Silent Stencils

        Louise Brooks 

                   Clara Bow

        Ramon Navarro 

All stencils are available for posters and apparel. Send me an email if you are interested.

Queen Kelly (1929)

$37.50. That is the total amount of dollars and cents I gave Film Forum to allow me the pleasure of sitting in their perfectly air-conditioned theater and watching three Erich Von Stroheim's films on three Monday evenings this summer. I am not complaining. Actually, quite the opposite. If I had no money, which I now don't as an unpaid intern, I might steal some from someone who does and give it to Film Forum to see another Von Stroheim film. Thankfully, the Von Stroheim retrospective at Film Forum is over because that dalliance into thievery would probably loom on my conscience for a long time.
But it would be worth it.
Because there really is actually positively nothing that gives me more pleasure than watching a great silent film with great live accompaniment, and the Von Stroheim films I saw at Film Forum were all spectacularly spectacular, and the pianist who accompanied all three films was splendidly splendid.
The first film I saw was Queen Kelly:
http://media.screened.com/uploads/0/880/601974-queen_kellyposter.jpg
Last fall I listened to Dennis Doros talk about restoring Queen Kelly on a podcast I found by typing "silent film" in the iTunes store search bar. I forgot about that podcast until earlier this summer when I met Dennis and his wife Amy and he mentioned working on the restoration. At that moment, right in front of my eyes, Dennis transformed into a rockstar. I had never met a REAL LIVE PRESERVATIONIST. At that time I had only seen the first twenty minutes of Queen Kelly on TCM sometime during high school. Obviously I was beyond thrilled(stoked) when I learned Film Forum was going to play the film as part of their Von Stroheim retrospective. So I saw it. And it was maravilloso and at moments transcendent. When the jealous Queen whipped Kelly I grinned, not because I am a sadist, but because for the first time, I recognized Von Stroheim's genius, something I had failed to detect while watching a VHS of Greed on my parents' TV two summers ago.

Maybe it was the big screen, maybe I've matured--impossible-- but something felt different about this experience. While watching this film I was constantly in awe of the shot compositions and camera movement. But most importantly, I was just completely entranced. While Greed left me cold, Queen Kelly was passionate and engaging. Maybe I would have liked Greed more if it featured an evil queen who sometimes wears nothing but her cat. (Yes, actually)

It is heart-breaking that a large chunk of the film is lost, but that's just how it goes I guess. The film included title cards that explained the missing footage, but obviously it just wasn't the same. Maybe someday someone(ME?) will find the lost footage somewhere. Until then I am more than satisfied with what Dennis Doros provided me.  

Czech Lands

After walking around Sokolov, a small town in the CR for what felt like days, my two friends and I finally found the little film festival. I didn't know what to expect. That is probably the first sign that something wonderful was coming my way. So it came: Three French students presented their master's thesis to the tiny crowd in the large theatre. Musical accompaniment to a series of silent shorts. Renoir shorts. When the white aborigines did the Charleston in slow motion my jaw started to hurt from smiling too much. It made me the kind of happy where I knew that I was happy at the moment and I knew I would be happy thinking back on it, as I am right now.

Films To See . . .

1.) Finish Sunrise(1927).Update: I tried watching it again and fell asleep halfway through the first swamp scene. I like myself less for this.

2.) Watch The Wind(1928). Update: Victor Sjostrom, thank you. I loved this film so much it hurt. And it made me love Lillian again.

3.) Watch The Crowd(1928). Update: I liked it a lot. Did not experience a transcendent moment of ecstatic truth though. Expectations were too high.

4.) Watch Intolerance(1916).

5.) Watch Foolish Wives(1922).

Reasons I wish I didn't finally watch "The Birth of a Nation"

1.) I knew it. I knew that if I watch The Birth of a Nation Lillian Gish would be ruined forever. She used to be an angel, a sparkling beacon of hope for the human race--this is not hyperbole. BUT, she was a lead actress in the film that led to the reemergence of the KKK in 1915. SO in the words of Brian Ferry, tainted love, oh, tainted love.

2.) Woodrow Wilson let me down big time. I used to affectionately refer to him as Woody. I accepted that he was kinda racist. I blamed it on his Southern upbringing, on the times, on undiagnosed mental illness, but just read the above title card to see how much of a delusional white supremacist he really was. Tainted love.

3.) I lost a lot of my respect for D.W. Griffith. He was kind of a genius auteur, which is why I used to love him, a lot, but now I can't see past his blatant bigotry. The guy died still claiming that this film was not intentionally racist. Ridiculous. More tainted love.

4.) I don't know if I can watch D.W.'s other films anymore. Is a life without Broken Blossoms a life worth living? Ya, I guess so, kinda. Hmmm.

Beyond the Rocks.

I am slightly disappointed. I always thought the quote was "Her love for him was her religion." For me the line represented the simple poetic romanticism of Hollywood silent film title cards, but the line doesn't really exist. It's like that quote from one of Sally Field's Oscar acceptance speeches: "You like me you really like me!" She didn't actually say the line like that, but all of us misremembered it together. So maybe I can decide to forever remember this line from Beyond the Rocks as I misremembered it for the last four years.

