FanFare

When they are fed rancid meat, the sailors on the Potemkin revolt against their harsh conditions. Led by Vakulinchuk (Aleksandr Antonov), the sailors kill the officers of the ship to gain their freedom. Vakulinchuk is also killed, and the people of Odessa honor him as a symbol of revolution. Tsarist soldiers arrive and massacre the civilians to quell the uprising. A squadron of ships is sent to overthrow the Potemkin, but the ships side with the revolt and refuse to attack. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Jan 5, 2023 - 7 comments

A man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life in 1920s Moscow, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Odesa with dazzling invention. [more inside]
posted by johnofjack on Dec 1, 2022 - 1 comment

At a carnival in Germany, Francis (Friedrich Feher) and his friend Alan (Rudolf Lettinger) encounter the crazed Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss). The men see Caligari showing off his somnambulist, Cesare (Conrad Veidt), a hypnotized man who the doctor claims can see into the future. Shockingly, Cesare then predicts Alan's death, and by morning his chilling prophecy has come true -- making Cesare the prime suspect. However, is Cesare guilty, or is the doctor controlling him? [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Oct 27, 2022 - 13 comments

Guido Brignone transfigured Dante’s vision of Hell into a grandiose cinematic spectacle of fantasy and imagination. Legendary actor Bartolomeo Pagano plays a strongman, who descends into the inferno in order to restore order, a role he reprised 27 times in this long-running film series. The enthralling contrasts between the realistic scenes on Earth and the surrealist ones in Hell, huge cast of demons, decapitations, (and an un-decapitation!), and a terrifying dragon, fashioned from the most state of the art special effects of the day, all inspired Fellini to get into the movies. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Oct 22, 2022 - 4 comments

In the 1920s, actor George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a bona fide matinee idol with many adoring fans. While working on his latest film, George finds himself falling in love with an ingenue named Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) and, what's more, it seems Peppy feels the same way. But George is reluctant to cheat on his wife with the beautiful young actress. The growing popularity of sound in movies further separates the potential lovers, as George's career begins to fade while Peppy's star rises. A loving tribute to silent film. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Oct 16, 2022 - 3 comments

Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife. [more inside]
posted by johnofjack on Oct 13, 2022 - 12 comments

A hapless but resilient tramp (Charlie Chaplin) falls in love with a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) on the tough city streets. Upon learning that she and her grandmother are to be evicted from their home, the tramp undertakes a desperate series of attempts to provide them with the money they need. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Sep 26, 2022 - 6 comments

A boy (Harold Lloyd) moves to New York City to make enough money to support his loving girlfriend (Mildred Davis), but soon discovers that making it in the big city is harder than it looks. When he hears that a store manager will pay $1,000 to anyone who can draw people to his store, he convinces his friend, the "human fly," (Bill Strother) to climb the building and split the profit with him. But when his pal gets in trouble with the law, he must complete the crazy stunt on his own. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 12, 2022 - 5 comments

This influential German science-fiction film presents a highly stylized futuristic city where a beautiful and cultured utopia exists above a bleak underworld populated by mistreated workers. When the privileged youth Freder (Gustav Fröhlich) discovers the grim scene under the city, he becomes intent on helping the workers. He befriends the rebellious teacher Maria (Brigitte Helm), but this puts him at odds with his authoritative father, leading to greater conflict. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 10, 2022 - 4 comments

In 1931 Paris, an orphan living in the walls of a train station gets wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton. [more inside]
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs on Jul 14, 2020 - 3 comments

"Only a few years before becoming a famous silent-film star and an icon of her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita, Kansas, to study with the prestigious Denishawn School of Dancing in New York. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone, who is neither mother nor friend. Cora Carlisle, a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip, has no idea what she’s in for. ... [W]hile what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, she is liberated in a way she could not have imagined. " -Amazon.com [more inside]
posted by Eyebrows McGee on Mar 31, 2016 - 1 comment