Tag: library of congress
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Before When Harry Met Charlie
Like many people who are into classic film, I only knew Harry Myers as the drunk millionaire in Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights (1931). I knew he didn’t just appear out of nowhere, hand-picked form obscurity the way Virginia Cherrill had been. So, when I spotted him as one of the two comedy relief cowboys in…
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The Spirit of ’76 Circa 1905
I usually avoid recognizable music if I can help it, as it’s a distraction to the viewer unless there’s someone playing a record or piece of sheet music shown in a close-up. With this particular 1905 film, I needed to make an exception. Here’s a film (below) from the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company called…
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What’s a Nice Car Like You Doing in a Comedy Short Like This?
Putting Humpty Together Again, Thanks to the Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Congress It isn’t often that a two-reel comedy can be reassembled by accessing a reel from one archive and a reel from another, but we were fortunate in the case of this film. Oh! What a Day (1918) is a…
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Buster Keaton’s Leap to ‘One Week’, and Marcel Perez’s Jump from “Split-reelers” to 2-reelers
Stretching to Two Reel Length was no Stretch For Marcel Perez What has always struck me as remarkable about Buster Keaton (well, one of several things) is his maturity as a filmmaker at the ripe old age of 25. His first solo release, One Week (1920), looks nothing like any of the 14 two-reel Arbuckle comedies…
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Marion Davies Marches On…!
Happy Birthday to Victor Herbert, Composer of “Babes In Toyland”, “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life” and the elusive “Marion Davies March” Victor Herbert’s March of the Toys wafted over my WFMT app this morning, in honor of the composer’s birthday, and I immediately thought of Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy – and then Marion Davies. Stan…
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The Humor of “Jackass” and AFV In the Early 1900s, as Performed by Marcel Perez and Others
The injury humor of Johnny Knoxville, the Farrelly Brothers, and thousands of anonymous klutzes is nothing new — French and Italian comedians were doing it during movies’ first decade. Last September, a lot of people sent me a link to an article in the New York Times that articulated something I’d been thinking for some…
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For real? A public domain silent in a high quality upload with good music?
THE ITALIAN (1915) was just posted to YouTube the Library of Congress in a new 2K scan of the Library’s best 35mm preservation material and with a brand new (I recorded it last month) piano score by yours truly. The film stars George Beban, and was directed by Reginald Barker and produced by Thomas Ince.
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new DVD release: “The Marcel Perez Collection”
I’m very excited announce the release today of my new DVD, The Marcel Perez Collection! The DVD contains 10 rare short silent comedies in new digital transfers from prints preserved by the Library of Congress and by the EYE Filmmuseum (Netherlands), and each has a brand new piano score by yours truly. The films on…
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NEW DVD COLLECTION OF FORGOTTEN SILENT FILM STAR MARCEL PEREZ
THE MARCEL PEREZ COLLECTION SHOWCASINGFORGOTTEN SILENT FILM COMEDIAN CONFIRMED FOR RELEASE ON FEBRUARY 3 IN NEW DVD FEATURING NEW DIGITAL TRANSFERS OF RARE ARCHIVAL PRINTS Undercrank Productions Collaborates with Library of Congress and EYE Filmmuseum (Netherlands) to Shine Spotlight onOverlooked Silent Clown & Director; New Book on Perez by Steve Massa Also to be Published.…
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Happy birthday Harold Lloyd – watch “Bliss” (1917)
In honor of Harold Lloyd’s birthday, I’ve uploaded a fun, rarely seen early “glasses” one-reeler with Harold to my YouTube channel. I scored this in 2008 for the American Slapstick 2 DVD set from AllDay Entertainment. The set is still in print and you can order the whole 3-disc set from them by click on…