Silent images

The post about silent-movie action figures got me thinking.

When I look for posters of famous silent movies, I find reprints of the originals. This is all well and good, but I'd also like to see images that look more realistic, and softer, rather than the hard-edged drawings that I usually find.

Yes, I know; that's how they did it back then. But we can do more, I think. Why not create posters showing some of the classic images of silent movies, uncluttered by titles? And how about just showing one
image in the posters, rather than a montage?

Is there anything to prevent it? I'd like to know.

Metropolis

This is one that has had us all peeing ourselves with joy since we heard the news last year; the silent film usergroup I belong to had post after post after post about it. It didn't have the staying power of the "Silent Hotties" thread, but a lot of excitement ensued.

This year's Berlin Film Festival is showing the newly-restored Metropolis for FREE at the Brandenburg Gate. Now I am jealous. I thought it would be a ticketed event that would sell out sometime last year.

Nope, it's open to the public - well, as much of the public as can see over each other's heads, anyway.

More information here.

Now, the question is: When are we going to see the full version on video?

Action figures

Why don't we have more of these?

I discovered a wonderful action figure of Lon Chaney from the famous (and, sadly, lost) film London After Midnight. You can also get figures of him as Erik in Phantom of the Opera and as Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I did find, much to my delight, a series called Silent Screamers Action Figures. These gems include the Frankenstein monster from Edison's 1910 version of the classic tale (in which Charles Ogle played the monster) and Count Orlok from Murnau's classic Nosferatu.

These figures were all sold out at the website I checked. But they're sold all over the place.

How about some other figures?

- John Gilbert and Lillian Gish in La Boheme

- Valentino and Agnes Ayres in The Sheik

- Buster Keaton and Brown Eyes in Go West

- Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston in Girl Shy

- Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky in any of their movies

- Richard Barthelmess and Lillian Gish in Way Down East

- Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson in The Affairs of Anatol

- George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor in Sunrise

Come on, people! Get with it! Make some!

EDITED: It seems that my blog IS being read; someone has answered this post! Click on "comments" below to read it.

Silents on DVD

I came across a nifty little site for buying DVDs of silent movies. It links together several different sites I'd never heard of, and a few I had, such as Kino International, purveyors of many fine films (but not enough silent movies, folks; sad, but true).

I discovered - joy! joy! joy! - that Hearts of the World can indeed be purchased on DVD! I'd only found it on VHS, on Amazon. This particular gem is available from the French company Bach Films. Be warned, though; their website is all in French, so if you don't speak it, find a friend who can translate for you. I will give you some help here:

Hearts of the World - Les Coeurs du Monde

The Avenging Conscience - La Conscience Vengeresse

Way Down East - A Travers L'Orage

The Shock - La Terre a Tremble

The Penalty - Satan

As far as ordering the DVDs is concerned, I'm afraid you're on your own. Brush up on your French!

The Charles Farrell/Mary Duncan drama The River is also available, from an Austrian company. Drool. Drool.

Enjoy!