Author Archive: Retro

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 [...]

A story of the French Revolution. Our story shows a party of the nobility endeavoring to evade the insurrectionists, but only one succeeds in outdistancing them. He rushes into the house of an aristocrat who is immune from trouble on account of his professed republicanism. Here he begs succor, which is granted, and he manages to elude his pursuers in the role of the aristocrat’s servant. However, the riotous mob ransacks the house and grounds in a predatory manner, taking up quarters on the outside from which point to work deeds of lawlessness. It is not assumed that the hunted man adhered to his principles through loyalty or honor. No, he was rather the cowardly cur, as we shall see. Hardly ensconced in the house, he at once shows his despicable nature by questionable advances toward the wife of his savior. She, at first, does not realize the meaning of his attentions, assuming them to [...]