testimony ( 1920 film )
the 1920
talk - o - photo
recording made by mary miles minter in 1920 can be heard here .
there is little doubt the film was heavily censored before it was screened in may 1920 .
, silent film by oscar micheaux, 1920. screen capture courtesy of internet moving image archive .
taylorology # 82 contained some extracts of published testimony from the 1923 hearings held by the federal trade commission in their investigation of famous players - lasky. the original newspaper pages containing that testimony are now online .
- emmett j. scott, negro migration during the war, 1920, ch. 3 - 4
another photo of minter and taylor can be seen in the january 3, 1920 issue of moving picture world .
the september 1920 issue of film truth has a gossip article about minter and shelby which includes the sentence :
a well known director was also forbidden to speak to mary .
the january 17, 1920 issue of motion picture news has a banquet photo in which charlotte shelby and william desmond taylor are both visible .
catholic archbishop of melbourne, daniel mannix, and victoria cross winners in 1920. this scene is part of the restored film ireland will be free. photograph: mdhc catholic archdiocese of melbourne
if you' re interested in the chronological history of film by decade - visit the section on film history or the multi - part section on milestones in film history .
laws, page .
not everybody' s protest film, either: native son among controversial film adaptations .
at chapman university, a 2010 master' s degree thesis by jennifer l. wilson was titled
the director desired: william desmond taylor and 1920' s star discourse .
it is saturday 20 march 1920. this special st patrick’s day parade (three days after the calendar marks the actual commemoration for ireland’s patron saint) is being made into a silent film by bert cross, a cinematographer who’ll find fame in 1927 for adapting to film marcus clarke’s novel for the term of his natural life .
by 1920, when ireland will be free was filmed, mannix was viewed as something of an enemy of britain for his republican activism. in late 1920, while en route from america to ireland, a british man o’ war intercepted his ship. mannix was arrested and taken to england where he was freed providing he did not speak to irish gatherings in liverpool, manchester or glasgow .
the may 1914 issue of motion picture magazine contains the film story for
the riders of petersham
, a 3 - reel film featuring taylor and margaret gibson, accompanied by 7 stills from the film .
the intertitles include an extract from mannix’s speech: “i welcome you and your gallant comrades to melbourne’s irish national celebrations of 1920. while ireland is in bondage your fight for the small nations is unfinished. ”
film sub - genres: listed below are some of the most common and identifiable film sub - genre categories, with descriptions of each type or category .
many sources have claimed that director boris ingster' s and rko' s stranger on the third floor (1940) was the first full - featured film noir. the expressionistic film starred peter lorre as the sinister' stranger' (cast due to his creepy performance in m (1931) ), in a story about the nightmarish after - effects of circumstantial testimony during a murder trial. others claim orson welles' masterpiece citizen kane (1941) was also an early and influential pre - film noir .
herzog, amy .
dissonant refrains: carmen on film .
in :
[ amateur film :
san francisco family: home no. 2
]
[ amateur film: my vacation trip... (part 2) ]
[ amateur film: pennsylvania turnpike, pittsburgh, new york, etc. ]
[ amateur film: san francisco and los angeles 1953, pt. i ]
during the years between 1920 - 1922, mary miles minter' s best friend was jeanie macpherson, the scenario writer for cecil b. demille. a short appreciation of minter by jeanie macpherson was published in the january 1922 issue of filmplay journal .
palmer, william j .
from blaxploitation to african american film .
in :
hughey, matthew w .
the white savior film and reviewers' reception .
new york film critics circle awards - best supporting actor (samuel l. jackson )
[ amateur film :
random shots filmed by d. t. mccluskey
]
[ amateur film: lake tahoe, van ness avenue fire, etc. 1947 ]
roush (leslie) productions, inc. , supervised by film counselors, inc .
the parade and the film sparked fierce media and community debate. loyalist groups protested against the march, while a planned screening of the film at melbourne town hall was cancelled .
in 1914, the british film magazine illustrated films monthly included a story version (with stills) of the master of the mine, a vitagraph film in which taylor acted .
the august 21, 1920 issue of pictures press has an article
written
by taylor, titled
pictures must interest
. included is the statement ,
you cannot get excited about a plot that deals with flabby persons in a flabby way .
the film daily (jan - jun 1921): new york, wid' s films and film folk, inc. : free download, borrow, and streaming: internet archive
future learning and skills – giving everyone the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film .
taylor' s death scene in the 1913 film
the quakeress
is online here .
prisons, race, and masculinity in twentieth - century u. s. literature and film
[ amateur film: c. a. samsel family, r2, dequeen, arkansas ]
[ amateur film: summers collection: new orleans to san francisco, ca. 1941 ]
the scenario of the film has a few holes. since the short story the film is based on is, well, short, a considerable number of characters and scenes were added .
