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At once an invaluable photographic record of life in Weimer Berlin and a timeless demonstration of the cinema's ability to enthrall on a purely visceral level, Berlin, Symphony of a Great City...

At once an invaluable photographic record of life in Weimer Berlin and a timeless demonstration of the cinema's ability to enthrall on a purely visceral level, Berlin, Symphony of a Great City (Berlin, die Symphonie der Grosstadt) offers a kaleidoscopic view of a single day in the life of a bustling metropolis. Carl Mayer ( The Last Laugh ), influenced by the naturalistic Kammerspiel movement, envisioned "a melody of pictures" sprung from daily reality instead of the stylized artificiality of...

The film stars Marise Dauvray as Edith, a woman who is unhappily married to an older man, Francois (Severin-Mars), but is actually in love with a young poet, Jean Diaz (Romuald Joube). Both Jean and...

The film stars Marise Dauvray as Edith, a woman who is unhappily married to an older man, Francois (Severin-Mars), but is actually in love with a young poet, Jean Diaz (Romuald Joube). Both Jean and Francois end up on the front lines of World War I while Edith is captured by German forces and suffers atrocities at the hands of the soldiers. Gance juxtaposes individual human suffering with the more massive horrors of war, all depicted with a mixture of stark realism and avant-garde...

Here are fourteen short films -- some favorites, others unfamiliar -- produced between 1902 and 1965. They were photographed silent, but they're not silent anymore. All boast new music composed and...

Here are fourteen short films -- some favorites, others unfamiliar -- produced between 1902 and 1965. They were photographed silent, but they're not silent anymore. All boast new music composed and performed by The Alloy Orchestra, a three-man ensemble critic Roger Ebert called "the best in the world at accompanying silent films." Alloy Orchestra shuns the nostalgic approach, successfully using found percussion and state-of-the-art electronics to reinvigorate films for new audiences with its...

For the five years between 1908 and 1913, D.W. Griffith directed some 450 films for the Biograph Company, delivering at a rate of two or three films per week. These films, one and two reels in...

For the five years between 1908 and 1913, D.W. Griffith directed some 450 films for the Biograph Company, delivering at a rate of two or three films per week. These films, one and two reels in length, are sometimes regarded as apprentice works, films in which Griffith borrowed, invented, and perfected the forms and techniques that he later used to such memorable effects in The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916), Way Down East (1920), Orphans of the Storm (1921), and Isn?t Life...

Humphrey Jennings was one of the greatest figures in the celebrated British documentary film movement, and he is most remembered for the way his work reflects the concerns and conditions of World...

Humphrey Jennings was one of the greatest figures in the celebrated British documentary film movement, and he is most remembered for the way his work reflects the concerns and conditions of World War II-time in the United Kingdom. He is undoubtedly of great historical importance, but the ultimate justification for the present gathering of work is that Jennings was a wonderful filmmaker who made uniquely beautiful films. Contained within this one man was a seemingly impossible array of artistic...

At once an invaluable photographic record of life in Weimer Berlin and a timeless demonstration of the cinema's ability to enthrall on a purely visceral level, Berlin, Symphony of a Great City...

At once an invaluable photographic record of life in Weimer Berlin and a timeless demonstration of the cinema's ability to enthrall on a purely visceral level, Berlin, Symphony of a Great City (Berlin, die Symphonie der Grosstadt) offers a kaleidoscopic view of a single day in the life of a bustling metropolis. Carl Mayer (The Last Laugh), influenced by the naturalistic Kammerspiel movement, envisioned "a melody of pictures" sprung from daily reality instead of the stylized artificiality of...

Made on location in Germany during the period of the Great Inflation, Isn't Life Wonderful is a tender ode to the resilience of the human spirit and the all-conquering power of love. Carol Dempster...

Made on location in Germany during the period of the Great Inflation, Isn't Life Wonderful is a tender ode to the resilience of the human spirit and the all-conquering power of love. Carol Dempster delivers her most moving performance as Inga, a Polish war orphan who struggles to provide for the family that has taken her in, while accumulating a meager dowry from the rubble of a depression-stricken Berlin so that she can marry Paul (Neil Hamilton). Returning to his family, weakened by the...

From 1913 to 1916, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle rose from the ranks of bit player to writer, director and star of comedies for Mack Sennett's Keystone Film Company. Because of Sennett's belief that...

From 1913 to 1916, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle rose from the ranks of bit player to writer, director and star of comedies for Mack Sennett's Keystone Film Company. Because of Sennett's belief that actors were interchangeable, he lost Arbuckle to producer Joseph M. Schenck, who not only paid the comedian handsomely, but also permitted him complete creative control. To help in the new venture, Arbuckle recruited Buster Keaton, popular star of a knockabout vaudeville act; Keaton took a large pay cut...

