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

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Scott Lord Silent Film: Samson and Delilah (Edward J. Collins, 1922)


It seems odd that the periodical The Film Review and Moving Picture News during 1922 included "Samson and Delilah" in a series of "one reel pictures based on dramatic incidents in well known opera", a publicity still from the film being the only still featured in its article titled "Tense Moments From Opera Filmed", in which it hailed it to be the best of the "unduly hurried" productions from either Gaumont or Masters studios, or both. The magazine printed the opinion that "the artificiality of such a performance is more noticeable perhaps in the screen version of a stage success owing to the character of the dress, the make up of the performers and the background in which they work."

Director Edwin J Collins that year also directed a screen version of "Don Juan" included in the "Tense Moments in Opera" series starring actresses Lillian Douglas, Pauline Peters and Kathleen Vaughn.
Silent Film

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Scott Lord: The Thief of Bagdad (Walsh, 1924)


At the time Motion Picture Magazine began publishing publicity stills from the film "Thief of Bagdad" during 1923, actress Evelyn Brent was the only player other than Douglas Fairbanks announced as being included in the cast, the studio having purchased ten acres to be used as sets fir the film.

The periodical Exhibitors Herld during 1924 announced that the film "The Thief of Bagdad", produced by Douglas Fairbanks came with a story written by Elton Thomas, the scenario editor Lotta Woods, "'The Thief of Bagdad' is a conglomeration of every impossible situation that could be dug out of every 'Arabian Nights' tale ever written, interspersed with a few that do not cause a stretch of the imagination to be what might have happenned."

Included with the autobiography of Douglas Fairbanks, Laugh and Live, is a biographical sketch that refers to Fairbanks occaisionally being called "Doug"; the pseudonym of Douglas Fairbanks was Elton Thomas.

SILENT FILM

Douglas Fairbanks SILENT FILM