Category Archives: Silent Film

The First Son

Posted on July 22, 2013 by John Grant

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) showed its affection for British silent films with its presentation of “The First Born,” a 1928 film directed by and starring Miles Mander.  After screening 9 Alfred Hitchcock (mostly British) films in June … Continue reading →

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Prix de Beauté

Posted on July 19, 2013 by John Grant

The lovely Louise Brooks plays a typist at a Paris newspaper who enters a beauty contest in “Prix de Beauté (1930),” the opening film of the 2013 San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF).  The festival began Thursday, July 18, and … Continue reading →

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The Pleasure Garden

Posted on June 16, 2013 by John Grant

Alfred Hitchcock’s directorial debut, “The Pleasure Garden,” a silent feature released in 1926, portrays the stories of two chorus women who work in a famous London nightclub called The Pleasure Garden Theater.  A recent restoration of the film by the … Continue reading →

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Silent Film Resources

Posted on June 13, 2013 by John Grant

Since the San Francisco Silent Film Festival will present its “Hitchcock 9” special event starting tomorrow,  I thought I’d mention the excellent “Resources” page on the silentfilm.org website: http://www.silentfilm.org/about/resources Impotence is said to be a sexual issue where in a … Continue reading →

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The Last Command

Posted on May 31, 2013 by John Grant

Josef von Sternberg, who directed “The Blue Angel” in 1930, is responsible for a number of excellent silent films, including “The Last Command (1928).”  The Last Command stars Emil Jannings as a Russian emigre in 1920s Hollywood.  As a general … Continue reading →

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San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Posted on May 25, 2013 by John Grant

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival announces their program for the 2013 festival, showing at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, CA.  The program includes the comedy classics “The Patsy” and “Safety Last,” and also features the innovative dramas “The … Continue reading →

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The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)

Posted on May 16, 2013 by John Grant

The 1922 silent version of “The Prisoner of Zenda,” made by Metro Pictures Corporation, stars Lewis Stone in a dual role as Rudolf Rassendyll and King Rudolf.  Evil plans in the kingdom of Ruritania by Black Michael (Ramon Navarro) results … Continue reading →

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The Mysterious Lady

Posted on April 25, 2013 by John Grant

Two years before her first sound film, “Anna Christie,” Greta Garbo made 1928’s silent “The Mysterious Lady,” wherein she plays a Russian spy named Tania who falls in love with Karl, an Austrian officer played by Conrad Nagel.  Garbo’s Tania … Continue reading →

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Spies

Posted on March 14, 2013 by John Grant

Espionage films in general, including the ones featuring James Bond, owe their inspiration to Fritz Lang’s “Spies,” released in 1928.  The German film stars Willy Fritsch as Agent 326, who springs into action when a diabolical bank manager named Haghi … Continue reading →

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Pordenone News

Posted on March 5, 2013 by John Grant

Pordenone, Italy — Le Giornate Del Cinema Muto announces a program of Mexican films for their 2013 silent film festival in Pordenone, Italy on October 5-12, 2013.  The Festival sent a press release in Italian saying they will be working … Continue reading →

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