1920s

  • Tod Browning – The Mystic (1925)

    Tod Browning1921-1930CrimeSilentUSA
    The Mystic (1925)
    The Mystic (1925)

    A fantastically atmospheric but rarely seen missing link in the development of Tod Browning’s artistry, set amid his favored milieu of shadowy sideshows and clever criminals, The Mystic provides a striking showcase for silent-era diva Aileen Pringle, who sports a series of memorably outré looks (courtesy of art deco designer Erté) as Zara, a phony psychic in a Hungarian carnival who, under the guidance of a Svengali-like con man (Conway Tearle), crashes—and proceeds to swindle—American high society. Browning’s fascination with the weird is on full display in the eerie séance sequences, while his subversive moral ambiguity extends surprising sympathy to even the most seemingly irredeemable of antiheroes.Read More »

  • Jean Renoir – Sur un air de Charleston aka Charleston parade (1927)

    Jean Renoir1921-1930FantasyFranceSci-Fi
    Sur un air de Charleston (1927)
    Sur un air de Charleston (1927)

    PLOT DESCRIPTION
    French filmmaker Jean Renoir would later remark that he directed the sensual dance fantasy Charleston because he’d “just discovered American jazz.” He also had some stock footage left over from his previous silent success Nana, and decided it would be provident to fashion a new film from these leavings. Even without the benefit of sound, one can hear the jazzy rhythms of Charleston through the exuberant gyrations of an African-American dancer whom Renoir and his star, actress Catherine Hessling, had discovered for this picture. Originally titled Sur un air de Charleston, the film was also released as Charleston Parade in English-speaking countries. In some areas of the US and Europe, the film was greeted with protests from censorship boards who simply couldn’t appreciate the aesthetic value in Catherine Hessling’s near-nude dance numbers.
    ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideRead More »

  • Raoul Walsh – The Loves of Carmen (1927)

    Raoul Walsh1921-1930ClassicsRomanceUSA
    The Loves of Carmen (1927)
    The Loves of Carmen (1927)

    Bad quality but very rare. I don’t know the source for this video, but it looks like a distant ancestor was a vhs.

    Here’s an imdb review by lugonian:
    THE LOVES OF CARMEN (Fox, 1927), directed by Raoul Walsh, reunites Walsh with his WHAT PRICE GLORY (1926) leading players of Dolores Del Rio and Victor McLaglen in a story based on Prosper Merimee’s classic story, “Carmen,” that later served as an 1875 Georges Bizet opera. For those unfamiliar with the plot, this edition, one of many, comes across as more faithful to the aforementioned properties from which it is based.Read More »

  • James W. Horne & Buster Keaton – College (1927)

    1921-1930Buster KeatonComedyJames W. HorneSilentUSA

    To reconcile with his girlfriend, a bookish college student tries to become an athlete.Read More »

  • Erich von Stroheim – Foolish Wives (1922)

    Drama1921-1930Erich von StroheimSilentUSA

    As artistically brilliant as it is gleefully perverse, Foolish Wives is Erich von Stroheim’s epic-scale account of an American diplomat’s wife (Mrs. Dupont) who falls under the spell of a phony Russian Count (von Stroheim). With his trademark eye for visual metaphor and gritty detail, von Stroheim infuses the artistocratic splendor of Monte Carlo (rebuilt in all its majesty on the Universal backlot) with an air of moral depravity. The result is a Grimm’s fairy tale romance that is no less fascinating today than it was 80 years ago.Read More »

  • Fred Guiol – The Second 100 Years (1927)

    1921-1930ComedyFred GuiolSilentUSA

    Quote:
    Thrown in prison for a hundred years, Little Goofy and Big Goofy finally break free, posing as an anarchic duo of undercover painters. Soon, the boys wind up in a private party as visiting French dignitaries; however, who are they kidding?Read More »

  • Rowland V. Lee – Blind Hearts (1921)

    1921-1930DramaRowland V. LeeSilentUSA

    In 1898 friends John Thomas and Lars Larson travel to the Yukon with their wives to make their fortunes. While in Alaska Thomas’ wife gives birth to a boy, and Larson’s wife has a girl, Julia. However, Larson spots a birthmark on his daughter’s shoulder that resembles one on Thomas’ shoulder, and he begins to suspect that he may not actually be the girl’s father. Over the next 20 years the two become millionaires, but Larson’s wife dies. Julia and Thomas fall in love and wish to marry, but Larson is determined to oppose it. Complications ensue (imdb)Read More »

  • Clyde Bruckman – Call of the Cuckoo (1927)

    1921-1930Clyde BruckmanComedySilentUSA

    Mishaps befall a new home owner located next door to an insane asylum.Read More »

  • Fred Guiol – Do Detectives Think? (1927)

    1921-1930ComedyFred GuiolSilentUSA

    Quote:
    An escaped convict is out to kill the judge who sentenced him. Two inept detectives are hired to guard the judge.Read More »

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