic Plunge," episode 7 of the serial The Perils of Pauline. Haven’t heard of either one? Well, Laughing at Danger was an independent production released in 1924. It stars Richard Talmadge (no relation to sisters Constance Talmadge and Norma Talmadge), who, according to some sources, was quite popular in the Soviet Union, of all places. As for the serial The Perils of Pauline, it was a humongous success in 1914, turning Pearl White (photo) into a major screen star. Actually, more than that. White became a near-legendary movie icon, one whose adventures have been copied, remade, and rebooted ever since. In fact, I wouldn’t...
- 4/26/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Mary Pickford Building: The Lot aka Pickford-Fairbanks Studios Los Angeles just got uglier. Despite protests, the Mary Pickford Building on West Hollywood's The Lot has been destroyed by its current owner, the Cim Group. (See video below.) The Lot, as previously reported on this site, was built in the 1910s, when it was known as The Hampton Studios. Silent-era superstars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks purchased the place, which they renamed the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios. That's where Pickford's and Fairbanks' 1920s blockbusters — Robin Hood, Rosita, Sparrows, and The Thief of Bagdad among them — were shot. Renamed the United Artists Studios, it also became the workplace for the likes of Charles Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Norma Talmadge, Constance Talmadge, Gloria Swanson, and others. Independent producer Samuel Goldwyn also worked on the lot, where he made most of his later films: Frank Tuttle's Roman Scandals with Eddie Cantor, Titanic's Gloria Stuart, and...
- 4/6/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
A memorial service for Kino International's former president Donald Krim will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 27, between 10 a.m.-12 noon, at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater in New York City. The former President of DVD and film distributor Kino International, Krim later became co-President of the recently formed Kino-Lorber. He died last May 20 at his New York home following a year-long battle with cancer. He was 65. During Donald Krim's tenure, among Kino's Us releases were films by Wong Kar Wai (Happy Together; Fallen Angels), Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher), Amos Gitai (Kippur; Kadosh), Aki Kaurismäki (The Match Factory Girl; Ariel), Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth), Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dust), and Andrei Zvyagintsev (The Return). Kino also distributed independent American productions (e.g., Kelly Reichardt's Old Joy), and both Hollywood and international classics, including numerous silent films, e.g., Fritz Lang's Metropolis,...
- 9/18/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Lost Horizon Ronald Colman on TCM: Random Harvest, Kiki, A Tale Of Two Cities Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Lucky Partners (1940) Two strangers who share a sweepstakes ticket take it on the lam. Dir: Lewis Milestone. Cast: Ronald Colman, Ginger Rogers, Jack Carson. Bw-99 mins. 7:45 Am My Life With Caroline (1941) A man thinks his high-spirited wife is cheating on him. Dir: Lewis Milestone. Cast: Ronald Colman, Anna Lee, Charles Winninger. Bw-81 mins. 9:15 Am The White Sister (1923) Thinking her lover was killed in the war, a young woman becomes a nun. Dir: Henry King. Cast: Lillian Gish, Ronald Colman, Gail Kane. Bw-135 mins. 11:30 Am Kiki (1926) A Parisian dancer vies with a glamorous actress for a producer's heart. Dir: Clarence Brown. Cast: Norma Talmadge, Ronald Colman, Gertrude Astor. Bw-97 mins. 1:30 Pm Raffles (1930) A distinguished British gentleman hides his true...
- 8/4/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ronald Colman, A Tale of Two Cities Ronald Colman is Turner Classic Movies "Summer Under the Stars" performer on Thursday, August 4. One of the finest film actors ever, at ease in both heavy drama and light comedy, Ronald Colman will have his extensive career represented by 13 films. Among those are three TCM premieres: the silent comedies Kiki (1926) and Her Night of Romance (1924), and the 1931 romantic drama The Unholy Garden. [Ronald Colman Movie Schedule.] Kiki is notable as one of Drama Queen Norma Talmadge's relatively rare comedy forays. Though all but forgotten today, Talmadge was one of the top two or three movie stars of the 1920s, starring in a series of melodramas that gave her the chance both to suffer for love and to wear some really fancy gowns. Women loved her. And I'm assuming many men loved her as well. In fact, had the Academy been founded a few years earlier, I...
