Author Archive: Retro

A short documentary about the everyday life of Norwegian and Irish whalers. After a successful day of work, as it should – dancing!

The scene opens with the jester being spurned by the king, who has evidently partaken of food which disagrees with him, and instead of being amused by the frolics of his jester he casts him away. All the wiles of the jester fail to raise a smile. The king petulantly throws himself into his chair of state. The jester, finding his jokes falling flat, performs acrobatic feats to no effect; juggling with balls, no result; the king won’t be pleased. The jester then gathers chairs and builds them up and outward. Ah! The king is at last interested, wondering why they don’t fall over, and gets down to see. The jester, taking a pair of bellows, blows the chairs and they fall in a heap at the king’s feet. The jester next puts the chairs away and tickles the king, who kicks him for his frivolity; then, getting down from his chair to again kick [...]

A young American has her ship torpedoed by a German U-boat but makes it back to ancestral home in France, where she witnesses German brutality firsthand.

A Hank Mann slapstick comedy where he plays a Junk Dealer’s Helper.

Broncho Billy, an outlaw, after robbing a stagecoach, goes to the cabin of an old man who lives with his daughter and demands food. While here the posse comes along and Broncho orders the girl out to tell them that he has not been seen, while he holds the old man at the point of a gun threatening him with death if he opens his mouth. The posse believe the girl, so go on. When Broncho leaves, the girl, mad with anger, brings out a Winchester and shoots him in the head. He drags himself to a hollow stump, where he hides the money he stole. He then makes his way to a small town, where he goes to the church and tells the minister and his wife how he was accidentally shot. Broncho lived at the minister’s home for some time and becomes converted. One night he steals out, taking with him a Bible. [...]

A woman finds herself all alone in a remote harbor with the man responsible for the murder of her father. With seemingly nobody around to protect her, she has to be resourceful.

Lear is an old man blind to his weaknesses. He decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters according to who recites the best declaration of love. Goneril and Regan pretend to love him but treat him cruelly. Cordelia is loyal but, confusing honesty with insolence, he disowns her.

Rip Van Winkle, a lazy American man, wanders off one day with his dog Wolf into the Kaatskill mountains where he runs into an odd group of men drinking and playing bowls. He drinks some of their mysterious brew and passes out. When he wakes up under a tree he is astonished to find that 20 years have passed and things are a lot different. This is a charming story about how America changed due to the cival war, only in a different and more subtle way than ever told before.

Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors. A key opens a small door: eventually, she’s through into a garden where a dog awaits. Later, in the rabbit’s home, her size is again a problem. She tries to help a nanny with a howling baby, then a Cheshire cat directs her to a tea party where the Mad Hatter and March Hare dunk a dormouse. Expelled from the party, Alice happens on a royal processional: all the cards in the deck precede the Queen of Hearts, who welcomes then turns on Alice and calls on the royal executioner. Alice must run for her life.