The Library of Congress and silent films

"Library of Congress study sees troubling loss of silent feature films"

The report commissioned by the National Film Preservation Board pinpoints the number of works that have survived. Some movies have been found abroad.

by

Susan King

December 4th, 2013

Los Angeles Times

A new study by the Library of Congress reveals some disquieting facts about the country's early film heritage.

Of the nearly 11,000 silent feature films that were produced and distributed in the United States from 1912 to 1929, the report says, only 3,311 are known to exist today — and fewer than half of those, 1,575, exist in their original 35mm release format. The others are either incomplete or survive only in foreign versions or lower-quality formats such as 28mm or 16mm.

Previous studies have documented how many silent feature films were produced in the U.S. during that period. But the Library of Congress report being released Wednesday — "The Survival of American Silent Feature Films: 1912-1929," commissioned by the National Film Preservation Board —is said to be the first definitive study pinpointing how many of these films survived and where elements are located in the world's film archives and with private collectors.

There are many reasons why the majority of silent films have been lost: the deterioration of highly volatile nitrate stock, fire, negligence, the destruction of prints and negatives. Among those that are gone are such noted films as Tod Browning's "London After Midnight" (1927), starring Lon Chaney; the 1926 version of "The Great Gatsby," starring Warner Baxter; and all four of Clara Bow's features produced in 1928.

Lost silent films, though, are still being discovered. Mary Pickford's 1911 short "Their First Misunderstanding" was recently found in an old barn and preserved by the Library of Congress. And it was announced in 2010 that 75 American silent films had been discovered at the New Zealand Film Archive, including John Ford's lost 1927 "Upstream," and repatriated to the major archives — the Library of Congress, the Academy Film Archive, UCLA Film and Television Archive, the George Eastman House and the Museum of Modern Art.

In fact, the survey points out that of the 3,311 films that survive in any form, 886 were discovered in other countries — 24% of them have been repatriated — with the Czech Republic holding the largest collection of silent American films outside of the United States.

The study was written by historian-archivist David Pierce, who also has created an inventory database of information on archival, commercial and private holdings that, according to the study, will aid in repatriation of lost American films. The survey is one of several Congressionally mandated studies of America's film and recorded sound heritage.

"Unfortunately, there is so much that's already been lost," said Steve Leggett, program coordinator for the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. "But this study identifies some that are around. You really just don't know sometimes until you get over to these [international] archives — there may be other stuff unidentified because it's in a different language or they put American films aside because they focus on their own countries' output. So hopefully, there are some more gems."

The study, he said, gives a "snapshot of what the current situation is — just to get a list of what titles we think survive and where they are. We are not going to be able to afford to get all of them, but to prioritize some of the titles you might want to get."

On the set: movies and TV

"This report is invaluable because the artistry of the silent film is essential to our culture," Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese, who also is a film preservation advocate and has helped preserve countless films through the Film Foundation, said in a statement.

"Any time a silent picture by some miracle turns up, it reminds us of the treasures we've already lost," said Scorsese. "It also gives us hope that others may be discovered. The research presented in this report serves as a road map to finding silent films we once thought were gone forever and encourages creative partnerships between archives and the film industry to save silent cinema."

The report...

"The Survival of American Silent Feature Films: 1912–1929" by David Pierce

Reviews of the Rare and Obscure

The Devil and Maciste..."Maciste all'inferno"

The Devil is up to no good in this 1926 silent film by Guido Brignone.

Maciste all'inferno [Maciste in Hell]


by


Guido Brignone


1925

Silent Era review...