the bank robbery at the opening of the film is suspenseful and interesting. the original story hinted at jimmy’s methods but never got too specific. the film’s addition nicely establishes his skills .
safety last! is one of the most iconic silent comedies and the criterion collection does it proud with a fully loaded release that includes three harold lloyd shorts: take a chance (1918), young mr. jazz (1919), and his royal slyness (1920) .
founded in 1999, senses of cinema is one of the first online film journals of its kind and has set the standard for professional, high quality film - related content on the internet .
gateward, frances .
daywalkin' night stalkin' bloodsuckas black vampires in contemporary film .
giroux, henry a .
hollywood film as public pedagogy: education in the crossfire .
[ amateur film: city of david amusement park, benton harbor, mich. and detroit ]
[ amateur film: san francisco, los angeles and colorado, ca. 1937 - 1938 ]
important note: strictly speaking, film noir is not a genre, but rather the mood, style, point - of - view, or tone of a film. it is also helpful to realize that' film noir' usually refers to a distinct historical period of film history - the decade of film - making after world war ii, similar to the german expressionism or the french new wave periods. however, it was labeled as such only after the classic period - early noir film - makers didn' t even use the film designation (as they would the labels
western
or
musical
), and were not conscious that their films would be labeled noirs .
note: the short story that this film is based upon is commonly assigned in english class. if this is why you are here, please note that this film does not follow the original story .
it appears that the tip off was the release title of a balboa film in which taylor acted .
storhoff, gary .
strange fruit
: lady sings the blues as a crossover film .
[ amateur film: north carolina, washington d. c. , rhode island, niagara falls ]
with the love and support of his family, the fifteen - year - old protagonist newt winger learns to cultivate values like honesty and loyalty; from other people in the community, he learns about discrimination, violence, and racism. these youthful experiences serve as his
learning tree
and allow him, at the end of the film, to come forward as a critical witness in a murder trial, even though his testimony stirs up racial tensions in the town .
in a career that spanned almost thirty years, oscar micheaux became the most successful early black independent film producer and the first black film auteur. micheaux' s films, however, were not technically brilliant .
there was previously some skepticism as to whether or not taylor acted in (and possibly directed) the 1914 balboa film
the awakening .
this clipping seemingly confirms that he at least acted in that film .
[ london ], british film institute, 1972. (nrlf (ucb) pn1998. a3 r5371 )
[ amateur film: medicus collection: little journey to washington, d. c. , april 1935 ]
in her research notes for the film rachel naughton, archivist and museum manager of the catholic archdiocese of melbourne’s diocesan historical commission, writes: “the film … bears the entrepreneurial imprint of john wren. john wren certainly appears in the film, welcoming the vc winners upon their arrival in melbourne and introducing them to the archbishop … however, there is no doubt that the vision the film represents is that of daniel mannix. using the analogy of a book, possibly the scenario was that mannix was the film’s author and wren may have been its publisher .
leicester, h. marshall, jr .
discourse and the film text: four readings of carmen .
[ amateur film: western u. s. , new mexico, mexico, california, colorado, utah ]
, with an electronic link to each issue. the publication centered on the unsolved 1922 murder of silent film director
the watkins express, oct. 6, 1920, available here, says
miss mabel normand, the famous movie star, is a guest at the glen springs hotel .
that item (published a week after the funeral of olive thomas) would seem to give a close approximate date to the beginning of her sanitarium stay .
stepin fetchit was the stage name of american comedian and film actor lincoln theodore monroe andrew perry (may 30, 1902–november 19, 1985). his typical film persona and stage name have long been synonymous with the stereotype of the servile, shiftless, simple - minded black man in early 20th century american film. there has been a more recent revisionist view that sees his film persona as ultimately subversive of the status quo. perry parlayed the fetchit persona into a successful film career, eventually becoming a millionaire, the first black actor in history to do so. [
also finally brings us one of the first aboriginal stars in chief dan george. whether the film was a
success ,
however, depends on your point of view. georgakas (1980) is tepid about the film :
alsen, eberhard .
racism and the film version of eugene o' neill' s the emperor jones .
cannes film festiva - best supporting actor (samuel l. jackson); prize of the ecumenical jury - special mention
[ amateur film :
trailer vacation month of july 1951 / 2775 mi. / cost 210. 00
]
there was widespread debate in the federal and victorian state parliaments about whether the 1920 parade should proceed, most vocally from anti - irish republican voices. winning the support of the 14 vc holders (only 10 of whom were irish catholics) was the masterstroke that convinced the melbourne mayor, councilor aikman, to give the parade the go ahead .
tarzan of the apes (1918), based on the novel by edgar rice burroughs, was the first silent film to bring the legendary character to the screen. a host of sequels soon followed, including son of tarzan (1920), in which tarzan' s son jack (or korak, to the apes) is kidnapped by tarzan' s old enemy paulovich, as well as a variety of generic movies such as the jungle trail (1919) .
but cross is almost incidental to the film - ireland will be free – he is shooting this day. indeed, when you look at the film, which has been restored by the national film and sound archive before its first full screening in almost a century this friday, it is obvious the true directors are before, not behind, the camera .
