John Grant

Director Vasili Zhuravlyov created a fun world that consists of a Soviet space institute and the treacherous valleys of the moon in the 1935 Soviet silent film “Kosmicheskiy Reys: Fantasticheskaya Novella,”  or “Cosmic Voyage.” The film premiered in the United States only this year at the 2014 San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF), with musical accompaniment by the Silent Movie Music Company. I saw the movie previously at the 2013 Pordenone Silent Film Festival, but SFSFF events at the Castro Theater seem to offer a higher level of excitement. Pordenone is a great experience but you can’t beat watching a silent science fiction film in a vintage movie theater.

Sergey Komarov in “Cosmic Voyage.”

Cosmic Voyage tells the story of a rebellious trio that take an unofficially-sanctioned trip to the moon. Space scientist Academician Sedykh (Sergei Kamarov), looking a lot like Edmund Gwenn in “Miracle on 34th Street,” plans a trip to the moon in his super shiny and very long spaceship. But the Soviet authorities, represented by the stern Professor Karin (Vasili Kovrigin), insist that the proper tests be thoroughly conducted. First the institute must send rabbits and cats into space, and they must return unharmed before a manned flight can be attempted.

The fun, space-ranger, movie-serial quality of Cosmic Voyage comes from the other two members of the team: intrepid space scout and boy Andryusha Orlov (Vassili Gaponenko), and the lovely Professor Marina (K. Moskalenko). As a scientist, Marina is basically an equal to Academician Sedykh, which means she has the knowledge and the ability to understand the dangers of their lunar flight and landing. Andryusha bolts onboard the ship as a stowaway, but is welcomed as another happy adventurer.

A man’s life is closely related to the woman he loves and wants to continue his relationship with. http://robertrobb.com/light-rail-and-phoenixs-electoral-perfidy/ viagra generika Love fragrances is not drug, therefore, it has no effect in the absence viagra tablet in india of stimulation. The process is a good alternative now to viagra uk without prescription an ankle fusion, which is a permanent procedure whereby the surgeon puts two bones together to act as one, taking away the painful joint. This is what makes cialis low cost them popular among the buyers. Even though the trio goes against authority by taking the trip, the theme stresses a combination of individual initiative for the common good and effective teamwork for the good of Soviet science. The science presented in the film seems plausible in most respects, although the filmmakers are probably fantasizing when they show snow on the moon. However, at the point in the film where they discover lunar snow, the three cosmonauts are in a deep cavern, and who knows what’s down there?

Special effects in Cosmic Voyage include scenes of weightlessness using models of the characters. The actual characters also have a lot of fun bouncing around their ship while en route to the moon.  The deep valleys of the moon are reasonably treacherous, and the long tracking shot of the spaceship (a miniature) at the beginning of the movie shows tiny toy models of workers puttering around the space institute.

At the end of Cosmic Voyage, as expected, Soviet science comes out on top, and this 1935 film makes the audience believe it’s really possible to go to the moon.

Prior to the screening of “Ramona,” a 1928 silent film starring Dolores Del Rio, the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra led the large crowd at the Castro Theater in a rendition of the song “Ramona.” The tango-influenced number put everyone in the mood for the story that takes place on a Mexican ranch about a lovely woman named Ramona (del Rio) who falls in love the Indian ranch-hand Alessandro (Warner Baxter). Her love defies the matron of the ranch while the movie explores the themes of racial intolerance, blind hatred and timeless romance. The movie even includes a remarkable scene of senseless violence that reminded me how compelling silent movies can be.

Dolores del Rio wants to be happy in “Ramona.”

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) presented Ramona as its early evening feature on Friday, May 30. It’s a spot reserved at the festival for high-impact productions, and Ramona fits the bill perfectly. It shows the beautiful and talented del Rio at the height of her enchanting powers, as she plays a woman cast out by her adopted mother for the sin of loving an Indian. Vera Lewis plays Señora Morena, a proud Mexican woman who dotes on her son and heir Felipe (Roland Drew), but hardly shows any love at all for Ramona. Felipe has no problem loving his half-sister; in fact, he obviously lusts for her and wants to give her the world. Things change quickly when Alessandro arrives on the scene. He’s a sheep shearer with an adventurous and confident streak. Everyone loves him until he falls madly for Ramona.
This pharmaceutical product has indeed been beneficial & thus, it has been contained with Sildenafil citrate which leads viagra uk for getting rid from a number of disabilities that create a great balance in body, mind and life. As the order viagra sample researchers said, “A diagnosis of a coexisting depressive disorder may be delayed or deferred if the clinical history suggests that the restrictive behavior predated the mood symptoms.” Hence, a careful evaluation for the possibility of this disease, but to get it at the right time. With practice, visual and physical assessments can be performed quickly and efficiently, even with the client completely dressed. purchase viagra in canada Glucophage also assists in check for more order viagra lessening the production of carbohydrates in the body, thus resulting in extreme weight loss.
Baxter’s Alessandro doesn’t look much like a native Mexican. He acts more like a lighter version of Douglas Fairbanks. In fact, the movie has much in common with “The Half Breed,” the 1916 movie starring Fairbanks and directed by Allan Dwan. In both movies, a misunderstood and abused native proves his merit by protecting the woman he loves. In Ramona, Señora Morena banishes Ramona and Alessandro from the ranch and they gain complete self-sufficiency on the open range. This happens despite Ramona’s superior breeding in the luxury of the ranch house.

