Yearly Archives: 2012

Oliver Twist

Posted on October 13, 2012 by John Grant

I saw three versions of “Oliver Twist” on the big screen at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival, but I liked the one with Jackie Coogan the best.  Several countries produced filmed versions of the Charles Dickens’ novel, including an English … Continue reading →

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My Son

Posted on October 10, 2012 by John Grant

A short Anna Sten film from 1928 called “Moi Syn (My Son)” surfaced recently at the Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken, and the curators at the museum made a quick DVD copy to present at the 2012 Pordenone Silent … Continue reading →

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In Pordenone

Posted on October 8, 2012 by John Grant

Pordenone, Italy — I am on the ground in Pordenone for the 31st Pordenone Silent Film Festival.  The wonderful program this year concentrates on Charles Dickens stories, Anna Sten, and the films of the Selig Polyscope Company.  I have already … Continue reading →

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Robinson Crusoe

Posted on October 6, 2012 by John Grant

Pordenone, Italy — A special event at this year’s 31st Pordenone Silent Film Festival (Le Giornate Del Cinema Muto) featured, on October 6, a wonderful restoration (by the Cinémathèque Française and Laboratoires Éclaire) of a George Méliès 1902 film called … Continue reading →

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The Patsy

Posted on October 6, 2012 by John Grant

Pordenone, Italy — The silent film festival festival here screened the comedy “The Patsy,” which stars Marion Davies and Marie Dressler.  The King Vidor directed comedy features Davies as a woman (Patricia) who falls in love with her sister’s boyfriend … Continue reading →

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Wooden Clogs

Posted on October 5, 2012 by John Grant

Watch “The Tree of Wooden Clogs,” an Italian movie from 1978, and you can learn a lot of things just by observing.  For instance, it’s very bad when a cow won’t eat and can’t get up, and chicken manure might … Continue reading →

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Our Modern Maidens

Posted on October 2, 2012 by John Grant

MGM pays tribute to the revved-up late 1920s in “Our Modern Maidens,” a 1929 film starring Joan Crawford, Anita Page and Douglas Fairbanks, Junior.  MGM added sound effects, but the mostly silent picture follows the story of Billie, the most … Continue reading →

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Carnival in Flanders

Posted on September 29, 2012 by John Grant

Everybody should see the 1935 film called “La Kermesse Héroïque (Carnival in Flanders),” which stars the wonderful and gifted Françoise Rosay as the wife of the Burgomaster in a Flemish village.  When Spanish invaders take over the town, the men flee but … Continue reading →

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The Red Mill

Posted on September 26, 2012 by John Grant

“The Red Mill,” a 1927 silent picture starring Marion Davies, features Davies as Tina, a drudge and servant girl in Holland who falls in love with foreign visitor Dennis, played by Owen Moore.  Tina and Dennis skate together along the … Continue reading →

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Dimitrios

Posted on September 23, 2012 by John Grant

Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet team up once again in “The Mask of Dimitrios,” released in 1944 by Warner Brothers and directed by Jean Negulesco.  Lorre plays a Dutch detective story writer named Cornelius Leyden who becomes obsessed with a Greek … Continue reading →

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