Desert Nights with John Gilbert and Mary Nolan: Enjoyable Sahara-set adventure – which happened to be Gilbert's last silent film – dares to ask the age-old philosophical question, “Is there honor among thieves?” John Gilbert late silent adventure 'Desert Nights' asks a question for the ages: Is there honor among thieves? The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release Desert Nights arrived in theaters at the tail end of the silent era. By 1929, audiences wanted lots of singing and dancing – talkies! And they might have been impatient to hear John Gilbert's speaking voice. I can't tell whether sound would have improved it or not, but Desert Nights has a lot of title cards filled with dialogue. Directed by the prolific William Nigh,[1] the film tells the story of diamond thieves who get stranded in the Sahara and almost die of thirst. (At first, Desert Nights' was appropriately titled Thirst.) Cinematographer James Wong Howe perfectly captures the hot, dry...
- 8/7/2017
- by Danny Fortune
- Alt Film Guide
In 2011, Michel Hazanavicius' revived the black and white silent film, earned ten Oscar nominations, winning five awards. Among the film's actors nominated for a golden statuette: Argentine-born actress Bérénice Bejo.
But long before Bejo could grace Hazanavicius' homage to old Hollywood, Myrtle Gonzalez and Beatriz Michelena would forge the way for Latinas onto the silver screen. The Silent Film era also opened doors for Hispanic actors like Ramon Novarro and Antonio Moreno, men often typecast as the "Latin Lover."
Like modern Hollywood, early Hollywood often trafficked in Latino stereotypes. Still, a small group of Hispanic artists thrived in the silent film industry. Some later transitioned to the, "talkies," becoming stars long before Jennifer Lopez and Andy Garcia, before Cameron Diaz and Benicio Del Toro.
But long before Bejo could grace Hazanavicius' homage to old Hollywood, Myrtle Gonzalez and Beatriz Michelena would forge the way for Latinas onto the silver screen. The Silent Film era also opened doors for Hispanic actors like Ramon Novarro and Antonio Moreno, men often typecast as the "Latin Lover."
Like modern Hollywood, early Hollywood often trafficked in Latino stereotypes. Still, a small group of Hispanic artists thrived in the silent film industry. Some later transitioned to the, "talkies," becoming stars long before Jennifer Lopez and Andy Garcia, before Cameron Diaz and Benicio Del Toro.
- 10/3/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
The National Film Preservation Foundation announced today that the next volume in their invaluable series of DVD releases will be Treasures 5: The West, 1898-1938. The 10-hour, 3-disc box set celebrates "the dynamic, gender-bending, ethnically diverse West that flourished in early movies but has never before been seen on video."
The full lineup is here and today's announcement plucks out a few of the highlights: "Among the 40 selections are Mantrap (1926), the wilderness comedy starring Clara Bow in her favorite role; Ws Van Dyke's legendary The Lady of the Dugout (1918), featuring outlaw-turned-actor Al Jennings; Salomy Jane (1914), with America's first Latina screen celebrity Beatriz Michelena [image above]; Gregory La Cava's sparkling Old West–reversal Womanhandled (1925); Sessue Hayakawa in the cross-cultural drama Last of the Line (1914); one-reelers with Tom Mix and Broncho Billy, Mabel Normand in The Tourists (1912), and dozens of other rarities." The set is slated for a September release.
Speaking of the wild,...
The full lineup is here and today's announcement plucks out a few of the highlights: "Among the 40 selections are Mantrap (1926), the wilderness comedy starring Clara Bow in her favorite role; Ws Van Dyke's legendary The Lady of the Dugout (1918), featuring outlaw-turned-actor Al Jennings; Salomy Jane (1914), with America's first Latina screen celebrity Beatriz Michelena [image above]; Gregory La Cava's sparkling Old West–reversal Womanhandled (1925); Sessue Hayakawa in the cross-cultural drama Last of the Line (1914); one-reelers with Tom Mix and Broncho Billy, Mabel Normand in The Tourists (1912), and dozens of other rarities." The set is slated for a September release.
Speaking of the wild,...
- 5/31/2011
- MUBI
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