Wallace McCutcheon (director)
G.W. Bitzer (cinematographer)
Gayne Whitman (lead)
American Mutoscope and Biograph (production)
Remember the last time you saw a movie in tribute to a heroic family man (and his gun-totin' wife) who made a clean living producing and selling illegal recreational drugs, until killed in a police raid? Well, if you missed that one, just turn your clock back to pre-Hollywood, and dig this sympathetic look at one of America's outlaw folk heroes (featuring an MMA-style fight scene!)
Alf Collins (director)
Gaumont (production)
This revenge is not so sweet - quite nasty, in fact - showing that producers learned early that exploiting human fascination with viewing violence can be profitable.
Wallace McCutcheon (director)
Edwin S. Porter (director/cinematographer)
Edison (production)
The two men renown as pioneers of early US cinema, Edwin S. Porter and D.W. Griffith, shared another claim to fame/infamy: each created a work inspired by Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 The Clansman. Griffith's 1915 film The Birth of a Nation was adapted from the stage version of the novel. Edwin S. Porter was inspired by the novel to create this film. According to Before the Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company, Edison advertisements held a pro-vigilante view, proclaiming: A lawless and criminal element almost invariably accompanied the advance guard of civilization and to keep this element in check the law abiding citizens were compelled to secretly organize themselves for their own protection...We have portrayed in Motion Pictures, in a most vivid and realistic manner, the method employed by the “White Caps” to rid the community of undesirable citizens.
While the White Caps role here as Morality Police may seem relatively benign compared to the lynch justice in The Birth of a Nation, the book also points out: This film narrative exactly parallels an earlier account of “White Cap” activity in a turn-of-the-century newspaper. In the newspaper account, the tar clogged up the man's pores and he eventually died.
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/writer)
G.W. Bitzer (cinematographer)
Edward Sheldon (author)
Florence Lawrence (lead)
Harry Solter (lead)
Charles Avery (lead)
Biograph (production)
Despite being burdened with the stale saved-from-sin storyline that was already cliche in 1909, this film holds interest with performances that skillfully evoke viewer empathy without going over the top in the usual melodramatic style. In addition, background characters also come across strong:
D.W. Griffith (director/writer)
G.W. Bitzer (cinematographer)
Arthur Johnson (lead)
Marion Leonard (lead)
David Miles (lead)
Biograph (production)
Hooded men in sheets plot to murder people but, surprisingly, in this Griffith film they'e not the heroes - probably because they annoyingly keep repeating "No high, No low, All equal!", which turns out to be an accurate description of this lengthy monotonous mess that once again shows that Griffith was burdened with too much film stock.
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.
Victorin Jasset (director/writer)
Lucien N. Andriot (cinematographer)
Léon Sazie (author)
Éclair (production)
Nick Carter, a dickhead whose irritating smugness is only exceeded by his utter ineptness, takes on his equal in Zigomar who, when he's not busy handing out beatdowns to Nick Carter, hands out receipts for the loot he nicks. Other than the car chase shootout (a tamer rehearsal for the upcoming Bandits En Automobile), definitely a go-to flick for insomniacs.
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'.
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...
Mack Sennett (director/producer)
Mabel Normand (lead)
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (lead)
Charles Inslee (lead)
Virginia Kirtley (lead)
Keystone Cops (lead)
Keystone (production)
Roscoe and the Keystone Cops in an orgy of pratfalls, while Mabel mugs, bounces, and shows off her wild left roundhouse.
Albert Capellani (director/writer)
Emile Zola (author)
Henry Krauss (lead)
Sylvie (lead)
Jean Jacquinet (lead)
Dharsay (lead)
Cécile Guyon (lead)
Pathé (production)
The original film is 2.5 hours, so this version is missing more than half the film - most notably, the intertitles. Also, the two main male leads share similar costumes, physique, mustaches, and hair styles, and are both seen with the same woman. So this version is tricky to follow, but is worth the effort: a more natural acting style, location filming, unforgettable scenes of crowd uprising, and a story that subtly surveys the intersection between emotional and social landscapes - at a time when US film was still honing its huckster skills of grabbing the attention of the audience, then ramming views and values (aka, propaganda) down its throat.
Wilfred Lucas (director)
Mabel Normand (lead)
Ford Sterling (lead)
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (lead)
Echo Park Lake Bridge (location)
Keystone 3-step Porch (location)
Keystone (production)
The main attraction: Sterling vs Arbuckle fight
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.
George Loane Tucker (author/director)
Walter MacNamara (writer)
H. Alderson Leach (cinematographer)
Jane Gail (lead)
Ethel Grandin (lead)
Matt Moore (lead)
A country girl, just into the big city, is misled from the train station to a 'den of iniquity' where she is held captive. Two immigrant girls, literally fresh off the boat, are promised 'good positions and salary' but instead are trapped in that same den. A naive city girl falls for a smooth operator who drugs her drink then carries her off to another den. All the work of one mob, and a high society elite who is, literally, 'the man higher up' - his office is upstairs from the mob's. This mob doesn't look tough, but they go out like gangsters - almost 20 years before "Little Caesar" and "Scarface". And although we're supposed to believe the man higher up had no connections with police, a member of the upper class rolling in cash by enslaving some of the most vulnerable members of the lower classes - in a way that's despised by general society - is nontheless an unusually provocative plot line for early American film.
George Nichols (director)
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (lead)
Minta Durfee (lead)
Edgar Kennedy (lead)
Virginia Kirtley (lead)
Keystone Cops (lead)
Echo Park Lake Bridge (location)
Keystone 3.5-step Porch (location)
Keystone (production)
As simple as it gets: no story, just the title, that leads to a chase. Yet it still manages to deliver the laughs, thanks to Roscoe's comic skills and a manic pace.
head city
has waived all rights to all work here that's not stolen from somewhere else.