Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Happy Anniversary! Premiered in New York City, December 30th, 1925

As we can see from the posters, lobby cards, programs and ads for Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, every means and all tools were used to promote this film, yet, because of its budget (most expensive of the silent era at 3.9 million) it lost money on its initial run, finally making a little profit in the re-release in 1931 when a score and sound-effects were added. (See our post about another Easter favorite, from 1935: Golgotha)

 

Stills from Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ:

Forty-eight cameras were used to film the sea battle, a record for a single scene.

The Guinness Book of World Records (2002 edition), relates that Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, contains the most edited scene in cinema history. Editor Lloyd Nosler compressed 200,000 feet (60,960 meters) of film into a mere 750 feet (228.6 meters) for the chariot race scene – a ratio of 267:1 (film shot to film shown).

The religious scenes were all shot in Technicolor along with Ben Hur’s entrance into Rome and some of the interiors.

   

Behind the scenes stills:

F. W. Murnau, Happy Birthday! Born December 28th; 1888-1931

F. W. Murnau

Storyteller supreme is an apt title for Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe, better known as F. W. Murnau; 21 movies in 12 years, his career stopped short by an automobile accident, just prior to the premier of his last film, Tabu: A Story of the South Seas, in 1931.

What a genius for moving-pictures he had and we are all the more blessed to have what little record we do have.  The space (and time) needed to explain the gifts of Murnau, well, time and space fail me and maybe my words as well; for I seem so awed by his talent that the terminology that comes to me seems weak, feeble before his brilliance that is so clearly seen in his work.

Drama, legends, horror, romance and complicated comedies were part and parcel with Murnau. Nosferatu, still what I consider to be the creepiest of all vampire films; Sunrise a poignant gut wrenching, tear-jerker filled with lust, deception, love and as the subtitle implies full of the music of life. I will cease my chatter here and let you be reminded of his work by looking over some of the posters that I have provided from his films. I implore you to buy, rent, stream, whatever you have to do, watch and pay especially close attention to the movies, the art and the language of F. W. Murnau.

F. W. Murnau film list:

1931 Tabu: A Story of the South Seas

1930 City Girl

1928 4 Devils

1927 Sunrise

1926 Faust

1925 Tartuffe

1924 The Last Laugh

1924 Finances of the Grand Duke

1923 Die Austreibung (Short)

1922 Phantom

1922 Der brennende Acker

1922 Nosferatu

1922 Marizza, genannt die Schmuggler-Madonna

1921 The Haunted Castle

1921 Desire

1921 The Dark Road

1920 Abend – Nacht – Morgen

1920 Der Januskopf

1920 Der Bucklige und die Tänzerin

1920 Satanas

1919 Emerald of Death

 

By C. S. Williams

The Voice on the Wire, Silent-Serial, Lost, Mostly Forgotten

On that Sunday in March with spring at the doorstep of 1917, an action-adventure-mystery-romance-serial began its fifteen week run. The Voice on the Wire clearly had the attention of the nation. No expense was being spared for the promotion of this actioner, VOW, made available to the theater many illustrations in full color, posters and lobby cards; in addition, novelties such as, buttons and a miniature telephone[i] (please do not forget to take advantage of the endnotes), were manufactured for the, supernatural, super-amalgamated movie. On all accounts, VOW, was a box-office blockbuster, packing houses nationwide for the movie-goers’ weekly dose of thrills and chills. Unfortunately, we have no known copy of The Voice on the Wire, to make our own judgment as to the film’s worthiness or its cinematic expertise.[ii]

The material for this weekly serialized film was taken from the novel, “The Voice on the Wire,” by Eustace Hale Ball; the book was a huge success, generating readers from coast to coast. To add to the excitement that the story had already caused in the readers’ mind, Hall claimed that the narrative was based on facts that he had picked up while working as a police reporter in New York City.[iii] And, as if this were not enough to spark the imaginations of the potential serial-slave, from the beginning, before the first two-reel installment (The Oriental Death Punch, March 18, 1917) was cast upon the silver-screen, the audience was being told that “the mystery plot of the new serial is impenetrable, bullet-proof, shell-proof, and bomb-proof. It defies investigation.”[iv]

