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The experts were right when they said that silent filmmaking was developing something unique and beautiful, before talkies came along and spoiled the party with all that noise. This ‘handy three-pack’ of once-obscure Josef von Sternberg classics proves the theory 100% — his intense dramas excite audiences with something that’s gone missing from the movies, or the cinema or whatever you want to call it: the magic of visual stylization in the service of basic human emotions. Before Marlene there was Evelyn Brent and Betty Compson: Sternberg presents them as shimmering visions.

3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 529, 530, 531

1927-28 / B&w / 1:33 Silent Ap / 81, 88, 75 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 8, 2019 / 79.96

Starring: George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent, Clive Brook; Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent, William Powell; George Bancroft, Betty Compson, Olga Baclanova.

Cinematography: Bert Glennon; Bert Glennon; Harold Rosson

Original Music: multiple scores by Robert Israel,...

By John M. Whalen

Kino Classics and the film preservationists at France’s Lobster Films have dug up three interesting, if obscure, old “classics” that, if nothing else, definitely would have qualified for presentation on Art Fern’s old Tea Time Movie skits from Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show". Names like Helen Twelvetrees, William Farnum, J. Farrell MacDonald, Lowell Sherman, Wade Boteler, Louis Wolheim, and Evelyn Brent appear in the films gathered together here on one disc under the title, “Rko Classic Adventures.”

The first is “The Painted Desert” (1931) starring Helen Twelvetrees and Bill Boyd. The story starts out as a cross between John Ford’s “3 Godfathers” and Sam Peckinpah’s “Ballad of Cable Hogue.” Cash Holbrook (William Farnum) and Jeff Cameron (J. Farrell MacDonald) are two cowboys who discover an abandoned wagon in the Arizona desert containing a baby boy. The two argue over who will take care of him,...

Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, and Ingrid Bergman: The 'Notorious' British (Hitchcock, Grant) and Swedish (Bergman) talent. British actors and directors in Hollywood; Hollywood actors and directors in Britain: Anthony Slide's 'A Special Relationship.' 'A Special Relationship' Q&A: Britain in Hollywood and Hollywood in Britain First of all, what made you think of a book on “the special relationship” between the American and British film industries – particularly on the British side? I was aware of a couple of books on the British in Hollywood, but I wanted to move beyond that somewhat limited discussion and document the whole British/American relationship as it applied to filmmaking. Growing up in England, I had always been interested in the history of the British cinema, but generally my writing on film history has been concentrated on America. I suppose to a certain extent I wanted to go back into my archives,...

Constance Cummings: Actress in minor Hollywood movies became major London stage star. Constance Cummings: Actress went from Harold Lloyd and Frank Capra to Noël Coward and Eugene O'Neill Actress Constance Cummings, whose career spanned more than six decades on stage, in films, and on television in both the U.S. and the U.K., died ten years ago on Nov. 23. Unlike other Broadway imports such as Ann Harding, Katharine Hepburn, Miriam Hopkins, and Claudette Colbert, the pretty, elegant Cummings – who could have been turned into a less edgy Constance Bennett had she landed at Rko or Paramount instead of Columbia – never became a Hollywood star. In fact, her most acclaimed work, whether in films or – more frequently – on stage, was almost invariably found in British productions. That's most likely why the name Constance Cummings – despite the DVD availability of several of her best-received performances – is all but forgotten.

Val Lewton’s third horror film, The Leopard Man (1943) initially seemed promising. Based on Cornell Woolrich’s novel Black Alibi, it had more pedigree than Lewton’s previous movies. He reunited his previous team: director Jacques Tourneur, writer Ardel Wray, even Dynamite, the black leopard from Cat People. Forced again to film on the Rko lot, he sent Wray to photograph Santa Fe, New Mexico and crafted meticulous sets around her snapshots. Despite this attention to detail, The Leopard Man is one of Lewton’s weakest efforts.

The plot is simple enough. Nightclub entertainers James (Dennis O’Keefe) and Kiki (Jean Brooks) arrive in Santa Fe with a leopard in tow; Kiki’s rival Clo-Clo (Margo) scares the cat, which escapes into the city. The leopard kills a Mexican girl, sending the city into a panic. Several other women die, but James grows convinced that the leopard isn’t behind them.