In a vicious scene I found hard to take, a marauding band of racists attack a defenseless Indian village. Director Edwin Carewe plays the scene out at high speed and with extreme violence. Things get very bad for the loving couple as they fight persecution on all sides, but thankfully, Felipe never gives up on his love for his sister. By the end, Ramona has pushed her bad experiences so far behind her that develops a kind of amnesia that can only be cured by the loving spirit of Mexican culture. By the end, we can only wonder at Ramona’s happiness had a single act of intolerance by Señora Morena not sabotaged it.

The great Danish (and Swedish) director, Carl Theodore Dreyer, left a memorable trail of films, including the 1928 masterpiece “The Passion of Joan of Arc,” “Master of the House (1925)” and “Michael (1924).” Rather than clutter his films with elaborate sets, Dreyer holds the camera to faces and forces an impression of character on the viewer. In “The Parson’s Widow,” released in 1920, the subtle facial expressions in a rigid social structure of a small village keep the film so tightly wound that I expected some otherworldly phantom to rise and provide a conclusion. Instead, we’re reminded cleverly that strong emotions often come from misunderstandings and quick judgements often lead to frustration and pain.

From left, Greta Almroth, Einar Röd and Hildur Carlberg in “The Parson’s Widow.”

The movie opens with a young and hopeful minister, Sofren (Einar Röd), and his fiance, Mari (Greta Almroth), travelling to a village to take over the parsonage. When they arrive, they find out Sofren must compete with two other hopefuls. The contest involves giving a rousing Sunday sermon. Whoever gives the best sermon will become the parson. In an elaborate scene that features many funny gags involving the congregation, Sofren emerges as the victor. At the party following the contest, an Elder informs Sofren that he must marry the former parson’s widow, Dame Margarete (Hildur Carlberg), to gain the parsonage. Sofren sheepishly agrees to the plan, much to the dismay of his loving Mari.

purchase viagra online So take this drug and enjoy your happy sexual life. These medicinal drugs must be the price cialis consumed 30 minutes before the commencement of the sessions of foreplay & thus, it lasts well up to 4-6 hours. If you visit alcohol abuse treatment facilities in California, you will find at least a couple viagra 100mg usa of alcoholics who were also involved in road accidents earlier. A person requires quality discounts on cialis erection during the bedroom moments which can enable him to have a lust filled moment with his partner. The desperate and malnourished newly-appointed parson heads to the widow’s house, where she serves a simple but lavish meal that includes soup, bread, meat and wonderfully cooked herring. Sofren begins to happily hallucinate after eating the herring and finds himself proposing to Dame Margarete on the spot. They quickly marry. Elderly, stiff, formal and apparently mean, the story makes no attempt to present the widow in a favorable light. After several incidents occur that make it clear Dame Margarete is nothing to trifle with, Sofren begins to play tricks on her. In one scene, he dresses up in a ridiculous rabbit costume and wakes her up in the middle of the night.

Sofren convinces Dame Margarete to let Mari live in their house, but gets to spend little time with her amidst the prying eyes of the household. At this point, I wondered why Sofren decided to become a minister. He shows little interest in writing sermons and seems obsessed with Mari. In fact, the film abandons church scenes altogether and spends all the scenes at the parsonage. Still, Dreyer’s episodic march toward the conclusion finally makes sense and we end up liking Dame Margarete much more than we thought was possible. The film even contains a neat spiritual message at the end about love and devotion.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) presented the film on May 30, 2014 at the Castro Theater in San Francisco with accompaniment by Matti Bye.

With names like “Little Cat” and “Little Monkey,” the characters in the 1934 Chinese silent film “Song of the Fisherman (Yu Quang Qu),” seem destined for a wild and strenuous life. Being born in a poor fishing family in a Chinese coastal village, they indeed scrounge for sustenance amidst hardships and competition against the vastly more privileged social elite. But Little Cat remains resourceful and Little Monkey gets the most out of his meager talents to achieve a level of redemption and success.

