Screen’s First Sex Symbol
Nearly 100 years ago Theda Bara was one of the biggest Silent Screen Stars, now other than those who are fans of Silent Movies she is almost completely unknown. She made more than 40 feature films between 1914 and 1926 however most of these films are considered ‘Lost films’ since complete prints of only six [...]
A Silent Star and His Fall
Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle was born on March 24, 1887 in Smith Center, Kansas, to Mollie and William Goodrich Arbuckle. His mother died in 1899 and his father abandoned him shortly afterward. Arbuckle survived by doing odd jobs at a hotel in San Jose, California. He entered an amateur night contest where he caught the attention [...]
History Writ with Lightning
‘The Birth of a Nation’ was produced and directed by D.W. Giffith and released on February 8, 1915. It starred Lillian Gish, Henry Walthall and Mae Walsh. The 3 hour 10 minute film was originally presented in two parts separated by an intermission. The film cost $110,000 (over 2 Million in 2006) and grossed over [...]
A Silent Death
On the morning of February 2, 1922, the body of silent film director William Desmond Taylor was discovered at his home. The director had been killed by a shot in the back. In his pockets was his wallet with 78 dollars, a silver cigarette case and an ivory toothpick. A 2 caret diamond ring was [...]
Hardy Before Laurel
It was towards the end of the Silent Film Era that Oliver Hardy joined Stan Laurel to form the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy. Hardy was in his mid-thirties when the pair joined and had already had a long career in Silent Films. Oliver Hardy was born on January 18, 1892 in Harlem, Georgia [...]
The Silent Cowboy
Tom Mix became film’s first Western Movie star. He wasn’t born in the west, but in the east. He was born on January 6, 1880 in Mix Run, Pennsylvania. His birth name was Thomas Hezekiah Mix, but when he enlisted in the army during the Spanish-American War he entered as Thomas E. Mix. The E [...]
Santa Claus in The Movies
Silent Santa’: SANTA CLAUS AND THE CHILDREN (1898) SANTA CLAUS (1899) SANTA CLAUS FILLING STOCKINGS (1897) SANTA CLAUS’ VISIT (1900) WAITING FOR SANTA CLAUS (1901) AN UNEXPECTED SANTA CLAUS (1908) A TRAP FOR SANTA CLAUS (1909) THE ADVENTURE OF THE WRONG SANTA CLAUS (1914) SANTA CLAUS VS. CUPID (1915) THE DETECTIVE’S SANTA CLAUS (1924) SANTA [...]
The Great Stone Face
During the 1920′s Buster Keaton was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comic actor-directors of the end of the Silent Film Era. Roger Ebert has even called him the “greatest actor-director in the history of the movies”. Keaton’s films during this decade, such as The General or The Navigator, Steamboat Bill, Jr. or [...]
Died Before Their Time
Rudolph Valentino was one of the most popular stars of Silent Films in the 1920′s. When he died at the age of 31 in 1926, it is estimated that 100,000 people attended his funeral in New York. His image as the Latin Lover has lasted for decades. When Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean [...]
Her Death Lead to the Downfall of a Clown
If it wasn’t for the people that were around her when she died on September 9, 1921 in San Francisco, the name and the person Virginia Rappe would just be a small fact in the course of history. However, Rappe died after attending a Labor Day party held by Hollywood Silent Film Comic Roscoe ‘Fatty’ [...]
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