Scott Lord on the Silent Film of Greta Garbo, Mauritz Stiller, Victor Sjostrom as Victor Seastrom, John Brunius, Gustaf Molander - the Golden Age of Swedish Silent Film........Lost Films in Found Magazines: Victor Seastrom directing John Gilbert and Lon Chaney, the printed word offering clues to deteriorated celluloid, extratextual discourse illustrating how novels were adapted to the screen; the photoplay as a literature, a social phenomenon; how it was reviewed, audience reception.
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
Anita Loos coscripted the 1917 film "Reaching for the Moon" (five reels) with its director John Emerson. John Emerson also that year directed Douglas Fairbanks in the film "Down to Earth", which Fairbanks co-wrote with Emerson and Anita Loos. Douglas Fairbanks is paired in the both films with actress Eileen Percy.
Doulgas Fairbanks appeared in several films during 1918, among those having been directed by Alan Dwan having been the lost five reel films "He Comes Up Smiling", with Marjorie Daw, scenarioized by Frances Marion, "Mr. Fix It" with "four talented and pretty leading ladies" (Motion Picture News) Marjorie Daw Catherine McDonald, Margaret Landis and Wanda Hawley, and "Bound in Morrocco" with Pauline Curley. Fairbanks also that year starred in the five reel films "Arizona" (Alan Parker) and "Heading South" (Arthur Rosen). Like the Lost Silent Film "Knickerbocker Buckaroo", in which Douglas Fairbanks stars, the film "He Comes Up Smiling" does not exist, there being no surving copies at present, but its Exhibitor's Press Book does, offering a glimpse of what the film was like with extratextural duscourse from the first run of the film, explaing the theme of Lost Films, Found Magazines I try to connect films with on the internet. The Press Book read,"Douglas Fairbanks a Tramp in 'He Comes Up Smiling', his new photocomedy of The Road. Story filled with unusual action even for this Athletic Artcraft star is one of exceptional interest." The press book mentions Fairbanks driving an automobile down the side of a mountain with "Fairbanks Does Thrilling Feats, Dangerous Automobile Drive".
Untill film detectives find a copy of Douglas Fairbanks directed by Alan Dwan during 1918 in "Bound in Morrocco" , to "Lost Films, Found Magazines" it also remains another film that doesn't exist and another Exhibitor's Press Book that does.
Victor Fleming, who appeared onscreen in the film as himself, directed Douglas Fairbanks with actress Kathleen Clifford in the film ""When the Clouds Roll BY" (six reels) during 1919 from a photoplay written by Thomas J Geraghty. Fleming had began as a cinematographer for director Alan Dwan. Victor Flemming the following year directed Douglas Fairbanks in the film "The Mollycoddle". During 1919 Douglas Fairbanks starred with Marjorie Daw in the five reel film "Knickerbocker Buckaroo", which he wrote under the pseudonym Elton Thomas (Elton Banks). Directed by Albert Parker the film is presumed lost, with no existing surviving copies.
In regard to "Lost Films, Found Magazines" a theme in the historiography of my archive on the internet:like the subtitle of a thesis- although the film "A Knickerbocker Buckaroo" does not exist, there being no surviving copies at present, the Exhibitor's Press Book does, providing extratextural discourse to the film within the context of the silent era and at a specific point in Douglas Fairbank's career.
Douglas Fairbanks in Reaching for the Moon
Exhibitor's Trade Review claimed, "You can make good on Big Promises with this 'Knickerbocker Buckaroo'", the publication urging the four column newspaper ad and 24 sheet be used in "A Chance to Cash in on Ad Exploitation".
Robert M. Baker coscripted the 1916 film "Flirting with Fate" (five reels)with director Christy Cabanne for the Fine Arts Film Company. The periodical Motography during 1916 may have found an early, if not extreme, example of the character centered narrative. "It is all Douglas Fairbanks, but when one considers that he's an actor possessing so much color and dash it is readily understandable that this is nothing against "Flirting with Fate", far from that; it is something in its favor." The periodical The Moving Picture World during 1916 noted,"Superior in many respects to any vehicle Fairbanks has had, 'Flirting with Fate' introduces a comical element of fear which would have enabled the story to stand on its own merits in open competition, whether interpreted by Mr. Fairbanks or not....This greater story breadth is of high value in sustaining interest." Actress Dorothy Haydel appears with Douglas Fairbanks in the film.
Silent FilmDouglas Fairbanks