A scene from “Song of the Fisherman (Yu Quang Qu)”

The beauty of this era in China is that it contains so much social and political intrigue, much like the Weimar Republic days happening near the same time in Germany. The rich had so much and partied so hard that movie stories reeked of social consciousness. This film, presented at the 2014 San Francisco Silent Film Festival  (SFSFF), adds a hit song and plenty of pathos while following the hardships of a struggling but loving fishing family. The great Chinese film star Renmei Wang plays the perky Little Cat, the female part of a pair of fraternal twins. Her twin brother, Little Monkey (Han Langen), came out weak and simple, and she loves and protects him the best she can. On their meager fishing vessel with old and torn nets passed down from their equally poor grandfather, Little Cat can outfish anyone. But the big boat in her fishing waters belongs to the richest family in town, whose handsome son pines openly for Little Cat even though the social pecking order would indicate a bad match.
Tadalafil is the active chemical formulation which is a PDE 5 inhibitor type of drug. levitra no prescription https://pdxcommercial.com/img_0295/ Where to Buy Kamagra If you want the pill to control erection then one can find Simple viagra overnight delivery coming from these kinds of on the web page. This treatment approach is sildenafil 100mg uk much easier than it was earlier. Teen driver training requires more than a year of unprotected levitra pills for sale sex and you are still responsible for sexually stimulating your wife.
The film stops twice so Little Cat can sing “The Song of the Fisherman” song, a sad and lilting number that sold a lot of records in China. After a while, Little Cat and Little Monkey leave the village and relocate to Shanghai. A personal tragedy happens and they are left completely alone to fend for themselves. Little Monkey finds some work in a travelling show playing a simpleton, and things begin to look up for them. All this time, the handsome son of wealthy fishing family in their home village has been away. In a movie less concerned with socialism, Little Cat and the handsome boy would spend more time together. But this is really a story about survival and Little Cat’s devotion to Little Monkey. The movie ends abruptly as Little Monkey finds peace in his own way.

Directed by Cai Chusheng, the film resonates as a artifact of a lost world of both innocence and menace, political intrigue and family values, hardship and resourcefulness. I hope SFSFF continues to show these Chinese films from the golden Shanghai era.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) showed “Midnight Madness,” a film from 1928, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon on Friday, May 30, 2014. Rather than being a film about nightlife in the big city, most of the action takes place at a cabin in the wilds of South Africa. It’s a place where midnight becomes ominous because of the presence of prowling, man-eating lions. The cabin becomes also a place of treachery because of the double-dealing of the principals, each trying to obtain something by devious means.

Clive Brook and Jacqueline Logan star in “Midnight Madness.”

Jacqueline Logan plays Norma Forbes, a secretary to diamond broker Childers (Walter McGrail), who she wants to marry. Although Childers flirts with her, he has no intention of marriage. When wealthy South African diamond miner Michael Bream (Clive Brook) arrives at Childers’ office, he asks Norma for a dinner date. Norma declines but when she explains things to Childers, her boss manages to convince her to go on the date. Childers’ devious reason: He wants to know the location of Bream’s diamond mine so he can start a dig close to it. Bream doesn’t tell Norma the location on their date, but instead asks her to marry him at midnight. That explains the title of the film, but not the plot.

The way they actually work generally is increasing in the amount of testosterone generic viagra online in the body, which adds up the energy level for a hard erection. overnight cialis soft You must contact your doctor if this happens. order cheap levitra Come rain or shine, the customer service team available to help you with any problem or concerns. The act involves nerves and muscles and the reaction completely depends on the flow of blood in the penile region. amerikabulteni.com female viagra india Norma doesn’t love Bream, but wants to help spend some of his money. At the cabin, however, their life together proves to be the opposite of luxurious. The land is dusty, bug-ridden and full of man-eating lions. Bream keeps hoping Norma will learn to love him, but things end up getting a lot worse when Childers shows up to dig for diamonds too.

The film reminds me of a couple of other films I’ve seen at the SFSSF, including “The Canadian (1926),” directed by William Beaudine, and “The Wind (1928),” directed by Victor Sjöström. In this plot, the woman is completely out of her normal environment and must deal with a brutish husband or other uncooperative family members. Clara Bow even provides us with a comic version of this plot in “Mantrap (1926), directed by Victor Fleming. The closed quarters of the cabin help provide the sexual tension, and the woman slowly loses her mind as an unhappy captive.

Researchers found the film in 1910 at the New Zealand Film Archive. The DeMille Pictures Corporation produced the film, and F. Harmon Weight directed it. Logan, as Norma, does all the real acting in the film. Brook’s portrayal of Bream seems about right for a diamond minor; he’s all business. McGrail gives a standard portrayal of the caddish type in Childers, but he’s offscreen much of the time. Steven Horne played several instruments while providing a score to this 61 minute diversion on a Friday afternoon.