- 8/4/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Colleen Moore in Alfred E. Green's Ella Cinders (top); Mabel Normand (bottom) The Silent Society of Hollywood Heritage will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in the company of silent-era superstars Norma Talmadge, Constance Talmadge, Colleen Moore, Viola Dana, and Mabel Normand. Never heard of them? Never seen them? Well, that's your loss. A loss that can be rectified on Saturday, April 2, at the Hollywood Heritage Museum, 2100 N. Highland Avenue, right across from the Hollywood Bowl. The day-long rare-movie marathon will feature 16mm prints of the following: Viola Dana's melodrama The Innocence of Ruth (1916); Constance Talmadge's comedy of errors The Veiled Adventure (1919); Norma Talmadge's slice of exotica The Forbidden City (1918), co-starring future superstar Thomas Meighan and directed by The Good Earth's Sidney Franklin; the Mabel Normand short A Dash Through the Clouds (1912); and the Colleen Moore comedy Ella Cinders (1926), in which starstruck Ella wants to go...
- 4/1/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
For five years now, the Shasta County Arts Council in Redding, California has celebrated the art and genius of the silent cinema.The history of silent film exhibition in Redding (about a four hour drive north of the San Francisco Bay Area) goes back 100 years, when the now demolished Redding Theater opened on California Street in 1910.This weekend, the Council's 5th Annual Silent Film Festival features a lineup which honors the work of Buster Keaton, Constance Talmadge, Clara Bow, Rin Tin Tin and other greats of the silent era.The festival, which takes place at Redding’s Old City...
- 10/21/2010
- by Thomas Gladysz, SF Silent Movie Examiner
- Examiner Movies Channel
Silent era superstars Norma Talmadge, Constance Talmadge at Norma’s Santa Monica beach house Norma Talmadge and Constance Talmadge are the stars of two recent Kino International releases. Talmadges who? Well, just two of the most popular stars of the silent era. In fact, in terms of popularity they were two of the biggest stars of any era. Many more people today would be aware of that fact if a) cultural, social, and/or political history had its place in today’s world b) more than a handful of film historians, chroniclers and critics knew that Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Citizen Kane weren’t the only four movies made before Star Wars and E.T. c) the above [...]...
- 3/26/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Norma Talmadge Collection (Kino) The Constance Talmadge Collection (Kino) Two of the most popular female stars of the 1920s are all but unknown today—sisters Norma and Constance Talmadge. In recent years some of their long-unseen features have been restored by the Library of Congress, using 35mm materials from the Rohauer collection, and now four of those films have been released on DVD by Kino. The Norma Talmadge disc includes Kiki (1926) and Within the Law (1923), while the Constance Talmadge disc features a pair of films costarring Ronald Colman, Her Night of Romance (1924) and Her Sister from Paris…...
- 3/16/2010
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
"Sound and Silents" is the title of a four-film series — part of the wider "Birds Eye View Film Festival" celebrating women filmmakers — to be held at London’s bfi Southbank and the Barbican from March 6-10. The four screening silent films are: King Vidor’s The Patsy (1928), starring Marion Davies; Sidney Franklin’s Her Sister from Paris (1925), starring Constance Talmadge and Ronald Colman (right); Cecil B. DeMille’s Chicago (1927), with Phyllis Haver and Victor Varconi; and Lotte Reiniger’s animated The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926). All four films will feature live musical accompaniment. The most enjoyable of the four is Sidney Franklin’s Lubitschesque Her Sister from Paris, which offers Constance Talmadge at her screwballish best — and this before screwball [...]...
- 2/14/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Her Night of Romance (1924) Direction: Sidney Franklin Screenplay: Hans Kräly Cast: Constance Talmadge, Ronald Colman, Jean Hersholt, Albert Grand, Robert Rendel Directed by Sidney Franklin and written by frequent Ernst Lubitsch collaborator Hans Kräly, Her Night of Romance is certainly on my list of top three favorite films at Cinesation 2009. Constance Talmadge, whose extant films are hard to come by, is always a delightful comedienne. In Her Night of Romance, Talmadge plays Dorothy Adams, a wealthy young woman who goes about in hideous disguises to ward off fortune hunters only interested in her money. Eventually, Dorothy meets and falls in love with an impoverished English Lord (Ronald Colman), who is mistaken for a doctor. The "doctor" goes along with [...]...
- 11/2/2009
- by James Bazen
- Alt Film Guide
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