The Rise of Louise Brooks

10 bucks goes to who ever can guess why she has such a spike in popularity in the late 70s.
It's because that's when she was rediscovered by Eastman House curator/part-time lover James Card!
Yes, I keep the money.

Louise, the bee's knees.

Answers

Roman Navorro

Questions

1.) Why are silent films most enjoyable when watched alone in an empty house at 3am? Is that just me?

2.) Why do we obsess over dead celebrities? Is this the ultimate form of unrequited love? Is it the most satisfying kind of love?

3.) Why does Lon Chaney's face break my heart? Is that an overstatement? No?

4.) Will I ever watch Birth of a Nation all the way through?

5.) Did Greta Garbo embody the feminist ideal?

How the obsession began back in 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KemEya90llo

Theda...

. . . Bara. I played a ghost inspired by Theda Bara in A Fool There Was in a film I edited in high school. It was my best and only screen performance. It was also by far the most ridiculous four minute film ever made. Here is the real Theda:

L’heureuse Mort

Right after L'Huereuse Mort ended at this year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival, my brother turned to me and asked what I thought of the film. I paused for a moment, trying to collect my thoughts and said "that was a euphoric film experience."

I still think that phrase perfectly describes this film.

PLOT: a desert island, a faked death, a mistaken identity, and of course a happy ending

How I stay awake during film screenings:

Kino: Russian Cinema, the most awesome class ever, has screenings every Monday at 8 pm. I love silent movies, but I still tend to get very sleepy during these screenings. But finally I have discovered a SOLUTION to my slumber: lists!

I love listing things. Its the best. It makes me feel like I know things.Here is a list of 50 silent movies I have seen. Well, I counted 50 in my head but couldn't think of them all when I tried transferring the titles to paper. Oh well.

This is a listing game I invented today! It is a variation on a game I play to keep my mind occupied when I work out. The original game is simple, I have to think of a studio era movie star for each letter. But this variation is a little more tricky, as you can see I didn't fill in all the blanks. I challenged myself to list a movie star with a first name that starts with each letter, and a movie star with a last name that starts with each letter. I still can't think of anyone with a Q first name.(Quincy...nope, Quail Man...no) Ooh and I forgot an important rule, double points if you think of a star whose first and last name start with the same letter. Yay For Greta Garbo!

“I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you it will be with a knife.”
-Louise Brooks

Orphans of the Storm, starring Lillian and Dorothy Gish

The beauty shot.

"Shh. . . this is a silent movie"

An actress caught acting. . . crazy.

Now this is the quintessential Lillian Gish face. None of the others compare. You can also find this face in any scene with the abusive father in Broken Blossoms, and all scenes in Way Down East that involve babies or snow. This face is why I love Lillian Gish.

Dorothy doesn't really do it for me, she's alright but her faces pale in comparison to her sister's.

While watching this film I paused on the first shot of Lillian in the film. I asked my brother what he thought of her. He said "She looks like a cat."

My Best Girl, Starring Mary Pickford and Buddy Rogers

"Rich men don't chase after shopgirls for the exercise."

Buddy Rogers and Mary Pickford. The two go together like sunshine and rainbows. Buddy pretty much plays the same character as he did in Wings--a well meaning sweetheart who can be kinda dumb, really dumb. Its not very nice to lie to the girl you love about your identity, your relationship status, and just about everything else. Of course it works out in the end. I've seen this story played out in several other movies, but I think this one may be my favorite. If only because none of the other movies have Mary Pickford dancing the Charleston . Once she started her fake-flapper speech, I knew it was only a matter of minutes before the dancing would begin.

The Temptress (1926), Starring Greta Garbo & Antonio Moreno

My best birthday present this year was the Garbo Silents Collection from TCM. I have seen most of Garbo's sound films, but until I received my gift I had yet to see ANY of her silent films(shocking I know). The collection included three classics, Flesh and the Devil(which I watched immediately), The Temptress, and The Mysterious Lady. I avoided watching The Temptress and The Mysterious Lady for months after viewing Flesh and the Devil. I instinctively knew that no Garbo silent film could live up to my first taste of her alluring swagger. The Temptress was indeed no Flesh and the Devil but it most definitely had its own charm. Although initially I did not understand what the dazzling Elena saw in Robeldo(what a name), he grew on me and by the end I found myself falling for the Argentine and his tiny perfectly groomed mustache. BEST NAME: It was a close race but Manos Duras comes in first with Robledo in a close second. FAVORITE SCENE: Jesus's cameo in the last scene of he film was pretttty darn awesome.

FAVORITE EXCHANGE:






Next up: Orphans of the Storm, or as my best friend described it after watching it: A weird movie with kids in a swamp.

From Lubitsch to Pabst

My Top Ten List (Like the Ten Commandments)

1. Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
2. Diary of a Lost Girl
3. Broken Blossoms
4. Goldrush
5. Pandora's Box
6. City Lights
7. Laugh, Clown, Laugh
8. Phantom of the Opera
9. La passion et la mort de Jeanne d’Arc
   
10. Flesh and the Devil