Maciste in Hell (1926) features a character originally portrayed by actor Bartolomeo Pagano in the Italian historical epic Cabiria (1914). Here Pagano as Maciste is a virtuous man of the 19th century who is confronted by the Devil (appearing in his Snidley Whiplash persona) in an attempt to sway him to hellish actions. The Devil does not succeed and seeks other means to defeat Maciste. He abducts Rosabel’s infant as Maciste attempt to convince it’s rich father to make good on his paternity. Maciste rescues the child. Furious, Maciste confronts the Devil, is captured, and is sent to Hell. The hordes of Hell conspire to keep Maciste there with a single kiss from one of the female conspirators. Maciste makes the mistake (as men are wont to do) and he is transformed into a demon. This frees the minions of King Barbariccia to attack the stronghold of King Pluto for unspecified revenge. Maciste battles on the side of Pluto, with his strength increased by his demonness a hundred-fold. Maciste defeats the army single-handed. Pluto transforms Maciste back to his mortal form and set on his way back to Earth but Proserpine laid a trap and captured Maciste in an attempt to keep him in Hell for herself. Her kiss turns him back into a demon and he is her prisoner for years. The prayer of Rosabel’s young child on Christmas Eve turns Maciste back to man and frees him from bondage forever.

The ridiculous portrayal of the Devil and his minions on Earth, as stereotypical moustached melodrama villains in black top hats and twirling black capes, seems out of place in this otherwise interesting examination of the virtuous Maciste in the netherregions. Many of the crowd scenes of the minions of Hell, and the special effects shots of flying demons and the gargantuan Lucifer, Nimrod and Minos make watching this film a treat. — Carl Bennett.

IMDb reviewer, jens pihl, wrote...

With the adventure hero genre and you got an idea of this surreal and visually dazzling masterpiece. Fellini called it "one of the 10 best films ever made" and convinced him as a kid to enter the film business.

After saving a child from a Faust-like character big macho goodhearted Maciste goes to hell and fight hordes of vicious demonic creatures. It's packed with violence, humor, nudity etc. Two scenes blew me away; at one point Maciste decapitates a demon but by some impressive reverse FX the creature picks up his battered head and put it back on his shoulders, in hell there's a giant Godzilla-sized satan who eat humans like peanuts!?! The set design is incredibly impressive, the use of color tinting is pure perfection, and the devil costumes are so detailed I've never seen anything like it.

One of greatest cinematic experiences I've ever had the pleasure of watching in a theatre!

Brignone's classic was just one of a dozen Maciste film made in Italy in the 1910s/20s, later Freda did a remake and Mario Bava was very inspired by this film to make his "Hercules In The Haunted World"

Maciste [Wikipedia]


Previous Halloween treats...

Blood suckers of Connecticut

H. P. Lovecraft treat..."The Alchemist" 

BE AFRAID...the Vampire Squid

H. G. Wells treat..."The Star"

Animation land Halloween cartoons  

Witch Hazel 

The mirror
 
Kwaidan..four ghost stories

 
Edgar A. Poe treat..."A Tale of the Ragged Mountains"

Giants

Mark Twain treat..."A Ghost Story"

Silents please..."The Artist"

The silents we know...

But...

"Buzz is growing over a silent film"

France's 'The Artist,' opening this week, harks back to a time before movies had sound. It's a gamble, but modern crowds are responding.

by

Rebecca Keegan

November 21st, 2011

Los Angeles Times

The clang of computer-generated robots, the whoosh of men in capes, the purr of a 3-D animated kitty — modern Hollywood blockbusters are a cacophony of sound and color. But one of the movies creating the most commotion in film circles right now is notable for a surprisingly anachronistic quality: its silence.

"The Artist," a nearly wordless black-and-white melodrama starring two French actors little known outside Europe, has emerged as an unlikely crowd-pleaser on the film festival circuit — and as an Academy Awards contender.

Set in the late 1920s and early '30s, it follows a silent film heartthrob, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), and a chorus girl, Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), who meet cute just as talkies are arriving. The new technology will transform her into a star and him into a relic, leaving him penniless, despondent and alone. Yet the two develop a tender affection.

