"The Gold Rush" #74/58, 1925
I took no notes on The Gold Rush.
Rediscovering that the writer, star, and director was Charlie Chaplin assures me that it was a great movie.
The movie takes place in the Klondike area. Lots of snow.
I remember one of the recurring jokes including the intense cold outside, and the nice warmth inside the cabin.
I remember a cute girl that the tramp likes. Sorry. Charlie doesn't play that tramp in this one. The lone prospector. I remember a cute girl that the lone prospector likes.
I remember a dance hall.
And I do remember liking it. I would watch it again. Which is what I would need to do in order to tell you anything more about this.
"The Birth of a Nation", #44/Removed, 1915
Via the trivia available on imdb.com, I found out that after director D.W. Griffith made this film (which has some racial overtones-I'll get to that), he was criticized as being racist, and he was very hurt by this. So, he then made "Intolerance", which is also on the top movie list.
Now, this movie really is rather racist. It shows the American Civil War from the point of the South. And it shows the start of the KKK as a way to protect the southerns from the horrible new black-supremists that were terrorizing the place. In true 1910's style, this is a three hour long silent film, and D.W. Griffith didn't write a script or screen play at all. He came up with all the shots in his head, and simply explained to all the actors prior to each shot what was going on. I'm sure it really helped that it was a silent film, since he could then shout to the actors in the middle of scenes what he wanted them to do.
One of the things I liked the most about this was the soundtrack/score. Each character had their own theme music that would come on when a scene focused on them. So, it was probably the same eight songs played over and over again, with maybe a couple extra songs thrown in.
The first part of the movie shows two families who are long time friends - the Northern Stonemans and the South Camerons. They show them visiting each other prior to the war, and how much the two families care for each other. [[Major spoiler alert... but really, you probably won't be watching this movie ever, so who cares if I spoil it]] Then there is a really interesting scene where two men of the families (close friends) meet up on the battle field (fighting each other). One man is wounded on the ground, and the other man is approaching and about to stab him with the bayonet attached to his musket, and then he realizes who he is about to stab, and then embraces him as a brother and attempts to help him, but then they are both shot down, and die in each others' arms.
It was a very interesting scene that contrasted how much the North hated the South in general terms, but there was still a brotherhood love between individuals who were friends.
Good film, but a long, racist movie. I won't be watching it again, nor would I suggest it to anyone.
"The General", New/#18, 1927
This is the highest ranked addition to the list. Again, it's really interesting to me when a movie is added to the anniversary list, even though it was around when the original list was put out. But, I support this addition. It's kind of interesting because it centers on the Civil War, and Buster (the protagonist) is from the South. And, since I've spent 99% of my life in Union states, it was really foreign for me to be rooting for a Confederate. So, in case you don't know, the American Civil War was one of (if not the) first industrial war. Which, along with a lot of other things, means that the railroads played a very important part in the war. And, turns out, that The General is a type of train. And, the entire story pretty much takes place on trains.
It was actually highly entertaining. Maybe I need to rethink my opinions about silent films. Because for hating them, I think I have actually liked the majority of the ones I've watched so far. And, the silent comedies are actually really good. Because they don't really have much dialogue, almost all of the comedy is physical comedy, which is hilarious. And Buster Keaton is hilarious.
Maybe I should talk about him for a little bit... Or, I guess write, since I'm not actually talking. Anyways... Buster was a nickname that Harry Houdini gave him. How awesome is that? he started his career in a vaudeville act with his parents. You can google vaudeville, but it was a theater type of entertainment, so people would go to a theater/arena/venue of some king and they would watch the acts. But, the big thing that Buster was known for was always having a solid poker-face, which was typically described as deadpan. I didn't research this, but I'm pretty sure he did all of his own stunts. He definitely did this really epic one in a movie called Steamboat Bill Jr., where a whole side of a house falls on him, and he miraculously is standing right where the window will be, so he doesn't get hit. You should watch it on YouTube. That scene is actually referenced in an episode of Arrested Development, when the 2nd model home falls apart and Buster Bluth is standing right where the window is.
But, back to Buster Keaton. He was a great comedy, and extremely well know in his time and still today. Well, he's probably not that well know by the public, but he is covered in any TV special about the great comedians of all time. The guy made over 100 movies. That's kind of ridiculous. And I would know about triple digits of movies.
