Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 19, 2013

The Location: Old Dark House. Time: Dark and Stormy Night. The Will: Laura La Plante will inherit a fortune if she can prove she is sane. The Problem: One of the many guests present is determined to drive her insane– and murder anyone who gets in the way! Thrills, chills,...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 19, 2013

I have a few ideas for a June theme month. Since I couldn’t decide which to use, I am asking my readers to choose for me. The poll will be open for a week from the post date. I will announce the winner once the poll closes. Thanks in advance!...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 19, 2013

This isn’t an insult. He literally is telling a pork chop where it can get off. In Oh, Doctor! Reginald Denny is charming as a malingerer who discovers that there is more to life than milk and pepsin.   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 18, 2013

You gotta watch those squirrels. Tricky little critters… Would-be gangster Richard Arlen is roped into giving hypochondriac heiress Bebe Daniels a lift. She is not amused at his attempts at humor. However, he is Richard Arlen so I would say he has a better than average chance of winning her   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 18, 2013

Ivanhoe (1913) Status: Prints are held by The Library of Congress and The Museum of Modern Art. In 1913, the American film industry was still teetering between focusing of features and focusing on shorts. Should they keep grinding out one and two-reel sausages or set their sights on bigger and...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 17, 2013

My copy. No bad for $1. This is not just a book for silent film enthusiasts. Any fan of classic film is going to find a lot to like. But I am getting ahead of myself. Daddy Danced the Charleston is “a nostalgic remembrance of our yesterdays.” In this case, “our” means people   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 16, 2013

Brrr! Not someone you want to get angry. Maharajah Conrad Veidt hires a German architect to design a beautiful tomb for his wife. She isn’t actually dead yet. The Maharajah only has one tiger pit, you see, and they need time to digest her boyfriend. Do you think a maharajah...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 16, 2013

Noah Beery’s Sgt. Gonzalez is determined to be the one to catch the mysterious Zorro. Why do I get the feeling that things are not going to go the way he plans?   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 15, 2013

Douglas Fairbanks stars in the very first Zorro movie. The tale is familiar: Zorro is a Californian Robin Hood, who robs from the rich, gives to the poor, fights oppression, romances the beautiful Lolita and does battle with the villainous Captain Ramon. Bonus: I will also be reviewing the 1940...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 14, 2013

Pola Negri and her offending cigarette. Pola Negri is a the Countess. She got dumped right after getting a tattoo of the guy’s family crest. Off she goes to the Midwest to forget. Scandal! Makeup? Tattoos? Smoking? Next thing you know, women will want jobs too! Holmes Herbert, local morals cr   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 14, 2013

Vintage ad extolling the virtues of the film. The Courtship of Myles Standish (1923) Status: Missing and presumed lost The Courtship of Myles Standish has a sad history of broken dreams behind it. Star and money man, Charles Ray, had enjoyed a successful and lucrative career under Thomas Ince. He...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 13, 2013

When can you tell if the guy you are fighting is really Zorro? Well, maybe when he carves a “Z” into your forehead. Just a thought.   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 13, 2013

Title page of the hardcover edition. The opening line is so famous that author Rafael Sabatini has it written on his tombstone: “He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.” The “he” in question is Andre-Louis Moreau and the mad world in this...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 12, 2013

Greetings, all! Lindsey over at The Motion Pictures was given the Liebster Award. The award requires you to pass it on to 11 bloggers. Since Lindsey is a super busy student and a prolific blogger, she opted instead to give the award to anyone who answered her questions. The rules...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 12, 2013

The Midnight Sun (1926) Status: Complete 35mm print (end titles missing) in the UCLA film and television archive. Hollywood went mad for Russia in the 20′s. No leading man worth his salt could afford to skip appearing onscreen in a Cossack uniform or a kosovorotka. Rudolph Valentino, Lon Chan   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 12, 2013

Danton cannot help giving Ramon Novarro a few fighting tips. The aristocrats are out the kill the revolutionaries in duels. What they don’t know is that Novarro has been working as a swordmaster for the past year.   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 11, 2013

Another tattered cover… Last time, I shared the biographical collection Ladies in Distress, now I will do the same for its follow-up, Gentlemen to the Rescue. This collection contains select biographies of silent era leading men. This book is long out-of-print but you can find a reading copy   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 11, 2013

Feodor and Vera are in a bind but love of a dysfunctional nature is in the air. Cecil B. DeMille directs a movie about the Russian Revolution. That could  be my entire review. Boatman: William Boyd. Princess: Elinor Fair. Aristocratic Rival: Victor Varconi. Boyd leads a revolt and revolts the...   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 10, 2013

Vintage ad from Variety Magazine Anne of Green Gables (1919) Status: Missing and presumed lost Mary Miles Minter is remembered today for her relationship with William Desmond Taylor, her director, mentor and silent Hollywood’s most famous murder victim. However, in the late 1910′s, she   read more

Movies Silently Posted by Movies, Silently on April 10, 2013

Gentlemen in starched collars insulting each other. What would we ever do without them? Milton Sills is not going to take this snotty talk lying down!   read more