Discontent (1916)
CRUMBLIES… Long shot, this one. Old Jack here saw some white hair float by on the YouTube and thought, in memory of Silent Steve, let’s give it a go. And … Continue Reading Discontent (1916)
Ten Nights in a Barroom (1926)
CRUMBLIES… There’s something about Victorian moralising that grates the soul; not least because that vilifying crap has come back. Old Jack here was pretty much on Lockdown before the rest … Continue Reading Ten Nights in a Barroom (1926)
I Flunked, But… (1930)
CRUMBLIES… Well, now, here’s a thing. Old Jack was hunting down a few more Yasujirō Ozu films, hoping for old age insights akin to Early Summer / Bakushû (1951), when a … Continue Reading I Flunked, But… (1930)
No Good for Anything / The Man Who Never Made Good (1908)
CRUMBLIES… A brief one this: eight and a bit minutes of pre-war comedy from a world twisting itself out of shape through treaties, empires and dreadful ambitions. Yet, back on … Continue Reading No Good for Anything / The Man Who Never Made Good (1908)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
CRUMBLIES… Silent Steve expired. Sorry. There was a lull in a storm. We’d given up on noisy films and slapped on another horrifying D.W. Griffith classic. Steve mimed through the … Continue Reading Broken Blossoms (1919)
The Unchanging Sea (1910)
CRUMBLIES… Okay, back to early-ish cinema and D.W. Griffiths in year three of his career; and at film number 131, or thereabouts. He knew how to work hard before he … Continue Reading The Unchanging Sea (1910)
Pierrette’s Escapades / Le départ d’Arlequin et de Pierrette (1900)
CRUMBLIES… Okay, I sat through these two minutes of obscure pantomimic pantomiming, so you do too. Silent Steve dared me to eat a cupcake quicker than Pierrette’s Escapades, plainly expecting … Continue Reading Pierrette’s Escapades / Le départ d’Arlequin et de Pierrette (1900)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari / Das Kabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920)
CRUMBLIES… Silent Steve was on fire! He suggested a film about an old grump, a faux doctor showing off a somnambulist at a town fayre, evil, cold-hearted and full of … Continue Reading The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari / Das Kabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920)
Walter Finds a Father (1921)
CRUMBLIES… Silent Steve went rare and British when I asked for some ancient films about fatherhood. He pulled up a comedy short from 1921 that tells the classic (perhaps I … Continue Reading Walter Finds a Father (1921)
Within our Gates (1920)
CRUMBLIES… Wow. Silent Steve blew me out of my assumptions with this one. Ignorance is a terrible thing, eh? Old Jack, for instance, hadn’t even considered that black American directors … Continue Reading Within our Gates (1920)
Diving Lucy (1903)
CRUMBLIES… Silent Steve asked me if I had a minute to spare. I did, and we crammed an early – nay, primeval – British comedy short into it. A project … Continue Reading Diving Lucy (1903)
Falling Leaves (1912)
CRUMBLIES… Having introduced narrative story-telling to film back in 1896, French producer-director-writer and cracking storyteller, Alice Guy-Blaché developed the form through hundreds more shorts. She married, had kids, moved with … Continue Reading Falling Leaves (1912)
La Fée aux Choux / The Fairy of the Cabbages (1900)
CRUMBLIES… Silent Steve stared at me. I stared at Silent Steve. “Cabbages?” I said. “Yup,” he replied. And so I’m going to share this with you. First, a history lesson. … Continue Reading La Fée aux Choux / The Fairy of the Cabbages (1900)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)
CRUMBLIES… Okay, Silent Steve was in history mode. Apparently, over in the Americas, there was a newspaper strip that ran for three hundred or so editions (from 1904 to 1925) … Continue Reading Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)
La Fée Printemps / The Spring Fairy (1902)
CRUMBLIES… Way back in the dawn of cinema (second decade), Georges Méliès had competition from the Pathé Frères across town in Paris. Segundo de Chomón was one of their team; … Continue Reading La Fée Printemps / The Spring Fairy (1902)
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
CRUMBLIES… From The Land Beyond the Sunset (1912) to Sunrise: A Story of Two Humans. Oh yes. Silent Steve and I battled wills over silent movie excellence. I wanted laughs … Continue Reading Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