First Best Actor Oscar winner Emil Jannings and first Best Actress Oscar winner Janet Gaynor on TCM (photo: Emil Jannings in 'The Last Command') First Best Actor Academy Award winner Emil Jannings in The Last Command, first Best Actress Academy Award winner Janet Gaynor in Sunrise, and sisters Norma Talmadge and Constance Talmadge are a few of the silent era performers featured this evening on Turner Classic Movies, as TCM continues with its Silent Monday presentations. Starting at 5 p.m. Pt / 8 p.m. Et on November 17, 2014, get ready to check out several of the biggest movie stars of the 1920s. Following the Jean Negulesco-directed 1943 musical short Hit Parade of the Gay Nineties -- believe me, even the most rabid anti-gay bigot will be able to enjoy this one -- TCM will be showing Josef von Sternberg's The Last Command (1928) one of the two movies that earned...

Top 100 horror movies of all time: Chicago Film Critics' choices (photo: Sigourney Weaver and Alien creature show us that life is less horrific if you don't hold grudges) See previous post: A look at the Chicago Film Critics Association's Scariest Movies Ever Made. Below is the list of the Chicago Film Critics's Top 100 Horror Movies of All Time, including their directors and key cast members. Note: this list was first published in October 2006. (See also: Fay Wray, Lee Patrick, and Mary Philbin among the "Top Ten Scream Queens.") 1. Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcock; with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam. 2. The Exorcist (1973) William Friedkin; with Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow (and the voice of Mercedes McCambridge). 3. Halloween (1978) John Carpenter; with Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Tony Moran. 4. Alien (1979) Ridley Scott; with Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt. 5. Night of the Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero; with Marilyn Eastman,...

Eve Brent, best remembered for playing Jane twice opposite Gordon Scott's Tarzan, died August 27 of "natural causes" at Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in Sun Valley, Calif. She was either 81 or 82. Initially billed as either Jean Lewis or Jean Ann Lewis, Eve Brent's show business career in films and on television lasted nearly six decades. The Houston-born actress appeared in about three dozen movies, ranging from a small part in Bruno VeSota's crime drama Female Jungle (1955), featuring Lawrence Tierney and Jayne Mansfield, to playing Cate Blanchett's grandmother in David Fincher's Oscar nominated The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Almost invariably in small supporting roles or bit parts, Brent could also be seen in the Jean Simmons vehicle The Happy Ending (1969), George Seaton's all-star blockbuster Airport (1970), the Charles Bronson Western The White Buffalo (1976), Frank Darabont's 1999 Best Picture Oscar nominee The Green Mile ("a lovely experience,...

Underworld

Directed by Josef von Sternberg

United States, 1927

Josef von Sternberg’s pre-code gangster picture – the one that started it all – plays akin to the director’s vision throughout his career: hazy deep focus shots, sensuality that anticipates his collaborations with Marlene Dietrich, tough guy theatrics, and an eye for poetic framing. Though its more name-famous companion piece, Howard Hawks’ Scarface, was produced five years later and during the Production Code, von Sternberg’s film is surprisingly less violent than Hawks’.

Underworld finds von Sternberg staple George Bancroft in the role of “Bull” Weed – gangster extraordinaire. When Bull happens upon a learned alcoholic itinerant after one of his infamous heists he takes the man under his wing, cleans him up, and nicknames him Rolls Royce (Clive Brook). Rolls Royce’s suave, quiet manner immediately endears him to “Feathers” McCoy (Evelyn Brent), Bull’s girlfriend. While a precarious love triangle develops,...

Evelyn Brent is one of those actresses deserving greater recognition. To say she is “neglected” would not quite be true – but not quite inaccurate either.Brent had an interesting career, and in the 1920s and 1930s appeared in a number of notable films. She worked alongside other actors still well remembered today (Emil Jannings, William Powell, George Bancroft), as well as under the direction of some of the leading filmmakers of her time (Tod Browning, Frank Tuttle). Just recently, two silent film masterpieces starring Brent and directed by Josef von Sternberg, Underworld...

