Fame is a fickle thing. Many of the biggest stars of yesteryear are now mere footnotes in pop culture history and remain largely unknown even to us classic film fanatics. The Marathon Stars Blogathon is the perfect chance to dive into one such actor whose …
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I recently finished Buster Keaton’s silent filmography—or so I thought. Focused on watching all Keaton’s appearances in Arbuckle shorts, the 21 shorts he directed, and his silent feature comedies, I overlooked his starring role in Herbert Blanche’s 1920 The Saphead.
It was a natural …
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1916 marked the 300th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Naturally, motion picture studios celebrated the occasion by releasing a flurry of Shakespeare adaptations from The Merchant of Venice to Macbeth.
In the case of Romeo and Juliet, two adaptations were released the very …
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In his nearly fifty film roles, Ernest Torrence perfectly exemplifies the unique skill set required to succeed as a character actor. A towering 6’4″ with a rugged, grizzled face, Torrence backed up his unique physicality with a rare mixture of humor and villainy. While he …
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Mary Pickford skyrocketed to international stardom in the 1910s playing plucky children in films such as Tess of the Storm Country and Fanchon the Cricket. Her popular juvenile image contrasted heavily with her position as one of the most powerful actors and producers in …
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Charlie Chaplin’s greatest talent was his ability to mix heartfelt emotion into his comedies. From his touching father-son relationship with Jackie Cooper in The Kid to the utterly honest climactic romantic scene in City Lights, Chaplin manages to give you the warm fuzzies just …
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