Author Archive: Retro

Dr. Primrose, the vicar of Wakefield, enjoys life with his wife and five children. His two daughters, Olivia and Sophia, are courted by two apparent gentlemen, Mr. Burchell and Squire Thornhill, who is Dr. Primrose’s landlord. But when Mr. Burchell is supposed to have seduced and abandoned Olivia, the Primrose family finds its fortunes dwindling in every sense. It is learned that Burchell is innocent of the seduction, and the real villain is unmasked, but not before Primrose and his family come very near disaster.

Enoch Arden, a humble fisherman, marries Annie Lee. He signs on as a sailor to make more money to support their growing family. A storm wrecks his ship, but Enoch swims to a deserted island. Annie waits vainly for his return.

When a burglar dressed as Santa Claus steals a family’s Christmas presents, amateur detective Octavius sets out to recover the loot.

“Percy Smith (1880-1944) was world famous as a photographer of plant life. Probably the first British example of time-lapse photography as applied to the growth of plants.” Montly Film Bulletin, November 1955

An insurance salesman pretends to steal a collector’s vase and catches a burglar.

Out of a spin-around door on a cylinder-shaped box comes a magician, who proceeds to conjure dancing girls out of the box. At one point he also lights 5 cigars from the box, which magically transform into more dancing girls. Tinted remarkably.

The productions from Thanhouser’s mature period, 1915-1917, clearly show the advancements that set the stage for the first cinematic golden age, the 1920s. Such advances are evident in this surviving shortened version of FIRES OF YOUTH; detailed character development by veteran actor Frederick Warde (and in a smaller role, at least in the shortened version, by Jeanne Eagels), mature editing techniques, special lighting effects, intelligent story development, realistic use of locations, fluid dialogue inter-titles, complex staging and access to better cameras with the defeat of the Patents Trust. Acclaimed French stage and film director Emile Chautard was brought from Éclair studio in France to direct.

A juggler enters upon the scene, picks up a skull, throws it into the air, catches it in his hands, where it is transformed into a handkerchief. The handkerchief, after being twirled about a wand, is changed to a napkin, and afterward to a tablecloth. Out of the table cloth comes a servant. The servant brings a low table upon which the juggler throws some magic powder. The powder takes fire and blazes up into a large flame, in the midst of which appears a beautiful female. The flame dies away, the lady descends to show that she is alive. She mounts the table again. The juggler leaves the room. The servant falls in love with the lady and proposes marriage, but she fades from view. The juggler reenters and head over heals disappears from the top of the chair. The servant rushes toward the chair, juggler reappears coming out from under the table, seizes [...]