Alice Guy-Blaché (director)
Gaumont (production)
The game-keeper's son witnesses his father's death while chasing a poacher, then picks up the pursuit himself. Interestingly, it's not clear whether the father is murdered, or dies accidentally after failing to stop in time - and then the same ambiguity occurs again at the end.
André de Lorde (author)
Charles Foley (author)
Pathé (production)
A home invasion, a phone call of distress, and a race to the rescue trigger a parade of films that shows no signs of ending.
D.W. Griffith (director/writer)
G.W. Bitzer (cinematographer)
Florence Lawrence (lead)
Gladys Egan (lead)
Biograph (production)
The 1906 Bambatha Rebellion, a Zulu revolt against British rule and taxation in South Africa, put "Zulu" in the headlines and, consequently, in the minds of filmmakers scrounging for new conflicts to exploit. This one is less overtly political and certainly more polished than "How A British Bulldog Saved The Union Jack" - so it is not as funny, other than the standard comic relief of the helpless damsel flailing about.
D.W. Griffith (director)
G.W. Bitzer (cinematographer)
Mack Sennett (lead/writer)
André de Lorde (author)
Charles Foley (author)
David Miles (lead)
Marion Leonard (lead)
Mary Pickford (lead)
Charles Avery (lead)
Biograph (production)
To con The Master, a diabolical mulatto dons a whiteface then pulls a Stepin Fetchit to sneak his gang into the inner sanctum of Pure White Virgins, intent on stealing hair ribbons to add to their arsenal of kinky chicken chokers. When The Master learns his monopoly on hair ribbons is threatened, he immediately summons The Klan, but they were busy with their own chicken-choking, so instead he grabs a gypsy cab and arrives in time to restore the Confederate South, in this D.W. Griffith parody of "The Bitch Of A Nation" (which he hadn`t filmed yet), where the rescue ride won`t start, the rescue gun won`t shoot, and the rescue phone goes dead.
August Blom (director)
Axel Graatkjær (cinematographer)
Louis Schmidt (writer)
Ellen Diedrich (lead)
Lauritz Olsen (lead)
Ella La Cour (lead)
Nordisk (production)
A fast-moving 30 minutes, that delivers the cheap thrills promised by the title - with minimum melodrama. And like The Lonedale Operator (1911), it features a tough cookie that takes care of business - then chills out for a quick mid-crisis nap.
August Blom (director)
Axel Graatkjær (cinematographer)
Peter Christensen (writer)
Clara Pontoppidan (lead)
Lauritz Olsen (lead)
Thora Meincke (lead)
Carl Schenstrøm (lead)
Nordisk (production)
Oddly, the impostors' ruse starts with a primitive hit-or-miss con act repeatedly performed in full public view - yet we are to believe that this silly stunt fronts an elaborate well-tuned network. While the patsy is still in the clutches of the con woman, a masher also swoops down on her - and she again falls victim to yet another persistent motor-mouth. Not long after she steps into the hands of the impostors, the film breaks down in hopeless confusion. The impostors (who remain unnamed, just referred to as “the impostors”) phone the blackmailer (misnamed “Mr. Bright”), who quickly has his hands all over the patsy. Meanwhile, the persistent masher (aptly named “Engineer Faith”) catches on to the flimflam and leaps on his White Knight horse. But before he arrives, another blackmailer (mysteriously named “Lord X”) muscles in on Mr. Bright and nabs the patsy - which leads Mr. Bright to counter by paying to have her kidnapped from Lord X. Meanwhile, amidst this torrent of cock brawls, no one has turned a dime of profit off the patsy - nor has anyone revealed any plans to cash in. This seems to be merely a confusing tale of a town desperately in need of new nooky. Still, the patsy - and the movie - is saved by a delightfully daring cock-buster.
Let this serve as a lesson for solo travellers, showing how personal information shared with strangers can be used harmfully - i.e. as a plot for a time-wasting movie.
Most interesting was the train station exit scene, which shows passers-by gawking at the camera and performers - a quaint record of the days before mobile digital devices, when people actually paid attention to their surroundings.
D.W. Griffith (director)
G.W. Bitzer (cinematographer)
Mack Sennett (writer)
Blanche Sweet (lead)
Francis J. Grandon (lead)
Edward Dillon (lead)
Biograph (production)
Variation on the invasion-call-rescue formula of Griffith`s earlier "The Lonely Villa". Most importantly, the melodramatic fat is trimmed by replacing Mother Purity and Her Three Snow White Virgins with one smart tough cookie - a working girl who even stays cool enough to take a quick mid-crisis nap - thus avoiding the worst of the dated hokey trappings that plague too many Griffith films.
D.W. Griffith (director)
G.W. Bitzer (cinematographer)
Dorothy Bernard (lead)
Wilfred Lucas (lead)
Charles Hill Mailes (lead)
Biograph (production)
A dull rerun of Griffith`s earlier invasion-call-rescue thriller "The Lonedale Operator". But Lonedale`s smart tough cookie is replaced by a different type of girl: she doesn`t hesitate to accept a gift from a man who sees it as a prelude to romance, then scoffs at his plea for a date (without returning the gift), and then offers his gift to another man, who she then slaps when he presumes the gift offer is a prelude to romance. After thus establishing the character, in what is known in cinematic terms as, "a scan`lous cock-teasing bitch", the film then shows her pointlessly risking her life to save the company`s money, thus further expanding the character to be a "brain-dead bootlicker", and leaving no doubt that, with these two traits, a bright future awaits her in the corporate world.
