Watching Silent Films

The fable-like, poignant story, subtitled A Song of Two Humans, Sunrise is an American silent melodramatic masterpiece by German director F.W. Murnau (In his American film debut) - a beautiful, atmospheric, lyrical and poetic work of art with roots in the German Expressionist movement (from 1914 to 1924). Starring George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, and Margaret Livingston, the story of corruption and redemption involves a rustic farmer in a romanticized rural town who falls prey to the seductive wiles of a city vamp in an illicit affair. He plots to murder his loving wife during a boat trip to the temptation-ridden city. His conscience is awakened during the attempted killing and he relents, and in the city the couple fall in love again. On their return trip, a tempestuous storm appears to drown the wife, but she is eventually found and the family is reunited and reconciled.

The script was adapted from the short story "The Excursion to Tilsit," from the 1917 collection with the same title by Hermann Sudermann. 

Sunrise is one of the first feature films with a synchronized musical score and sound effects soundtrack. The film won the Academy Award for Unique and Artistic Picture at the very first Oscars in 1929 (this particular award was created for the film itself. The category has since been disbanded since the 30s onward). Gaynor won the first Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in the film. 

Sunrise is widely considered a masterpiece and one of the greatest films ever made. Many claim it to be the best picture made during the silent era. 

** We do apologize for a bit of strange overlap during the episode, especially around 38.2 minutes in. We promise we're not talking over one another! 

Also featured on this episode is the Laurel and Hardy silent Battle of the Century!  

UPDATE 3/5/21: Link to Battle of the Century is no longer available for viewing, account terminated. However we still recommend watching this interview with collector Jon Mirsalis on discovering the lost reel to "Battle."

https://youtu.be/2MxC4glhB5Y

Lily's film watch: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), feat. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell.

Adam's film watch: Judex (1916), a French silent film serialization. 

YiFeng also mentioned these silent melodrama serializations during the podcast, and we hope you'll watch! 

The Perils of Pauline and Exploits of Elaine, both made in 1914.

Hosted by YiFeng, Adam and Lily.

Originally recorded on November 17, 2020. 

"Crime and Punishment," the original story written in twelve monthly installments during 1866 by Dostoevsky, focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in Saint Petersburg who formulates a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her money. Before the killing, Raskolnikov believes that with the money he could liberate himself from poverty and go on to perform great deeds. However, he finds himself racked with confusion, paranoia, and disgust for what he has done. His justifications disintegrate completely as he struggles with guilt and horror and confronts the real-world consequences of his deed.

This version by Caligari filmmaker Robert Weine similarly follows along the same lines of the novel, Gregori Chmara starring as the disparaged Raskolnikov. 

Although the 1923 version we observed for this podcast wasn't of the greatest quality, we recommend checking out many of the other remakes of Crime and Punishment -- there are at least 30 others!

Hosted by YiFeng, Bob, and Lily

Recorded on September 9, 2020

This clever parody of D. W. Griffith's INTOLERANCE follows Buster's hard-luck romantic adventures in his first independently produced feature film. Teeming with inventive flourishes, Buster tells of love and romance through three historical ages: from the dawn of man in the Stone Age, through the gladiatorial arenas of Ancient Rome, to the city streets of the American Jazz Era.

Hosted by YiFeng, Bob and Lily.

Recorded 6/16/20

Buster plays a movie projectionist who daydreams himself into the movies he is showing and merges with the figures and the backgrounds on the screen. While dreaming he is Conan Doyle's master detective, he snoops out brilliant discoveries.

Buster plays a movie projectionist who daydreams himself into the movies he is showing and merges with the figures and the backgrounds on the screen. While dreaming he is Conan Doyle's master detective, he snoops out brilliant discoveries.  "A master of movement and stillness, Keaton developed a comedy style that was as intellectual as it was physical, and this small gem shows us why he's as purely American a film genius as the motion pictures have produced." - Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times  

Hosted by YiFeng, Lily, and Bob.   

Recorded June 4th, 2020

As new generations discover the magic of silent cinema, Buster Keaton has emerged as one of the era's most admired and respected artists. Behind the deadpan expression and trademark porkpie hat was a filmmaking genius who conceived and engineered some of the most breathtaking stunts and feats of visual trickery, while never losing sight of slapstick cinema's primary objective: laughter.

