It won't be too much longer now until the silent movie era will almost certainly pass from people's living memory into recorded history as nearly all of the protagonists around at the time have now passed on and only a very very small handful still remain.
With that said, I'm so glad that this documentary was made in time, so we could listen to peoples FIRST HAND accounts of what it was like to experience the opening night of Birth Of A Nation in 1915. FIRST HAND accounts of what it was like to work with Garbo or Valentino and FIRST HAND accounts of many great acting careers ruined by the advent of sound.
This is the most comprehensive look at Hollywood's silent years ever produced. James Mason narrated the series with great ease, by taking us through the many genre's. Comedy, Westerns, Directors, Scandals and the coming of Sound. I particularly enjoyed the focus's on John Gilbert & Greta Garbo and Erich Von Stroheim as they to me epitomised the silent period perfectly. I remember seeing odd episodes of this series on TV in the early '80's and it was seeing these documentary's that my love of silent film really began. It's a shame that the only silent movies you can find on DVD these days are the slapstick Comedies of Chaplin & Keaton, which though good, are only a portion of great movie entertainment from the 1920's & the 1910's and earlier . This series should CERTAINLY be made available on DVD.
However, It now breaks my heart to watch this series, as all those interviewed for the series have since died including James Mason. So I feel that this series was and is the perfect epitaph for the silent movies as all those interviewed actually lived through it. All future documentaries on this great subject, (if anyone will ever care enough to make one), would sadly be based purely on people's interpretation rather than real life memories.
Maybe it's ironic that it was known as the silent era, because it certainly left me speechless.
With that said, I'm so glad that this documentary was made in time, so we could listen to peoples FIRST HAND accounts of what it was like to experience the opening night of Birth Of A Nation in 1915. FIRST HAND accounts of what it was like to work with Garbo or Valentino and FIRST HAND accounts of many great acting careers ruined by the advent of sound.
This is the most comprehensive look at Hollywood's silent years ever produced. James Mason narrated the series with great ease, by taking us through the many genre's. Comedy, Westerns, Directors, Scandals and the coming of Sound. I particularly enjoyed the focus's on John Gilbert & Greta Garbo and Erich Von Stroheim as they to me epitomised the silent period perfectly. I remember seeing odd episodes of this series on TV in the early '80's and it was seeing these documentary's that my love of silent film really began. It's a shame that the only silent movies you can find on DVD these days are the slapstick Comedies of Chaplin & Keaton, which though good, are only a portion of great movie entertainment from the 1920's & the 1910's and earlier . This series should CERTAINLY be made available on DVD.
However, It now breaks my heart to watch this series, as all those interviewed for the series have since died including James Mason. So I feel that this series was and is the perfect epitaph for the silent movies as all those interviewed actually lived through it. All future documentaries on this great subject, (if anyone will ever care enough to make one), would sadly be based purely on people's interpretation rather than real life memories.
Maybe it's ironic that it was known as the silent era, because it certainly left me speechless.