4. the bering strait theory suggests that aboriginal peoples came to north america from the northern russia / mongolia area some 15, 000 years ago via a land bridge that existed between alaska and siberia during the last ice age. deloria (1995) develops a compelling argument for the implausibility of that theory, and pieces together his own on the basis of oral history testimony, and a
decolonized
reading of available evidence .
in 1915 had glorified the brutal southern repression of newly freed blacks after the civil war. griffith had opened his 1919 film
rosenbaum, julia b .
' a great step forward! : the film home of the brave .
in :
smith, judith e .
' a giant step forward': the film home of the brave .
in :
[ amateur film: sanford collection :
by air across the u. s. a. ] (can 10009 )
in early 1920. directed to a black audience, the film dramatized the realities of segregation, jim crow, and race hatred that black citizens had to survive and, with great effort, transcend. accused of murdering their white landlord, a mississippi sharecropping couple is lynched and burned by a white mob. their children are able to escape, including their adopted daughter sylvia, a young woman whose attempts to raise money for a black school provide the structure for the multilayered plot (see
amid the fierce sectarianism that engulfed australia during and just after the war, mannix – archbishop from 1917 to 1963 – made the film as a testimony to his support for an irish free state. mannix, born in county cork in 1864, a life - long republican and later confidant to the irish taoiseach (prime minister) éamon de valera, supported britain’s declaration of war in late 1914. but in 1915, when sectarianism became a potent undercurrent of australian society amid false suggestions that irish catholics were not volunteering to fight in sufficient numbers, mannix’s opposition to war grew .
i also have a problem with how the ending was handled in the film. obviously, a spoiler warning is in place .
the argus of 22 april 1920, observed wryly: “with the exception of one or two isolated individual cases, there was an absence of sinn fein colours or emblems, but many people were wondering when the union jack, ‘emblazoned on the leading banner’ – to quote from the letter of the secretary of the celebration committee to the lord mayor … was going to appear. ”
sadly, even this 1915 version is not in pristine condition. small snippets of scenes are missing from the film. however, 95% of a silent movie is better than nothing. i will bear the missing footage in mind as i review the film .
this 1915 film was the first of many jimmy valentine films (all remakes and adaptations, no sequels) and it is the only pre - 1930 version that survives at all. the 1920 silent remake has vanished and, more importantly, the full 1928 version has also been lost with an abridged 9. 5mm edition apparently being the only surviving material. the latter is significant because it was mgm’s first talkie (well, the last two reels anyway) with william haines and lionel barrymore as the male leads .
cripps, thomas .
the making of birth of a race: the emerging politics of identity in silent film .
in :
a much beloved american film classic, to kill a mockingbird was faithfully adapted from the pulitzer prize - winning novel by harper lee .
we have seen that the second period of film i identified (1920 - 1945) did its hegemonic part not only by offering justifications for a horrific past, but also in devaluing the worth of indigenous cultures and people in a manner that lay the foundation for the third period in which the desirability of assimilation was assumed. only by bringing such an understanding to the process could a
caring
ilo assume that
doing good
for indigenous people would necessarily involve providing the mechanisms through which they could leave all cultural attachments behind .
sally jackson, film curator at the film and sound archive, says: “the film is a unique perspective on that part of history – it brings in wren’s part in the war and how he wanted to be part of it but couldn’t – about how he was pro - conscription and mannix was anti. all of that is incapsulated in there, in the way mannix behaves and in john wren’s presence .
capt. edward a. salisbury, who was featured in taylorology 75, can be seen on dvd in the film
gow the killer
. the highlight of the film is the reenacted head - hunting raid described in the article
a napoleon of the solomons
.
the film marked the impressive directorial debut of oscar - winning actor denzel washington, who also starred as the psychologist, and the film debuts of derek luke, who played the title role, and joy bryant, the model - turned - actress who appeared as cheryl. fisher himself was credited with writing the film' s screenplay. today, he is a hollywood writer and producer and a best - selling author .
directed in britain by anthony harvey, the film was beautifully scripted and brilliantly acted. the dialogue between the two characters - the only dialogue in the film, since no other characters speak - is raw, intense, realistic. but the characters move quickly from realism to allegory .
