You can see the only surviving footage of The Miracle Man on YouTube (link below).
This is one of those films that cause intense anguish for me, wondering what might have been. We see just enough of it to want to see the whole thing, but most of it hasn't survived, unless there's a print out there somewhere, hidden away.
It was Chaney's breakthrough role, as a con man named Frog, and he's incredible, as always. DeMille leading man Thomas Meighan also stars, but that one scene - the fake healing, followed by the real thing - makes the film Chaney's, and his alone.
I hope that, as with Metropolis, we'll soon hear that the "lost" footage has been found, and the whole movie will be restored and presented to the public.
Take a look.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Man Who Laughs
This is one gorgeous movie.
I saw it a few years ago, and I wonder why it took me so long. It's a late-era silent (1928) with the incomparable Conrad Veidt as the title character. It seems that Gwynplaine (Veidt) is the son of a man who pissed off the King of England in a very serious way; the father is sentenced to the Iron Maiden, while the son is given to a band of gypsies who excel in plastic surgery.
The gypsies carve a permanent smile in his face before abandoning him, alone and friendless. Finding a blind baby still clutched in her dead mother's arms, he takes the baby and eventually finds a home with a traveling show. Gwynplaine, as an adult, becomes a part of the show and is known, of course, as "The Man Who Laughs".
This is such an atmospheric film, with many touches of the German Expressionists (and one of Expressionism's best-known actors), matched by a fascinating, bizarre story. Veidt is always excellent, and even Mary Philbin gives a good performance as the blind Dea, the woman he loves but feels he doesn't deserve.
The film is dark, the story is consistently interesting, and everything just works. An interesting footnote is that Veidt's appearance - hair slicked back, face constantly smiling - provided the inspiration for the comic-book character of the Joker, nemesis of Batman, though Gwynplaine is a highly sympathetic, tragic character. Veidt had to wear wire hooks to hold his mouth in place, which prevented him from speaking. (There is some talk that Lon Chaney was originally cast in this role, which makes perfect sense, given his talent for strikingly original makeup.)
One of the things that interests me about this movie is the fact that it does have a soundtrack, though you don't hear the actors speaking their lines. Some of the sound is synched; some is a musical score. One romantic scene has a woman's beautiful voice singing. It's a far cry from the primitive sound that was, even then, taking over the film business.
Best of all, the film is available on DVD!
I saw it a few years ago, and I wonder why it took me so long. It's a late-era silent (1928) with the incomparable Conrad Veidt as the title character. It seems that Gwynplaine (Veidt) is the son of a man who pissed off the King of England in a very serious way; the father is sentenced to the Iron Maiden, while the son is given to a band of gypsies who excel in plastic surgery.
The gypsies carve a permanent smile in his face before abandoning him, alone and friendless. Finding a blind baby still clutched in her dead mother's arms, he takes the baby and eventually finds a home with a traveling show. Gwynplaine, as an adult, becomes a part of the show and is known, of course, as "The Man Who Laughs".
This is such an atmospheric film, with many touches of the German Expressionists (and one of Expressionism's best-known actors), matched by a fascinating, bizarre story. Veidt is always excellent, and even Mary Philbin gives a good performance as the blind Dea, the woman he loves but feels he doesn't deserve.
The film is dark, the story is consistently interesting, and everything just works. An interesting footnote is that Veidt's appearance - hair slicked back, face constantly smiling - provided the inspiration for the comic-book character of the Joker, nemesis of Batman, though Gwynplaine is a highly sympathetic, tragic character. Veidt had to wear wire hooks to hold his mouth in place, which prevented him from speaking. (There is some talk that Lon Chaney was originally cast in this role, which makes perfect sense, given his talent for strikingly original makeup.)
One of the things that interests me about this movie is the fact that it does have a soundtrack, though you don't hear the actors speaking their lines. Some of the sound is synched; some is a musical score. One romantic scene has a woman's beautiful voice singing. It's a far cry from the primitive sound that was, even then, taking over the film business.
Best of all, the film is available on DVD!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Forever silent
I've been thinking of those silent actors whose voices, for one reason and another, were never heard on film.
Here are some of them:
Elliott Dexter. Retired from the screen in 1925.
Bobby Harron. Died in 1920.
Wallace Reid. Died in 1923.
Clarine Seymour. Died in 1920.
Constance Talmadge. Retired from films upon the advent of sound.
Olive Thomas. Died in 1920.
Rudolph Valentino. Died in 1926.
And, of course, the older actors who had simply faded off the screen, or died, before sound came in.
Then there's one who only made one sound film: Lon Chaney. What might he have done with his voice, as he did with his face and body, had he lived longer?
Here are some of them:
Elliott Dexter. Retired from the screen in 1925.
Bobby Harron. Died in 1920.
Wallace Reid. Died in 1923.
Clarine Seymour. Died in 1920.
Constance Talmadge. Retired from films upon the advent of sound.
Olive Thomas. Died in 1920.
Rudolph Valentino. Died in 1926.
And, of course, the older actors who had simply faded off the screen, or died, before sound came in.
Then there's one who only made one sound film: Lon Chaney. What might he have done with his voice, as he did with his face and body, had he lived longer?
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Flicker Alley
Big news!
Flicker Alley has released a John Gilbert double feature on DVD. The two films are Bardelys the Magnificent and Monte Cristo.
I don't know what else is in it; I know that we can count on the good people at Flicker Alley to throw in all kinds of delightful goodies, though. The first film is one I saw last year at the Pordenone festival, and I loved it. One reel was missing, so when it was restored by Lobster Films in France, they used stills to recreate the story during that scene. Bardelys is about a 17th-century Parisian nobleman who finds himself betting an acquaintance that he can "make" a young noblewoman of the country fall in love with and marry him. And that's just the beginning of the story.
I've never seen Monte Cristo, but Gilbert is in it. That's good enough for me.
Flicker Alley has released a John Gilbert double feature on DVD. The two films are Bardelys the Magnificent and Monte Cristo.
I don't know what else is in it; I know that we can count on the good people at Flicker Alley to throw in all kinds of delightful goodies, though. The first film is one I saw last year at the Pordenone festival, and I loved it. One reel was missing, so when it was restored by Lobster Films in France, they used stills to recreate the story during that scene. Bardelys is about a 17th-century Parisian nobleman who finds himself betting an acquaintance that he can "make" a young noblewoman of the country fall in love with and marry him. And that's just the beginning of the story.
I've never seen Monte Cristo, but Gilbert is in it. That's good enough for me.
Monday, June 1, 2009
British Silent Film Festival
Good news for film fans in Britain!
The 12th British Silent Film Festival starts at the Barbican Cinema on June 4, running until the 6th. One of the features is Hitchcock's last silent film, The Manxman.
The focus this year is on the relationship of sound and film. Pordenone regulars Neil Brand and Philip Carli will be attending (and accompanying); at least one of the films presented is an early sound film, an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel Under the Greenwood Tree.
For more information, go here.
The 12th British Silent Film Festival starts at the Barbican Cinema on June 4, running until the 6th. One of the features is Hitchcock's last silent film, The Manxman.
The focus this year is on the relationship of sound and film. Pordenone regulars Neil Brand and Philip Carli will be attending (and accompanying); at least one of the films presented is an early sound film, an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel Under the Greenwood Tree.
For more information, go here.
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