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FILMS
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Male
and Female
Saw it first on AMC Silent Sundays and loved it. An interesting
look at a simpler and slower time. Interesting commentary on class
and man's nature. At times, it got a little slow but the great thing
about silent films is that in those days the director's challenge
was to evoke emotion from the audience through action: the protanganist
reacting to note just handed to him, the spying over the shoulder
or the reactions to other actors. "I was a King of Bablyon and you
were a Christian slave." I own it.
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The
Affairs of Anatol
The Master of Spectacle, Cecil B. De Mille, directed this risque
all-star revue of decadence which must have been jaw-dropping in
1921 and remains astonishing today. Anatol de Witt Spencer (Wallace
Reid), as incredibly wealthy as he is naive, and his child-like
bride Vivian (Gloria Swanson) are on their honeymoon. At a posh
speakeasy he spies his high school sweetheart, who is obviously
the sex toy of flamboyant old Gordon Bronson . To Vivian's dismay,
idealistic Anatol decides to rescue the seductive Emilie, but soon
she goes back to Bronson. The cycle begins again when Anatol tries
to save another wayward woman from her life of sin before finally
succumbing himself to the ways of the flesh. In "The Affairs of
Anatol," not only does DeMille show women smoking, drinking (during
Prohibition), exposing body parts seldom before seen on a movie
screen, and frankly pursuing men who attract them; he also presents
this debauchery with amazing visual flair. With film design by Erte,
De Mille clearly meant "The Affairs of Anatol" to be as much a decorative
as a dramatic feast. The film is digitally mastered from an elaborate
original print featuring hand coloring, stencil coloring, and dozens
of changes in color tint and tone, in itself a striking work of
art.
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The Love Goddesses
The story of The Love Goddesses is itself a history of sex in the
movies beginning with America still in the shadow of the Victorian
era and the movie heroine bound by the same conventions as any young
lady of society. This brilliant documentary chronicles the massive
changes in women's film sexuality from the beginnings of the motion
picture at the turn of the century to the newfound frankness of
the 1960s with clips of more than 100 actresses.
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SADIE
THOMPSON
Fascinating, frequently high-powered version of W. Somerset Maugham's
Rain, about a lusty, fun-loving prostitute who arrives in Pago Pago
and tangles with stuffy, hypocritical reformer Barrymore while Marine
Sgt. Walsh falls for her. Swanson, and especially Barrymore, are
well cast. Unseen (except in archival showings) for many years,
because the final reel decomposed years ago. Now the footage (about
8m. ) has been recreated, using stills and the original title cards.
Remade as RAIN, DIRTY GERTIE FROM HARLEM U. S. A. , and MISS SADIE
THOMPSON.
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TONIGHT
OR NEVER
"Tonight or Never" is one of the ten best movies about opera ever
made (there have been at least 10, right?). Gloria Swanson plays
Nella Vago, a young singer who has a rather disappointing operatic
debut in Venice. Her voice teacher, Rudig (Gerdinand Gottschalk),
tell here that her voice lacks warmth and feeling. Meanwhile, a
young man (Melyvn Douglas) is following her around everything. Nella
returns home to Budapest, where she learns that a scout from the
Metropolitan Opera has refused to sign her until she can truly feel
her songs. Depressed, she goes to the apartment of the young man
and makes love to him. The next night Nella stuns the audience with
her emotional performance in "Tosca." But now she has to choose
between a career and the man she loves. Swanson is pretty good in
this early talkie, especially since she is dressed up in gowns by
Coco Chanel. This 1931 film directed by Mervyn LeRoy was based on
the play by Lili Hatvany and this would be a much better movie if
it seemed less like a play. Two other interesting tidbits about
"Tonight or Never": The cameraman was Gregg Toland ("Citizen Kane")
and the waiter was Boris Karloff, in his first role after "Frankenstein."
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CHAPLINS
ESANAY COMEDIES
In Chaplin's Essanay Comedies, made in 1915, cinema's greatest
comedian was first able to build his screen work around his performance
style rather than forcing himself, as before, into Mack Sennett's
frenzied Keystone comedy matrix. With this freedom Chaplin evolved
in a year from the gag comedian of "His New Job" to the brilliant
pantomimist of "A Night Out," "The Champion," "The Tramp" and "Shanghaied"
to the profound satirist of "Police." Volume 1 includes: "His New
Job," "A Night Out," "The Champion," "In the Park," "A Jitney Elopement"
(all 1915).
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CLICK HERE FOR VHS
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