we are still ploughing our way through online catalogues and databases for silent film. next up is the afi catalog silent film database. the american film institute catalog of feature films is a series of catalogues that document the american film. the project began in the late 1960s, with the printed volumes covering decades (with a couple of exceptions), starting with 1921 - 1930, published in 1971. subsequently the afi issued volumes for 1961 - 1970 (in 1976), 1911 - 1920 (1988), 1931 - 1940 (1993), 1893 - 1910 (1995), 1941 - 1950 (1997) and within our gates: ethnicity in american feature films, 1911 - 1960 (1997). publication of further printed volumes has now stopped (it was just too expensive), and all subsequent records (for the 1950s and some of the 1970s, with a few star titles from the 2000s) have been added to the online version of the catalogue .
founded by fritzi kramer, movies silently’s mission is to make silent film fun and accessible with reviews, articles, animated gifs and daily updates .
[ amateur film :
our stay in texas: on a picnic at landa park, new braunfels, tex. , april 1946
]
to the contrary) the emphasis is still clearly on
noble .
the general view of this period is perhaps epitomized by a film entitled
film imagery regarding aboriginal peoples has changed in a parallel manner to science and policy as outlined above, with three different levels of aboriginal voice .
i’m just going to break in here and mention that there had to be more evidence against jimmy valentine than cotton’s testimony. there was that cufflink that doyle found, just for starters. plus, jimmy was clearly one of the usual suspects when it came to bank robbery. pardoning him just because he was chivalrous to rose strikes me as incredibly naive– and incredibly dangerous. i mean, jimmy was a guilty as sin! you know that ax murder thing i mentioned before? what if he had been doing that ?
after 1942, gangsters largely disappeared from the screen, as nazis and monsters took the place of mobsters as hollywood’s preferred villains. this began to change after 1950, when a senate committee set up to investigate organized crime began holding public hearings. thanks to the new medium of television, millions of americans watched the testimony of real - life mobsters like frank costello (or more accurately, they watched costello’s shaky hands–the only part of him shown by the camera). in the early 1960s, joseph valachi, a soldier in the luciano “family” organization, took a starring role in later televised hearings. it was valachi who introduced the now - famous mafia euphemism “la cosa nostra” (our thing), and his testimony revealed the evolution of italian - american organized crime in america, especially in new york. “the valachi papers, ” a book by peter maas, came out in 1969, the same year as the novel that would do more than any other to establish the mythology of the mafia in popular culture: mario puzo’s “the godfather. ”
note: i will also be comparing the 1945 kurosawa film the men who tread on the tiger’s tail. click here to skip to the talkie .
alias jimmy valentine is a beautiful film but the cinematography is pretty much the main reason to watch it. contrivances stretch the plot a bit thin and the performances are not restrained enough to redeem it. it’s a solid c + effort when a little bit more care would have yielded a grade a film .
wallace, michele .
race, gender and psychoanalysis in forties film: lost boundaries, home of the brave and the quiet one .
in :
campbell, edward d. c. , jr .
' burn, mandingo, burn': the plantation south in film, 1958 - 1978
the film, based on mcmillan' s own famous may / december romance that began on holiday in jamaica and culminated in marriage (and, most recently, in an infamous, scandal - ridden divorce), the film was a pleasant but undemanding story that drew on all of the conventions of popular romance .
sergeant rutledge (1960) directed by john ford. cast: jeffrey hunter, woody strode, billie burke, constance towers, juano hernandez, willis bouchey. an african - american
buffalo soldier
is accused of rape and murder, but is successfully defended by a white officer during his trial in 1881. lt. cantrell defends him as witnesses give testimony relived in flashbacks, revealing the sergeant' s gallantry and eventually the shocking truth behind the alleged crimes. 112 min. dvd 5659; vhs 999: 2700 credits and other information from the internet movie database
i must say the experience was rather wonderful for a novice film historian such as myself and owe an enormous debt to the catalog’s first editor, ken munden .
nettelbeck, colin w .
okra and quenelles: jazz and film - making (as nourishment) in tavernier' s round midnight (1986) .