Shot for $14.2 million in classic Hollywood locations — Mary Pickford's Hancock Park starter mansion, the Orpheum Theater in downtown L.A., the Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. backlots — the plot of "The Artist" may be simple, its look retrograde. But bringing the film to screen required no small amount of innovation: writing and illustrating a screenplay that would appeal to actors; figuring out how to propel the story without dialogue; landing a financier for the unorthodox project; finding a way to give the film a vintage aesthetic; and now selling it to critics, general audiences and awards.

If the movie, which opens Friday, garners a best picture Oscar nomination, it will be the first silent film to do so since 1928's "The Patriot."

"It was a fantasy at the very beginning," said director Michel Hazanavicius, 44, known for his giddy French-language spy parodies, "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies" and "OSS 117: Lost in Rio." "A lot of directors have this fantasy because it's really the purest way to tell a story, just with images. The lack of sound makes room for the audience. You do the movie with me. You don't have all of this explosion and effects and shouting noises."

Hazanavicius shared his low-tech idea with Bejo, who is also his romantic partner, at what seemed to her an inauspicious moment. It was late 2009, and "Avatar," with its audacious use of high-tech filmmaking, was breaking box office records. "I was enthusiastic but I couldn't help laughing," she said. "It was very strange. You want to do a black-and-white and silent movie?!"

Around the same time, Hazanavicius was approached by producer Thomas Langmann, son of French producer and director Claude Berri. Langmann wanted Hazanavicius to direct a movie based on a popular series of French crime novels. Instead, Hazanavicius persuaded Langmann to back his silent film project by describing his vision of a few scenes and appealing to the producer's sense of adventure.

"I've always wanted to work with Michel.... Part of being a producer is taking a risk," said Langmann, 39.

"The Artist" was a financial risk — modern silent films are mostly relegated to art exhibits and film schools. The last such movie to make an impact at the box office was "Silent Movie," Mel Brooks' 1976 satire of the slapstick comedies of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, which earned $36 million.

"Finding an audience for a modern silent film will be an uphill battle," said Jan-Christopher Horak, director of the UCLA Film and Television Archive. "People are used to consuming five different pieces of media at once these days.... It is a gamble."

Langmann supplied some of the budget himself and cobbled together the rest from French studios and TV channels. Before the film debuted at Cannes Film Festival in May, Harvey Weinstein's company purchased distribution rights for the U.S. and several foreign territories, including China and Britain, for a sum in the millions (he declined to be more specific).

"For Thomas Langmann, it would have been smarter to make a $150-million Marvel comic book movie," Weinstein said. "He has to be committed to a mental institution.... If the movie doesn't work, we're all going to be at the silent lunatics home."

The unorthodox creative process of "The Artist" began with Hazanavicius' script. He deliberately kept the plot simple and the number of characters few so that audiences could follow the movie with only the help of a few dozen title cards.

Concerned that agents and actors wouldn't be interested, he prepared a lavish screenplay with black-and-white photos — a Greta Garbo film premiere, a vintage Ford trundling through Hollywoodland — and enlarged the text. "It has to read like a short novel," he said. "If you have a normal script, I thought it was a little bit not sexy."

Hazanavicius, who got his start directing for television and commercials, drew his own storyboards, determining how he would unfold his narrative with no dialogue: Peppy, in the throes of a crush, secretly tries on George's coat; George, in extreme close-up, screams at a horrible sound; a Jack Russell terrier drops to the floor and plays dead at a fingerpoint "gunshot."

To evoke the look of silent films, the director and his cinematographer, Guillaume Schiffman, adopted the format's traditional squarer frame shape and had special lenses crafted to duplicate the gauziness of vintage black-and-white film. They shot the movie at 22 frames per second, instead of the standard 24, to lend his cast's movements the slightly sped-up look of silent movie actors. (Chaplin did not actually move faster than the rest of us; silent-era movies were often shot at 18 or 16 frames per second, and seen on current, faster projectors appear accelerated.)