In 1918 and 1919, D.W. Griffith turned from spectacles such as The Birth of a Nation , Intolerance and Hearts of the World to smaller films, which he called his "short story series." Among these is...

In 1918 and 1919, D.W. Griffith turned from spectacles such as The Birth of a Nation , Intolerance and Hearts of the World to smaller films, which he called his "short story series." Among these is True Heart Susie (June 1919). "There are those of us who consider True Heart Susie to be the Griffith's masterpiece," writes Tom Gunning in his notes for a 2006 screening at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival. He goes on to praise the "narrative structure and point of view, as well as the fine...

"Our creature animation in the Jurassic Park films basically descends from The Lost World of 1925. Willis O'Brien is our great pioneer, and this superb restoration inspires new awe for his...

"Our creature animation in the Jurassic Park films basically descends from The Lost World of 1925. Willis O'Brien is our great pioneer, and this superb restoration inspires new awe for his imagination and craftsmanship." - Stan Winston Newly restored with 50% more footage than any version generally available for seventy years, here is the model for King Kong , Jurassic Park and Godzilla : a story of living dinosaurs from the Jurassic Age written by the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur...

LANDMARKS OF EARLY FILM To study where we've been is to better understand where we are, but early film is not of interest only because it illuminates present practices. Beyond considerable...

LANDMARKS OF EARLY FILM To study where we've been is to better understand where we are, but early film is not of interest only because it illuminates present practices. Beyond considerable historical interest, the material collected here provides immense pleasure on its own terms. These are old films, and they are influential films. But beyond that, the bottom line is that they are wonderful films, rewarding our close attention with great enjoyments. - Excerpts from an essay by Dean W. Duncan...

Rudolph Valentino's first independent production, Cobra , was released less than a year prior to the actor's untimely death at age 31. It is an unusual and contradictory showcase for the actor who...

Rudolph Valentino's first independent production, Cobra , was released less than a year prior to the actor's untimely death at age 31. It is an unusual and contradictory showcase for the actor who is remembered more than any other as the icon of irresistible sexuality in Hollywood silent film. Beleaguered by women in his native land, a promiscuous Italian Count, Rodrigo Torriani (Valentino) escapes to New York to work for an elegant antiques dealer specializing in Italian objets d'art. The...

DESTINY This beautiful Gothic fantasy was inspired by a childhood dream of its writer/director Fritz Lang, who first gained world recognition with the film's triumph. In a middle-European village a...

DESTINY This beautiful Gothic fantasy was inspired by a childhood dream of its writer/director Fritz Lang, who first gained world recognition with the film's triumph. In a middle-European village a century or more ago, Death (Berhhard Goetzke) takes a young man (Walter Janssen) just before he is to be married. His lover (Lil Dagover) seeks out the Death figure in a room filled with thousands of burning candles, each representing a human life. Filled with pity for her, he promises to return the...

Inspired by the 1938 report of the La Follette Civil Liberties Committee's investigation into the repression of labor organizing, Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand's biting and beautiful Native Land...

Inspired by the 1938 report of the La Follette Civil Liberties Committee's investigation into the repression of labor organizing, Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand's biting and beautiful Native Land (1942, though largely shot between '37 and '39) combines documentary footage with staged reenactments to depict the struggle of trade unions against corporations, their spies and contractors. Legendary singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson narrates the film through words and song, lending the work a...

The youngest president in our nation's history, who brought an unprecedented excitement and power to the office, the life of America's 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, makes any fiction pale by...

The youngest president in our nation's history, who brought an unprecedented excitement and power to the office, the life of America's 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, makes any fiction pale by comparison. His was the life of a magnificent maverick -- a man of enormous popularity and legendary achievements. From the sidewalks of New York to the frontiers of Dakota, from San Juan Hill to the White House -- he saw it all and changed the country. Dynamic leader, Explorer, War Hero, Creator of...

Representing the definitive collection of rare films starring Rudolph Valentino, one of Hollywood's most legendary stars, the Rudolph Valentino Collection brings newly remastered classics to Blu-ray...

Representing the definitive collection of rare films starring Rudolph Valentino, one of Hollywood's most legendary stars, the Rudolph Valentino Collection brings newly remastered classics to Blu-ray disc for the first time. A Society Sensation A rarely seen gem from very early in Valentino's career, A Society Sensation dates back to when he was billed as Rodolpho De Valentina. These remaining two reels of an original five-reel feature mark the world's introduction to Valentino's famous...

Representing the definitive collection of rare films starring Rudolph Valentino, one of Hollywood's most legendary stars, the Rudolph Valentino Collection brings newly remastered classics to Blu-ray...

