Scott Lord on Silent Film

Scott Lord on Silent Film
Gendered spectatorship notwithstanding, in a way, the girl coming down the stairs is symbolic of the lost film itself, the unattainable She, idealized beauty antiquated (albeit it being the beginning of Modernism), with the film detective catching a glimpse of the extratextural discourse of periodicals and publicity stills concerning Lost Films, Found Magazines

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Scott Lord Silent Film: Anne Boleyn (Morlhon, 1913)

The periodical Motography during 1914 gave the date of the settings of the film "Anne Boleyn (1912) as 1532 during the reign of Henry VIII, typifying the film as an early example of the costume drama genre, "its exteriors typical of England", the interiors including the Tower. The periodical Motion Picture World reviewed the Eclipse-Kleine of Anne Boleyn using the word photodrama rather photoplay, "Max Pemberton has wrote the scenario, and he has kept close to the historical narrative in the main facts...so strong in vindication of her innocenece and so adverse to the merciless monarch that a view of these films forces the spectator to take the side of the ill-fated Anne with a feeling of bitter animosity toward her royal mate." The specific instance use of the word "spectator" in the historiography of the extatural discourse of the period's fan magazines was refreshingly from 1914.

An earlier version of the story of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII was filmed the previous year in the United States during 1912 starring actrees Clara Kimball Young. Shakespeare's King Henry VIII proclaims that Anne Boleyn will be his queen in the one reel Vitagraph film "Cardinal Wolsey", directed by J.Stuart Blackton.

"Henry VIII" by William Shakespeare was directed by William Barker during 1911 starring the renowned Herbert Beerbohm Tree with acress Violet Vanburgh as Queen Catherine. The film is presumed lost with no surving copies existing but features the same actress as Anne Boleyn as the 1913 French version.

Ernst Lubitsch directed "Anna Boleyn" during 1920 with actress Henny Porten and actress Aud Egede-Nissen as Jane Seymour. Pictures and Pictures and Picturegoer Magazine related that the narrative of the film centered around the "beautiful and impressive" Henny Porten by disclosing that "the end is foreshadowed in the opening shots".

Silent Film Scott Lord

Monday, December 22, 2025

Scott Lord Film: A Star is Born (William A Wellman, 1937) - Becky Sharp (Mamoulian, 1935) double feature



Goldwyn in 1923 released an eight reel adaptation of Vanity Fair with actress Mabel Balin starring as Becky Sharp, written, directed and produced by Hugo Balin. The film is presumed lost, with no existing copies surviving. A 1922 film adaptation was directed by W.C. Rowden during 1922. Thomas A. Edison Incorporated released Vanity Fair in seven reels, directed by Eugene Nowland, in 1915. Silent Film Hollywood, Color and Tint in Film

Scott Lord Silent Film: Constance Talmadge in The Duchess of Buffalo (Sidney Franklin, 1926)





Directed by Sidney Franklin and photographed by Oliver T. Marsh, "The Duchess of Buffalo" (seven reels, 1926) starred actress Constance Talmadge. with Rose Dione, the photoplay having been penned by Hans Kraly. The periodical Motion Picture World announced Constance Talmadge having started the film, "Miss Talmadge will have another light comedy role of the type in which she excels." The periodical Picture Play Magazine left it to a photcaption, "Quite typical of Constance Talmadge was her recent whirlwind marriage to Captain Alastair Macintosh, which did not prevent her from starting work at once on 'The Duchess of Buffalo'."

Sidney Franklin had directed Costance Talmadge in 1923 in the seven reel lost silent film "Dulcy". There are no surviving copies of the film exisiting, film detectives relying upon the extratextual discourse of fan magazines and publicity stills.

Constance Talmadge Constance Talmadge