Go Lillian Gish, It's Your Birthday!

Lillian Gish, the incomparable Lillian Gish, was born on October 14, 1893. Seem like just yesterday, doesn't it?

Celebrate with some of my other posts about Miss Gish, a clip from one of my favorite movies, Broken Blossoms,

(Don't) Watch: Cleopatra (1917)

Cleopatra, starring the sexy and mysterious Theda Bara, was released on October 14, 1917. It was the most popular movie of 1917 by a landslide. The public was intrigued and infatuated with The Vamp. The studio worked overtim...

Watch: The Navigator (1924)

Today is the release date of Buster Keaton's The Navigator, except in 1924. It's not opening down at the local cineplex or anything (a shame, if you ask me). I'm going to go out on a limb and guess if you're reading this, yo...

Film Friday Weekly Roundup

Well, hey now, it's Friday. Thanks to the magic of the interwebs, Pretty Clever Film Gal appears to be feverishly working at PCF Headquarters and she isn't. Ha! Currently, she's in an undisclosed location, playing gin rummy with Dick Cheney. Ok, not ...

Review: The Bells (1926)

I didn't know anything about The Bells (1926) until I was browsing the catalogue at reelclassicdvd.com. But when I see silent + Lionel Barrymore + Bo...

The Jazz Singer... when the movies learned to talk

Well, hell, The Jazz Singer was released on October 6, 1927. And the rest is... well, history. But let's get the story straight. It was not the first sound picture - there was never really a problem with sound pictures. It w...

Watch: The Wedding March (1928)

The Wedding March was directed by Erich von Stroheim and some version of it was released on October 6, 1928. There's a tortured story here, as per usual with von Stroheim, and a lot of slash burn. At some point the movie was...

Film Friday Weekly Roundup

Breaking news: I've just been informed it's Friday. Seriously, this almost slipped past me. Granted I've been caught up in trying to find footage of the debate that Mitt Romney "won," because surely everyone else is talking about a different debate t...

Happy Birthday Buster Keaton

Well well well - happy birthday Buster Keaton!

It seems like it happens once every year... today is Buster Keaton's birthday. Had he been Canadian with ready access to cost effective health care, he would be 117 years old today. Even though it's B...

Watch: From the Manger to the Cross (1912)

We're going heavy with today's screener. From the Manager to the Cross, or Jesus of Nazareth, was released on October 3, 1912, making it exactly 100 years old. Directed by Sidney Olcott and written ...

Watch: The Pawnshop (1916)

Charlie Chaplin's The Pawnshop was released on October 2, 1916 and distributed by Mutual. It's a super silly knockabout slapstick with Chaplin co-star regular Edna Purviance. Chaplin is a clerk in a pawnshop and he bungles everything. That's all ther...

Watch: A Woman of Paris (1923)

CharlieChaplin's A Woman of Paris debuted on October 1, 1923. The movie is atypical Chaplin - it's a drama and though it was written, directed, produced and scored by The Tramp, Charlie Chaplin was not the s...