Movies Silently
@MoviesSilently
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I'm Fritzi! I celebrate all things silent & 1910s-1920s. Same on Bluesky Same handle everywhere.
Bluesky
Joined February 2013
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Pinned Tweet
"I Noticed That You Mentioned Silent Films So I Wanted to Come Over and Explain a Film I am Sure You Have Never Seen Called METROPOLIS" by Berthold Woltze
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Brendan Fraser's career didn't fizzle, it was sabotaged after he was sexually assaulted by a Golden Globes bigwig. The HFPA didn't deny the assault, they claimed it was meant as a "joke" (their word).
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Since
#StupidQuestionsForIntroverts
is trending, a reminder:
Introversion is just a question of how you recharge. Introverts need quiet alone time to recover their energy.
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It does not mean we hate people.
It does not mean we're shy.
It does not mean we're socially awkward.
It does not mean we never engage in social activities.
Some of these items may apply but introversion is about charging.
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So the dinky eyebrowless gremlin in charge of Warner Bros. is gutting TCM, one of their most beloved brands?
What an utter nincompoop.
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If anyone ever tells you that criticizing MCU is "disrespectful" to the crew, remember this.
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It's just like Mira Sorvino, Ashley Judd and hundreds of others: "What happened to...?" can be answered by "Predators with power."
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Paramount location map indicating which parts of California and Nevada could stand in for international destinations.
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If I had known this entire week would be a throwback to the 1910s, I would have worn a bigger hat.
Rich people dying on the Titanic, uprising in Russia... If someone launches a zeppelin, I am buying a hobble skirt.
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Muting this. I'm an introvert. Is that surprising? 😁
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THE PIRATES OF 1920 (1911) is a near future British sci-fi film that visualizes the twenties as beset with zeppelin-based pirates.
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So, yeah, Golden Globes are trash but, hey, they hire snarky hosts, lol. Wake me when one of those hosts snarks about the HFPA's appalling behavior in this case.
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Activists picketing an Oakland, CA theater showing SONG OF THE SOUTH in 1947.
Signs read:
"We want films on Democracy not Slavery"
"Don't prejudice children's minds with films like this"
The movie was always political.
.
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The fact that a silent movie account has to bring this up is...
Seriously, it was a featured story in GQ, not a rumor on Reddit or something.
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@jondaly
He believed square dancing would save the youth from deviant jazz (which he thought was a plot orchestrated by, well, you know)
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I somehow missed the Sexiest Man Alive announcement but as is my annual custom, please nominate your picks for Sexiest Man Dead.
Toshiro Mifune dominated last year and he is our defending champion.
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Paramount location guide showing which regions of California to use for certain movie settings.
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"So Really, If You Think About It, If Women Wanted To Be Directors They Should Have Worked Harder and--- aaaaaa..... (gurgle)" by Caravaggio
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In the 1910s, it was common for the cast to be showcased before the start of the film in their formal attire and then dissolve into them dressed in their costumes. I quite like the formality of this approach.
What is the best character introduction you've ever seen in a movie?
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Me seeing PG13 trending and hoping it was a long-due serious discussion of the bizarre American film ratings system.
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"Why do you still buy physical books? Why do you still buy DVDs and Blurays?"
(coughs politely)
Microsoft has closed its e-book store, and taken all your books with it. You get refunded, but this still shows the dark side of DRM.
@brbarrett
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Sheesh,
@twitter
! Is there some way you can indicate that a celeb is trending because of a new movie or show or milestone? You're giving us all heart attacks.
I propose emojis:
Betty White 🎂
Betty White 📺
Betty White 🎥
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A location map from Paramount showing which parts of California could double for other parts of the world.
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Interesting how “bring back the Code” types focus on sex and conveniently ignore the “no hints at interracial romance” rules completely.
“Miscegenation” was number 6 on Will Hays’ list of forbidden content.
Oh, and intimate partner abuse was 100% permitted under the Code.
I know we’re all just about sick of this discourse but what is going on with people
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Internet People: "We long for the good old days when comedians just did comedy and were not political!"
Charlie Chaplin:
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I've been reading a book called PERFECTION SALAD, which helps explain the appeal of molded desserts and salads.
We know that jellies had been foods for the wealthy before powdered gelatin turned a days-long process into a relative snap.
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Instead of dealing with the clickbait trolling about the best male voices, why not give a listen to NPR's 50 Great Voices series? It skews modern but the selection is diverse and interesting.
And, yes, they include Freddie Mercury.
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If you're curious as to why jello molds ended up in so many mid-century cookbooks, the answer actually lies in a social movement of the late 19th century. Here's my thread:
I've been reading a book called PERFECTION SALAD, which helps explain the appeal of molded desserts and salads.
We know that jellies had been foods for the wealthy before powdered gelatin turned a days-long process into a relative snap.
