Movies
Silent film master D.W. Griffith’s first talkie works as a companion piece to his classic BIRTH OF A NATION, providing a detailed biographical sketch of the 16th president. We see his birth in a log cabin, the tragic death of his first love, Ann Rutledge (Una Merkel), his debates with Douglas, his accepting of the presidency, the terrible toll of the Civil War, and finally the tragic assassination at Ford’s Theater. Griffith shows his usual meticulous attention to period detail, and the framing of the various vignettes has the feel of historical photographs come to life. Walter Huston is excellent in the title role, with a portrayal that subtly evolves from laconic, wizened rascal to noble elder statesman. This is a fascinating, worthy film, and an interesting historical document in and of itself.
Lem goes to Chicago to sell the wheat his family has grown on their farm in Minnesota. There he meets the waitress Kate. They fall in love and get married before going back to the farm. Kate is accepted by Lem’s mother and kid sister but is rejected by his father, who believes she married for the money. (And the fact that Lem didn’t get a fair price for the wheat is her fault too). The reapers arrive and quickly they make things even more complicated by making their move on Kate. Lem misunderstands the situation and believes Kate is actually interested. In despair Kate leaves the farm and Lem goes looking for her.
Breck Coleman leads a wagon train of pioneers through Indian attack, storms, deserts, swollen rivers, down cliffs and so on while looking for the murder of a trapper and falling in love with Ruth Cameron.
A young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I. Together with several other young German soldiers, he experiences the horrors of war, such evil of which he had not conceived of when signing up to fight. They eventually become sad, tormented, and confused of their purpose.
Jerry and Ted are young, in love, and part of the New York ‘in-crowd’. Jerry’s decision to marry Ted crushes a yearning Paul. Distraught Paul gets drunk and wrecks his car, disfiguring young Dorothy’s face in the process. Out of pity, Paul marries Dorothy. Years later, the apparent perfect marriage of Ted and Jerry falls apart from infidelity on both sides. Inwardly unhappy, popular Jerry lives a party life while Ted sinks into a life of alcoholism. Jerry then runs into Paul, who still loves her. After spending time together with Jerry, Paul plans to divorce Dorothy. When Jerry sees Dorothy again, she has second thoughts about where her life is heading.
During the Florida land boom, the Marx Brothers run a hotel, auction off some land and thwart a jewel robbery.
The husband and wife acting team of Mae Feather and Julian Gordon is torn apart when he discovers she is having an affair with the screen comedian Andy Wilks.
The mastermind behind a ubiquitous spy operation learns of a dangerous romance between a Russian lady in his employ and a dashing agent from the government’s secret service.
“Speedy” loses his job as a soda-jerk, then spends the day with his girl at Coney Island. He then becomes a cab driver and delivers Babe Ruth to Yankee Stadium, where he stays to see the game. When the railroad tries to run the last horse-drawn trolley (operated by his girl’s grandfather) out of business, “Speedy” organizes the neighborhood oldtimers to thwart their scheme.
A massive 5 1/2 hour biopic of Napoleon, tracing his career from his schooldays (where a snowball fight is staged like a military campaign), his flight from Corsica, through the French Revolution (where a real storm is intercut with a political storm) and the Terror, culminating in his triumphant invasion of Italy in 1797 (the film stops there because it was intended to be part one of six, but director Abel Gance never raised the money to make the other five). The film’s legendary reputation is due to the astonishing range of techniques that Gance uses to tell his story, culminating in the final twenty-minute triptych sequence, which alternates widescreen panoramas with complex multiple- image montages projected simultaneously on three screens.
Public schoolboy Roddy Berwick is expelled from school when he takes the blame for a friend’s theft and his life falls apart in a series of misadventures.
Two young men, one rich, one middle class, both in love with the same woman (Jobyna Ralston), become US Air Corps fighter pilots and, eventually, heroic flying aces during World War I. Devoted best friends, their mutual love of the girl eventually threatens their bond. Meanwhile, a hometown girl (Clara Bow) who’s the love struck lifelong next door neighbor of one of them, pines away.
A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer. This is the first full length feature film to use synchronized sound, and is the original film musical.
Evil Mr.Grimes keeps a rag-tag bunch orphans on his farm deep in a swamp in the US South. He forces them to work in his garden and treats them like slaves. They are watched over by the eldest, Molly. A gang in league with Mr. Grimes kidnaps Doris, the beautiful little daughter of a rich man, and hides her out on Grimes’ farm, awaiting ransom. When the police close in, and Mr. Grimes threatens to throw Doris into the bottomless mire, Molly must lead her little flock out through the alligator-infested swamp.
During America’s Civil War Union spies steal engineer Johnnie Gray’s (Buster Keaton’s) beloved locomotive The General and he single-handedly must do all in his power to get it back. Released throughout most of the world in 1927, this Silent comedy-action film flopped when originally released, but now is regarded as one of the great American motion pictures. The story is based on actual historic events.
