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For the Love of Film Blogathon 2015

Beth Ann Gallagher
1910s, Blogathons, Era, Film Preservation, For the Love of Film, Science Fiction, Silent Film
May 12, 2015
9 Comments

Yesterday I wanted some background noise TV, but when I turned it on an error message popped up on my screen, and that led me to contacting cable support, who worked me through a series of steps only to tell me that my receiver/DVR combo unit had died. I thought I had lost all my…

Cinefest 35 Storifyed!

Beth Ann Gallagher
Cinefest, Comedies, Cowboy Films, Documentaries, Drama, Film Festivals, Musicals, Pre-Code, Romantic, Silent Film, War Films, Westerns
Apr 7, 2015
2 Comments

In advance of my write-up of Cinefest 35, I’ve curated an account of the Syracuse Cinephile Society‘s final film festival from my and other attendees’ social media postings. You can read our shared excitement as the festival unfolded and all the great tidbits we shared about the films and our experiences. It was over much too…

The Silent Film Fanatic TCM Film Festival Preview!

Beth Ann Gallagher
Film Festivals, Silent Film, TCM Film Festival
Feb 21, 2015
4 Comments

Classic film circles are abuzz about March’s Turner Classic Movies Film Festival. This year’s theme is History According to Hollywood, and many movie buffs are guessing what film favorites fitting that theme will screen. While the festival is only about a month away, its full schedule has not been announced yet. I’ve gone over what titles…

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Spellbound by Movies HQ! The woman serenading us with carols is actress Colleen Moore. I selected her to share glad holiday tidings because 2014 was a great year for the departed actress. Her long thought lost final two silent films, Why Be Good? and Synthetic Sin, were restored, and they toured specialty…

Fairy Tale Blogathon: Claire (2001)

Beth Ann Gallagher
Blogathons, Fairy Tale, Fairy Tales, Silent Film
Nov 11, 2014
12 Comments

Contemporary silent film Claire frames a story of longings once impossible inside a loose adaptation of a Japanese fairy tale. The movie quietly champions the themes of acceptance, fatherhood, and families of choice. The methods used to depict this tale are strictly early twentieth century, and the images they make are a dream-like mix of the quotidian and the mystical. All…

More San Francisco Silent Film Festival Fun!

Beth Ann Gallagher
Film Festivals, San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Silent Film
Nov 8, 2014
0 Comments

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival has gotten a little longer for its 20th anniversary. A day has been added to the festival! The event now runs Thursday, May 28, 2015 through Monday, June 1, 2015. Past years, programming ended on the Sunday evening. This is great news for attendees. An extra day of films…

CMBA Forgotten Stars Blogathon: The Time Bebe Daniels Couldn’t Get Out of a Speeding Ticket

Beth Ann Gallagher
Bebe Daniels, Blogathons, CMBA, Forgotten Stars
Oct 31, 2014
25 Comments

It reads like a publicity stunt out of the movie Bombshell. Silent film sweetheart Bebe Daniels was ticketed for speeding, tried, convicted, sentenced to jail, and forced to serve time. Rather than being planned like the stunts in that movie, Bebe did like to speed, and she had gotten caught. Her press agent helped her spin a potentially…

World War One in Classic Film Blogathon: Dark Journey (1937)

Beth Ann Gallagher
Blogathons, Conrad Veidt, Spy Films, Vivien Leigh, War Films, World War One in Classic Film
Sep 7, 2014
16 Comments

Vivien Leigh viewed Dark Journey as a “personal failure.” It was her sixth film, but “her first true leading role,” and her lack of confidence during the production made her overly critical of her performance. She might not have counted it among her best, but she plays the part of Madeleine Goddard better than she thought. A double agent during World…

That’s Not Musidora! A Case of Mistaken Identity Compounded by Tumblr

Perhaps it’s not unexpected that an actress who’s best remembered for playing a disguised thief suffers from a case of mistaken identity on the internet. In the silent film Les Vampires, Musidora plays Irma Vep, who dons a catsuit for convenience in movement as she commits her crimes. This may be the first cinematic catsuit, and it…

The Little Tramp at 100, Part 1

Beth Ann Gallagher
Charlie Chaplin, Comedians & Comediennes, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Film Festivals, San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Silent Film
Feb 8, 2014
0 Comments

Last month, The San Francisco Silent Film Festival joined a worldwide celebration of Charlie Chaplin with The Little Tramp at 100. Three programs celebrated the one-hundredth anniversary of the Little Tramp persona’s first film appearance. The first screening featured Charlie’s work from his third studio, Mutual Film Corporation. Someone at the fest wittily titled this…

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