 |
| The founders of United Artists |
We are reaching the end of decade number one for the site and it's another year of changes for film. The biggest film stars in the world, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, D.W. Griffith and Douglas Fairbanks (note to self: still need to watch some Douglas Fairbanks' films), form their own studio to exercise more creative control (and receive more profits). The name of the studio is United Artists, a title still with us today as a subsidiary of MGM.
Animation also starts to become a more serious effort. Two unknown animators named Ub Iweks and Walt Disney formed Disney-Iwerks Commercial Artists. Max Fleischer premiered Koko the Clown as part of the Out of the Inkwell series. And the Felix the Cat cartoons debuted.
Comedian Harold Lloyd introduced one of the more regrettable practices in Hollywood: the test screening. Love how every film panders to the broadest possible audience? Thanks Harold Lloyd!
As far as our film viewing, 1918 proved to be an invigorating year. The Blue Bird, The Bell Boy, Shoulder Arms, The Sinking of the Lusitania... all of them were great. I spent more viewing hours than normal in that year, but it was time well spent.
What are we watching in 1919? Broken Blossoms, another D.W. Griffith film (that I mistakenly thought was released in 1918) will definitely be on the list. The one I am crazy excited for is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a very influential German expressionist film. Both are available through Netflix Watch Instantly. I will also be watching Daddy Long Legs, Mary Pickford's first production credit.
0 comments:
Post a Comment