No stone was left unturned regarding the promotion of The Voice on the Wire, its star and producer Ben Wilson, made a forty-seven city tour[v] for VOW, stopping at the leading movie-houses in each of those cities; the trip began in the New York City area, with Wilson visiting all of the Marcus Loew theater locations, from there to Philadelphia, Washington[vi] and then westward-ho! This, to that point in cinema history, was the most comprehensive personal appearance tour[vii] of one of the glistening Stars of the Hollywood constellation. But, not satisfied with any normal or expected turnouts, the publicity arm of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company stoked the flames of box-office success, publishing in story form, in local newspapers across the country,[viii] not the book but the scenario of the serial The Voice on the Wire; thus, attracting even more movie-attendees to thousands of theaters,[ix] crowding the flicker-houses from orchestra to balcony, to watch this phenomenon of the young motion-picture industry.

In February of 1916, it was announced that the Universal Film Manufacturing Company obtained the rights to Eustace Hale Ball’s popular book;[x] originally, the multi-chapter VOW was slated for just five two-reel segments,[xi] but as of December, 1916, a sixth chapter was being completed, that was supposed to be the end, no more, nada;[xii] but at some point (I have found no reports or memos regarding the change to an increase in chapters or reason given), Universal decided to add further parts to the puzzle and of course it ended up being fifteen two-reel chapters. In November of 1916,[xiii] we know that chapters two and three were being worked on and in the following month chapter four began shooting; [xiv] in January, 1917, chapter one was almost complete.[xv]

The pictures shown in this post are from various newspapers, trade papers and fan magazines from 1916-1918.

For your convenience I am listing the cast with their appearance and role in the series and photos as available.[xvi] As well, you will find an in depth description of each of The Voice on the Wire episodes taken from the pages of The Moving Picture World, March through June issues, 1917. One funny side-note is a comic featuring the German Kaiser answering the phone and hearing  The Voice on the Wire.

It has been an enjoyable experience for me doing this research for this article; I hope you enjoy what I consider to be the best reconstruction of the information available, about The Voice on the Wire.

C. S. Williams

---

[i] Motion Picture News March, 1917

[ii] We,  because of loss of film (much of the cause by nitrate, some by carelessness and some by oversight) cannot vouch for the acting, the directing, the costumes and cinematography of VOW, for it falls into that realm of Lost-Pictures, a country where too many of our early representatives of the cinematic art form have gone. The land of Lost-Pictures issues few passports, a nation of the lost for the lost, who are jealous of their fellow-citizens and their travels beyond the borders of Lost-Pictures; few of those citizens of that country have returned to our land; but what joy they bring when they do triumphantly appear, we see them with their kin, (this, because of restoration, care, safety-film, donations and digitalization), not too roam to that country of Lost-Pictures again.

I wish and long to see the flickering images of yesteryear, those photo-plays that our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers saw on a Saturday at the local cinema; these are pieces of our history, photographs once strung together to encourage, enrage, enrapture and engage, to see them alongside the likes of “The General, The Gold Rush, Intolerance, Les Vampires, The Unknown, and more titles that are known, because they ‘are.’

I am a believer that we cannot know our future unless we know our past, and some of our filmed past is LOST, therefore our knowledge, a portion of our understanding, no matter how small that may be, is LOST, and may, and most likely will, never be seen again. I have experienced this first-hand (as I know many have) in the most basic of terms when my wife and I lost thousands of photos that were stored on our PC; and more recently, I attended a car-show and lost those moments which I had so carefully chosen to preserve, because of a malfunctioning camera. My wife and I may have the memories but we do not have the record of our day and days, our visits, our vacations, those memories are now open to interpretation, to changeableness, to being degraded because of the lack of documentary evidence. That is what I miss, the evidence of days gone by, the LOST slick Flicks, which brought so many kicks to the many movie-going clique.

[iii] The Moving Picture World, March 17, 1917

[iv] The Moving Picture World, March 17, 1917

[v] Motion Picture News, June 9, 1917

[vi] Motography Magazine, June 16, 1917

[vii] Motography Magazine, June 16, 1917

[viii] The Moving Picture World, April 28, 1917

[ix] The Moving Picture World, April 28, 1917

[x] Motography Magazine, February 5, 1916

[xi] Motion Picture News, February 5, 1916

[xii] The Moving Picture World, December 23, 1916

[xiii] Motography Magazine, November 25, 1916

[xiv] Motography Magazine, December 2, 1916

[xv] Motography Magazine, January 17, 1917

[xvi] Director: Stuart Paton

Producers: Stuart Paton and Ben Wilson

Scenario: J. Grubb Alexander based on the novel “The Voice on the Wire” by Eustace Hale Ball

Presenter: Carl Laemmle

Production Company and Distributor: Universal Film Manufacturing Company

Principal characters of “The Voice on the Wire” Actor listed first, character in parentheses.