D.W. Griffith (director)
G.W. Bitzer (cinematographer)
George Hennessy (writer)
Mary Pickford (lead)
Edwin August (lead)
Alfred Paget (lead)
Mae Marsh (lead)
Biograph (production)
Routine race-to-the rescue, made interesting only by the relatively wild performance of the 'beast'.
Victorin Jasset (director/writer)
Lucien Andriot (cinematographer)
Henri Gouget (lead)
Camille Bardou (lead)
Karlmos (lead)
Josette Andriot (lead)
Forest of Sénart (location)
Éclair (production)
While writers often claim The Musketeers of Pig Alley (released 6 months after this) established the gangster film genre, this short film racks up two cop killings, a carjacking, two bank robberies, a car chase/shootout, and synchronized shooting in stylish long coats (late 1980s HK film-style). Films don't get more gangster than this.
Two episodes providing a contemporary account of the bold anarchist bank robbers that newspapers eventually dubbed the 'Bonnot Gang' (who were credited with the first use of the 'getaway car' - although it was used in the film The Bold Bank Robbery seven years earlier). The two episodes were later released together as Bandits En Automobile.
For a fascinating detailed discussion of the film's context, shooting locations, and comparison with both the historical events and a 1968 film on those events, see The Cine-Tourist.
For the story of the Bonnot Gang from the perspective of the bank they robbed (twice), see this Societe Generale piece.
For the story of the Bonnot Gang from the perspective of a renown anarcho-communist activist, see this libcom.org article.
D.W. Griffith (director)
G.W. Bitzer (cinematographer)
Edward Acker (writer)
Lillian Gish (lead)
Dorothy Gish (lead)
Elmer Booth (lead)
Robert Harron (lead)
Harry Carey (lead)
Grace Henderson (lead)
Walter Miller (lead)
Biograph (production)
A return to Physician Of The Castle and The Lonely Villa - but with wife and husband replaced by teen sisters and elder brother, and where the invasion is an inside job. Serves as the debut of Lillian and Dorothy Gish, with cinematography that showcases the screen magnetism that made them popular.
D.W. Griffith (director/writer)
G.W. Bitzer (cinematographer)
Anita Loos (writer)
Elmer Booth (lead)
Lillian Gish (lead)
Walter Miller (lead)
Alfred Paget (lead)
Robert Harron (lead)
Harry Carey (lead)
Dorothy Gish (lead)
Biograph (production)
Rival gangs exchange mean mugs and bullets, leading to an enigmatic ending. Free of the more aggressively manipulative Griffith conventions (e.g., damsel in distress, race to rescue), instead focusing on atmosphere and character (Elmer Booth's wonderful portrayal), makes this seem less dated than other Griffith works.
Wilfred Noy (director)
This is the final 2 minutes of the 10-minute video described at http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1114609/synopsis.html. It features a reenactment of the 1909 Tottenham chase, that began with a robbery by anarchists, set in a fictional tale of spies.
D.W. Griffith (director)
G.W. Bitzer (cinematographer)
Anita Loos (writer)
Edward Acker (author)
Mae Marsh (lead)
Claire McDowell (lead)
Alfred Paget (lead)
Charles Hill Mailes (lead)
Harry Carey (lead)
Lionel Barrymore (lead)
Biograph (production)
Yet another riff on the invasion-call-rescue theme, but made more interesting because the distress call goes not to a male Master Of The Home, but to the girl in the telephone office who, like The Lonedale Operator, thinks quick to save the day (without even fainting!). Plus 11 more points of interest...
Vincenzo Denizot (director)
Natale Chiusano (cinematographer)
Segundo de Chomón (cinematographer)
Edoardo Davesnes (lead)
Alex Bernard (lead)
Lidia Quaranta (lead)
Itala (production)
The monotonous story of repeated disguises doesn't provide enough incentive to suffer through the eyestrain of viewing this poor quality print. Maybe all the creativity was spent on the hallucination sequence.
But there is one claim to fame here: in 7 years of Voidsville Follies, here is the first instance seen of someone tied to train tracks (actually, tied up and then dumped on the tracks - a more efficient method) that seems to be done for drama, not laughs.
Louis Feuillade (director/writer)
Georges Guérin (cinematographer)
Marcel Allain (author)
Pierre Souvestre (author)
André Luguet (lead)
André Volbert (lead)
Edmund Breon (lead)
Fabienne Fabrèges (lead)
Georges Melchior (lead)
Jane Faber (lead)
Laurent Morléas (lead)
Naudier (lead)
Renée Carl (lead)
René Navarre (lead)
Yvette Andréyor (lead)
Gaumont (production)
Fantômas is the first famous film criminal mastermind. Like all criminal masterminds, he is pursued by a shrewd and determined detective - Inspector Juve. But unlike other police detectives in film, Juve is no hero, no pompous know-it-all. Yet, unlike noir private detectives, Juve isn't portrayed as an antihero. Juve is simply a loser - a loser who is unstylish, seems to have no family or love life, and tends toward despondence and chain-smoking. In short, Juve is the soul of this flick, giving it its uniquely modern feel. And, for those of us that normally root for the bad guys, Juve is the only detective we can comfortably cheer for - because we know he will lose.
Phillips Smalley (director)
Lois Weber (director/lead)
Val Paul (lead)
Sam Kaufman (lead)
Rex (production)
Even though D.W. Griffith led the pack in quantity of invasion-call-rescue films, the pinnacle of development of the form during that period came from this lesser-known crew. With its stark title and startling visuals, more realistic characters, less reliance on explicit narrative and instead favoring more subtle story-telling, this bears less resemblance to its contemporaries than to the films that would later be created by Hitchcock (known as 'The Master Of Suspense').
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