Pre-1930s Hall of Fame

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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Well, I done gone watched Sadie Thompson, won't say too much about it as this HOF's not even started yet really but on balance I'd say it's a better version than the 1932 Rain - it's a shame about that last reel not being salvageable though and, whilst I certainly don't hold it against the film, I've no idea who commissioned the modern score but I had to turn it off after a few minutes as to me it belonged far more to a crappy arcade game than a fillum
I've had that issue and would turn on some Blues or Classic Rock for back up music. Did that recently with Beloved Rogue and some of the songs actually synced up rather nicely for a number of scenes.
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I've had that issue and would turn on some Blues or Classic Rock for back up music. Did that recently with Beloved Rogue and some of the songs actually synced up rather nicely for a number of scenes.
Funny you should say that but I did put on a mix of some Sonya Kitchell and Jane Blue and there was one moment where the lyrics and ambience of the song were just perfectly in sync with the visuals for about sixty seconds



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Funny you should say that but I did put on a mix of some Sonya Kitchell and Jane Blue and there was one moment where the lyrics and ambience of the song were just perfectly in sync with the visuals for about sixty seconds
wonderful feeling that!



Out of the 3 nomination I've already seen, Metropolis is the only one I've decided not to watch again. One reason is because I've seen it fairly recently. The other and more important reason is that my opinion of it is most likely as high as it will go. Of course I am not a huge Sci-Fi fan, and the result here was that I was more impressed with it than I enjoyed it, although I did enjoy it quite a bit. When watching some of these old classics, I can't help but sometimes think of overused phrases such as "great for its time". Statements like this are probably shortchanging this and other movies, but I can't help what pops into my head. There would seem to be a ton of influence from this movie, with Blade Runner being the first that I think of. Blade Runner is another that I respect more than I enjoy, but I enjoyed Metropolis more. Watching the restored version is a must, and at this point it should and could be the only version out there. It's a great movie that I don't have a passion for. I'd have to give it at least



...Metropolis is the only one I've decided not to watch again. One reason is because I've seen it fairly recently. The other and more important reason is that my opinion of it is most likely as high as it will go. ...
That's me too, if I watch a movie I've previously liked too many times, I'll start to have a lower opinion of it. Rarely does it work the other way for me and my opinion go up. Though I did think more of Raising Baby after watching it 4 times. I'll watch Metropolis as haven't seen it in over 10 years, maybe longer. I'll start watching some of these fairly soon, I'm just trying to knock off a few more noms for the 19th and Sci Fi HoFs first.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
I'm on the other spectrum, having a list of films I watch, again and again, there are some that I get a renewed enjoyment and appreciation when seen again. I did that this week with Pulp Fiction and The Godfather. Could have easily done a review for either without a rewatch and Godfather was only a few months ago, but still. A little more appreciation, a little more enjoyable.



Marianne



Knew nothing going it. Right off the bat I was delighted to find out it was a "talkie". No matter how many great Silent films I watch, I still prefer spoken dialogue. Knowing there's not many of them pre-30's, it was a nice surprise to be watching one. Very first impression of Marianne the character and actress was not a good one, but that was only momentary. She reminds me of a cross between Marlene Dietrich and Lucille Ball and definitely has star quality. I was initially also put off by the comedic elements since for whatever reason I assumed this to be a more serious film. That also quickly went away as the characters and everything else was so likable. There is one funny guy in the movie that I swear I've seen somewhere before, the guy in the photo front right looking down. I felt like the movie threatened to go into madcap comedy at times which I didn't want since I'm not a huge fan of old comedy. It never quite got there and as a result I was amused for the duration. It's also a musical, although not to the extreme, and fortunately this was also a major positive. We get a touch of seriousness towards the end and that worked great for me. Not a new favorite for me but I liked it a good amount.

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Marianne
Knew nothing going it. Right off the bat I was delighted to find out it was a "talkie". No matter how many great Silent films I watch, I still prefer spoken dialogue. Knowing there's not many of them pre-30's, it was a nice surprise to be watching one. Very first impression of Marianne the character and actress was not a good one, but that was only momentary. She reminds me of a cross between Marlene Dietrich and Lucille Ball and definitely has star quality. I was initially also put off by the comedic elements since for whatever reason I assumed this to be a more serious film. That also quickly went away as the characters and everything else was so likable. There is one funny guy in the movie that I swear I've seen somewhere before, the guy in the photo front right looking down. I felt like the movie threatened to go into madcap comedy at times which I didn't want since I'm not a huge fan of old comedy. It never quite got there and as a result I was amused for the duration. It's also a musical, although not to the extreme, and fortunately this was also a major positive. We get a touch of seriousness towards the end and that worked great for me. Not a new favorite for me but I liked it a good amount.
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Nice commentary. I like Marion Davies in just about anything. What a wonderful personality! One can see why WR Hearst was smitten.

I believe the actor you mentioned was Bennie Rubin, a popular Jewish comedian of the day. He actually kept working on popular shows up through the 1970s.

