Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on April 8, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on April 8, 2014 in Blog, Fun Size Review 1776! Spies! Hessian aggression! And all in a tidy, one-reel package. Mary Pickford plays a Colonial miss who helps get a message past some very determined redcoats after her brother (a messenger/spy) is killed. Not a masterpiece from...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on April 7, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on April 7, 2014 in Blog, GIF, Humor I love this title card. I want it framed. I want it in every library in the land. I want to hold it up when I am stuck on a long flight with a very, very chatty neighbor. Because,...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on April 6, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on April 6, 2014 in Blog, Theme Month My theme months are rarely set in stone and this month was no exception. April was set aside for Russia but then I got a bead on some pre-Revolution stuff and knew that I could not possibly commence without...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on April 6, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on April 6, 2014 in Blog, Feature, Silent Movie Review What was meant to be a light0hearted spoof turned into a protracted legal battle between Charlie Chaplin and the Essanay motion picture studio. However, the behind-the-scenes drama of Burlesque on Carmen does not take away from   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on April 5, 2014

Here is another entry in Photoplay magazine’s Shopping Service series. This time, a 19-year old Mary Astor shows you how fine and foxy you can look in… a prim sweater and calf-length skirt? Hmm. Of course, Mary’s femme fatale years were still a ways away and she was the sweet...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on April 4, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on April 4, 2014 in Blog, GIF, Humor Ah, those roaring twenties! While the fringed dress was not as common as Halloween costumers would have you believe, they did exist. Of course, a real 1920′s befringed dress was a marvelous confection of swinging silk, a real thing...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on April 3, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on April 3, 2014 in Video Review 2 One of the most popular, discussed and examined silent films of all time, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is quite a rarity. It is an art film that also manages to be a crowd-pleaser. I take a look at...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on April 2, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on April 2, 2014 in Blog, Feature, Silent Movie Review Charles Ray stars as a bush league pitcher who makes it big and heads to the city. He leaves behind his girlfriend, Colleen Moore, but it looks like his arch-rival, played by a very young John Gilbert,...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on April 1, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on April 1, 2014 in Blog, News Big changes to the site this quarter! Let’s dive in. Hosting by WordPress is great but a little limiting and I moved over to a self-hosted site in January. There were some growing pains and a few glitches (like my...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on March 31, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on March 31, 2014 in Blog, GIF, Humor Phyllis Haver’s Roxie Hart and Julia Faye’s Velma have met their match with the jailhouse matron. The battle started with Velma accusing Roxie of using peroxide, Roxie pulling off Velma’s wiglet and it all went downhill from t   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on March 30, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on March 30, 2014 in Blog, Feature, Silent Movie Review, Silents vs Talkies Think Chicago started as a 1970′s musical? Think again! The original play by Maurine Watkins was filmed twice before it was ever a musical, once as a silent and once as a talkie. Juicy...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on March 29, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on March 29, 2014 in Blog, GIF, Humor This is Julia Faye from Adam’s Rib and it is also pretty much my reaction to any hint of dessert. Or possibly a Conrad Veidt movie appearing on TV. In any case, it cracked me up so here you...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on March 28, 2014

Whew! It has been a fun ride with y’all but the Silent Movie Tournament has come to an end. In all, we considered 32 talents from the silent era and chose 4 winners as our favorite leading man, leading lady, director and comedian. Now, if only someone had thought to...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on March 28, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on March 28, 2014 in Video While movies had been around since the late 19th century, Woodrow Wilson was the president in office when this formerly scandalous form of entertainment was finally being accepted by mainstream Americans. The sheep grazing on the White House lawn were pa   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on March 27, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on March 27, 2014 in Blog, GIF, Humor More flapper shenanigans from Adam’s Rib! Pauline Garon and her mother, played by Anna Q. Nilsson, are both keen to have some alone time with their suitors. Of course, Anna is married and that leads to all sorts of...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on March 26, 2014

Thank you for your participation in round two! Well, it’s time for the final round of the Silent Comedian Tournament. The winner of this round will be considered champion of all that is funny in the silents. (This event also marks the finale of the Silent Movie Tournament. It’s been...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on March 25, 2014

How’s this for a fun award? It’s from MIB’s Instant Headache (thank you!) and here are the rules: 1. Download the award logo and add it to your acceptance post. 2. Nominate a few fellow bloggers and share the award. 3. Since the award is ABC, take each letter of...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on March 24, 2014

UPDATE: The polls are closed, thank you for voting. On to the final round! Thank you for your votes in round one! Some of the competitions were quite close, with the lead switching back and forth several times during the event. The rules for round two will be more of...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on March 23, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on March 23, 2014 in Blog, Feature, Silent Movie Review Erich von Stroheim turned his singular talents to a classic operetta and the resulting film was the biggest hit of his career. It’s all about central European royalty (natch), an empty treasury and an extremely wealthy w   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Fritzi Kramer on March 22, 2014

By Fritzi Kramer on March 22, 2014 in Blog, GIF, Humor In Adam’s Rib, Elliott Dexter is just sick, sick, of Pauline Garron’s assertive flapper. How dare she come and make passes at a respectable paleontologist such as he? Why, it is unthinkable that any scientist of repute would ever...   read more