Ashley Miller (director)
Ethel Browning (writer)
Miriam Nesbitt (lead)
Edison (production)
Surviving early American cinema could give viewers the impression that the major labor issue of that time was the boozer worker. So this work, while lacking the artistic touch of A Corner In Wheat (1909), still serves a useful purpose. Indeed, upon further research, I was shocked to learn that over a century later, in 2021, Human Rights Watch reported that the US still has failed to protect child farmworkers, who endure long working hours in hazardous occupations, with no minimum age limit.
Ashley Miller (director)
Bannister Merwin (writer)
Marc McDermott (lead)
Miriam Nesbitt (lead)
Ethel Browning (lead)
Edison (production)
Story told with only two title cards, instead conveying plot points with newspaper, posters, and signs. Admittedly, the story is about as simple as it gets, turning on a child's prank, which makes it not much more sophisticated than L'Arroseur arrosé (1895). Still, the message is worth pondering: all it takes to be a menace to society is to be labeled as one. But, as a comedy, it could've been a contender in the hands of Max Linder...
Enrico Guazzoni (director/writer)
Eugenio Bava (cinematographer)
Alessandro Bona (cinematographer)
Henryk Sienkiewicz (author)
Gustavo Serena (lead)
Amleto Novelli (lead)
Società Italiana Cines (production)
Maybe Rome wasn't built in a day, but it only took one night to burn it down (with the help of a few good men with torches), according to this elaborate tale of palace intrigue, divine intervention, and jungle fever in Nero's Rome.
Dadasaheb Phalke (director/writer)
Anna Salunke (lead)
Phalke Films (production)
Fragment of a poor print, so of no great entertainment value - but hey, any story where a king and his royal family get bumrushed to the boonies can't be all bad.
Eleuterio Rodolfi (director)
Mario Caserini (writer)
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (author)
Fernanda Negri Pouget (lead)
Eugenia Tettoni Fior (lead)
Ubaldo Stefani (lead)
Antonio Grisanti (lead)
Società Anonima Ambrosio (production)
This version puts more focus on the dark deeds of the evil Egyptian high priest.
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.
Ubaldo Maria Del Colle (director)
Giovanni Enrico Vidali (director)
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (author)
Cristina Ruspoli (lead)
Pasquali e C. (production)
Vay e Hubert (production)
This version adds characters, and adds variety to the settings (including animals and spectacular chariot races). Most interesting is the lively background action that adds a sense of ambiguous realism - is that a crap game? Wait - is he supposed to be a femboy? And why does that crazy dance come to the foreground, hiding the villain's attack on Jone?? Strange, but dazzling flick.
George Nichols (director)
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (lead)
Minta Durfee (lead)
Edgar Kennedy (lead)
Echo Park Lake (location)
Keystone (production)
A Keystone novelty flick: cops are neither clowns nor bullies. Even though Arbuckle showcases his comic falls, this one still fell flat for me.
Nino Oxilia (director)
Giorgio Ricci (cinematographer)
Guglielmo Zorzi (writer)
Alberto Fassini (author)
Francesca Bertini (lead)
Angelo Gallina (lead)
André Habay (lead)
Fulvia Perini (lead)
Celio (production)
Essentially an aristocratic elaboration of Custody Of The Child (1909), aided by lush visuals, plus the emotional breadth and depth of the star's performance - and the diva dances!
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (director/lead)
Mabel Normand (lead)
Harry Gribbon (lead)
Minta Durfee (lead)
Al St. John (lead)
Frank Hayes (lead)
Keystone Cops (lead)
Echo Park (location)
Keystone 5-step Porch (location)
Keystone (production)
Ah, spooning...brings to mind some of life's sweetest intimate moments, doesn't it? Huddled over your heroin as it gently cooks up, or guiding that coke to the nostril flared in eager anticipation...But here “spooning” is used in the dated sense: i.e., what you do by the light of the silvery moon with your honey while you croon love's tune in June. That is, what other generations have called “making out”, “necking”, “petting”, “smooching”, “suck face”, “swapping spit”...you get the idea. So think of this as “Fatty's Suck Face Days”, where we get the rare cinematic treat of seeing crazy cops who are also bad cops: inept buffoons who also frame, rob and beat you.
