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

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Scott Lord Silent Film: Carol Dempster in Sally of the Sawdust (D.W. Griffith, 1925)

Edward Wagenkneckt, in his volume The Films of D.W. Griffith, points out that ten reel film "Sally of the Sawdust" (1925) ,photographed by Harry Fischback and Hal Sintzernich and starring W.C. FIelds and actress Carol Dempster , was made by D.W. Griffith at Paramount but , at Griffith's behest, released through United Artists. Wagerneckt notes that the film features several sight gags involving W.C. Fields that are worth watching.

That year D.W. Griffith directed both W.C. Fields and Carol Dempster in a second ten reel film entitled "That Royle Girl", which is presumed to be a Lost Silent Film, with no surviving copies existing. Iris Barry, in her volume D.W. Griffith, American Film Master, notes that W.C. Fields played only a minor comedy part in the film. Originally slated as "a small film" with sucenes involving a statue of Abraham Lincoln, a $ 100,000 cyclone was added to the film, putting it over budget.

D.W. Griffith D.W. Griffith D.W. Griffith

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