The Miracle Man (1932): Remaking a Silent Classic
Considered by contemporary critics as one of the greatest films ever made, George Loane Tucker’s 1919 film The Miracle Man has no surviving copies. I do some digging into the film’s two minutes of surviving footage and dissect the 1932 sound remake to decide to better understand the appeal of this lost silent classic.
My Favorite Silent Harold Lloyd Pictures
A personal favorite star of mine, Harold Lloyd stands as one of the definitive personalities of 1920s culture and film as an optimistic, happy-go-lucky middle-class hero. I rank his eleven feature-length 1920s silent films from favorite to most favorite.
Utahns in Classic Film
From talented auteurs like Frank Borzage to radiant stars like John Gilbert and Loretta Young, Utah has provided Hollywood with some of its top talent. I take a look at ten of the most popular and well-known actors, directors, and other behind-the-camera talent and recommend films that are easily accessible to view their work.
Lois Weber’s Hypocrites (1915)
Lois Weber started steadily gaining name recognition through directing short films like Suspense in the early 1910s. As the film industry moved towards making feature films, Weber established herself as one of the best directors in Hollywood alongside filmmakers like Cecil B. DeMille and D.W. Griffith. In this review, I look at Weber’s severely overlooked 1915 film Hypocrites.
Intro to Silent Film Genres
Stretching from the first actualities of the 1890s to the studio epics of the late 1920s, silent movies boast thousands of films from every corner of the world in every possible genre. Often reduced by newcomers as either slapstick comedy or European arthouse, four decades of silent movies provide a little bit of something for everyone’s eclectic taste. Read my brief history of silent film and twenty-four viewing suggestions across twelve different genres for beginners and the life-long silent film fanatic.
The Sign of the Cross (1932)
Cecil B. DeMille, a personal favorite of mine, tackles a tale of early Christianity in Nero’s Rome in his 1932 Pre-Code epic. A truly energetic and sexually charged romp, DeMille brings to the screen two of his favorite things: Christain morals and sex appeal.
Monsieur Verdoux: A Comedy of Murders (1947)
In his first film not playing a variation of his iconic Tramp, Chaplin delivers a scathing condemnation of modern society’s heartless economic and military systems. Despite its serious subject matter, Chapln’s dark humor always keeps the audience’s attention in a departure from his previous three decades of films. A message with a laugh indeed.
Looking for something more to read on the blog? Browse by tag below to find your favorite topic, filmmaker, or era.
1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1970s 2020 Summer Reading Challenge 2021 Summer Reading Challenge 2022 Summer Reading Challenge 2023 Summer Reading Challenge African American filmmakers Alice Guy-Blache Animation Auteurs Barbara Stanwyck Best of Lists Betty Compson Biographies Blogathons Brigham Young Brighton School Buster Keaton Cecil B. DeMille Character Actors Charlie Chaplin Clara Bow Clara Kimball Young classic film classic film reading Classic Movie Day Classic Television Dick Powell Double Features Douglas Fairbanks Early Cinema Easter Epics Ernest Lubistch Ernest Torrence European Cinema F.W. Murnau Fan Magazines Fay Wray Film Festivals Film Music Film Noir film podcast Film Projection Film Recommendations Frank Borzage Genre Filmmaking George Melies Harold Lloyd Harry Houdini Hollywood blacklist Hollywood Studios horror Ingmar Bergman Intro to James Cruze John Gilbert Laraine Day Leslie Nelson Linda Darnell Literary Adaptations Lois Weber Loretta Young Lost Films lotte reiniger Lumiere Brothers Mabel Normand Mack Swain Mary Pickford Mormons in the Movies Moroni Olsen Motion Picture Stunt Pilots Natacha Rambova National Film Registry Oscar Micheaux Oscars polygamy Pre-1910 Pre-Code Hollywood Rare Films Remakes Shakespeare Sidney Poitier Silent Clowns Silent Movie Day Silent Movies technology Utah and the Movies Utahns in Film Utah on Film Vincent Price Westerns William Dieterle Women Filmmakers Year in Review Zane Grey
