© 2024 Beth Ann Gallagher. All rights reserved.
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San Francisco

Happy International Women’s Day 2016!

For International Women’s Day, let’s take a moment to remember a woman of words, Anita Loos. She started screenwriting in the silent era, and she’s credited for elevating the intertitle beyond the functional into an art form. A wordsmith, wit, and satirist, her intertitles had zing. Yes, they had “It.” It’s likely her exposure to the family tabloid…

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San Francisco Silent Film Festival Preview, Why Be Good? (1929)

My San Francisco Silent Film Festival preview was interrupted due to being felled by a bug, but I want to mention a surefire hit of the fest screening today–Colleen Moore in Why Be Good? (1929). Thanks to Ron Hutchinson and The Vitaphone Project, Colleen Moore returns to the festival in Why Be Good (1929)! Her Wild Oat Screened…

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San Francisco Silent Film Festival Preview, Part 2

Saturday morning’s program starts with the family-friendly Speedy (1928), and some parents likely will bring their tots for an outing to this screening. I love seeing kids getting their introduction to silents or enjoying a return trip to the festival. Comedies are a great gateway into silent film for all ages. In this slapstick feature,…

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San Francisco Silent Film Festival Preview, Part 1

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is almost here! Its first film fills the Castro Theatre’s screen on Thursday night. We’ll rewind our scene to before its audience sits, before they pile into the picture palace, before they stand in a line snaking down Castro and stretching around the corner down 17th, and stop where they chat with anticipation about…

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San Francisco Silent Film Festival Official Press Accreditation

Saturday’s post was the start of my San Francisco Silent Film Festival coverage. I’m happy to announce Spellbound by Movies has received official press accreditation to the festival! In the coming days, look to this blog for an in-depth preview to the festival, an interview or two, and onsite write-ups. I’ll be live-tweeting the event here…

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Supporting the San Francisco Silent Film Festival

As part of my preparation for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, I renewed my membership to it. As a film fanatic with a particular passion for silents, I recognize that many of the specialty screenings I frequent only occur because of the efforts of non-profit groups. Attending their events and buying tickets or passes are two…

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Fairy Tale Blogathon: Claire (2001)

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…

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More San Francisco Silent Film Festival Fun!

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…

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© 2024 Beth Ann Gallagher. All rights reserved.