Louise Brooks, Clara Bow, Lon Chaney, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Pearl White, Evelyn Brent, Edna Purviance, Laurel & Hardy, Charley Chase, Harold Lloyd,Adolphe Menjou, Percy Marmont and Our Gang – might there be more stars on the Niles screen in October then in the night skies above? Perhaps that depends on the fog.For October, the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont has put together a star studded schedule of films. Here’s the line-up for the month.“Saturday Night at the Movies,” with Bruce Loeb at the piano Saturday October 2at 7:30 pm (Suggested...

Love Em and Leave Em, a charming fast-paced romantic comedy featuring Bay Area favorite Louise Brooks, will be shown at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont, California on October 9th. It’s a rare screening (in 16mm) of one of the actress’ best American silent films.This Frank Tuttle-directed feature tells the story of two sisters - one good (the always sultry Evelyn Brent) and one bad (the devilish Brooks) - who share a boyfriend (San Francisco born Lawrence Gray) while all are employed at a big-city department store. Of note, also in a supporting role is...

The transition from silent films to the “talkies” was difficult for many in the motion picture industry. For many (particularly those in front of the camera), it would result in the death of their careers. Others (particularly directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford and Cecil B. DeMille) would go on to bigger and better things in the sound era (Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford, among them). Another such director was Josef von Sternberg, whose career began at the very end of the silent era, but whose brilliance was already apparent in the years leading up to the release of The Blue Angel. Now, thanks to The Criterion Collection’s 3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg box set, some of his early silent films are available in restored glory. My review after the jump:

Although produced over the course of only two years, the three movies in the set—Underworld...

As if the recent November titles weren’t enough, we now have some other films to add to our upcoming Criterion Collection wishlists.

The Criterion Collection will once again be curating the upcoming All Tomorrow’s Parties Film Screenings, in Monticello New York, this September. The event overall, will be curated by Criterion alum, Jim Jarmusch (Down by Law, Night on Earth, Stranger Than Paradise, Mystery Train). Earlier today, Atp & Criterion announced their line-up of films, and hidden among the list of epic titles that we already knew were going to be released, or are already available, were a few little verifications of rumors going around.

The line-up looks to be pretty amazing, and if I could afford the flight, I would surely head out for that weekend. Several of the new Bbs box set will be screening, as well as some other films that we’ve discussed on the...

Crime has not just been good to the criminals; it's been awfully good to Hollywood as well. It so happens I just finished watching Josef Von Sternberg's "Underworld" (1927), the first in a compilation of three silent classics from famed director Josef Von Sternberg, now out via the esteemed Criterion Collection. For those unfamiliar with Von Sternberg, he would become best known later as the director who launched Marlene Dietrich's career in "The Blue Angel" (1930) and "Morocco" (1930). Basically a love triangle involving a crime boss (George Bancroft), the alcoholic former lawyer he saves from the gutter (Clive Brook), and the girl torn between the two men (Evelyn Brent), the movie also features lots of rat-tat-tat action as the mobster rids himself of a key criminal rival. When the film debuted in 1927, at a moment when gangsters were still riding...

I first caught Josef von Sternberg’s Underworld (1927) at the Pacific Film Archive von Sternberg retrospective earlier this year accompanied by Judith Rosenberg on piano. I welcomed the opportunity to watch the film again projected on the Castro’s giant screen with live piano accompaniment by the indefatigable Stephen Horne for the specific intent of savoring the scene where “Feathers” McCoy (Evelyn Brent) first comes to the attention of “Rolls Royce” Wensel (Clive Brook); namely, by way of an ostrich feather shaken loose from McCoy’s outfit, drifting down to Wensel who is sweeping the floor below. Entrances are rarely so insinuating.

Eddie Muller, the “Czar of Noir”, had the honors of introducing Underworld to its Sfsff audience. Often asked—in his capacity as the Czar—what he considers to be the first film noir, Muller admitted he rarely answers the question because he considers trying to pin down the...