Movie pioneer Mary Pickford
Being a Conservative means conserving the wisdom of our ancestors, preserving what is best of our cultural heritage.
Too often, modern man plunges headlong into the future and never looks back. Nowhere is this more evident than with the history and preservation of silent films. Last week I spoke with a group of high school girls about the rich legacy of the movies. As we chatted, I realized the girls had no idea what I was talking about. They never heard of silent films. Nor have they have ever seen a black & white movie. Their frame of reference: Miley Cyrus.
The upcoming Democrat national convention will, no doubt, present a conga line of whiny, complaining women — free birth control! free abortions! — who will portray themselves as long-suffering victims who need the government for, well, everything.
In contrast to the progressive feminists-with-vapors-in-need-of-a-government-issued-fainting-couch, is this fine documentary about movie pioneer Mary Pickford.
Think about her remarkable career. She built it.
Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
18 Comments
I’m sorry I never got into silent films.
I sent a friend a copy I Remember Momma for the budding writer in the family.
Eric and Kelly have adopted ten children besides their own three; seven are from one family.
Naturally being the adopted uncle I try to spoil and “torment” them all the best I can.
Sending them older movies is one way of introducing the family to times and places they have never been exposed to.
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D_mnFinn:
Older movies are wonderful gifts. And it’s not too late to start watching silent films. We suggest you start with “Show People”, 1928.
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Most high-schoolers today wouldn’t have heard of Warren Beatty (whatever would they make of ‘Shampoo’?). I’ve met a few and they can be shockingly ignorant of the most basic tenets of science and history.
It helps to have a shove in the right direction. I caught some Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy on the ABC when I was about 12, so I knew of silents and tried to find out a bit more about them. I was well-primed when Kevin Brownlow’s ‘Hollywood’ series appeared on the small screen (again, ABC, my tax dollars at work), around the same time as I discovered the little theatre in the city that showed up to six pre-war movies every Saturday and Sunday, many of them silents.
Not without anomalies, mind you. I think the soundtrack to Wings consisted of the disco track ‘Popcorn’ on continuous repeat.
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Earl:
Shampoo is a very fine film. I particularly like the fact that not one of the characters goes to vote on election day.
I confess don’t like Laurel & Hardy. In fact, they give me the creeps.
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Even “The Music Box” (1932) bothered you?
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I was lucky to have parents that exposed their children to the culture whether it was movies or opera or the stage. As a kid we would watch B&W movies on tv because we didn’t get a color tv until I was12. I can still remember watching Mildred Pierce, It’s A Wonderful Life, Harvey and Bringing Up Baby on our local PBS station. My parents had albums of Rigiletto, La Traviata and Madama Butterfly and every Saturday the Met production was heard throughout the house. They often talked about seeing movies when they were kids so when I got to college and had a chance to see The Big Parade or City Lights I could appreciate them for their beauty and craftsmanship.
I made sure my kids knew who Chaplin and Keaton were and knew more than just the latest CGI spectacular playing down at the gigaplex. If they were going to a Blink 182 concert I would take them to see Alison Krauss or The Allman Brothers.
It’s not always easy to see past what’s big and popular today but I think my kids and the kids that have worked for me have an open mind about these things.
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Johnny:
Most kids do have an open mind. I volunteered to teach a screenwriting course at a local girl’s Yeshiva. They are wonderful students, enthusiastic and anxious to learn all I have to offer. The first film I’m going to show them is My favorite Wife (1940).
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I love that movie. Irene Dunne is one of my favoite actresses. It might be interesting to compare “My Favorite Wife” with “Move Over Darling.” What other movies are you planning to show for illustration?
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Larry:
I’m only showing “My Favorite Wife.” We are going to analyze the film scene by scene. That will take the full year because the class is, primarily, an intensive college-level screenwriting workshop.
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Oh, I see! Very good approach. I wouldn’t mind seeing a transcript. In all seriousness, if you do get a transcript, you might consider turning it into a downloadable book and selling it through your site.
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She, along with Douglas Fairbanks, were true Hollywood Royalty. I love history – in general taught so poorly that to retain an interest after surviving the public schools is a feat in itself –
We are what we are because of what happened in the past – decisions and economic forces long ago –
As to movie history – I guess it is a tiny group of people trying to preserve prints that are rapidly deteriorating – I saw a Blue Ray version of the Big Country - restored – and what a difference.
As to the silent films I admitedly know but a tiny fraction of what you know Robert – but just from a historical standpoint – have developed quote an appreciation.
It is the contention of my friend Larry that cartoons – their general framework – were actually pioneered by Buster Keaton.
And, being a Marion Davies fan, I have seen the best – and worst of her in Show People (where she was allowed to act as she wanted) and Marianne (under Hearst’s influence I think – where she was supposed to be a dramatic actress) – BTW I think Marianne was one of those transitional movies that was originally made a silent film, then, with the “talkies” reshot with dialogue.
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Bill:
Marion davies was a gifted comedienne. She was our first screwball actress.
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I agree. So was Carole Lombard. There was much about Davies & Lombard in their styles that I found similar.
Wondering whether there was any influence of Davies on Lombard — only an 11-year age difference — I tried to find out about that but couldn’t on a quick search. However, I did find a site with a photo of the two of them along with Jean Harlow & Gloria Swanson. This must have been shortly before Harlow died. Click on the photo to get a larger version.
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Wondering if you’ve seen the retrosilent film The Artist, about the transitional era from silent films to talkies? I thought it was pretty good.
Also recently saw an item about the project to restore old Vitaphone films (Vitaphone being a first-generation sound-film technology)…posted about it at my blog last week.
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David:
I did see The Artist and like it very much. Did not see your post, will get to it asap. Thanks.
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Your experience with the high school girls does not surprise me. Most people I know, adults and children alike, know little about their culture, history, heritage, and all too frequently care less. If they don’t know where they came from how do they know where they’re going?
I introduced my kids to classic movies early on, going all the way back to the silents. My son, for example, was amazed not only to see the antics of Buster Keaton but to learn that most the classic cartoon tropes came from animating his live-action productions & ideas including the adaptation of “Steamboat Willie” from “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” I remember his experience in the 4th grade when his teacher referred to a viaduct and he was the only one who knew to ask, “Why a duck? Why not a chicken.” No other kid in that class had ever heard of the Marx Bros. Getting back to silents, to this day, he considers “Nosferatu” one of the greatest horror movies ever made and “Sunrise” to be one of the most beautiful movies he’s ever seen.
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Larry:
Our son Ariel ZT’L loved Keaton! Especially Seven Chances (1925).
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“Seven Chances” was wonderful. Interestingly, I remember when the Chris O’Donnell remake came out that I didn’t know in advance that it was a remake of it. While watching the remake — which I wasn’t wild about — I kept getting the feeling that I had seen it before but couldn’t figure out where. Then came the scene where all the women chase him & I immediately knew it was Keaton.
Had the opportunity to see “Seven Chances” again several months ago on Netflix. Still great.
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