[ amateur film: vacation to el paso, l. a. and s. f. , 3 - 11 to 20 - 61, part 1 ]
[ amateur film: vacation to el paso, l. a. and s. f. , 3 - 11 to 20 - 61, part 2 ]
more importantly, however, is the growing involvement of aboriginal people in making aboriginal film, i. e. , telling their own stories. for example ,
classic film noir developed during and after world war ii, taking advantage of the post - war ambience of anxiety, pessimism, and suspicion. it was a style of black and white american films that first evolved in the 1940s, became prominent in the post - war era, and lasted in a classic
golden age
period until about 1960 (marked by the' last' film of the classic film noir era, orson welles' touch of evil (1958) ) .
the information is uneven because the original volumes are uneven. the 1921 - 1930 volume, first in the series, covers feature films only – that is, films of four reels or 4, 000 feet in length or 40 minutes long (to use the afi’s own definition). the 1893 - 1910 volume covers the pre - feature film era and includes every kind of film, fiction and non - fiction. the 1911 - 1920 volume follows the 1920s volume in concentrating on feature films, so there are no short films despite their high level of production at this time. for example, if you search under ‘charlie chaplin’ for the teens you will only get tillie’s punctured romance, carmen and the compilation films in which he appeared (the absence of shoulder arms is a puzzle, however) .
( incidentally, the definition of a feature film as being at least four reels or 4000 feet long was fiaf’s, ca. 1968, not the afi’s. )
fulmer, jacqueline .
cundieff' s revision of masculinity in film, or, a' hard' man is not necessarily good to find .
in :
as more titles enter our collection, and as we log more of our material, we will expand this list. we will also add film descriptions and synopses .
[ amateur film: carnegie - illinois steel corp. , homestead district works: supervisors picnic, june 11, 1949, lithuanian country club and at south park ]
with its universal theme, the learning tree was a film about race that paradoxically transcended race, which may account in part for its success at the box office .
one of the best subject areas for dramatic films (or sometimes crime films) are suspenseful, law - related courtroom trials, which pit lawyers against each other, and set up a tense one - on - one conflict between a prosecutor and a defendant. sometimes, the protagonists are a
little
guy (an individual) against a
big
guy (or corporation), or the more abstract
good
vs .
evil ,
or they often involve wider issues, such as race, sex, capital punishment (life and death), and morality. and of course, courtroom dramas usually contain some of the most fascinating thematic elements in film - - murder, betrayal, deception, perjury and sex. they often feature unexpected twists and surprise testimony, unusual motives, moral dilemmas, crusading lawyers and wrongly - accused victims. afi defined the courtroom drama as
a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a critical role in the film' s narrative .
see this site' s special feature highlighting the greatest courtroom dramas .
although it was first filmed in 1929 as a silent and sound picture - that is, as an otherwise silent film that included the occasional song from the broadway musical play - by universal pictures, it was the second version of the film (released by universal in 1936 and directed by james whale) that is considered the best .
black shadows on a silver screen. history of the motion picture made by black film makers between 1900 and 1950, including scenes from these films. emphasizes the attempt by black film makers to provide alternatives to the lack of sensitivity and racism of hollywood films by portraying blacks realistically. 52 min. dvd x1409; vhs video / c 1063
collected commentary. this collection offers contemporary commentary on the racial issues in america by black and white writers in essays, editorials, speeches, memoirs, congressional testimony, novels, poetry, political cartoons, drawings, photographs, and other sources. selections can be divided among students for research and classroom discussion. how did black and white observers differ in portraying the racial divide of the period? in predicting its future? [ note: w. e. b. du bois, in his piece
ten phrases
satirizing white prejudices, uses a racial epithet for blacks. ] (12 pp. )
film noir (meaning' black film') is a distinct branch of the crime / gangster sagas from the 1930s. strictly speaking, film noir is not a genre, but rather the mood, style or tone of various american films that evolved in the 1940s, and lasted in a classic period until about 1960. however, film noir has not been exclusively confined to this era, and has re - occurred in cyclical form in other years in various neo - noirs. noirs are usually black and white films with primary moods of melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt and paranoia. and they often feature a cynical, loner hero (anti - hero) and femme fatale, in a seedy big city. see this site' s special tribute to greatest femmes fatales in classic film noir .
the primary moods of classic film noir were melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt, desperation and paranoia .
directed by herbert danska, the film featured a bravura performance by gregory; and it re - created the exhilaration of the new york jazz world with its strong musical score .
georgakas, d. (1980). they have not spoken: american indians in film. in g. bataille and g. p. silet (eds .) .
film and sound archive director, michael loebenstein, who has helped to arrange for the film to be screened on 3 may in melbourne (at cathedral hall, almost at the location of its filming) says ireland will be free represents “a fascinating proposition to look at the decade of the great war as the cradle of cross - platform and converged media” .
munby, jonathan .
three :
other
gangsters
race, politics, and the gangster film: the underworld films of oscar micheaux and ralph cooper .
in :
bryan, violet harrington .
i' m watching god
: modifications and omissions in the film adaptation of zora neale hurston' s
their eyes were watching god .
oklahoma state department of public health and national association for mental health under the supervision of the mental health film board. tim says: the national association for mental health, inc .
