This is the grave of Francis Boggs. Born in 1870 in Santa Rosa, California, Boggs got interested in acting by the time he was a teenager and by the mid 1880s, he was touring the Southwest with a stock company. He was reasonably successful, enough...
silent film
There's no way to describe this 1907 film as anything less than horrifyingly awesome. I can't believe I haven't used it before. I used to show this students just to.
We haven't done a Melies film in awhile, so let's do that. Here's 1896's The Nightmare. Doesn't get much older than that! Hmmm....turns out blackface was a thing in France.
This is the grave of Marguerite Clark. Born in 1883 in Cincinnati, Helen Marguerite Clark grew up in an upwardly mobile family in Porkopolis. Her father ran a fancy haberdashery (it's sad we don't use that word in general conversation anymore, it's a solid one)....
This is the grave of Douglas Fairbanks. Born in 1883 in Denver, Douglas Ullman grew up in a somewhat tumultuous situation. His father was a prominent lawyer and mining investor.
This is the grave of Mary Pickford. Born in 1892 in Toronto, Gladys Smith grew up in a working class family. Her father was someone who just picked up whatever.
This is the grave of William S. Hart. Born in 1864 in Newburgh, New York, Hart started working in acting in New York City in the late 1880s. The first couple of decades of his career were relatively unremarkable. He had a certain amount of...
This is the grave of Harold Lockwood. Born in 1887 in Brooklyn, Lockwood grew up middle class in Newark. He started his work life in the import-export business, but hated.
Time to watch one of my very favorite early silent films, the 1903 film The Gay Shoe Clerk, in which a shoe salesman scores big time when his customer shows.
I always love the recovery of lost films and this story on early footage from Ireland really made me want to see the films. Hopefully I will have that opportunity. In any case, it is a good excuse to discuss the 1910 film The Lad...
Imagine yourself at the movies in the 1910s. By this point, there are real cinemas. You are going to go there with your family, or your friends, or your girl/boyfriend..
I may have linked to this film way in the distant past, but I never have since I started the film club, so let's discuss the 1907 film The Teddy.