The Silent Film Quarterly Volume 3
Winter 2017-18
Issue II
The Silent Film Quarterly • 3
The Silent Film Quarterly
—————————————————————————— Volume III, Issue 2 Winter 2017-18 Table of Contents Editor’s Message 4 The Greatest Silent Film of All Time:
Charles Epting
6
Coming Attractions: Lewis Walker
8
A Trip to the Moon: Charles Epting
10
Silent Film Quarterly Attempts To Solve an Unsolvable Question A Round-Up of New Releases
A Review of Flicker Alley’s 2018 Reissue of a Méliès Classic
Silents in Review: Claire Inayat Williams
12
San Francisco Silent Film Festival Day of Silents 2017
Daring Youth:
Gabriela Hernandez
17
Makeup in the Silent Film Era
Getting Away With Art, Part II:
Mark Pruett
23
Charles Epting
30
The Unsung Allies of Maurice Tourneur
Searching for DeMille’s Egypt:
A Trip to the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center
The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful For Hollywood:
35
An Interview with Author Sherri Snyder
Theda Bara’s Lost Cleopatra: 44 An Interview with Filmmaker Phillip Dye
Bill Hart and “Charlie”:
Paul H. Conlon 46
The Famed Cowboy Trades in Fritz for a Monkey?
Just Rolling Along:
Eleanor Barnes
Making People Laugh:
Chester Conklin 52
Loretta Young—She’s Not Only Young but Pretty
The Man Behind the Moustache Explains His Craft
49
The Silent Film Quarterly • 4 Editor’s Message As I type this message, I’m making travel arrangements to attend my first San Francisco Silent Film Festival. There are, by my count, 20 feature films being screened, and while I’m sure that all have their merits there are some titles which I am particularly looking forward to. Here are my personal top five, the films which I will not miss under any circumstances: 5. No Man’s Gold (1926) Although Tom Mix’s career spanned nearly the entire silent era, he was arguably at the height of his powers in 1926. Mix inspired an entire generation of cowboys; any chance to see one of his Fox features on the big screen should be met with excitement. 4. A Throw of Dice (1929) So extravagant that it has often been compared to Cecil B. DeMille, A Throw of Dice presents two of India’s earliest movie stars in one of India’s greatest silent films. Although it has been owned by the BFI for decades, it has only been shown stateside in recent years. 3. The Saga of Gosta Berling (1924) Mauritz Stiller is an undisputed master of early Swedish cinema, Lars Hanson was a heartthrob on both sides of the Atlantic, but who are we kidding: the main attraction here is Greta Garbo in her first starring role. Well-worth the 3-hour-plus runtime. 2. People On Sunday (1930) Full disclosure: People On Sunday is one of my favorite silent films ever made, and I have begged dozens of people to purchase the Criterion Collection DVD. Seeing this on the big screen will undoubtedly be a personal highlight for myself. 1. Mare Nostrum (1926) This film was the personal favorite of both Rex Ingram and Alice Terry, and its beautiful locations and early special effects will certainly make it interesting. But let’s be completely honest: what I’m really, truly excited about is the introduction by Kevin Brownlow, who is celebrating his 80th birthday this year. This has potential to be the most poignant and important moment of the festival. Beyond the screenings, though, I am looking forward to the SFSFF as an opportunity to catch up with people I rarely see in person (like Silent-ology’s Lea Stans) and meet people who I know only through social media (such as SFQ regular Claire Inayat Williams). This is an event I have wanted to attend for many years, but work conflicts have always prevented me. Expect a full recap in the next issue. Issue 11 will feature an interview with my favorite post-punk-guitarist-turned-silentfilm-composer, as well as several other exciting interviews and articles. Stay tuned for more information on www.silentfilmquarterly.com in the meantime! —Charles Epting, editor
The Silent Film Quarterly • 5
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The Silent Film Quarterly • 6
The Greatest Silent Film of All Time: Silent Film Quarterly Attempts To Solve an Unsolvable Question by Charles Epting The quest for the “greatest” silent film ever made. It seems like a futile challenge--and in all honesty, it probably is. But ever since the earliest days of cinema, critics and fans alike have obsessed over ranking and rating films in order to create some sort of hierarchy. I’ve long tried to figure out the best method for Silent Film Quarterly to have a go at determining the greatest silent film. I’d considered everything from a simple popularity poll where readers submit their favorite picture, to more creative methods like a college basketball-style bracket. These strategies, however, seem to have weaknesses that cannot overcome their strengths; ultimately, I decided that the quest to find the greatest silent film was a fool’s errand. It was only after discovering the website “All Our Ideas” that I decided to revisit the idea of ranking silent films. All Our Ideas features a unique strategy for ranking items; it pits two random selections against one another in a head-tohead battle. By examining the frequency with which each item wins its matchups, it can then determine the probability of each choice winning against a random opponent. To explain this better, I will use real-life examples. I fed approximately 100 film titles from the silent era into All Our Ideas (users are also allowed to submit their own films if they were not amongst my initial selections). The website then begins feeding the user questions: Intolerance or The Gold Rush? Metropolis or Wings? The Sheik or Sunrise? Again, these matchups are generated randomly, so the odds of being asked the same question twice are exceedingly low. I devised several rules when it came
to selecting films to include in the poll. Obviously lost films were out, regardless of how beloved and desired they might be (so no London After Midnight or Cleopatra). I also decided to exclude short films, as I feel it is unfair to compare Kid Auto Races At Venice to The Kid, or One Week to Three Ages. Beyond that, all silent feature films are eligible for inclusion. I do not intend for this to be a static ranking of films; rather, I hope that readers will continue to cast their votes so that the list becomes dynamic and evolving. At the time of writing, approximately 22,000 votes have been cast. I’d love to see the list change considerably as that number grows over time.
1919 newspaper advertisement for...The Heart of Humanity? Opinions as to the greatest film of the silent era obviously depend on who you talk to.
The Silent Film Quarterly • 7
Silent Film Quarterly’s Top 50 Silent Films As Voted On By Our Readers 1. The Wind 2. Orphans of the Storm 3. Sunrise 4. City Lights 5. The General 6. Intolerance 7. Broken Blossoms 8. Wings 9. The Cameraman 10. Way Down East 11. Greed 12. The Birth of a Nation 13. The Passion of Joan of Arc 14. Die Nibelungen 15. Safety Last 16. 7th Heaven 17. The Last Laugh 18. Man With the Movie Camera 19. The Circus 20. The Man Who Laughs 21. The Thief of Bagdad 22. The Docks of New York 23. Hearts Of The World 24. Nosferatu 25. Sherlock, Jr.
26. The Scarlet Letter 27. Lucky Star 28. It 29. Ben-Hur 30. Four Sons 31. True Heart Susie 32. The Last Command 33. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 34. Street Angel 35. Steamboat Bill, Jr. 36. The Phantom of the Opera 37. Our Hospitality 38. The King of Kings 39. The Gold Rush 40. Sadie Thompson 41. The Kid 42. Sparrows 43. Judith Of Bethulia 44. He Who Gets Slapped 45. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 46. Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler 47. The Lodger 48. The Hunchback of Notre Dame 49. The Navigator 50. Napoléon
To cast your votes, visit www.allourideas.org/silentmovie. Regular updates will be provided in future issues.