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Modern People: "Those creaky silent films. How could they hold anyone's interest?"
Silent Movies:
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"My Five Minutes of Googling Are Just As Good As Your Years of Research and Thousands of Silent Film Viewings" by Edouard Manet
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I realize that Amazon deleting independent films from their platform is not destroying every copy but the streaming age has opened the door for a loss of films that will surpass the silent era.
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Okay, since the topic has come up again...
BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) has not remained on its pedestal for over a century because it was Grand Wizard Billy Bob's favorite film.
Its most effective defenders have been nice, pleasant, lovely big city film experts.
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Sexiest Man Alive? Classic Film Twitter has Sexiest Man Dead. Who are your picks?
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Since Dr. Pepper is trending, I have an excuse to share their old advertising slogan:
Free from CAFFEINE and COCAINE
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The subtle, muted color palette of the Victorian era
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RIP Carlo. The sweet old carrot-munching man has left us.
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One of the most important things to know about the films of Georges Méliès is that they were meant to be shown in full-color.
Cluttered compositions make a lot more sense when you see them in their original hand-colored glory.
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"If You'll Just Watch This 2 Hour YouTube Video, I Am Sure You Will Agree That Films Were a Meritocracy and Women-- HELP!!!!" by Artemisia Gentileschi
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"Actually, D.W. Griffith Made a Film Glamorizing the KKK Because He Was So Non-Racist and It's PC College Students Who Are Turning People Against BIRTH OF A NATION" by Jean Beraud
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One charming trick in 1910s film was for each actor to be introduced in turn at the beginning of the movie (usually in formal attire) and then a dissolve was used to show them morphing into their character.
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Hand-colored celestial escape in THE KINGDOM OF THE FAIRIES.
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It was touch and go for a bit and I’m not 100% out of danger but I am recovering in the hospital from emergency surgery.
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Gonna save you a click with the Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jurassic Park, age gap thing:
Neill brought up the age gap.
Dern was like "Whoa, you're right, different times, huh?"
The headlines make it sound very accusatory but it was just reminiscing chitchat.
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Once again...
You're telling me that the industry that junked their silent films for a few cents in silver salvage from the film is deleting movies from their streaming services to avoid paying the people who made them?
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Since SNOW WHITE is trending and that invariably comes with the claim it was "the first full-length animated feature" I think we all need to share GIFs from Lotte Reiniger's THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED (1926).
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"But Really, Have You Looked At Context? Nobody Was Offended By Anything Back In the Day" by Federico Andreotti
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I am so sick of this Blockbuster nostalgia. Blockbuster put mom & pop shops, the kind of indie places people claim to love, out of business ruthlessly. They failed to realize the power of the internet and were themselves knocked flat. They're not a sympathetic victim.
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Modern People: "Silent movies are boring!"
Silent Movies:
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So, we are going to make Natalie Wood trend now, right? Hop to it, Old Hollywood Twitter. You know why.
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Happy
#PublicDomainDay
, friends!
1927 is free! You can screen SUNRISE without the blessing of the Mouse!
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Getting tied to the train tracks was a stage trope popularized in the 1860s. UNDER THE GASLIGHT was not the first but it was the most influential. Note the male victim and female rescuer. All first wave victims were male.
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Kathryn Boyd looking sporty and charming in THE FLYING ACE, her only surviving film.
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Kathryn Boyd in THE FLYING ACE, the only fully surviving production released by the Norman Film Company of Jacksonville, Florida. Norman films were aspirational genre pictures with all-Black casts.
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The Sexiest Man Alive has been announced, so it's time for classic film nerds to choose the Sexiest Man Dead. Nominate your late hotties, please.
I'll start with the
#1
male silent era crush, as voted by my readers: Ramon Novarro!
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As promised, every time Scorsese's name makes the Twitter rounds because he lives in some filmmakers' heads 100% rent-free, I am going to talk about his film preservation work
His Film Foundation now has an online screening room:
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Georges Méliès going "Look ma, no strings!" in THE MERMAID. His charm as a performer is sometimes overlooked.
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Quick reminder that you don’t have to give DW Griffith a cookie when you call out his racism.
He didn’t invent the closeup
He didn’t invent editing
He didn’t invent subtle acting
He didn’t write good female characters
His film wasn’t the first screened at or in the White House
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Closeup in THE SICK KITTEN (1903). That's right, cat videos helped invent cinema as we know it.
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No collection of German silent era talent is complete without goth dreamboat, anti-Nazi, and all around excellent actor Conrad Veidt
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Addendum:
"You Seem to Have Some Knowledge of This Topic So Let Me Butt in With the First Result From a Google Search, Text From Wikipedia and... What is the Hammer For?" by Artemisia Gentileschi
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Them: "You can't talk about racism in old movies! You need to look at historical context!"
