The Artist - Silent Still Works

I have seen my share of silent films. If you belong to the Sons of the Desert, you learn the charm of screen acting without dialog. After you see a few good silents, you start seeking them out, looking for the most famous...for the best of the silents.

I would say that City Lights (1931) was one of the best. Chaplin used every trick he learned in his career to bring a touching story to the screen, and it really didn't need words. Although he made it after talkies had become the norm, he was convinced that silence was golden for the movies. His character, The Tramp, was mute, so film should be as well.

I had the pleasure of seeing The Artist (2011) last weekend. We went to the Ambler Theater in Ambler, PA, which was opened in 1928 as a Warner Brothers theater. The first film shown there was Our Dancing Daughters (1928) starring Joan Crawford (1905 - 1977). It was a perfect place to see The Artist.

This was our first visit to The Ambler and I was impressed. Please check out their web site, especially if you are in the Philadelphia area. The theater has undergone a complete restoration and many aspects are recreated as they were in 1928. The neon sign was removed in the 1960s so it was reconstructed to look just like the original.

As far as the new Oscar nominated film, The Artist is everything you can imagine. The two stars, Jean Dujardin (b. 1972), and Berenice Bejo (b. 1976), each have less than 40 films to their credit. There are a few actors and actresses in the film who are well known. Penelope Ann Miller, John Goodman, James Cromwell, and Malcolm McDowell come to mind. But in this film, I would have to call them Bit Actors. Malcolm McDowell has one short scene early in the film with Bejo as she auditions for her first movie.

It seems that everyone wanted to be part of this new...or rather old idea. Cromwell said that he jumped at the chance to make a film like this. He knew it would be special.

In the LA Times blog, 24 Frames, on January 24, 2012, this explanation caught my eye -

As costar John Goodman has pointed out, silent films by their nature are best experienced in a crowd, where the emotions produced by the music and the emotive nature of the acting get naturally amplified as they bounce from person to person. In an age when watching movies alone at home is a given and watching them regularly on your cellphone is being touted as one of the glories of the future, academy voters likely found it exhilarating to be reminded of the special nature of the theater-going experience.
Finally, for more than one reason, “The Artist” is that almost unheard of film that makes voters feel good about what they do for a living, that makes them take pleasure in working in the industry when so little else does.

For the record, I will NEVER watch a movie on my cell phone, but the article hits the nail on the head. And it was so nice to go to a theater and not have to push through a crowd of teenagers! I do suggest that teenagers interested in movies should see this film, with an open mind, and after watching The Artist check out City Lights. They will be impressed.

As an added plus, the locations used to make the film are historic. The mansion used toward the end of the film was the home of silent movie star Mary Pickford (1892 - 1979), and the studio used as a set was actually a 1920s movie studio...perhaps it was Chaplin's, I am not sure. Don't even get me started on the cars. (Two beautiful Cadillacs.)

As an added plus, the film was shot in the correct aspect ratio for most silent films of the old days, the titles and inter-titles were period correct, and most of all, the dog, played by Uggie, was perfect!

The parallels with Charlie Chaplin cannot be missed. The star of The Artist also has a problem with the advent of talkies, and he is able to (eventually) make the switch. I won't say how, but see this film!

This is the first silent film since the end of the silent era to be nominated for an Oscar. I wish I could vote! I wish I could buy the poster, too.

Chaplin and Fester

I just used my new search box and found that I have been remiss in my duties, and have not yet mentioned Charles Chaplin.  Chaplin is recognized as one of the greatest film makers of all time.

I am just finishing a re-read of Charlie Chaplin by John McCabe.  It is considered one of the best Chaplin biographies, mainly because McCabe is so thorough in his research.  As a matter of fact, it is much more accurate than Chaplin's own autobiography.  McCabe is careful to explain the differences in Chaplin's memories and what actually happened in his life.

I met Jack (as he was called) back in the 1980s while in the Sons of the Desert.  He was the founder of the group, and he was also the authorized biographer of Stan Laurel.  Stan helped him as he (and others) formed the SoD, with some ideas and suggestions. 

Jack was always friendly and very easy to talk to, and extremely knowledgeable.  His wife was Rosina Lawrence, who was an actress with Hal Roach, and appeared in several L&H films, as well as Our Gang and others.

The book got me thinking about how bit actors become stars, but in this case, how a star became a bit actor.  Of course I am referring to Jackie Coogan.  Coogan's first big hit was The Kid.  It is a silent Chaplin film released in 1921, with Coogan in the title role.  It is my opinion that Coogan was the real star of the film, with Chaplin playing a big supporting part.  You simply can't take your eyes off the Kid, he is so wonderful in this movie.

I would imagine that the trade news of the time would have predicted Jackie Coogan would go on the become a big movie star.  He made over $4,000,000 as a child actor in the 1920s, which is a huge amount of money.  Sadly, his mother and step-father refused to give him his money when he grew up.  He sued them and was awarded only $126,000 in 1939.  The public was angry about this, so California eventually passed the Coogan Act to protect the income of child actors by requiring a trust fund for them.

Coogan's career wound down after that and he became a guest star on many television shows, ending up as a bit actor.  His biggest part as an adult was as Uncle Fester on the original "Addams Family" on TV.  I remember him later playing villains and other characters on other TV shows.  You can only wonder what the turn of fate will deal. 

BTW, if you decide to purchase any silent films, try to find them with a good musical score.  Bad music from a cheap copy can really detract from what could be a truly great film.  Many of the old silent films are now in the public domain, which means anyone with a copy can dupe it and sell it.  In many cases that means they add whatever free music they can find.  Good luck.

WAR!

We are getting close to Memorial Day, and it struck me that war movies probably utilize more bit part actors and extras than any other genre.  Many war films use real troops, supplied by request to the government, to capture the realism, and supply enough bodies to fill the screen.

The General is a silent film by Buster Keaton about a steam locomotive that was stolen by Union soldiers during the Civil War.  Keaton plays an engineer in the South who tries to recover the missing loco named The General.  This is considered one of the best silent films every made...certainly Keaton's best film.  It is based in fact, although it stretches historical truth quite a bit.  I was awestruck by the stunts Keaton performed, with great risk to life and limb.

Keaton was able to use reserve troops as extras for the battle scenes.  He still didn't have enough men, so he filmed all of the Union side, then they all changed uniforms and he filmed all of the Confederate side.  The big battle scene near the end of the film caused a forest fire, and the troops helped put the fire out before it got too far out of control.

The General is a film that you should not miss.  I recommend that you consider buying it, rather than renting from Netflix, though.  I recently rented it and the soundtrack was horrible!  They chose classical music that had no relation to the scenes.  Part of the fun of silent films is matching the music to what is happening on screen. 

Charles Chaplin was a musician as well as a film maker and actor.  He wrote the music to many of his films.  When you see the film with the correct music, it is a treat.  Try the Gold Rush or even City Lights (technically a sound film) for the best of Chaplin's music.

One last side note, you can see bits of The General in the 1991 Micheal J. Fox film, Doc Hollywood.  The town is having their squash festival, and they are showing a silent film on the wall of a building while Fox is dreaming about Julie Warner.

BTW, the actual locomotive, The General, still exists.  It was built in 1855 and is in the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, GA.  Well, I guess that's two last side notes.