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| 12th Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival; ". . . !" | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 17 2007, 09:46 AM (253 Views) | |
| George Kaplan | Jul 17 2007, 09:46 AM Post #1 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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I spent the weekend at San Francisco's annual three-day silent film festival, an incredible event. It was held, as always, at the magnificent Castro Theatre, which screened its first film in 1922. Thought balconeers might like to see the lineup: The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (Ernst Lubitsch,1927), with Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer. Four Hal Roach short comedies: Fast Company (1924), with Our Gang; Just a Good Guy (1924), with Arthur Stone and a young Fay Wray; The Boy Friend (1928), with Max Davidson and Edgar Kennedy; and Movie Night (1929), with Charley Chase, Spec O'Donnell, Tiny Sandford, and Anita Garvin. The Valley of the Giants (Charles Brabin, 1927), with Milton Sills and Doris Kenyon. Maciste (1915), with Bartolomeo Pagano. His first film of more than a dozen as the heroic strongman (following the success of his portrayal in Cabiria a year earlier). Camille (1921), with Alla Nazimova and Rudolph Valentino. Beggars of Life (William A. Wellman, 1928), with Wallace Beery, Richard Arlen, and Louise Brooks. Miss Lulu Bett (William C. de Mille, 1921), with Lois Wilson and Milton Sills. A Cottage on Dartmoor (Anthony Asquith, 1929), with Uno Henning and Norah Baring. The Godless Girl (Cecil B. DeMille, 1929) In addition, Serge Bromberg of Lobster Films presented his Retour de Flamme [Saved from the Flames], a collection of French short films by George Méliès and others, described variously as "actualities, comedies, Bible stories, travelogues, naughty bon-bons, [and] trick-photography fantasies." Each feature film was accompanied by a rare short film preserved in 35mm from a 28mm reduction print. Titles included Beauty Spots in America: Castle Hot Springs, Arizona (1916), How the Cowboy Makes His Lariat (1917), and Lonesome Luke's Lively Life (1917). In addition to Bromberg, various showings were hosted by Leonard Maltin, Rob Stone (UCLA Film & Television Archive), Charles Tabesh and Robert Osborne (TCM), William Wellman, Jr., Patrick Loughney (George Eastman House), Mike Mashon (Library of Congress), Mick LaSalle, Eddie Muller, and Scott Simmon (National Film Preservation Foundation). Music: Donald Sosin and Stephen Horne (piano), Dennis James and Clark Wilson (Wurlitzer organ), and The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. My favorites: Valley of the Giants, which features a heart-pounding runaway-train sequence and some vicious fistfights; Beggars of Life, with Arlen trying to protect Brooks from gang rape in a hobo camp and aboard a train (Wallace Beery's lazy smile was never scarier); and The Godless Girl , a flat-out exploitation melodrama with several stupendous action sequences. (This last one will be on the Treasures III box that comes out in October, though I hope it will be released separately.) |
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| riddlerider | Jul 17 2007, 12:12 PM Post #2 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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VALLEY OF THE GIANTS is a terrific film. We ran the restored 35mm print at a Cinecon in 1990 or '91, and it took all of us by surprise. Great action, great production values. Would love to see this one come to DVD. |
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| George Kaplan | Jul 17 2007, 08:10 PM Post #3 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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So would I. Milton Sills, about 45 when he appeared in Valley of the Giants, had a relaxed presence that reminded me a little of John Wayne, and he was convincing in the fight scenes. (Which reminds me: Is The Spoilers, an earlier Sills picture, available on DVD?) It was nice to see Charles Sellon in Valley of the Giants. I was still trying to place his name and face when I overheard someone say to a companion several rows from me, "Hey! Did you recognize Mr. Muckle?" The director of Valley, Charles Brabin, made the Edison serial What Happened to Mary? in 1912 and went on to work for Essanay, Vitagraph, Metro, Fox, and Goldwyn before getting the nod to direct Ben-Hur. After a year's work in Italy, the studio replaced him with Fred Niblo. It was a blow, but he rallied and went on to make more films in the sound era, notably ol' Balcony favorite The Mask of Fu Manchu in 1932. |
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| Frank Hale | Jul 23 2007, 05:18 PM Post #4 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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The Nazimova 'Camille' was included a while back as part of the Garbo DVD set. |
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11:09 AM Jul 11