Ben Wilson (John Shirley) interested in criminology ep. 1

Neva Gerber (Polly Marion) actress-chorus-girl, hired by John Shirley – also girlfriend of Alvin Van Cleft ep. 1

Francis MacDonald (Red Warren) leader of criminal-gang ep. 1

Joseph Girard (Dr. Renolds  or Reynolds -spelled both ways in the episode notes) AKA  “Chantard”  ep.5

Nigel de Bruillier (Professor Duval)  friend of John Shirley inventor of the “Thought Machine”

Howard Crampton (Captain Cronin)  head of a detective agency Ep. 1 Also referred to as Chief Cronin, ep. 8

Kingsley Benedict (?) (Similar to Hoot Gibson, there appears to be no documented reference to Benedict being in this movie.)

Irene Hunt (Mrs. Reynolds) ep. 15

William Quinn (Emil Laroux) ep. 15

Frank Tokonoga (Sato) John Shirley’s valet Ep. 4

Professor Montague (L. M. Wells) a physician ep. 1

Frank McQuarrie  (Alvin Van Cleft) killed in ep. 1 a name on the list of those condemned to die by “The Voice”

Ernest ‘Ernie’ Shields (Howard Van Cleft) (Ernest “Ernie” Shields) son of Alvin Van Cleft, ep. 1

Hoot Gibson – appeared as Edward Gibson  (?) Although I cannot find any mention of Gibson in The Voice on the Wire in news related articles (movie magazines, trade papers or newspapers), yet, the film is listed in the Hoot Gibson resume, in The Blue Book of the Screen, by Ruth Wing, Hollywood, California, 1924, page 97)

Josephine Hill (?)

Evelyn Selby (Frisco ‘Pale’ Ida) owner of the gambling house, with knowledge of “The Voice”

Lou  Short (Short) (a police officer) seen with Cronin and Shirley ep. 4, 6, 9

Willard Wayne (Wayne) (detective) ep. 6

Charles Dorian (Dorian) (detective) ep. 6

William Canfield (William Grimsby) a name on the list of those condemned to die by “The Voice” ep. 2

Wadsworth Harris (James Welsh)  a bon-vivant a name on the list of those condemned to die by “The Voice” ep. 7

?????????      (Taylor) a driver for Red Warren – criminal-gang

(???????)       John Vance a name on the list of those condemned to die by “The Voice” ep. 4

(???????)       John Carns a name on the list of those condemned to die by “The Voice” ep. 5

(???????)       Cummings part of the criminal-gang ep. 9

(???????)     Bert Law part of the criminal-gang ep. 9, leads police through hideout, also reveals that only “Red” Warren knows who “The Voice” is.

(???????)    Laschlas (sends message “Red” ep. 6; sends messages to John Shirley ep. 9 & 10 (friend or foe, who knows?)

(???????)   Tokonuga part of the criminal-gang ep. 10

Ben Wilson

Neva Gerber

Joseph Girade

Howard Crampton

Irene Hunt

Jospehine Hill

Francis McDonald

Charles Dorian

Ernest Shields

Nigel de Bruiler

 

Gloria Swanson, Happy Birthday! Born March 27; 1899-1983

 

Gloria Swanson protrait 1950

 

70 films in 60 years, that resume can belong only to the glorious, glamorous and glitzy Gloria Swanson, the maven of the movies. Ms. (Gloria May Josephine Svensson) Swanson garnered three Academy Award nominations, for Sadie Thompson, 1928; The Trespasser, 1929 and Sunset Blvd., (she received several nominations and a few wins from critic awards and the foreign film industry for Sunset Blvd.) 1950. With Fine Manners in 1926, Swanson began a string of eight very good pictures in six years, including What a Widow, 1930, which is considered lost; the trailer and soundtrack of What a Widow survive.