Representing the definitive collection of rare films starring Rudolph Valentino, one of Hollywood's most legendary stars, the Rudolph Valentino Collection brings newly remastered classics to Blu-ray disc for the first time. Eyes of Youth Remastered from a rare, surviving tinted print, with a new piano score by Serge Bromberg, Eyes of Youth represents a breakout role for Rudolph Valentino. Gina Ashling (Clara Kimball Young) must decide between marrying a wealthy man, becoming an opera singer,...

"Women are not in love with me but with the picture of me on the screen. I am merely the canvas upon which the women paint their dreams." - Rudolph Valentino, 1923 Women fainted in the aisles when...

"Women are not in love with me but with the picture of me on the screen. I am merely the canvas upon which the women paint their dreams." - Rudolph Valentino, 1923 Women fainted in the aisles when The Sheik was released in 1921. The titled Lady Diana Mayo (Agnes Ayres) is carried into the desert by an Arab chieftan, Ahmed Ben Hassan (Valentino), who takes one look at her and wants her, right then and there. Filmed on the heels of women's suffrage, Lady Diana was presented as a strong-willed...

Carmen (Lasky-Paramount, 1915) stars famed Metropolitan Opera soprano Geraldine Farrar in her most famous role on stage and screen. Her high-spirited and erotic performance dominates this vibrant...

Carmen (Lasky-Paramount, 1915) stars famed Metropolitan Opera soprano Geraldine Farrar in her most famous role on stage and screen. Her high-spirited and erotic performance dominates this vibrant film adaptation of Prosper Merimee s story and Georges Bizet's opera. Also featured in the cast are the tragic matinee idol Wallace Reid and DeMille's long-time collaborator Jeanie Macpherson. Produced on a relatively modest scale, Carmen shares much with DeMille's earlier work and anticipates his...

A charming pastoral about two unwanted children finding acceptance and love, Timothy's Quest (1922) is a rare, cinematic gem based on a novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm), who...

A charming pastoral about two unwanted children finding acceptance and love, Timothy's Quest (1922) is a rare, cinematic gem based on a novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm), who was then known as "America's best loved author of stories about children."* The only production of the Dirigo Film Company, established in order to make films in the state of Maine adapted from works by Maine authors, Wiggin loaned her own home as one of the principal filming locations. Director...

Italian silent screen legend Francesca Bertini appears in her most famous role in Assunta Spina , an operatic tale of love and sacrifice in turn of the century Naples. After being assaulted by her...

Italian silent screen legend Francesca Bertini appears in her most famous role in Assunta Spina , an operatic tale of love and sacrifice in turn of the century Naples. After being assaulted by her jealous lover Michele (Gustavo Serena), Assunta (Bertini) becomes the mistress of a corrupt Don (Carlo Benetti) so she can visit Michele while he is in prison. When Michele is unexpectedly released, he discovers Assunta's "betrayal," setting the stage for the film's exquisitely tragic finale. By...

D.W. Griffith is properly esteemed as the "Father of Film" from his years of discovery making short films at the pioneer Biograph Company and for such pioneering features as The Birth of a Nation ,...

D.W. Griffith is properly esteemed as the "Father of Film" from his years of discovery making short films at the pioneer Biograph Company and for such pioneering features as The Birth of a Nation , Intolerance , Broken Blossoms , Way Down East and Orphans of the Storm , but his later films - several of them lost or almost unavailable - are often dismissed as back efforts of a talent in decline. Griffith's 1928 comedy-drama The Battle of the Sexes belies this perception. The story involves a...

Flicker Alley, in partnership with Disobedient Films, proudly present London Symphony , a brand new silent film a city symphony which offers a poetic journey through the city of London. It is an...

Flicker Alley, in partnership with Disobedient Films, proudly present London Symphony , a brand new silent film a city symphony which offers a poetic journey through the city of London. It is an artistic snapshot of the city as it stands today, and a celebration of its culture and diversity. The film is divided into four parts, corresponding to the four movements of a musical symphony. FIRST MOVEMENT: The first movement (morning) begins by looking at construction in the city, moving from the...

All My Babies (1952) was selected in 2002 by the Librarian of Congress as a "culturally, historically, and artistically significant work" for permanent preservation in the National Film Registry....

All My Babies (1952) was selected in 2002 by the Librarian of Congress as a "culturally, historically, and artistically significant work" for permanent preservation in the National Film Registry. This beautiful film is the story of "Miss Mary" Coley, an African-American midwife more than half a century ago in rural Georgia. Its production sponsored by the Georgia Department of Public Health as a demonstration film for illiterate "granny" midwives, All My Babies quickly transcended its initial...