( 1992). in canada, a series of films involving the national film board of canada (nfb), and filmmakers such as hugh brody [ e. g. ,
the ten canoes agreement recognizes the ramingining community’s property rights for all artefacts and sets made for the film. these materials were included in a recent multi - media art / cultural exhibition .
film noir films (mostly shot in gloomy grays, blacks and whites) thematically showed the dark and inhumane side of human nature with cynicism and doomed love, and they emphasized the brutal, unhealthy, seamy, shadowy, dark and sadistic sides of the human experience. an oppressive atmosphere of menace, pessimism, anxiety, suspicion that anything can go wrong, dingy realism, futility, fatalism, defeat and entrapment were stylized characteristics of film noir. the protagonists in film noir were normally driven by their past or by human weakness to repeat former mistakes .
steven spielberg' s adaptation of alice walker' s pulitzer prize - winning novel the color purple was met with protests, even as the film was still in production; pickets and demonstrations in many major cities greeted the film' s release in december, 1985. the adaptation itself was roundly criticized for its oversimplifications, particularly the racial clichés and hollywood stereotypes that it perpetuated, and denounced for its unrealistic black representations. spike lee spoke for a number of film historians and critics when he condemned the film' s hostility toward its male characters, who were depicted as
one - dimensional animals .
still others were disappointed by the way spielberg de - emphasized the female characters, whose tragedies walker had turned into hard - fought triumphs .
( 1942) is yet another film concerning the battle of the little bighorn. because it deals with an actual historical event, and has been the subject of so many films, including
directing his first feature film, kevin rodney sullivan seemed unable to do more than string together a series of handsomely - framed shots of his two gorgeous leads. yet, even though the characters were underdeveloped and the dialogue often trite, how stella got her groove back was a
chick flick
favorite - or, as one critic called it ,
film peignoir .
alias jimmy valentineis is available on dvd as part of the out - of - print origins of film box set. it is a pity since the set contains a lot of films unavailable elsewhere .
for its first synchronous sound and spoken film, or
talkie ,
hollywood looked not to black actors or entertainers but to an enduring, if antiquated, aspect of black american popular culture .
thrillers are often hybrids with other genres - there are action - thrillers, crime - caper thrillers, western - thrillers, film - noir thrillers, even romantic comedy - thrillers. another closely - related genre is the horror film genre. thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations. they are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra - heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve - wracking tension. the acclaimed master of suspense is alfred hitchcock. spy films may be considered a type of thriller / suspense film .
intriguing view of the underground black film industry in the early 1900s. featuring footage from the 1920s through the 1950s. offers a priceless collection of unique performances by black legends. 2002. 189 min .
the first important black - oriented major studio film of the 1930s, imitation of life was hailed as a
daring moving picture
that reflected changing social attitudes. based on the best - selling novel by fanny hurst, the film told the story of two poor widows, the white bea (claudette colbert) and the black delilah (louise beavers), who are hard hit by the depression .
( 1939) is particularly interesting for several reasons, not the least of which is that aboriginal characters are notable for their physical absence from the screen throughout most of the movie. scriptwriting normally involves the introduction of characters in the first portion of the film, some scenes that demonstrate persona and identify villains and heroes, and action that establishes the threat that provides the dramatic tension that propels the film. in
sub - genres are more specific sub - classes of the larger category of main film genres, with their own distinctive subject matter, style, formulas, and iconography. some of them are prominent sub - genres, such as: biopics,' chick' flicks, courtroom dramas, detective / mystery films, disaster films, fantasy films, film noir,' guy' films, melodramas (or' weepers'), road films, romances, superhero films, sports films, supernatural films, thrillers / suspense, and zombie - horror films. see also film sub - genres types (and hybrids) - films that combine many different film elements (i. e. , action - comedies, zombie - disaster - thriller, martial arts / kung - fu or video - game action, musical drama, etc .) .
as i was writing about climax of alias jimmy valentine, i realized that the questions of identity and deception reminded me of another film: akira kurosawa’s 1945 feudal drama the men who tread on the tiger’s tail .
some of the most prominent directors of film noir included orson welles, john huston, billy wilder, edgar ulmer, douglas sirk, robert siodmak, fritz lang, otto preminger, henry hathaway and howard hawks .
but perhaps williams' most important work was as an activist who lobbied for more honesty in black film roles and other vital changes in the industry, such as the appointment of
a national negro censor .
ten canoes (rolf de heer, 2006) is australia’s most ambitious and most expensive cross - cultural film project to date. the balanda and the bark canoes (molly reynolds, tania nehme and rolf de heer, 2006) that takes us behind the scenes of this film to provide invaluable insight into the extraordinary processes of collaboration between balanda (“white - fella”), director rolf de heer and the yolngu people of ramingining .