~Doc



I seen this thread bumped and I thought it was Chyp's thread, I guess the thread names are real similar. Glad to hear you liked Marianne, I've not seen it before but when we went with two noms, I knew I wanted one of them to be a talkie. I haven't seen Marion Davies in anything except Operator 13 and in that she made an impression on me. So know I can't wait to watch this.



I believe the actor you mentioned was Bennie Rubin, a popular Jewish comedian of the day. He actually kept working on popular shows up through the 1970s.
I looked him up and that was him. I must have remembered him from TV. He has a very recognizable face.



Sherlock,Jr.

This is a fun film which I know has been nominated for a lot of hall of fames, but it's basically the only pre-1930s film that I know well, and I wanted to nominate at least one that I knew. So all in all, although the plot is pretty thin, you can just feel the creative energy from Buster Keaton in this film, and I really appreciate that. He'll go to such lengths for great entertainment, and while special effects will do the trick today, back then this was just really impressive - it still is really impressive, which says a lot about how audiences might have received it in the 1920s. Buster Keaton builds a lovable hero for himself in the midst of the action as well, and I just end up finishing the film with a smile on my face, which I can't say I do for many other films.




Sherlock,Jr.

This is a fun film which I know has been nominated for a lot of hall of fames, but it's basically the only pre-1930s film that I know well, and I wanted to nominate at least one that I knew. So all in all, although the plot is pretty thin, you can just feel the creative energy from Buster Keaton in this film, and I really appreciate that. He'll go to such lengths for great entertainment, and while special effects will do the trick today, back then this was just really impressive - it still is really impressive, which says a lot about how audiences might have received it in the 1920s. Buster Keaton builds a lovable hero for himself in the midst of the action as well, and I just end up finishing the film with a smile on my face, which I can't say I do for many other films.

Keaton is great in this, it's hard to image someone not liking this. Good nom;up:



The Kid

This film holds up pretty darn well. Chaplin is in his most iconic role, the Tramp, and boy does he play that role well. The kid is absolutely adorable and a really good actor too. The plot of the story was overall actually pretty interesting, and I found it wasn't one of those movies that one watches simply for historical reasons. It holds by itself as a film today too. So hats off to Chaplin again for a great early film. This is probably my second favorite Chaplin after Modern Times, and I think it's one of his more underrated films.




I wrote this about Sherlock Jr.

Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924)

Silent films can be fun! At only 45 minutes this is a quick and fun watch! Many of the silent films suffer from poor print quality, but luckily Sherlock Jr looks great on the DVD that was put out by Kino.

Buster Keaton is great! The man could convey so much emotion to us just by a look on his face. I loved the part where he gives a ring to his girl and it's tiny! She's not impressed either, but then Keaton takes a magnifying glass out of his pocket so that the ring will look big to his girl..that was funny!


Most of the films brilliance isn't in humor, but in creativity. Shortly into the film Buster who's a film projections falls asleep and dreams he's in the film that he's been watching on the screen. That's when Sherlock Jr becomes surrealistic.....as Buster is chased, he quickly goes from the city, to the country, then to the jungle, all done seamlessly. The film is quite a technical feat. There's some crazy stunts including one where a huge amount of water pours onto poor Buster.

Besides being a talented actor, Buster Keaton was a skilled director who took great care in creating this 45 minute long movie. After 95 years, Sherlock Jr is still a treat to watch.






Charlie Chaplin might have been the worlds best prophet. As the Great Dictator managed to capture the essence of Hitler right at the start of WWII The Kid manages to be one of the best depression era films...made a decade before the Great Depression.

The plot is simple, an unmarried woman has a child and gives it up, a lonely poor man takes and raises the child as his own. They run a scam where the child breaks windows and the Tramp shows up to fix them. Eventually the child can't be taken care of anyone as he gets ill and the mother reenters the picture.

It's funny, tragic, and just as relevant today as it was 98 years ago.




Faust



I watched this earlier this year for the horror countdown, one of the few and last movies I needed to see for that particular countdown. I watched it again for this because I thought I could get more out of it this time even though my first viewing was pretty good. I definitely did and it's a heck of a movie really. It's a great story that's been done many times, but it's cool since there can be many variations. I do prefer The Devil and Daniel Webster which I think plays out a little less fantastically. It's unbelievable how this movie with effects that now seem archaic and hokey can transform the otherworldly into a nightmarish reality, must more effectively than a modern movie could with state of the art technology. There's a point in this somewhere between the middle and the end that lags a little for me, but it's really just a minor deal. I didn't realize the first time I watched it that the same actor played young and old Faust. Very nice job with the make-up. The real draw for me is Emil Jannings as Satan. His performance is spectacular and the faces he makes are priceless.

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I REALLY need to pick one of these and watch and have NO IDEA which! lol
Me too!...I hope to get started soon.
Get on it you slackers, even this mere sideliner has watched 3 of the fillums since they started being revealed