If there ever was a film that can stoke a firestorm of debates, protests, demonstrations and strong feelings it's Birth of a Nation. Since its release in 1915 it has been viewed as one of the most controversial films ever made and yet, at the same time, one of the most important. Strangely in all my years of watching films I had never had the chance to watch D. W. Griffith's masterpiece.

As I view this film ninety-four years after its original release it's easy to see both why the film has its haters as well as its fans. Between the overt racism, factual inaccuracies and a general sympathy to the old south there is much to make a modern audience cringe. Despite this, when viewed through the prism of film history Birth of a Nation has much to offer the serious student of cinema.

The first act of the film deals with two typical families: the Stonemans and the Camerons. While the Stonemans are northerners, the Camerons are from the South. Through the friendship of their sons in boarding school the two families share a common bond. Both the Camerons and Stonemans suffer greatly during the war with each family losing a son to the war.

This first act deals very little with the cause and slavery is hardly mentioned. At this point I wondered if perhaps the racism wasn't a bit exhagerated. Of course the film was only half over by then.

The second act, dealing with Reconstruction, is a completely different matter. The abolitionists and the free Blacks become the central villains of the story. They and their Northern allies overwhelm the south. To combat this, the Ku Klux Klan rises to power with Colonel Cameron being one of the leaders. This horribly skewed version of history left me more than a bit confused.

Blacks are portrayed almost exclusively by white in blackface. In at least one instance a maid was even played by a white man in drag. The stereotypes are endless from black legislators eating peanuts with their bare feet on the desk to one black soldier attempting to rape the young Flora causing her to jump to her death. White Southerners on the other hand are portrayed as innocent victims; a repressed minority

I was a bit taken back after the historical accuracy of the first act to see that Birth of a Nation is, as many people say, a film with a pro South agenda. Contrast this with the vast majority of Civil War films made since where the Union is portrayed as angelic while the Confederates are the evil slave holders.

The KKK actually comes across as a group of white knights bound to protect law, order and chivalry. After Flora's death the Klan seeks to find her killer for, as the intertitle informs us, so that he may have a fair trial. How interesting history can be revised and distorted depending on the storyteller.

Somewhere between the Pro-Southern extreme of this film and the Union apologist extremes of countless others is the truth. If you want to see a more balanced film in relation to the Civil War, watch either Gods and Generals or Gettysburg. If you want a story of the old South, check out Gone with the Wind.

I would only recommend this film to film buffs or to people who would like to see where films have all began. Birth of a Nation, like the period it attempted to recreate, is a part of our history. If you wish to study film or the rise of cinema then you must see this film. Otherwise, it may be best left to museums.

Labels: 31 days of film, Civil War, Classics, Silent Films

Here we have a little silent comedy about a country boy trying to win back the heart of his sweetheart by catching some bootleggers. It stars George K. Arthur as Peter Good, a simple farm boy on a mission that is obviously beyond his knowledge. His girl Amy, played by silent starlet Gertrude Olmstead, seems only interested in the new city boy in town. Rounding out the cast is a young woman out to help round up the bootleggers. She is played by a very young Joan Crawford.

Of course being a relatively short film, it clocks in at just over an hour, the plot isn't all that heavy. Still, while it may be short on plot, it's not short on laughs. If you love silent comedies, this is one you don't want to miss.

Labels: 31 days of film, Comedy, Silent Films

If there is one thing I've learned in all my years of being a connoisseur of films, it's to never trust a European silent film.

Many people mock films of the silent era for their overly dramatized pantomime. La Terre, according to the introduction on TCM by Robert Osborne, was the first film to be told using the naturalist style of filmmaking as the characters act as though it is their daily lives they are living.

Père Fouan is an old man and as his body fails him, he decides to divide his land amongst his three sons. In return for this early inheritance the local magistrate orders the sons to each pay him a pension so that he may live out the rest of his days in peace and leisure. Sadly, such was not to be the case. As soon as he is on his own his family implodes upon itself. Things are made even more difficult when Père's wife dies. He must then sell his house and keeps the money on him always not trusting any of his children.