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (director/lead)
Mabel Normand (lead)
Harry McCoy (lead)
Alice Davenport (lead)
Edgar Kennedy (lead)
Luke the Dog (lead)
Echo Park (location)
Keystone 5-step Porch (location)
Keystone 6-step Porch (location)
Keystone (production)
Way back in the days of Mabel's Strange Predicament, Harry McCoy played Mabel's boyfriend: a smiling, dapper, charmer prone to violent jealous fits. Now that Mabel's living with him, he's a foul, deadbeat slob - and still prone to violent jealous fits. Meanwhile, in the time of Predicament, Alice Davenport played an overbearing wife who was quick to catfight her neighbor Mabel. Now she's dumped the old man for Fatty - and still quick to catfight her neighbor Mabel. So when Fatty washes his hanky at the same time Mabel washes her panky, hanky meets panky. Somewhat atypical Keystone: more farce than slapstick.
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (director/lead)
Mack Swain (lead)
Slim Summerville (lead)
Edgar Kennedy (lead)
Al St. John (lead)
Glen Cavender (lead)
Frank Hayes (lead)
Charles Lakin (lead)
Luke the Dog (lead)
Keystone Cops (lead)
Keystone (production)
In late 19th century Europe, capitalist terror gave rise to bombings and assassinations in revolt. By 1914, the bombings had reached the US, sparking the Keystone gag factory to grind out bomb comedy. Herein lies a sample, that purports to show how hilarious a hoax bomb threat would be. Fatty, the tramp plays a new role as barkeeper. Roscoe, the actor, plays a new role as tramp.
Mario Roncoroni (director)
Giovanni Bertinetti (writer)
Luigi Fiorio (cinematographer)
Valeria Creti (lead)
Giovanni Spano (lead)
Cristina Ruspoli (lead)
Corona (production)
Before Mabuse, there was Fantomas - an earlier take on the criminal mastermind outwitting the detective through deception and disguise. Following the success of Fantomas, came the master criminal Filibus in this story (which also seems to have gotten some inspiration from Jules Verne's "Master of the World"). But while Fantomas and Mabuse are murderous psychos, Filibus seems to be just having fun bouncing between genders, flirting first with the brother then the sister. Is Filibus really a baroness - or a woman at all - or is that just another disguise?
Carmine Gallone (director)
Domenico Grimaldi (cinematographer)
Nino Oxilia (writer)
Lyda Borelli (lead)
Cecyl Tryan (lead)
Fulvia Perini (lead)
Augusto Poggioli (lead)
Pina Menichelli (lead)
Società Italiana Cines (production)
The frequent visual jumps and disconnects make it obvious that parts are missing from this fragmented restoration. As further evidence, one of the three character names listed in the opening credits (“Richard Ruggero”) - presumably a main character - doesn't appear in any subsequent title card. Yet, unlike Malombra [1917], there is no source material to refer to for clarification of the story. In fact, it's possible that even if all fragments existed and were correctly assembled, the result would still be confusing as the story lacks depth and solid construction. It feels less like a coherent story, more like a string of cliche hacks quickly thrown together merely to capitalize on a star's appeal (by crew who didn't even spare the time to name the characters!).
But who cares about story? We're here to see the diva flammin' in high fashion, twisted into sultry poses (even dancing!), with that dreamy gaze that wails her tragic fate of being too hip for this world that doesn't deserve her. Lyda in motion is all the story we need...
Reginald Barker (director)
Joseph August (cinematographer)
Thomas H. Ince (writer)
C. Gardner Sullivan (writer)
George Beban (lead)
Clara Williams (lead)
Leo Willis (lead)
When a film opens with someone reading a book titled the same as the film, slowly reading while puffing pipe...you know this film is in no big hurry. But if time is valued, skip to 17:26, where the story actually begins, and nothing will be missed. But it still doesn't move any faster, because this is D..R..A..M..A, where ultra-slow movements are the hallmark of reknown stage professionals. So if time is valued, skip this film entirely and nothing will be missed.
Mack Sennett (director/lead/producer)
Mabel Normand (lead)
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (lead)
Joe Bordeaux (lead)
Keystone (production)
Please don't watch this - it's too long and painfully stupid, nothing more.
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (director/lead)
Norma Nichols (lead)
Edgar Kennedy (lead)
Louise Fazenda (lead)
Josef Swickard (lead)
Frank Hayes (lead)
Keystone Cops (lead)
Keystone 4-step Porch (location)
Keystone 5-step Porch (location)
Keystone (production)
Part One starts out with some routine mother-in-law bits but ends with strikingly dark comedy: a large man on an alcohol-fueled rampage threatening a small elderly woman is an unlikely source of humor. Part Two is an inversion of the standard invasion-call-rescue pattern made famous by a slew of Griffith films (and other Keystone parodies). But here the “invasion” is unwitting - as is the distress call - and the race to rescue is made by the wife to save the husband. It works as a clever parody, effectively using closeups, even though laughs are few.
head city
has waived all rights to all work here that's not stolen from somewhere else.