How are intertitles created? https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=29932

Blu-Ray edition: https://www.kinolorber.com/product/buster-keaton-the-shorts-collection-1917-1923-blu-ray

The Keaton silent short comedies, 1920-1923. All films directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline unless otherwise noted.

The Haunted House (1921)
Hard Luck (1921)
The Goat (1921) (directed by Buster Keaton and Malcolm St. Clair)
The Play House (1921)
The Boat (1921)

The films in this collection are presented with orchestral scores by Frank Bockius, Neil Brand, Timothy Brock, Antonio Coppola, Stephen Horne, Robert Israel, The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Dennis Scott, and Donald Sosin.

hosted by YiFeng, Lily

Recorded on May 13, 2020

As new generations discover the magic of silent cinema, Buster Keaton has emerged as one of the era's most admired and respected artists. Behind the deadpan expression and trademark porkpie hat was a filmmaking genius who conceived and engineered some of the most breathtaking stunts and feats of visual trickery, while never losing sight of slapstick cinema's primary objective: laughter.

The Keaton silent short comedies, 1920-1923. All films directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline unless otherwise noted.

The "High Sign" (1921)
One Week (1920)
Convict 13 (1920)
The Scarecrow (1920)
Neighbors (1920)

The films in this collection are presented with orchestral scores by Frank Bockius, Neil Brand, Timothy Brock, Antonio Coppola, Stephen Horne, Robert Israel, The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Dennis Scott, and Donald Sosin.

hosted by YiFeng, Lily, Bob

Recorded on May 5, 2020

Russian auteur Sergei Eisenstein's first full-length feature, set just before the 1905 Bolshevik Revolution, depicts a workers' strike against their oppressive factory bosses. When a worker is accused of stealing a piece of machinery, he commits suicide, and his fellow employees revolt against the Czarist regime controlling the factory. As the strike drags on and government officials grow more desperate to end it, their methods of dealing with the rebellious workers become grislier.

hosted by YiFeng, Lily, Bob

Recorded on April 29, 2020

In an unnamed "western state" where women can vote, an all female political party fields a lady lawyer, Clara Madison, to run for superior court judge, which she wins after her husband declines to run against her. A fierce opposition newspaper editor is killed at the hands of bomb throwing Italian anarchists, yet Clara's husband is implicated with them, and may be sentenced to death if she won't intervene.

Link the full film and printed materials: https://silentfilm.org/preservation/mothers-of-men/

Referenced on this podcast:
wiki links to the film itself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Woman's_Problem
The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra: https://www.mont-alto.com/recordings.html

hosted by YiFeng, Lily

Recorded on April 21, 2020

Few individual artists have exerted as profound an influence upon the evolution of cinema as Alice Guy (later known as Guy-Blaché). With this collection of more than 60 films, culled from the world’s leading archives and carefully mastered, Guy may no longer be seen as a “woman filmmaker.” These films, produced by Guy for Gaumont before she moved to the US, reveal her to be an unqualified pioneer whose work stands alongside that of the Lumière Brothers, Georges Méliès, and Edwin S. Porter, in cinema’s rapid growth from an optical illusion to a storytelling medium to an art form. Among the highlights are a 19th-century serpentine dance, early “trick” films, experiments with hand-coloring and synchronized sound, comedies, social commentaries, and (as the collection’s centerpiece) a 33-minute religious epic: The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (1906).

1906
An Obstacle Course
Madame’s Cravings
A Sticky Woman
The Hierarchies of Love
The Cruel Mother
A Story Well Spun
The Drunken Mattress
The Parish Priest’s Christmas
The Truth Behind the Ape-Man
The Consequences of Feminism
Ocean Studies
The Game-Keeper’s Son

1907
The Race for the Sausage
The Glue
The Fur Hat
The Cleaning Man
A Four-Year-Old Hero
The Rolling Bed
The Irresistible Piano
On the Barricade
The Dirigible “Homeland”

* In the original hand-tinted color
† A synchronized-sound “Phonoscène”
Curated by Pierre Philippe Total running time: 225 Min. Full-frame (1.33:1)
Music by Sorties d’Artistes, except The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ: Music by Patrick Laviosa
American Edition produced by Bret Wood

hosted by YiFeng, Lily, Bob

Recorded on April 14, 2020

A 33-minute religious epic: The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (1906) based on Tissot's The Life of Christ watercolors in 25 scenes.