Anyways, back to the review of The General... It was pretty good. It had a good mix of comedy with a little drama, a love story, a lot of action. I would watch it again, but I think there needs to be maybe a year or two in between viewings just because the entire movie follows this train around, so it really is this long continuous train ride. So you do need a little time as a view to recover from that.
"Intolerance" New/#49, 1916
It's always intriguing to me when a movie not on the original list is added to the anniversary list, especially considering the movie was around when the original list was made. So what is it about the movie that made it qualified to be added to the list.
Well anyways...
I was not excited for this movie. It had three strikes against it before I even started the movie. 1) It's a silent film, 2) it's a silent drama, and 3) It's three and a half hours long. So that was a great set up. However, somehow, I enjoyed it. The movie is a 'drama of comparisions' and it's shown in two acts. Probably so that the people in the movie theatre could have a bathroom break. I think I watched it in about four chunks. The movie is a bunch of overlapping stories-I think there were four. There was the "Modern Story" (keep in mind modern still meant early 1900's) in America, one from ancient Babylon around 500BC featuring King Belshazzar, one around the 1500's in France, and the crucifixion of Jesus circa 30AD. The main story was the modern one, we also followed that one the longest, I think it spanned three or four years, while the Babylonian story spanned three or four days. Luckily, this movie (generally) clued the audience into which story it was. I really loved that none of the characters really had names. I mean, there was Belshazzar, who was the King of Babylon. But, the girl in the modern story was The Dear One and she met (and then married) The Boy. And the girl in the french story was Brown Eyes. The girl in Babylon who lived out in the mountain was, The Mountain Girl. I think using those names made it a lot easier to keep track of what story was about to be shown. When the audience sees "The Mountain Girl", they know it's the Babylonian story. Had they said, "Mary & John", the audience may have been confused if it was The Dear One and The Boy from the modern American story, or Brown Eyes and The Prince. I mean, the audience may have figured it out, but I just watch The Sing-Off (an a capella singing competition) and even though I'd watched five episodes, I have no idea what the first name of the main singer of my favorite group is, so really, it's also very probable that the audience would be confused throughout.
As you probably guessed, the movie is about intolerance. It showed every type of discrimination... religion, sex, social class, age, etc. And, by jumping between the modern story and the three older stories, it artistically showed that nothing has changed, intolerance still ruins the lives of people.
So, as I said above, I actually really enjoyed this movie. Even though you still have to deal with the epic background music and the extreme overacting, I think this movie is worth watching. I think any silent drama film that is 3 1/2 hours, that I still consider to be a good movie, is probably a really good movie. So, if you have a chance to watch it (probably in at least two, maybe four sittings), you should!
"Duck Soup", #85/60, 1933 This is a Marx Brothers film. The Marx Brothers were a vaudeville comedy act. They are five brothers with ridiculous names: Chico Marx, Groucho Marx, Gummo Marx, Harpo Marx, and Zeppo Marx. Then they took their vaudeville act and transitioned to movies. Naturally, with those names, they are in the comedy business.
The title of the movie has absolutely nothing to do with happens in the movie, but Groucho's explaination for it is: "Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you'll duck soup the rest of your life."
The movie's plot is really only there for necesity because it's a movie. But the movie is essentially just for their gag comedy. It's a pretty short movie, only a little over an hour, and it is pretty funny. The best scene in the movie is where two of the brothers (the two in the background) dress up like the brother in the front. And two of them do this hilarious mirror scene, so if you have at least three minutes you should watch the clip on youtube. And if you have an hour, you should watch the movie.
"City Lights", #76/11, 1931
This was a great movie. It was Charlie Chaplin's last silent film and one of his last films in general. I've already mentioned that I'm not a big fan of silent films, but this is a good one. Charlie Chaplin always puts a lot of physical comedy into his films, which makes them fun to watch. Maybe I just don't like silent dramas, because silent comedies are typically alright. This movie is funny, but also very heartwarming. Chaplin, in his ever famous character-The Tramp (in this time period tramp refered to a homeless person, not a skanky girl, so think Lady & The Tramp). He falls in love with this blind girl, who mistakes him as a rich man. Chaplin also meets a rich man and they become friends... or at least they are friends while the man is drunk, but then when he sobers up, he can't ever remember Chaplin and is mean to him, until the next party. Then the blind girl has a surgery and is no longer blind, she waits for her 'rich' suitor to come, but the 'rich' is actually homeless and incredibly poor. But she recognizes him anyways and they love each other! So heartwarming :) And it's really funny. So, this is one of the few that I am actually recommending that you watch.