Me: "Ok." (Begins to unpack stack of old timey news articles about people protesting racism in films.)
Them: "Not like that!"
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Accounts of directors using cruelty to obtain the performance they want are often treated as cute, charming anecdotes.
Well done, Reeves and Anthony Hopkins, who also refused to go along with the plan.
Winona Ryder looks back at the making of
#Dracula
and the time Keanu Reeves refused to insult her in order to get her to cry:
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On this day 125 years ago, Louis and Auguste Lumière held a screening of their films for a paying audience. The program lasted less than ten minutes.
Can we get Lumière trending for this important anniversary?
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A headache symbolized in DREAM OF A RAREBIT FIEND (1906), an innovative fantasy film from Edwin S. Porter based on the popular strip by Winsor McCay.
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Someone referenced “damsel tied to the tracks” in connection to silent movies, so I guess I need to lay down facts once again…
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As is traditional, since the Sexiest Man Alive has been named, please nominate the Sexiest Man Dead.
Last year, Paul Newman and Toshiro Mifune were top choices.
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Conrad Veidt. Sinister darling who loved eyeliner and deeply hated fascism. An ideal man, really.
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Said it before, will say it again:
We are on the cusp of a cataclysmic loss of digital pop culture that will make the lost/destroyed films of the silent era look like child's play.
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"But by Blocking Me You Have Actually Proven My Point Even Though You Debunked All of My Claims and, Anyway, I Will Just Log Into My Wife's Account to Continue Our Debate... Why is There a Peg Against My Head?" by Jacopo Amigoni
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Obligatory reminder that the Code killed careers of non-white performers and ran interference for religious leaders and despots.
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Free Stuff Thread:
Silent movie watching does NOT have to be expensive. Here's a list of free and legal streaming resources:
The NFPF Screening Room (it has HELL'S HINGES)
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In case you hadn't heard, the national film archive of Brazil just burned down and we don't know how many irreplaceable cinematic treasures were lost forever.
So, this is not the week for "lol, old movies suck" takes, mmkay?
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"All I Said Was That Her List of Top Five Favorite Films Was Obviously Wrong Because It Wasn't My Top Five and My List Was Created Through Objective Logic. Typical Female Overreaction" by Peter Paul Rubens
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The 1916 version of 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA is a flawed adaptation but that real undersea footage... wow!
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"I Am All About Empowering Women and Hearing Them Speak But You Are Wrong and Let Me Talk Over You and Tell You Why" by Hugues Merle
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Had my surgery, was released, ended up in the ER with an infection, hospitalized and then released again.
But now I am baaaack!
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I mean...
What's the most iconic image from a movie? I'm going to suggest this shot from The Graduate or the final doorway image from The Searchers. What else is there?
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We've exhausted treatment options for Sweet William and we're just keeping him comfortable now. It probably won't be much longer. I'll be offline for a while.
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Sexiest Man Alive?
It’s time to nominate our classic gents for Sexiest Man Dead!
Paul Newman and Toshiro Mifune are perennial fixtures on this list for, well, obvious reasons. Who is your pick?
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I don't have a SoundCloud to plug but please support film restoration.
You can watch lots of great restored silent movies legally and for free courtesy of the National Film Preservation Foundation:
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"No, You See He Invented the GRAMMAR of Film So I Am Technically Correct Even Though You Have Definitively Proved That All the Innovations Credited to Him Were Actually Invented by Somebody Else, Why Won't You Debate Me?" by Jean Béraud
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Let's have fun!
Please share a picture of a film person with a dog or dogs.
I offer Ramon Novarro and Chihuahua.
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Since this is coming up in relation to Indiana Jones…
The series is based on classic cliffhanger serials from the 30s-50s. Action serials launched in the 1910s and the American ones featured women leads. Lots of them.
Action ladies aren’t “PC”
We were there first.
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"*I* Didn't Insult You, I Merely Replied With a Quote That Stated Anyone Holding Your Opinion is an Idiot, Why Can't Women Engage in Civil Debate?" by Trophime Bigot
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Another pic of Josephine Baker looking devastatingly glamorous
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Reminder that Scorsese has an entire foundation dedicated to preserving old and/or international films and it offers free screenings. The man walks the talk.
Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson have organized an emergency call to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to express their disagreement with his decision to layoff the network's top staff
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Modern People: "Silent movies are boring!"
Silent Movies:
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Modern People: "Silent movies are boring!"
Silent Movies: (not listening due to being busy having skeleton wizards trap tiny ladies in bottles.)
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"Sure, You Have Actually Seen the Films You Are Discussing But I Read Something Different in an Outdated Textbook Fifteen Years Ago, So You Really Must Admit That I Win This Round" by Boris Kustodiev
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