Ben Hecht, born this day

Early Summer (1951)

A relative of mine, who would never claim to be a literary scholar, on the subject of Jane Austen, once offered me this: ‘for someone who never married and had no kids, that woman sure understood how families work.’

She meant power games, and the pressures family members place upon one another, and the conflicts between different generations, and even between different families. And she was right: Austen had rare insight into those things. But it was also interesting, to me, that she saw the single, childless Austen as an outsider looking in; as though, without those additional life experiences, one could not normally be expected to understand how families really worked.

Austen was close to her family for the entirety of her short life. Yasujiro Ozu was close to his, too. He died at 60, in 1963, having predeceased his mother, with whom he lived, by only a couple of years. He, too, left behind no spouse, and no offspring. But the director did leave behind a body of work profound in its examination of the family dynamic—the comforts, cruelties, and most importantly, inevitabilities of a life lived with others.

Among Ozu’s acknowledged masterpieces (a canon that also includes Late Spring (1949); Tokyo Story (1953); and Floating Weeds (1959)) it is Early Summer that focuses most fixedly on family structures. The household in Early Summer is a relatively happy, stable, and normal one, composed of two elderly parents, their unmarried daughter, their married son and his wife, and two young grandsons. And several pet birds. The family members get along, mostly; everyone is healthy, and money is good.

Suzanne Bianchetti, born this day

Camp 14: Total Control Zone (2012)

About halfway through Camp 14: Total Control Zone, its subject, 30-year-old Shin Dong-hyuk, shows us his arms. They look hyper-extended at the elbow joints, as though they’re being bent backwards. This is how they look at rest. His whole body bears the effects of torture, he tells us; but this is the only example he’ll offer to the camera.

Paperman on Silent London

Here's a piece I wrote on Disney's newest animated short, Paperman, for Silent London. I'll be posting the text here a little later, but in the meantime, please give it a read over there. (And be sure to stick around--Silent London is a terrific source of news and writing about silent films the world over.)

Louis Feuillade, born this day

Robert Flaherty, born this day

John Barrymore: Born this day

The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

The walls of Bagdad are so high that to convey their immensity is to reduce the actors before them to squirrels, scurrying at the base of the screen. Within those walls is a city so seemingly vast that we do not witness its parts so much as explore them—moving not just right and left as we do, forward and back; but down: to its catacombs and sewers, and up to the lofty heights of its castle spires and tallest trees. Among the beings inhabiting the city is represented every race; every type: lithe and fleet; muscular and powerful; sedentary and fat; young, old, ugly, beautiful. And beyond the city lies every challenge, real or fantastically imaginary, that an adventurer in a long-lost time might hope, or fear, to encounter. Douglas Fairbanks called The Thief of Bagdad his best film. He was right.

New Nanook

So the good joes at Flicker Alley (the ones behind the Chaplin at Keystone boxset, which I own and you should own) are releasing a new version of Nanook of the North. Ever fascinating, ever problematic, Nanook is one of my favourite silent films. This release includes some interesting extras, including a rare Norwegian talkie, The Wedding of Palo, which explores similar themes.

I posted a blog entry about Nanook a little while back. It was based on a live screening I'd attended at TIFF Bell Lightbox, in Toronto. The screening was accompanied by an Inuit throat-singer. Though the presentation wasn't entirely successful, it was certainly a memorable night.

75 Years of Clips

Here's a neat thing (though not a new thing): Chuck Workman's Director's Cut, a compilation of clips from the work of Directors Guild of America (DGA) members. You'll recognize several silent bits here. You'll also see a lot of television, which is refreshing. Cinema gets its lauds; television too often doesn't; though surely, its impact on us has been at least as great. Watch the footage here.


Thanks to Carley, of The Kitty Packard Pictorial, for sending me this link.

~Chris

The Patsy (1928)

King Vidor directed Marion Davies twice in 1928: first in The Patsy, released in April, and then in Show People, released the following November. Show People was a career highlight for the actress—a funny, weird, intelligent comedy, one of the best of the silent era. The Patsy, also a comedy, falls far short of it. It’s not that The Patsy isn’t funny, or that it isn’t weird. It is frequently both. It just isn’t very smart.

Happy 99th, Little Tramp...

As reported by my noble colleagues at the Toronto Silent Film Festival, today is the ninety-ninth anniversary of Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914): the first public appearance of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp. The film itself is simple and brief, and Chaplin would go on to do much better, even for Keystone. But, for providing the world with its first glimpse of a character who would go on to be one of film history's greatest icons, Kid Auto Races will always be a big deal.

(For the record, my first exposure to the Little Tramp was through a parody... on Sesame Street. That's how deep this character is sunk into popular culture.)

I blogged about Kid Auto Races in Fall 2011. Click here to read that post.

Of course, given that this is a silent film blog, I've written about Chaplin many other times too. Here is a list of those links, for your leisurely reading pleasure:

The Circus

Pay Day

The Gold Rush

Modern Times

Shoulder Arms

A Woman

Mabel's Busy Day


--Chris

Ramon Novarro: Born this day

John Ford: Born this Day