James Tissot The Life of Christ the complete set: https://amzn.to/3fPMBXj

hosted by YiFeng, Lily, Bob

Recorded on April 8, 2020

Few individual artists have exerted as profound an influence upon the evolution of cinema as Alice Guy (later known as Guy-Blaché). With this collection of more than 60 films, culled from the world’s leading archives and carefully mastered, Guy may no longer be seen as a “woman filmmaker.” These films, produced by Guy for Gaumont before she moved to the US, reveal her to be an unqualified pioneer whose work stands alongside that of the Lumière Brothers, Georges Méliès, and Edwin S. Porter, in cinema’s rapid growth from an optical illusion to a storytelling medium to an art form. Among the highlights are a 19th-century serpentine dance, early “trick” films, experiments with hand-coloring and synchronized sound, comedies, social commentaries, and (as the collection’s centerpiece) a 33-minute religious epic: The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (1906).

1897
The Fisherman at the Stream
Bathing in a Stream
Serpentine Dance by Mme. Bob Walter

1898
The Turn-of-the-Century Blind Man
At the Hypnotist's
The Burglars
Disappearing Act
Surprise Attack on a House at Daybreak

1899
At the Club
Wonderful Absinthe

1900
Avenue de l’Opéra
Automated Hat-Maker and Sausage-Grinder
At the Photographer's
Dance of the Seasons: Winter, Snow Dance
The Landlady
Turn-of-the-Century Surgery
Pierrette’s Escapades*
At the Floral Ball*
The Cabbage-Patch Fairy

1902
Serpentine Dance by Lina Esbrard
Midwife to the Upper Class
An Untimely Intrusion
Miss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs

1903
How Monsieur Takes His Bath
Faust and Mephistopheles

1905
The O’Mers in “The Bricklayers”
The Statue
The Magician’s Alms
Clown, Dog and Balloon
Spain
The Tango
The Malagueña and the Bullfighter
Cook & Rilly’s Trained Rooster
Cake Walk, Performed by Nouveau Cirque
Alice Guy Films a “Phonoscène”
Saharet Performs the Bolero*
Polin Performs “The Anatomy of a Draftee”†
Dranem Performs “The True Jiu-Jitsu”†
Dranem Performs “Five O’Clock Tea”†
Félix Mayol Performs “Indiscreet Questions”* †
Félix Mayol Performs “The Trottins’ Polka”†
Félix Mayol Performs “White Lilacs”†

* In the original hand-tinted color
† A synchronized-sound “Phonoscène”
Curated by Pierre Philippe Total running time: 225 Min. Full-frame (1.33:1)
Music by Sorties d’Artistes, except The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ: Music by Patrick Laviosa
American Edition produced by Bret Wood

hosted by YiFeng, Lily, Bob

Recorded on March 31, 2020

Edith Hardy uses charity funds for Wall Street investments in hopes of buying some new gowns. She loses all the money and borrows from wealthy oriental Tori. When her husband gives her the amount she borrowed, Tori won't take it back, branding her shoulder with a Japanese sign of his ownership.

hosted by Lily

Recorded on March 20, 2020

Terje Vigen lives happily with his wife and little girl on a small island in Norway. ... When he was finally freed in 1814 and can return home, he finds that his wife and daughter have died. He takes up a solitary life in his house overlooking the sea. One night he sees a British yacht in distress in a storm.

Referenced in the podcast:
The Seventh Seal: https://amzn.to/3fLkyZn
Ingmar Berman's Cinema: https://amzn.to/2WULGfD
Henrik Ibsen poem Terje Vigen: http://www.oftebro.com/Terje_Vigen_english.pdf
The Lighthouse: https://amzn.to/2WQHrBS
language culture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture

hosted by YiFeng, Lily

Recorded on March 3, 2020

1908 to 1917 was a decade of major change in the film business. Here are a few highlights:

American cinema saw an expansion out of New Jersey and New York, into Jacksonville, Florida, for warmer weather; it then took hold in Hollywood, California, between 1909 and 1915. “One-reeler” films (1000ft in length, or about 10 to 12 minutes of runtime) gave way to feature-length epics, tinted with different colors to match the mood of each scene. Intertitles containing lines of dialogue began to be used consistently from 1908 onward. Studio cameras became more portable, and 35mm film was accepted as an industry standard.

The “star system” began in 1909, emphasizing actors over plot lines to promote films. African-American movie makers entered the market, as well as more women directors. Film-making also began to take hold in Russia, India, and Latin America. 1917 marks the beginning of the Classical Hollywood era with films characterized by a formulaic narrative and style, particularly through major film studios like Universal and Paramount.