a newly - restored version of
huckleberry finn ,
one of william desmond taylor' s most acclaimed films, was screened on may 9 at the george eastman house film festival in rochester, n. y .
larson, charles r .
the black king: forgotten' black?' classic .
journal of popular film and television, vol. 20 no. 2. 1992 summer. pp: 17 - 25 .
i hope my analysis also will serve to sensitize people active in the science, policy and film arenas to consider the contextual influences and understandings that each brings to their task. as kline (1994) asserts it :
a milestone in american film history, the exile (1931) was the first all - black - cast independently produced
talkie
( or sound film). based on micheaux' s autobiographical novel the conquest (1913), it followed the adventures of jean baptiste, an ambitious
decent colored man
who travels to south dakota to establish his own homestead and falls in love with a woman whom he believes to be white .
with how things have
always
been, but start realizing that cultural legends, stories, and history change. indeed, change is exactly what we would expect if it is the case that efforts at scientific understanding, policy regarding indians, and film portrayals unite in the service of hegemonic interests. [ * fn5 * ]. to the extent that hegemonic interests change, and if these are a primary source of and influence on film imagery, then we should clearly expect film imagery to change as well, in a manner that is consistent with changing hegemonic interest. various authors have already shown that scientific accounts and indian policy are subject to such influences .
there have previously been at least a half - dozen neva gerber films available on dvd or vhs, but all of them were produced in the mid - to - late 20s, years after taylor was dead. now a film is available which was made when she knew taylor: the trail of the octopus, a serial from 1919. this film generally has better quality than her later available films, and gives her much more to do .
like the revolutionary novel for young adults by alice childress that was its source, the film adaptation of a hero ain' t nothing but a sandwich told the compelling story of a young man' s addiction to heroin .
the film, an immediate hit with white audiences, was also popular with black moviegoers, who appreciated its innovative, at times subversive approach to contemporary concerns. as one reviewer noted: though much of imitation of life
is dreadfully superficial and needlessly sentimental... it will really set america to thinking furiously .
( the film was re - made less effectively in 1959, with lana turner and juanita moore as the two widows. )
only recently have micheaux' s tremendous accomplishments gained the critical appreciation by film historians and the recognition by the motion picture industry that they so richly deserve. today, micheaux is hailed as the first great black filmmaker in america .
a low - budget independent film with no established stars, home of the brave became both a critical and commercial success in the north and south alike and was applauded as a hollywood breakthrough in the presentation of its racial theme .
yet the genius of the film was not in the events that miss jane relates but in her unique voice, which turns her personal history into a remarkable combination of slave narrative, folk history, sermon, and oral poetry .
( tourneur obtained the cooperation of the real warden of sing sing, thomas mott osborne, and was able to film some scenes inside the prison itself. osborne was a prison reformer and a fascinating man in his own right. )
two issues of a 1914 british fan magazine serialized the taylor / gibson film
the night riders of petersham
. part 1, published in august 1914 is online here and part 2, published in september 1914, is here .
arthur laurents' play the way back, on which the film was based, featured a jewish character in the
problem
role; but the film adaptation, directed by mark robson, turned him into a black man named peter
mossy
moss (james edwards), a young black private who suffers partial amnesia and hysterical paralysis after the death of his best friend, a white man named finch (lloyd bridges) whom he has known since childhood .
it was re - made in 1986 by hansberry' s widower, robert nemiroff, to commemorate the twenty - fifth anniversary of the original film. directed by black filmmaker bill duke, the remake starred danny glover and esther rolle .
the females in film noir were either of two types (or archetypes) - dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femmes fatales - mysterious, duplicitous, double - crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough - sweet, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women. usually, the male protagonist in film noir wished to elude his mysterious past, and had to choose what path to take (or have the fateful choice made for him) .
georgia, georgia, an independent film whose original score and screenplay were written by noted black poet and author maya angelou, starred diana sands as georgia martin, a black singer who travels to stockholm, where she meets and falls in love with a white army deserter. but even overseas, georgia is unable to escape racial discrimination. the warnings to georgia that she should
stick to her own kind
seem overblown - until the film ends in a brutal murder .
despite a pat hollywood - style conclusion that reverses the play' s message of black inequality, the film was an overwhelming hit with audiences. yet, as film critic vincent canby pointed out ,
it is a measure of how little real progress there has been in the attitude of american movies toward black culture that a soldier' s story, which could as easily have been made in 1964 as in 1984, seems noteworthy today for its broad popular success .
