Works, By Title: S-X (142)

Total: 377 works

The '?' Motorist

Neither the law of society nor the law of gravity can obstruct this motorist's journey.

The 1002nd Ruse (Тысяча_вторая_хитрость)

This seems to want to be seen in a comic light, but every opportunity for humor is replaced by a mere suggestion of a possible humorous situation - “insert gag here” - leaving the impression of viewing an incomplete work..or a total flop.

The Aryan/La fiera domada

The title raised the excited hope of going beyond the usual stereotyping and slurs, instead delivering an explicit exposition of racial ideology - taking Birth Of A Nation out west. Unfortunately, this is just an incomplete reconstruction of a film considered lost until 2008. The introduction states that this version comes from an Argentine mid-1920s rerelease (dates within the film are given as 1923), with titles that “differ quite a bit from the original”. Most segments have not been digitally restored, and lost segments are replaced by photographs.

The original may have been more directly concerned with racial ideology, but here Cowboy's main conflict is with women: Cowboy is massively Madonna–whore complexed. This is immediately suggested in the very first scene, where Cowboy's sacred love for his distant mother is juxtaposed with images of him petting and kissing his bestial companion. Then after he deludes himself that a sleazy mining camp on the border is his ideal “town inhabited by men of iron heart”, and that his mother would love a girl he met in a bar there, he is of course vamped. But instead of dumping her, he takes her as his whore he loves to hate, as he does a No-More-Mister-Nice-Guy. Finally, he meets The Virgin Mary Jane and he again falls to his delusions as she cons him into believing his White Man's Duty is to give away his riches. He leaves behind his whore to return to his Brotherhood and replay the Heroic Defender role that first got him vamped, before riding off in the sunset to seek his next imagined Madonna to transform into an imagined whore. So goes the life of an iron-hearted Aryan.

The Counterfeiters

Arrest, imprisonment, escape, chase...but ending is lost.

The Countryman And The Cinematograph

Considered one of the earliest known examples of a film within a film, the surviving footage is incomplete, missing both beginning and ending. Was remade by Edwin S. Porter for Edison, as Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show.

The Cruel Mother (La marâtre/The Stepmother)

Relax - it's not an attack on motherhood. It's just another shot at the traditional whipping post: the stepmother. No new ground covered here, as everyone who's been subjected to fairy tales learned that stepmothers are evil (usually long before learning what the word 'stepmother' means). But be warned that the child beating scenes are not for the squeamish.

The Taking Of Luke McVane/The Fugitive

Luke McVane is some geek that moves so slow you wonder what kind of “horse” this cowboy is really on. Wearing his virginity on his sleeve, he goes starry-eyed over the town floozy when she hoochie coochies for a saloon full of drunken cowboys. When Garcia takes her as private property, Luke remembers Broncho Billy And The Greaser and jumps at his chance to score nookie points. But, unlike Broncho Billy, this square flips his roscoe once too often, so the town figures the strange mad dog needs to be put down, and he ends up a lamster. Suddenly the nerd's looking less hero, more antihero - and this sleepy little flick turns out to be better than expected.

Note:
  • The Miracle Cure: Although the wounded sheriff initially had to be carefully helped into the saddle, when Apaches are spotted just a short while later he needs no help mounting the rear of a running horse!
  • An Equal Opportunity Employer: This work is marked as one featuring an “ethnic stereotype” because of the opening standoff with unruly knife-toting Garcia. But it must be noted that closer inspection of the background in later scenes shows an unusual twist for a film of that era: cowboys in similar Mexican garb join the Deputy's posses for lynching Luke McVane and for exterminating Native Americans.

The Taming Of The Shrew

Brief rendition of the Shakespeare play, that's unlikely to make much sense to viewers not already familiar with the story. The shrew's initial rampage is hot fun but, as in real life, after the wedding it's all downhill.

The Teddy Bears

Porter still has not discovered the value of a closeup shot, and once again demonstrates his talent for transforming a 5-minute yarn into a 14-minute yawn. Here, The Three Bears meet Teddy Roosevelt and discover not only that he doesn't bother to speak, but he's also traded in his big stick for a big gun. Naive to standard imperialist tactics, they realize only too late that Goldilocks was merely a pretext for wholesale slaughter and plunder. A fun watch for the kids.

The Truth Behind the Ape-Man (La vérité sur l'homme-singe)

Notable for an early use of inter-cutting for comic effect (in a running gag), and the manic performance of the uncredited lead as ape-man (shades of Harpo). Also impressed by how efffective the wordless storytelling was. Or maybe not: almost all the online reviews I read were either baffled or off the mark. But if you're feeling the need for clues, there's a detailed breakdown at: https://centuryfilmproject.org/2016/06/13/the-truth-behind-the-ape-man-1906/

The Unfortunate Policeman

1 cop + 1 flirt + 1 kiss = 1 incremental chase.

The Unskillful Skater/The Skater's Debut/Max Learns To Skate (Début d'un Patineur)

Max causes havoc when he joins other skaters on a frozen lake.

The Water-Funker (La peur de l'eau)

Max's romance is derailed by a challenge to his fear of water. Only two comic moments: this first one at 9 minutes. The final comic moment (at 13 minutes) is Max in his best manic form. It's even more impressive because it is preceded by a chillingly grim portrayal of broken-hearted depression: like a cinematic display of manic-depression.

The Watermelon Patch

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.

The White Caps

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.