In the following decade, we’ll finally enter into an era that some people alive today were around to see the film premieres.

http://zepfanman.com/2018/12/videos-world-cinema-1908-1917-10y10f3/
^titles from the list:
1912 – The Revenge of a Kinematograph Cameraman (Starevich; Russia)
1913 – Fantômas [trailer only] (Feuillade; France)
1914 – Mabel’s Strange Predicament (Normand; USA)
1915 – Two Knights of Vaudeville (Ebony Film; USA)

hosted by YiFeng, Lily

Recorded on March 3, 2020

Dante is barred from entering the hill of salvation by three beasts that bar his path (Avarice, Pride and Lust). Beatrice descends from above and asks the poet Virgil to guide Dante through the Nine Circles of Hell. Virgil leads Dante to a cave where they find the river Acheron, over which Charon ferries the souls of the dead into Hell. They also see the three-headed Cerberus, and Geryon, a flying serpent with the face of a man. They see the Devil eating human beings whole, harpies eating the corpses of suicides, an evil man forced to carry his own severed head for eternity, people half buried in flaming lava, etc.

There follows a series of encounters in which the two meet up with a number of formerly famous historical figures whose souls were denied by both Heaven and Hell, and they listen to some of their tales told in flashback. These characters include Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucanus, Cleopatra, Dido, the Queen of Carthage, the traitor Caiphus, Count Ugalino, Peter of Vigna, Francesca Da Rimini and her lover Paulo, Brutus and Cassius, Mohammed and Helen of Troy. The main attraction of the film are the fantastic set designs depicting the horrors of Hell, with excessive violence and gore, designed to frighten the audience into becoming pious and God-fearing.

Copy we watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRUkyHvsvfg&feature=youtu.be

hosted by YiFeng, Lily, Bob.

Links referenced:
The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated, Purgatory, Complete by Dante Alighieri: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8795
Spark's Notes for The Divine Comedy: https://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/inferno/
Aeneid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneid
Bosch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights
Santa Claus (1898) - G.A. Smith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights
What Dreams May Come (1998): https://amzn.to/3dyjdmx

Recorded on February 25, 2020

1908 to 1917 was a decade of major change in the film business. Here are a few highlights:

American cinema saw an expansion out of New Jersey and New York, into Jacksonville, Florida, for warmer weather; it then took hold in Hollywood, California, between 1909 and 1915. “One-reeler” films (1000ft in length, or about 10 to 12 minutes of runtime) gave way to feature-length epics, tinted with different colors to match the mood of each scene. Intertitles containing lines of dialogue began to be used consistently from 1908 onward. Studio cameras became more portable, and 35mm film was accepted as an industry standard.

The “star system” began in 1909, emphasizing actors over plot lines to promote films. African-American movie makers entered the market, as well as more women directors. Film-making also began to take hold in Russia, India, and Latin America. 1917 marks the beginning of the Classical Hollywood era with films characterized by a formulaic narrative and style, particularly through major film studios like Universal and Paramount.

In the following decade, we’ll finally enter into an era that some people alive today were around to see the film premieres.

http://zepfanman.com/2018/12/videos-world-cinema-1908-1917-10y10f3/
^titles from the list:
1908 – Wilbur Wright flying in France (British Pathé; France)
1909 – Moscow Clad in Snow (Mundwiller; Russia)
1910 – White Fawn’s Devotion (Young Deer; USA)

hosted by YiFeng, Lily, Bob

Recorded on February 25, 2020

1888 is a somewhat arbitrary year to begin this series, but it evens out the decades to finish up 130 years later. Since there was no reliable way to project movies until 1896, most of this post is considered “pre-cinema.” 1896 was also the year that movies were shown outside of Europe and the United States, so as more people used the new medium, it developed (no pun intended) more quickly. Perhaps too quickly, as filmmakers didn’t take the time to preserve what they had created; Martin Scorcese’s Film Foundation has estimated that half of all American films made before 1950 and over 90% of films made before 1929 are lost. The ones that remain are a gift that allows us to go back in time.

http://zepfanman.com/2017/11/videos-world-cinema-1888-1897-10y10f1/
^titles from the list:

