Edwin S. Porter (cinematographer/director)
Wallace McCutcheon (cinematographer/director)
Edison (production)
As usual with Edison, the length far exceeds the interest. But don't chuck this one: skip the long boring chase and fast-forward to the uncredited cake-walking babies strutting their stuff and rocking the house.
Evelyn Nesbit (lead)
Lubin (production)
A fictionalized account of the debauchery and insanity of the elite - America's favorite type of scandal - the original 'Dementia Americana' (not to be confused with school mass murders).
Alice Guy-Blaché (director/writer)
Lee Beggs (lead)
Blanche Cornwall (lead)
Solax (production)
While this is usually described as an immigrant's lessons in American treatment of women, it should also be described as an immigrant's lessons in American treatment of immigrants, as he becomes a target for bullying on the streets, in his home, and on his farm, before finally being hauled away and shackled into slavery: "Completely Americanized!". Of even greater concern than the film and its authoritarian message is how rarely this disturbing aspect of the film is noted in modern reviews - which raises the question: over 100 years later, is assimilation by violent force, humiliation, and degradation still the accepted method of "Making An American Citizen"?
Léonce Perret (director/writer)
Georges Specht (cinematographer)
Louis Leubas (lead)
Maurice Lagrenée (lead)
Notre-Dame de Paris (location)
Gaumont (production)
Think two-hour “epics” are reserved for tales of war or larger-than-life heroes, as in Cabiria (1914), The Birth of a Nation (1915), or J'accuse (1919)? Sorry, but this golden-to-ghetto melodrama came before those. Here - “epic” this:
Finally, after 33 minutes of bourgeois colonialist weepfest, things get real when Edmond “The Graduate” enters - but he exits less than 5 minutes later, and is gone for 15 minutes. After his return, he disappears again, and the final 47 minutes of the film is little more than watching a nookie-starved snitch run back and forth to the cops.
Sure, the street scenes look nice, but the investigation of those scenes by The Cine-Tourist is much more interesting.
Raoul Walsh (director/writer)
Carl Harbaugh (lead/writer)
Owen Frawley Kildare (author)
Rockliffe Fellowes (lead)
Anna Q. Nilsson (lead)
Fox (production)
Long introduction of no relevance, gangs but no crime, DA with no case, ship fire of no consequence, romance but no joy. Still, any flick where all cops are creeps can't be all bad. The filmcraft is impressive, despite the sappy story - as a one-reeler, minus the filler, could've been a killer. Plus, it's rare to see a murderer go unpunished. And this particular restoration is worth watching just for its beautifully sick music.
Charles Swickard (director)
Joseph H. August (cinematographer)
C. Gardner Sullivan (writer)
William S. Hart (lead)
Clara Williams (lead)
Jack Standing (lead)
Alfred Hollingsworth (lead)
Louise Glaum (lead)
Even though this again features Hart as an outlaw gone soft-headed for a dame, it immediately reveals itself as unique because it does not open with Hart's cowboy, and more than ten minutes go by before he finally appears. Instead, the film begins with detailed depiction of the story's primary movers, that the cowboy will find himself forced to deal with. A finely crafted Wild West Sodom and Gomorrah tale - despite its annoying pompous titles and their spoilers.
Louis Feuillade (director/writer)
Arthur Bernède (writer)
André Glatti (cinematographer)
Léon Klausse (cinematographer)
Édouard Mathé (lead)
Jean Devalde (lead)
Louis Leubas (lead)
Marcel Lévesque (lead)
Musidora (lead)
René Cresté (lead)
Yvette Andréyor (lead)
Gaumont (production)
A caped crusader and his sidekick respond to a distress signal that appears at their tech-equipped cave. Welcome to the cinema of 1917 - where the story began...
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