1917: A Comedy Legend Debuts

Buster Keaton: Member of my shame list

Leaving behind 1916 (which I really had fun with) and moving on. And a lot is happening in the world in 1917. The U.S. is pulled into World War I and Hollywood supports the effort by having its biggest stars attend Liberty Bond rallies. T.E. Lawrence (aka, Lawrence of Arabia) led Arab forces against the Turkish army, which becomes important to film fans much later.

In terms of film, not as much was happening in 1917. However, a comedy star gets his first film credit as a bit player in Fatty Arbuckle's The Butcher Boy. Buster Keaton is often mentioned in the same breath as Charlie Chaplin and, while he's not the headliner here, this is the film that put him on the path to stardom. Keaton is another one on my personal shame list. I know I have seen clips of Keaton (notably from 1926's The General), but I have not seen an entire movie featuring the actor.

In other film news, Cleopatra starring Theda Bara was the top grossing movie of the year and Chaplin joined Mary Pickford in the million dollar contract club. Director John Ford made his first western The Tornado (which is unfortunately considered a lost film). For Superman fans, Max Fleischer invents rotoscoping, which turned live action movements into cartoons. Fleischer is most known (to me anyway) for his amazing cartoons starring the Man of Steel. And the Lincoln Motion Picture Company becomes the first African American owned studio.

So what are we watching? Definitely, The Butcher Boy. And Easy Street, featuring Chaplin. There's not a lot that excites me beyond that. The Little American, directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Mary Pickford is available through Netflix. I'll also try to track down Tom Sawyer.

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A Fool There Was (1915)

The vamp with a fool

A successful business man leaves his family in New York to accept a diplomatic post in Europe.  During the trip across the ocean, he encounters a "vampire" woman, who forces men to fall in love with her and then leaves them.  Her former lovers fall into destitution and may even kill themselves.  Can he escape the the thrall of this vamp or will he succumb like all the others?

A Fool There Was is a decent melodrama but poorly executed.  The only reason to watch the movie is for Theda Bara's "vamp" character.  Bara created cinema's first femme fatale and became a sex symbol as a result of this film. 

The husband played by Edward Jose, is a model of silent-era overacting. As he falls further under the vamp's power, he becomes an alcoholic and you know that because the second he touches a drink, he can't stand up and plasters a goofy smile on his face.

The husband's wife and friends make several attempts to save the "fool" from the vamp.  The movie does not go with a happy ending here, which was a surprise and nicely done.

This movie, like Griffith's work, cuts between scenes in different locations, but does so less successfully.  It also chooses odd places to cut the action.  Sometimes this is intentional (the scene changes at a moment of violence for example), but other times seems inexplicable.  During one scene, the husband's friends resolve to follow his wife to make sure she doesn't do anything rash.  They follow her out to the street and... cue a "The next day" title card. Why were they following her?  Where'd they go?  Don't know.

This movie famously features a "scandalous title card as Bara's "vamp" says "Kiss me, my fool!" to one of her former lovers.  We know this is shocking because every reference to the movie on the web says so, a fact that would be lost on modern audiences.

A Fool There Was is another one for film history buffs, but the story is not that interesting, it is poorly paced and is notable only for Bara's performance.  The shots and cuts are so random at times that it feels like someone's home movies. All of the films of this era seem dated, but this one even more so.

Watched on DVD from Netflix
Photo from The Constant Viewer

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1915: Birth of an Industry

Let's leave behind 1914 (which truth be told was somewhat of a disappointment) and move to 1915. On the face of it, this is a year of masterpieces.  First and foremost is of course D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation.  Hailed for its technical achievements but controversial for its positive depiction of the Ku Klux Klan, Birth is the first movie I have been chomping at the bit to get to.  It's available on NetFlix Watch Instantly, so this will definitely be on my review list.


Beyond Birth, AMC's Film Site recognizes The Tramp as Chaplin's first masterpiece.  I'll try to track that down.  Theda Bara became one of the first "sex symbols" in A Fool There Was.  And Lois Weber served as actress, director, writer and producer in The Hypocrites, a controversial film for its nudity.

Technically, a lot of innovations this year.  The first camera that allowed for close-ups without picking the whole thing up and moving it was used.  Thomas Ince created an assembly line system for producing movies that cut down on costs (as well as creativity).

Finally, a couple of important court cases get decided in 1915.  First, Thomas Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company was declared an illegal monopoly.  When the film industry was getting its start, Edison used his patents on camera equipment to control every aspect of film making and distribution.  After this case, Edison's company was broken up and all of the component studios except one almost immediately folded.

Second,the Supreme Court upheld the right of states to censor movies.  I discussed the censorship issue previously, but this is the decision that would lead to decades of oversight.


So what are we watching?  Birth of a Nation obviously and The Tramp if I can find it.  Cecil B. DeMille's The Cheat is available on Netflix Watch Instantly so that seems likely.  Beyond that, I'm sure there will be a couple of surprises.

On a personal note, doing 100 years of movies leads to some easy mat so I can say I am officially 5% done!  I expect my pace will slow as we enter into the feature film era, but I am enjoying the experience so far.

Picture from iGuide

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