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Review: Debra Paget, For Example (2015)

Beth Ann Gallagher
Debra Paget, Directors, Documentaries, Film Essays, Mark Rappaport, Movie Reviews
Apr 3, 2016
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Beautiful, classic film era actress Debra Paget never quite became an A-list star. Despite being in some high profile films, she was mostly relegated to genre roles, usually playing exotic parts and often wearing skimpy and skin-tight costuming. Filmmaker Mark Rappaport chose her as the subject of one of his latest video essays, Debra Paget, For Example…

The Casting That Almost Was–Louise Brooks as Dorothy Shaw

Beth Ann Gallagher
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928), Louise Brooks, Movies
Mar 9, 2016
3 Comments

When refreshing about Anita Loos for my post on the writer, I stumbled across a reference in Pamela Hutchinson‘s excellent silent film column Silent but Deadly! about a casting that almost was–Louise Brooks as Dorothy Shaw. Louise was the studio’s choice to appear in the first screen adaptation of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928). If she had been cast,…

#52FilmsByWomen

Beth Ann Gallagher
#52FilmsByWomen, Directors, Viewing Campaigns, Women Film Directors
Mar 5, 2016
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During my recent blogging hiatus, I took a movie-watching pledge that’s perfect to share with you during March, which is Women’s History Month. I pledged to watch 52 Films By Women. I’m watching at least one film directed by a woman a week. I started fulfilling my pledge in January. I’m not alone in joining the…

Happy Easter!

Beth Ann Gallagher
1900s, Directors, Easter, Era, Films, Holidays, Julienne Mathieu, Les oeufs de Pâques, Segundo de Chomón, Silent Film, Trick Films
Apr 5, 2015
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https://youtu.be/iiaalMV0xi0 As an Easter treat, here’s the delightfully magical silent short Les oeufs de Pâques. The film was written and directed by Segundo de Chomón for Pathé Frères. A contemporary of Georges Méliès, de Chomón was often compared to the other director due to their work in trick films, but the Spanish director would go on to…

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…

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…

Quote: Silent Film Can Become An Addiction

“Silent cinema can become like an hypnotic experience. I think you can get entranced. It’s almost like a voodoo experience. At least it has happened to me, and I really believe that some of film viewers, they have to give a chance to silent cinema because they have to be brave, because I have a…

For the Love of Film Blogathon: Alfred Hitchcock & His Terriers

Beth Ann Gallagher
Alfred Hitchcock, Blogathons, Film Preservation
May 16, 2012
3 Comments

Alfred Hitchcock’s visage has been compared to the bulldog’s, but he preferred terriers. He was a fancier and owner of Sealyham Terriers. The Sealyham faces extinction today and has been called “rarer than a tiger,” but it was once favored by royalty, authors, and Hollywood stars. Princess Margaret, Dorothy Parker, Maurice Sendak, Humphrey Bogart, Elizabeth…

Le Schpountz (1938)

This weekend a cattle call was held for Steven Soderbergh’s new film Contagion. I thought about going and trying to be an extra. Then I read an article about Saturday’s casting session. Thousands of people showed up. All were hoping to be caught on camera a moment and thus be immortalized or at least earn…

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