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Relativley New To Silents
Topic Started: Nov 17 2005, 04:02 AM (496 Views)
KanSmiley
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I am almost embarassed to say this but I had never watched THE GENERAL with Buster Keaton, that is, not until yesterday. I was really entertained by this movie. I know it's a Keaton classic but until a couple of years ago I had little interest in silent movies. That all changed when Mrs Smiley and our son and girlfriend went to the Kansas Silent Film Festival in Topeka. I have purchased a cheapie four movie set of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin that has The GENERAL and STEAMBOAST BILL, JR.

My question is who puts out the best copy of THE GENERAL? and secondly what are some of the balconeers favorite silent non-comedy movies?
Kan
http://www.saturday-matinee-memories.com/

intoxicated, adj.: When you feel sophisticated without being able to pronounce it.
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KanSmiley
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Well you can ignore my previous "Relatively New to Silents" question because I found Rogmeister's thread he started about "Expanding his silent collection. But you can go ahead and comment some more on classic non-comedy silents.
Kan
http://www.saturday-matinee-memories.com/

intoxicated, adj.: When you feel sophisticated without being able to pronounce it.
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Mister Levity
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Personally I don't care for THE GENERAL but STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. is a funny movie. Hope you get the Kino set so you can see more, especially his two-reelers which I find his best work.
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Laughing Gravy
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The Last Laugh. Sunrise. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Man Who Laughs. HE Who Gets Slapped.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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KanSmiley
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I watched STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. today. With due respect to Mr. Levity I believe I like THE GENERAL better than BILL. I must say I had the scene where Keaton has the wall fall around mixed up with another movie. I had thought that Charlie Chaplin was involved with that scene.

For the younger audiences that think Jackie Chan is the greatest stuntman/actor they have never seen Keaton. Buster Keaton is very impressive with the stunts he does. The scene in THE GENERAL when he riding on the cowcatcher on the front of the locomotive is stunning to see. And, you add the railroad tie makes even more impressive. The scene in STEAMBOAT that impressed me was towards the end when he was running and jumping from the wheelhouse of the boat up and down several levels that were fairly high.

I certainly see now why Keaton has earned the name Stoneface. Regardless of what situation he is presented with he shows little or no emotion. If he is about the lose the girl or being chased by Union soldiers he is always seemingly calm and collected.

I am certainly going to have a "Silent Night" in the near future for my Saturday Night At The Movies. I believe I will show THE GENERAL and BIG BUSINESS with Laurel and Hardy and perhaps a Little Rascals short also.

Does anyone have any good titles to suggest for silent cartoons?

That's all for now Charlie Chaplin awaits.
Kan
http://www.saturday-matinee-memories.com/

intoxicated, adj.: When you feel sophisticated without being able to pronounce it.
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Laughing Gravy
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Koko the Clown from "Out of the Inkwell", definitely. Terrific silent cartoons. You can order them from Inkwell Images, Inc. at http://www.inkwellimagesink.com/.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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The Batman
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Hi Smiley.

Some of my favorite non-comedy silents include:

METROPOLIS
NOSFERATU
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
SUNRISE
THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE
THE SPIDERS

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Inspector Carr
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Well Kan I will throw in my two cents plain

1.Sparrows with Mary Pickford
2. Old San Fransisco (with Warner Oland) not available of tape but turner runs it now and then
3.The Unknown (lon Chaney)
4.the Big Parade with John Gilbert
"Life is a Crapshoot however you need a pair of dice to participate"
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marlin lee
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I would add Tumbleweeds which is the last William S. Hart western. It is set during the opening of the Cherokee Strip which is part of the Oklahoma land rush. In particular the land rush sequences are spectacular.

I first saw the film as an extra on VCI's The Great Train Robbery 100th anniversary special edition DVD. Unfortuantely that copy is so washed out that in places it is hard to follow the action.

I then ordered the Image release. The Image release is sepia tinted and is much clearer. It does have more scratches and dust but is still the better print.

Both the VCI and the Image prints are from the 1939 rerelease which includes a prologue by Hart. This is the only know talkie footage of Hart and is an excellent addition to the film.
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SuperRog
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If I remember correctly, the Image copy of Tumbleweeds also has an 8-minute sound film in which William S. Hart talks about the film and making his westerns in general. It was shot for the 1939 re-issue of the film. It's probably the only time Hart's voice was put on film. That also makes this an important purchase.

I recently heard of what is supposed to be an excellent silent version of Peter Pan that stars Betty Bronson. It came out in 1924 and is available on DVD from Kino, the company that does the Keaton movies.
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marlin lee
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Correct Rog. That 8 minutes is the prologue I spoke of. Perhaps prologue isn't the best description because as you mentioned most of it is on westerns and the old west in general rather than specific to tumbleweeds.
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KanSmiley
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As I said on another thread I have watched THE GENERAL twice in the last three days. Mrs Smiley watched it the second time. She enjoyed it as much as I have. Looks like Buster Keaton will be getting a big run in our house the next few months. Have put his name on my Amazon Wish List along with several other silent stars.
Kan
http://www.saturday-matinee-memories.com/

intoxicated, adj.: When you feel sophisticated without being able to pronounce it.
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George Kaplan
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Kan--more favorite silents:

Broken Blossoms
Greed
The Crowd
City Lights
Sherlock Jr.
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Chandu
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KanSmiley
Nov 17 2005, 04:58 PM
I watched STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. today. With due respect to Mr. Levity I believe I like THE GENERAL better than BILL.

For the younger audiences that think Jackie Chan is the greatest stuntman/actor they have never seen Keaton. Buster Keaton is very impressive with the stunts he does. The scene in THE GENERAL when he riding on the cowcatcher on the front of the locomotive is stunning to see. And, you add the railroad tie makes even more impressive.

I certainly see now why Keaton has earned the name Stoneface. Regardless of what situation he is presented with he shows little or no emotion. If he is about the lose the girl or being chased by Union soldiers he is always seemingly calm and collected.

By Golly, Stony, the search engine sure does work! Look what I found! Posted Image

I finally got the opportunity to view The General, myself, last night and I couldn't agree more with Kan's impresssions of the same two silent films as the ones I've seen. I too, was particularly amazed at Keaton's stunt with the railroad ties on the cowcatcher of of his locomotive in The General. This has to be seen to be believed! Although The General was completely different than what I was expecting, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I still wouldn't exactly call myself a silent movie fan yet, but after seeing these two silents, I'm sure much more willing than before to sit down and watch one. Posted Image
Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me...
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