the phantom carriage
i'd heard this was victor sjorstrom's surreal classic. it was disappointingly unfocused and the special effects really don't hold up. on top of that, jonathon richman and a small combo performed live at the same time. they seemed to perform set pieces which lasted different lengths than the scenes on the screen they were meant to accompany. maybe this is enjoyable if you are into "pop" stars or "rock and roll" but really, it just didn't work as a soundtrack.
[i think it's a disturbing trend to have any old musician play at the same time as a film is shown, as if silents aren't important enough to merit a talented, serious soundtrack composer. the music ought to measure up to the directors, art directors, cinematographers, etc.- but then again, i am rather crotchety.]
kevin brownlow's lecture, introduction to silents.
it was great to see a film writer/ film fan hailed as a celebrity. he's rather chagrined at the initial shoddy lab work that ruined a good many films. he did show clips of some films that were i believe from his own collection:
- street life filmed from the top deck of a trolley in england, 1900. so beautiful.
- bronco billy [didn't pay attention- don't like westerns].
- suspense 1913, directed by/written by/starring lois weber, camera by william alder. great tryptic special effect, many close-ups, great composition.
- the blue bird 1918, directed by maurice tourneur.
- one week 1920, directed by/starring buster keaton. preceded by a documentary short produced by the ford motor company to sell the idea of prefab houses, the source of keaton's parody.
- scaramouche 1923, directed by rex ingram, cameo by
- the chess player [already raved about this- see my earlier posting]
- mysterious lady 1928, directed by fred niblo, camera by william h daniels. great rapid editing.
- the fire brigade 1926, directed by fred nye, camera by john arnold. i have to hunt down this film. the special effects were absolutely stunning.
end part one.
4 comments:
i sure agree about bozos playing along to great movies, doesn't make any sense.
i usually play then without sound, i like it that way.
looks like some great movies at brownlow.
thank you for that! i often play classical music from my (newly enhanced) collection when watching silents. it seems when i'm at the cinema audiences just go wild over live accompaniment regardless if its good or bad.
i forgot the mention the piano accompanying kevin brownlow was incredible. i'll dig up her name.
It was Judith Rosenberg. She was so stellar. As a keyboard player myself, I'm in awe of silent film pianists and organists.
I loved hearing Brownlow's refrain about the shoddy lab work. I was particularly fascinated that his interest in silent film was sparked by 9.5mm prints, and that he attributed his immediate positive reaction in part to the format's better-than-usual print duplication quality.
thanks for the pianist's name, brian. i'll definitely go see another film is she is playing along.
i was impressed by TCM when they did their new composer series. i hope it sparks new interest in musicians to work on developing soundtracks.
that was really interesting learning about the lack of quality in the lab work, i hadn't even thought of that.
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