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
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 FilmHollywood, Color and Tint in Film
Actresses Blanche Sweet and Eugenie Besserer starred in the 1923 version of "Anna Christie", adapted for the screen by Bradley King and directed by John Griffith Gray under the supervision of Thomas Ince. The periodical "Screen Opinions" of 1923 noted the photography of Henry Sharp as being "very good", the type of picture as being "sensational" with a "moral standard" of "average". The periodical Pictures and the Picturegoer reviewed the photoplay as an adaptation, "it is a notable tribute to the power of the screen freed from the limitations that inevitably beset the speaking stage....the story is familiar from the stage play with its stark yet fascinating realism and its true to life portrayal of elemental human passions." The periodical Picture Play Magazine hailed actress Blanche Sweet in the title role, "Most of the interest centers about Blanche Sweet who gives the finest performance of her career as Anna. Miss Sweet has always seemed to me an inspired actress."
During 1923 actress Blanche Sweet also appeared in the film "In the Palace of the King" directed by Emmett J. Flynn and written by June Mathis. The film is presumed to be lost, with no surviving copies existing. During 1924, actress Blanche Sweet appeared under the direction of Lambert Hillyer for Thomas Ince Productions, Incorporated in the eight reel film "Those Who Dance". The film is presumed lost, with no surviving copies existing. Lambert Hillyer cowrote the photoplay with Arthur Statter.
The caption to the review of "A Girl's Folly" (five reels) in the periodical Wid's Films and Film Folk during March 1917 read "Bad Moral and Tells Secrets, But Will Get Money." It elaborated further with "Very interesting, but tells studio secrets, which is dangerous," if that too can be deciphered by a modern audience sauntering through the cannon of silent films left remaining that have not yet deteriorated over time. The periodical then went so far as to, half-heartedly or not, suggest that "exhibitors", theater owners, should "protest" the film's having divulged what were "backstage secrets". The periodical admittedly was looking for the exploitation of silent films but it takes a historian's glance to decided if there was a sensationalism on which the reviewer may have counted during an extratextural discourse. It continued to question "purely from the viewpoint of whether you can get money with it" and conceded, "The thread of the story is quite slender and has a very questionable moral as presented, but the introduction of scenes showing clearly activity about a film studio is sure to prove exceptionally interisting to any film fan." It offerred the theater owner consolation, "Since the producer has already gone and 'done it', I presume you might as well go ahead and get the money with this, because it would be impossible to eliminate the back-stage scenes and have a picture left."
The photoplay was cowritten with director Maurice Tourneaur by Frances Marion and starred actresses Doris Kenyon, Robert Warwick and June Eldvidge. Frances Marion that year also wrote the photplays to
to the films Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Poor Little Rich Girl both starring Mary Pickford. Actress Doris Kenyon appeared on screen in the films of Alice Guy Blanche, in 1916 in the film "The Queen's Waif" and in 1917 in "The Empress". During 1917 Robert Warwick and Doris Kenyon also starred together in "The Man Who Forgot" (Emile Chautard). The film is presumed to be a lost silent film, with no surviving copies existing. Silent FilmSilent Film