a 1971 interview with silent film actress claire windsor is available online at urltoken, in which she discusses the impact of the taylor case on her life and career. (her discussion of the case begins five minutes into the interview. )
the film began when i showed a photograph from donald doctor thomson to rolf de heer and said what do you think? rolf de heer started to write that story with ramingining people, my people, and we started to work together .
step children (1937) director oscar micheaux. film deals with a light - skinned african - american orphan who refuses to acknowledge her race. 65 min. 65 min. 999: 1148 credits and other information from the internet movie database
it is outside the hollywood mainstream that aboriginal film portrayals have reached the next step, which involves more fully embodying aboriginal voice. british filmmaker michael apted, for example, in his balancing act between hollywood extravaganza (e. g. ,
the film, which enjoyed a successful run in new york, was censored by the pennsylvania board of censors, which objected to a scene of baptiste kissing a white woman (who is later revealed to have
negro blood
) and to another scene, eventually cut, of a black man thrashing a white man for ungentlemanly conduct. although the film generated much controversy, it gave hope to other race filmmakers that black films could compete in the new market of sound movies .
a renowned still photographer whose work appeared in life and other prominent publications, the late gordon parks, sr. not only produced and directed the film; he also wrote and scored the music. the learning tree was thus the first film financed by a major studio to have a black director, and it opened hollywood' s doors not only for parks, who went on to direct even more commercially successful films like shaft (1971), but also for other black directors .
one criticism leveled against the film is that the comedy relief from kenichi enomoto is jarring and out of place in a serious production. i have an enormous fondness for funny little men (i like silent movies, remember ?) and i thought enomoto added just the right amount of humor to the film. i enjoyed his character and performance and would have missed him if he had been cut. in the end, all i can do is say that i agree wholeheartedly with togashi .
for an excellent overview of this history and a provocative contribution to the debates on protocols, see frances peters - little, “ the impossibility of pleasing everybody: a legitimate role for white filmmakers making black film ”, in australian humanities review .
written and directed by carl franklin, the film not only recreated all of the conventions of the hard - boiled detective novel of the 1940s; it also depicted an era when veterans like easy used the gi bill to move from the south in search of better employment. the painstakingly accurate period sets contributed to the stylized look of the film, which was itself a fine portrait of a black man coming of age in postwar america and trying to claim his legitimate share of the american dream .
the analysis i will now undertake - in which i examine science, policy, and film portrayals regarding aboriginal peoples over time - will inevitably suffer its own limitations, particularly the limitations that arise when one tries to paint historical trends with an overly large brush. nonetheless, i would suggest that it also offers certain benefits, especially given our collective goal of trying to understand the role that film media play in constructing image and identity, i. e. , the theme of this conference .
like pinky johnson in pinky, the central character in another black - oriented
problem
film, home of the brave, learns to use his experience of racial discrimination to gain a better understanding of himself and his position in postwar american society .
the film' s success was attributable in large part to denzel washington, who integrated the stridency of malcolm' s militant rhetoric against whites with the quiet intellectualism of his growing awareness of the importance of language in his struggle to raise black awareness .
richie points out that kurosawa even takes things one step further. togashi knows and is being merciful but he also makes sure that benkei knows that he has been found out. so the film is really a performance within a performance within a performance. benkei and togashi continue their cat and mouse game for the benefit of their spectators but they have a second game beneath the surface purely conveyed by body language. (of course, okochi’s silent film experience would have been invaluable for this sort of thing. )
giles, mark .
the blood of jesus: timeless black values .
black camera - a micro journal of black film studies 15: 1 [ spring - summer 2000 ] p. 6 - 7 uc users only strecker, damien .
no laughing matter: spencer williams, jr.' s christian moral vision in
the blood of jesus
. black camera - a micro journal of black film studies 20: 2 [ fall - winter 2005 ] p. 6 - 7 uc users only
to kill a mockingbird, which marked robert duval' s film debut, was nominated for eight academy awards and won three, including the award for best actor (gregory peck, in a role that was originally offered to rock hudson) and best adapted screenplay (horton foote). the film also forged some enduring bonds for peck: harper lee, moved by his performance, presented him with her father' s pocketwatch, and brock peters delivered the eulogy at the actor' s funeral in 2003.
testimony is a 1920 british silent drama film directed by guy newall and starring ivy duke , david hawthorne and mary rorke . it was based on the novel of the same title by alice and claude askew . 
testimony is a 1920 british silent drama film directed by guy newall and starring ivy duke, david hawthorne and mary rorke. it was based on the novel of the same title by alice and claude askew.
testimony is a 1920 british silent drama film directed by guy newall and starring ivy duke, david hawthorne and mary rorke. it was based on the novel of the same title by alice and claude askew.