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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 »
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 »
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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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Mariann Lewinsky (Il Cinema Ritrovato 2020): “Kashtanka by Olga Preobrazhenskaya, print 1995, a film of winter, of night and snow, of children and animals, a film about loss, a masterpiece”, read my viewing notes from 2012. My Prague colleagues had it screened for me because they knew I was interested in colour in silent cinema, and they knew a tinted Soviet silent film to be a rare item. I had never heard the name of the director. My encounter with her work was enhanced by the shock of discovering that a major director who had reached international audiences with Baby ryazanskie and Tikhiy Don (The Quiet Don) around 1930 could disappear without a trace from official film history. In 2013, Il Cinema Ritrovato dedicated a retrospective to her.” Mariann Lewinsky (Il Cinema Ritrovato 2020)Read More »
Synopsis:
Maude, engaged to a doctor, was adopted years earlier by the president of an anti-alcoholic league. She becomes infatuated with a Gypsy violinist, who, after kidnapping and restraining the girl’s fiancé takes her to his villa and, to try to make her give in to his coaxing, has some gypsies offer her champagne.
Whilst incomplete and suffering from a certain amount of nitrate decomp – there are around four quite bad bouts of this, if memory serves – enough of the film survives to provide a coherent, if whimsical, narrative with pleasing performances and some charming special effects. There is much to recommend the film stylistically with a good mix of long, medium and close-up shots, some thoughtful shot compositions and several instances where characters exit shot toward the side of the camera, providing a candid feel.Read More »
Sally Pinkus is an German-Jewish boy who takes a job as a shoe store clerk after being expelled from school for goofing around. Soon fired for trying to court the owner’s daughter, Pinkus lands another job in a more ‘upmarket’ shoe salon, only to be fired again, before charming a rich benefactress to fund his ultimate dream: Pinkus’ Shoe Palace.Read More »
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Three American workers are dismissed from the Ford plant during the Depression, and come to the Soviet Union. Not wanting to live with a man of “inferior race” one (Sam) kicks the other (Tom) out of the dorm. The Soviet workers are outraged by the American’s ugly act, declare a boycott of Sam and convince him to abandon racial prejudices and make peace with Tom.Read More »
Quote:The film itself is a small wonder to behold. It’s cut in a blazing speed, but at the same time manages to integrate social realities in a documentary style, to mix satire, humor and some artistic lighting, in short it’s one of the glorious late silent era masterpieces and all the more scandalous that it’s completely out of circulation. The story itself is very simple, a lady loses a pearl necklace on the street, an old beggar picks it up, observed by a prostitute who tries to outwit him, while a third younger man out of a job who comes to the beggar’s shack complicates the situation.Read More »
