Works, By Date: 1910-1919 (248)

Total: 406 works

1911 (16)

Sidney Street Siege

A newsreel of the state response to the challenge of a couple of anarchists in 1911 London that fought off the combined force of police and military. Was the inspiration for the shootout in the final scene of Hitchcock's 1934 "The Man Who Knew Too Much".

In The Hands Of Impostors (Den hvide slavehandels sidste offer)

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.

L'Inferno

Dante journeys into the afterlife, where obsessive completists who wasted their lives watching every silent movie available, then posting faux-witticisms, now are condemned to spend all eternity watching "L'Inferno".

Max Takes A Picture (Max fait de la photo)

Max goes nuts when he sees big butt. Max tries to sneak snapshots of a Rubenesque beauty on the beach, but she gets payback - as Max ends up frantic with guilt. Too little content, dragged out too long.

Antony and Cleopatra (Marcantonio e Cleopatra)

Initially lacks the striking imagery of other epics of this period, so doesn't seem to be worth the effort required to view this badly damaged print. But patience is somewhat rewarded when the glitz kicks in later on.

The Black Circle (Il circolo nero)

Peculiar piece of work this one... Starts like a Fantômas-style gentleman-thief/mysterious criminal ring flick. When Our Deadbeat Hero stiffs The Villain with a gambling debt, Deadbeat is given a choice: join The Black Circle or die. Just when he is initiated, the scene immediately switches from Italy to a Chicago wool business - for 16 seconds - then to sheep Out West - for 12.5 seconds - then back to Deadbeat and the Black Circle. Deadbeat is assigned a theft and accepts. But then he sees a picture of his Mom and punks out.

So, after only 17.5 minutes of zero action, less than halfway, The Black Circle crime story ends, and Deadbeat loses his cherished greasy hairstyle (just a bit) to go Out West, where men are men, to join the cow-boys doing whatever it is that cow-boys do with sheep, in a new spaghetti Western romance story: A Fistful of Sheep.

Clearly, footage is missing. Nonetheless, it's hard to conceive of any footage that could credibly link these two stories. Peculiar piece of work this one...

The Curse of Quon Gwon

Featuring rich costumes and the conflict between tradition and modernism (a theme that, 10-20 years later, would become a staple of the Shanghai film industry), it's a pity so little remains of this.