This film is depressing and yet I would still recommend it to those who want to be serious students of silent film. If you're looking for something lighthearted, stick to Keaton, Chaplin and Lloyd.

Labels: 31 days of film, Silent Films

I love silent films. In some ways I feel that the art of drama was perfected long before film ever learned to talk. While the American Film Institute lists films such as Star Wars and Tootsie as their greatest films, it is obvious that they have never seen The Wind.

The Wind is perhaps one of the most stark and honest portrayals of the old west that I've ever seen. The American west has been so romanticized by artists like Remington and directors like John Ford and even turned into a happy go lucky place by Gene Autrey, Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers. The real west was a difficult place to live and for many an easterner it was as if they were Dante venturing into the very pits of Hell.

Lilian Gish plays the character of Letty. Letty is a young girl from Virginia who moved out west to Texas to live with her cousin and his wife and children. At first she turns her nose up at the quaint place and dirty environment and especially the literally humble food. Yet as time goes on she learns that life in the west is certainly not like that of Virginia and that she must adapt to the circumstances or die.

Letty and her cousin share a bond from childhood leading to her cousin's wife to become enraged with jealousy. Letty is forced off the ranch and must find a place to live immediately. The only way she can survive is to marry her neighbor Lige. As Lige sees that this is a loveless marriage an uneasy relationship begins where Lige works to save enough money to send Letty back to Virginia as this, he believes, is the only thing that will make Letty happy.

Did I mention that there's wind? Day in and day out the wind blows and blows and slowly eats away at the sanity of Letty. Isolation, loneliness and desolation were very real emotions felt by pioneer women and Letty is in no way immune to this. Slowly and slowly she delves further and further into the madness brought on by the ever present and ever fearful wind.

The Wind is a Western and yet it's not for Western fans. If you think the west was the realm of John Wayne and Roy Rogers you should check out The Wind. I think you may be surprised at what you see.

If I had any complaints about this film it would be the ending. It seems to come from out of nowhere and is totally inconsistent with the rest of the film. The reason for this is that the films distributors felt that the original ending in the book would hurt the chances of the film at the box office. While everyone from Irving Thalberg to Lilian Gish thought this was wrong, the money men had their ending. Despite this, The Wind is a classic and should be on any serious film fan's wish list.

*Sources for this post include imdb and the Robert Osborne bumper segments from when this was shown on TCM.

Labels: 31 days of film, Classics, Silent Films

My brother has for years told me about this silent film he saw with a "gold monster" in a nightmare segment. This always intrigued me but I had never gotten around to watching the recording he had made of it. That is, until today I hadn't.

Charles, played by Rudolph Valentino, is sent to live with his uncle after his father loses millions in the stock market and commits suicide. There he meets his cousin, the lovely Eugenie (Alice Terry.) While Charles was brought up in decadence and luxury, Eugenie lives in poverty brought on by her father's miserly ways. The two fall in love yet the uncle (seeing no profit in their marriage) refuses to allow it and works to keep them apart.

The Conquering Power is certainly a product of its time. The melodrama is a simple moral play told through the stylized lens of the silent screen. It's certainly a classic and if you are a fan of silent films you are in for a treat.

Labels: 31 days of film, Romance, Silent Films

After yesterday's foray into the weird and unusual, I decided to finally watch a film I had heard about and even studied a bit in college and yet had never watched in its entirety, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

The story centers on Francis who, along with his best friend Alan and sweetheart Jane, decides to go to the fair. What he finds there is a crazy Dr named Caligari who exhibits Cesare, the somnambulist (sleepwalker.) When Alan asks Cesare how long he has to live, he is told that he will die at dawn. Sure enough the young man is murdered and thus Francis and Jane decide to find the crazed murderer themselves. The plot is quite twisted and the ending will have you literally left in shock.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of the earliest horror films and it is filled with images of German Expressionism. Watching The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is, in many ways, like watching a nightmare. Jagged corners, abstract set design and a rather unattractive cast make watching this film a rather creepy experience.In fact when the ending is revealed it makes all the imagery seem totally appropriate.