1888 – Roundhay Garden Scene (Le Prince; France; 2sec)
1889? Monkeyshines, No. 1 (Dickson & Heise; New Jersey; 30sec)
1890 – Fly (Marey; France; 7sec)
1891 – Dickson Greeting (Dickson; New Jersey; 3sec)
1892 – Poor Pete (Reynaud; France; 4min)
1893 – Blacksmith Scene (Dickson, New Jersey; 27sec)
1894? Dickson Experimental Sound Film (Dickson; New Jersey; 17sec)
1895 – Workers Leaving the Factory [1] (Lumière; France; 45sec)
(1896) 1900 – The Cabbage Fairy (Guy; France; 1min)
1897 – The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight (Rector; USA; 20min)720

Article about The Fly 1890: http://www.essential-films.co.uk/article/the-fly-mosquinha-1890.html

hosted by YiFeng, Lily, Bob

Recorded on February 18, 2020

The film centres around the 1978 discovery of 533 reels of film in Dawson City. These works had been sealed within a swimming pool. The unearthed reels tell the story of Dawson City, the dawn of 20th century America, and Hollywood in the silent era.

hosted by YiFeng, Lily and Bob.

referenced links:
Ozu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Spring
Bill Morrison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Morrison_(director)
Brisco County Jr: https://amzn.to/3bfRB4h
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volumes One and Two: https://amzn.to/3bgpZfb
Nanook of the North: https://amzn.to/35KPh45
The Magnificent Ambersons: https://amzn.to/35KaFXf
Greed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greed_(1924_film)
Metropolis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_film)

Recorded on January 31, 2020

The Earl of Huntingdon (Douglas Fairbanks) learns from his beloved Lady Marian Fitzwalter (Enid Bennett) that the throne of King Richard the Lion-Hearted (Wallace Beery) has been usurped by his treacherous brother, Prince John (Sam De Grasse) while the king was off fighting the Crusades. Huntingdon adopts the name Robin Hood and gathers a band of merry men led by the stalwart Little John (Alan Hale) to fight the prince and his henchman, the High Sheriff of Nottingham (William Lowery).

hosted by YiFeng, Lily and Bob.

referenced links:
wiki on the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Fairbanks_in_Robin_Hood

Recorded on November 29th, 2019

One of the most revered comedies of the silent era, this film finds hapless Southern railroad engineer Johnny Gray (Buster Keaton) facing off against Union soldiers during the American Civil War. When Johnny's fiancée, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), is accidentally taken away while on a train stolen by Northern forces, Gray pursues the soldiers, using various modes of transportation in comic action scenes that highlight Keaton's boundless wit and dexterity.

hosted by YiFeng, Lily and Bob.

Links referenced:
Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhQ47kiC7JY

Recorded on November 22nd, 2019

When they are fed rancid meat, the sailors on the Potemkin revolt against their harsh conditions. Led by Vakulinchuk (Aleksandr Antonov), the sailors kill the officers of the ship to gain their freedom. Vakulinchuk is also killed, and the people of Odessa honor him as a symbol of revolution. Tsarist soldiers arrive and massacre the civilians to quell the uprising. A squadron of ships is sent to overthrow the Potemkin, but the ships side with the revolt and refuse to attack.

Referenced in this episode:
Nosferatu Kino 2 disc edition: https://amzn.to/3fqEQqT
Scorsese on Marvel movies: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/04/opinion/martin-scorsese-marvel.html
Maltin on Movies: Kevin Feige: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/independent-content-provider/maltin-on-movies/e/49610850?autoplay=true
History of Russia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Russia
real life history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_battleship_Potemkin

hosted by YiFeng, Lily, Bob

Recorded November 15th, 2019

YiFeng & Lily chat about this Lois Weber directorial feature; Recorded September 20th, 2019

YiFeng & Lily chats about Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018) by Pamela B. Green https://benaturalthemovie.com/;Recorded on September 13th, 2019

YiFeng & Lily chats about G.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915); Recorded on September 6th, 2019

YiFeng & Lily wrap up the dawn of cinema by chatting about Georges Méliès's A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune) from 1902 and Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery from 1903.

00:00 What our podcast is about!
~2:00 Film preservation/restorations
~14:00 Context of Part II
~16:30 Lily's 1st experiences w/silent films
~26:00 YiFeng's 1st experiences w/silent films
~34:00 A Trip to the Moon (1902)
~1:20:43 The Great Train Robbery (1903)
~1:52:32 Wrap/Conclusion

Recorded on August 9th, 2019