The story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army’s Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.
A grotesquely disfigured composer known as the “Phantom” haunts Paris’ opera house, where he’s secretly grooming Christine Daae to be an opera diva. Luring her to his underground lair, the Phantom declares his love. But Christine loves Raoul de Chagny and plans to elope with him after her next performance. When the Phantom finds out, he abducts Christine, incurring the wrath of Raoul — and a horde of rabid Parisians.
The likeable and carefree Grand Duke of Abacco is in dire straits. There is no money left to service the State’s debt; the main creditor is looking forward to expropriating the entire Duchy. The marriage with Olga, Grand Duchess of Russia, would solve everything, but a crucial letter of hers about the engagement has been stolen. Besides, a bunch of revolutionaries and a dubious businessman have other plans regarding the Grand Duke. With the intrusion of adventurer Philipp Collins into the Grand Duke’s affairs, a series of frantic chases, plots and counter-plots begins.
Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter’s wife. Silent classic based on the story “Dracula.”
Actor / writer / director Erich von Stroheim stars as a fraudulent count, living high on the hog in Monte Carlo. He supports himself by extorting huge sums of money from silly married ladies who are dumb enough to fall for his romantic charms. Von Stroheim’s partners in crime, phony princesses Mae Busch and Maud George, live in a state of perpetual depravity with the count in a huge mansion. Their latest victim, played by an actress who insisted upon being billed as Miss DuPont, is the wife of an American financier. Von Stroheim’s attempted seduction of this particular foolish wife is thwarted at every turn, and the count ultimately gets his comeuppance.
Considered one of Charlie Chaplin’s best films, The Kid also made a star of little Jackie Coogan, who plays a boy cared for by The Tramp when he’s abandoned by his mother, Edna. Later, Edna has a change of heart and aches to be reunited with her son. When she finds him and wrests him from The Tramp, it makes for what turns out be one of the most heart-wrenching scenes ever included in a comedy.
A naive country girl is tricked into a sham marriage by a wealthy womanizer, then must rebuild her life despite the taint of having borne a child out of wedlock.
In an attempt at greater efficiency, the chef of a fancy oceanside restaurant and his assistant wreak havoc in the establishment. Adding to the complications is the arrival of a robber.
The Birth of A Nation is a silent film from 1915 and the highest grossing silent film in film history. The film tells a romance story during the American civil war. D.W. Griffith invested heavily in its high production values, pioneering many new camera effects. The Birth of a Nation was strongly protested for its negative portrayal of newly freed slaves (mostly white actors in blackface), which went on to create and propagate negative images of blacks of the early 20th century in the United States. The film was used as a recruiting propaganda by the KKK until the 1940s.
In his third one-hour special, Kyle Kinane talks about why his girlfriend doesn’t need to worry about him cheating, reveals the whitest thing he’s ever said, and explains why you have to keep fashion in mind if you insist on carrying a gun.
Leslie is left with few options when her husband is sent back to war in the Middle East. A modest amount of help arrives in the form of his brother, Salman, who is less than prepared to care for the couple’s two preadolescent boys. When Leslie still can’t make ends meet on her own, Salman is forced to find employment, but, with minimal qualifications, his only option is to become a mascot for a digital company by donning a bulbous blue costume.
A holiday fable that tells the story of an elderly man discovering love for the first time.
On a live music radio show, a letter arrives from the 23 years in the past. Through the letter, the first love and friendships of five friends are revealed.
Fitness trainer/former marriage counselor Molly White (Pascale Hutton) runs “Bridal Boot Camp:” classes combining fitness and yoga with pre-marital counseling exercises to brides and grooms before their big day.
The life story of one of Britain’s most notorious bare-knuckle fighters, Lenny McLean, also known as “the Guv’nor.”
A rescue attempt of a German traitor during World War I has unexpected consequences and sets off an adventure across the Arabian desert.
A rock singer makes a deal with a mysterious doctor who promises to return his voice with horrifying consequences.
Upon his return home, a U.S. Marine must face up to the consequences of a shameful tragedy that has defined his past before he runs out of time.
At the end of civilization, zombies greatly outnumber humans and everyday is a fight to see tomorrow. Just when he is about to give up that fight, rugged wanderer John Knox winds up being saved by a ragtag group of survivors lead by a man named Moses. After initial suspicion, Knox proves his worth and slips into his new family in the wasteland, but one day a war party of maniacal raiders assaults the camp, killing or kidnapping everybody in sight. It’s up to Knox and the few who escaped the attack to gather what resources they can (including zombies!) and launch an all-or-nothing attack on the raiders’ home fortress.
A British Corporal in France finds himself responsible for the lives of his men when their officer is killed. He has to get them back to Britain somehow. Meanwhile, British civilians are being dragged into the war with Operation Dynamo, the scheme to get the French and British forces back from the Dunkirk beaches. Some come forward to help, others were less willing.
