Between my Netflix and ClassicFlix queues I have over 40 silent films to choose from in the near and distant future. Many of my friends groan when they see the DVDs atop my TV "another silent movie?" But I have no shame. There's something mad, glorious, and rewarding about watching this dead portion of my living obsession. This year, long before the Discoveries Project [your e-mails are due next Monday. don't forget], I decided I needed to see all the Best Actress nominees and winners ever at some point. So I began at the beginning with Janet Gaynor.. She was the first actress to win the Best Actress prize and she did so for three films (before they outlawed multiple nominations / citations in the acting categories). I have just finished watching my second of the three. I had seen the stunning Sunrise several months ago and, well... wow. So this time I popped in Seventh Heaven which was surprisingly gripping despite its overly familiar melodramatic plot points. You can read an excellent review of Seventh Heaven and Janet Gaynor's expressive gifts at Nick's site. But do yourself a favor and watch her triple Oscar-feat yourself. See where the 'Best Actress' hoopla began. And marvel that, despite decades of history aiming to prove otherwise, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sometimes makes marvelous decisions when they hand out those golden statues.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Tell it Tuesday: Rent a Silent Movie!
It's heaven when new radiant screen talents emerge to cast their spells. But, in a way, it's even more divine to come face to face with cinema's ghosts. One of my favorite things about film fanaticism is the the endless supply of history there is to be discovered. No matter when your fandom begins, you have a whole lot of backstory to catch up on. Since cinema is now over a century-old nearly everyone has huge swaths of undiscovered celluloid to investigate should they choose to dig deeper than this week's multiplex releases.
Between my Netflix and ClassicFlix queues I have over 40 silent films to choose from in the near and distant future. Many of my friends groan when they see the DVDs atop my TV "another silent movie?" But I have no shame. There's something mad, glorious, and rewarding about watching this dead portion of my living obsession. This year, long before the Discoveries Project [your e-mails are due next Monday. don't forget], I decided I needed to see all the Best Actress nominees and winners ever at some point. So I began at the beginning with Janet Gaynor.. She was the first actress to win the Best Actress prize and she did so for three films (before they outlawed multiple nominations / citations in the acting categories). I have just finished watching my second of the three. I had seen the stunning Sunrise several months ago and, well... wow. So this time I popped in Seventh Heaven which was surprisingly gripping despite its overly familiar melodramatic plot points. You can read an excellent review of Seventh Heaven and Janet Gaynor's expressive gifts at Nick's site. But do yourself a favor and watch her triple Oscar-feat yourself. See where the 'Best Actress' hoopla began. And marvel that, despite decades of history aiming to prove otherwise, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sometimes makes marvelous decisions when they hand out those golden statues.
Between my Netflix and ClassicFlix queues I have over 40 silent films to choose from in the near and distant future. Many of my friends groan when they see the DVDs atop my TV "another silent movie?" But I have no shame. There's something mad, glorious, and rewarding about watching this dead portion of my living obsession. This year, long before the Discoveries Project [your e-mails are due next Monday. don't forget], I decided I needed to see all the Best Actress nominees and winners ever at some point. So I began at the beginning with Janet Gaynor.. She was the first actress to win the Best Actress prize and she did so for three films (before they outlawed multiple nominations / citations in the acting categories). I have just finished watching my second of the three. I had seen the stunning Sunrise several months ago and, well... wow. So this time I popped in Seventh Heaven which was surprisingly gripping despite its overly familiar melodramatic plot points. You can read an excellent review of Seventh Heaven and Janet Gaynor's expressive gifts at Nick's site. But do yourself a favor and watch her triple Oscar-feat yourself. See where the 'Best Actress' hoopla began. And marvel that, despite decades of history aiming to prove otherwise, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sometimes makes marvelous decisions when they hand out those golden statues.
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2 comments:
I completely agree on Sunrise! I have only seen 5 silent movies, Sunrise, Metropolis, Nosferatu, Phantom of the Opera and Birth of a Nation.
Birth of a Nation was absolute shit (pardon the languager), Metropolis was pretty good. Nosferatu and Phantom had be constantly intrigued and rarely bored but Sunshine was just... the icing on the cake really.
It's hard for me to truly love a silent film but Sunrise is pretty damn close.
-Glenn
Thanks for the linkage, N! I really loved all three of her movies... I know you're still waiting on Street Angel from ClassicFlix, and it isn't necessarily as good a movie as 7th Heaven, but Gaynor might be even a little better in it. She really was good. I still have her work in the original Star Is Born to treat myself too, also.
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