Hazanavicius filmed with modern cameras, but he had the vintage, hand-cranked variety on set so his cast could hear the same whir that their 1920s counterparts did. He also played music as his actors worked — Franz Waxman's "Sunset Boulevard" score for a dramatic revelation, Cole Porter for a pivotal tap dance scene. (The score actually used in the film is by Ludovic Bource, who was inspired by classic Hollywood composers like Waxman and Max Steiner.)

For the actors, the silent filmmaking process was not as different as it might seem. They spoke improvised dialogue in both French and English. "Without the dialogues, you focus on the characters and the story," Bejo said. "It's actually very easy."

Hazanavicius said the absence of speech involves viewers more.

"What I love about silent film [is] the fact that you as an audience, you do the dialogues, you do the voices, you imagine things, the sound of the street; that makes you really take part in the storytelling process," he said.

"A lot of people think it's very cerebral or intellectual to go see a silent movie," he added. "It's the exact opposite. It's much more sensual — sensual because it's not the same part of the brain [that] works. Usually you have the dialogues, and it says to you things, but it's information. Here it's very different. You have images and you have music and it's all about feeling and sensation."

Dujardin won best actor at Cannes, and the movie opened in October in France. It has grossed $12 million, besting such Hollywood releases as "Real Steel" and "The Three Musketeers."

To find an audience in the U.S., the movie will need an awards pedigree, which looks increasingly likely according to off-the-record comments from those in the highly competitive world of awards strategy. "The Artist" may be catnip for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose members like to reward underdogs, like 2009 best picture winner "Slumdog Millionaire," and feel-good stories like last year's winner, "The King's Speech," also a Weinstein Co. release.

Weinstein plans to open the movie in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles and slowly expand to 100 or 150 screens by Christmas. His marketing strategy, he said, is supplication.

"There's no marketing in the world other than praying," Weinstein said. "It'll be interesting to see just how far and adventurous the American public and, for that matter, the worldwide public is willing to be."

The Artist [Wikipedia]

Oh Hell...cannot forget this guy and location

F.W. Murnau's last German production before leaving for Hollywood is a visually dazzling take on the Faust myth. Pushing the resources of the grand old German studio UFA to the limits, Murnau creates an epic vision of good versus evil as devil Emil Jannings tempts an idealistic aging scholar with youth, power, and romance. The handsome but wan Swedish actor Gosta Ekman plays the made-over Faust as a perfectly shallow scoundrel drunk with youth, and the lovely Camilla Horn (in a part written for Lillian Gish) is the young virgin courted, then cast aside, by Faust. The sheer scale of Murnau's epic and the magnificent play of light, shadow, and mist on his exquisitely designed sets makes this one of the most cinematically ambitious, visually breathtaking, and beautiful classics of the silent era.

Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage

F.W. Murnau

1926

Bartolomeo Pagano, the great strongman of the silent screen, returns to the role he played in the 1914 landmark epic Cabiria. Powerful and virtuous Maciste is targeted by the demons below and eventually lured into hell. Once there, however, he regains his strength and takes on an army of rebellious devils single-handed. One of a series of popular "Maciste" films that Pagano starred in, this feature boasts an imaginative visualization of hell and some fine cinematography.

Maciste In Hell

Guido Brignone

1925

Halloween and two Poe silent films

Basic plot:

An unnamed narrator arrives at the home of reclusive basket case Roderick Usher and his sickly twin sister Madeline. Roderick suffers from extreme sensitivity to light and sound, anxiety and hypochondria. Madeline suffers from a wasting disease, and she eventually dies and is buried in the family crypt within the cavernous mansion. On a stormy night, the narrator and Roderick begin to hear screeching and crashing noises in the house. We learn that cataleptic Madeline had not died when she was buried, and she has returned to confront her mad brother, who in turn dies of fright. The narrator then flees as the cursed house is swallowed by the murky bog.

The Fall of the House of Usher

Jean Epstein

1928

The Fall of the House of Usher

Webber and Watson

1928

The Fall of the House of Usher [book]