Honestly, this is certainly not casual viewing. This film is probably better suited to the art house crowd or those with a taste for the avant-garde.

Labels: 31 days of film, Classics, Horror, Silent Films

To get in the spirit of next month's 31 days of film I decided to start watching some silents. I kicked it all of tonight with a film I've been meaning to see for ages, Little Annie Rooney.

When Mary Pickford's popularity began to wane in the mid 20s she asked the readers of a fan magazine to write and let her know what sort of part the public wanted to see her play. After all, she was a big mogul at United Artists and could make any picture she wanted and thus there was no excuse for failure. Fans responded that the role they most wanted her to play was the feisty little girl character that she had played in the previous decade in such films as Pollyanna and Daddy Long Legs. Her response was to make this film where she plays twelve year old Annie Rooney. Fans apparently didn't care that she was 32 at the time as the film was a big success.

It is 1925 in a New York City slum. The various immigrants have settled together and many form "gangs." Leading one gang of children is Annie Rooney, a feisty tomboyish twelve year old willing to start a huge brick fight over a boy calling her his sweetheart. She lives with her brother and widowed father and secretly crushes on Joy Kelley played by William Haines (7 years her junior by the way.)

There is a little slapstick and physical comedy although most of the humor is subtle and leaves you more with a smile rather than rolling in the aisles. Little Annie Rooney is a rather simple film and for those unaccustomed to silents might seem a little odd. Much of the movie's humor comes from the ethnic stereotypes of the neighborhood's multicultural makeup and many of today's audiences might not see the humor in this and might miss the fact that the neighborhood melting pot seems to coexist despite their differences.

While Little Annie Rooney is an entertaining film it is a little short on plot. The film really doesn't pick up until the last half hour and then it runs at breakneck speed right until the end. The cinematography is typical for silents and there's nothing truly groundbreaking although for those new to silents you might find some of the visual storytelling camera tricks to be a bit unusual by today's standards as they were deemed obsolete when talkies came in.

All in all, Little Annie Rooney is a classic and should certainly be seen by any silent film buff. It's not the best silent out there but if you're looking to move beyond the slapstick comedies you could do a lot worse.

By the way, the director of this film, William Beaudine, later on would direct Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. How cool is that?

Labels: Classics, Silent Films

Dragnet Girl: Here we have another of Yasujiro Ozu's silent films. Unlike Days of Youth, which was entertaining and interesting, this film seemed to be dull and uninteresting.

The real problem, however, is something that is perhaps not the fault of Ozu but the fault of Panorama. Like Days of Youth this film is presented on DVD without musical accompaniment.
Music in a silent movie is something like mustard on a bologna sandwich; you don't notice it unless it's gone. This is quite unfortunate as the film may be quite good but I know I had a hard time sitting through it.

Labels: Japanese, Silent Films

My extremely large Hong Kong order came in today. After sorting them, adding them to my DVD Profiler database and spot checking a few, I settled in to watch one for the evening. I decided to pick something different from the lot and something, perhaps, that I could watch with my dad. I decided to pick one of the two silent movies I bought as he can keep up with those a little better.

Days of Youth: Here we have a story that just happens to take place in Tokyo but has been told many times, in many places and in many languages. We meet two college students: Watanabe, the carefree goof and Yamamoto, who is a more straight faced fellow who reminds me a lot of Harold Lloyd. They are friends who live together and at the same time meet and fall in love with the same girl. They both put off their courtship until their studies are over but end up meeting and fighting over her while on a ski trip.

There are a few interesting aspects of this film which really make it special. First, it is the oldest surviving film made by famed director Yasujiro Ozu. Secondly it's a silent movie that has very distinct Hollywood tendencies about it. The film mostly plays out like some of Harold Lloyd's film and I think he could have done quite well with the same material.

One other observation of the film is that Yamamoto wears a jacket in which the words "Smack Front Only" are printed on the back in English. It's good to know Engrish goes back a long way.

Labels: Classics, Japanese, Silent Films