 

Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke II, Happy Birthday Sir! We Remember You Well, Born March 21; 1889-1943

W. S. Van Dyke

One briskly paced movie after another is the legacy of W. S. Van Dyke II, with our ending comments collectively being: “fun had by one and all.” ‘Entertainment’ would have been an appropriate middle name for this man who brought all of the drama, action, comedy, music (yes, musicals too), sword-play, word-play (sharper than the sword) and adventure, all as carefully managed and thoughtfully directed, as a well groomed Van Dyke beard. His work began in silence, with his uncredited work in the Silent masterpieces, The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages, (working with another man of great initials D. W. Griffith), as assistant director and second assistant director respectively. Producer, writer (15 credits in the silent era), actor (Intolerance and Oliver Twist, 1916, Eskimo, 1933, uncredited for the talkie) need to be added to his resume.

Directing over 90 films in 25 years the prolific Van Dyke was affectionately known as ‘One Take Woody,’ one can guess that his ‘One Take’ method was adapted from his years in the Vaudeville circuit where there were no ‘second takes.’ Van Dyke was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Director: The Thin Man, 1934 and San Francisco, 1936; also he received a nomination for Marie Antoinette at the Venice Film Festival, 1938.

Thoughtfully, thoroughly, we must honestly consider that Van Dyke’s contribution to the golden era of Hollywood is significant, with his star beginning to rise with the advent of sound, with such early triumphs as: Tarzan the Ape Man, 1932, and probably what is the best example of comedy and mystery melded together in Hollywood history, The Thin Man, 1934; of course the rest of the Thin Man entries are well crafted, easily recognizable as part of a mini-series, each thread in the Thin Man tapestry expertly woven, as though the filming were simultaneous: After the Thin Man, 1936, Another Thin Man, 1939, and Shadow of the Thin Man, 1941; I am not sure if any other director ever got more out of William Powell and Myrna Loy than director Van Dyke.

Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy found their stride with Van Dyke, his style well fitted to film their antics, highlighting their vocal talents in: Naughty Marietta, 1935, Rose-Marie, a beautiful operetta in the 1936, followed by Sweethearts in 1938, New Moon, 1940 (uncredited), Bittersweet, 1940 and I Married an Angel, 1942.

 

Along the way Van Dyke proved particularly adept at handling couples: the aforementioned Powell & Loy, MacDonald & Eddy; Clark Gable & Joan Crawford (his least successful duo), Johnny Weissmuller & Maureen O’Sullivan, Norma Shearer & Tyrone Power and Robert Taylor & Jean Harlow. Actresses Loy and MacDonald seemed at their best under his direction, Robert Young, Jimmy Stewart, Robert Taylor, Spencer Tracy, Robert Montgomery and Clark Gable all equally as comfortable with his skills, but, it was Myrna Loy and William Powell who shone brightest by the illuminating talents of director W. S. Van Dyke.

Any and all lasting tribute to Mr. Van Dyke really comes from his audience, how (from the casual to ardent) the movie fan accounts the films of Van Dyke; to that end, simply take a look at the fan-ratings on the Internet Movie Data Base website and see the value that is placed on the films of this picture-producing-paladin.

By C. S. Williams

The Voice on the Wire, Happy Anniversary! Silent-Serial, Premiered, March 18, 1917. Lost, Mostly Forgotten

On that Sunday in March with spring at the doorstep of 1917, an action-adventure-mystery-romance-serial began its fifteen week run. The Voice on the Wire clearly had the attention of the nation. No expense was being spared for the promotion of this actioner, VOW, made available to the theater many illustrations in full color, posters and lobby cards; in addition, novelties such as, buttons and a miniature telephone[i] (please do not forget to take advantage of the endnotes), were manufactured for the, supernatural, super-amalgamated movie. On all accounts, VOW, was a box-office blockbuster, packing houses nationwide for the movie-goers’ weekly dose of thrills and chills. Unfortunately, we have no known copy of The Voice on the Wire, to make our own judgment as to the film’s worthiness or its cinematic expertise.[ii]

The material for this weekly serialized film was taken from the novel, “The Voice on the Wire,” by Eustace Hale Ball; the book was a huge success, generating readers from coast to coast. To add to the excitement that the story had already caused in the readers’ mind, Hall claimed that the narrative was based on facts that he had picked up while working as a police reporter in New York City.[iii] And, as if this were not enough to spark the imaginations of the potential serial-slave, from the beginning, before the first two-reel installment (The Oriental Death Punch, March 18, 1917) was cast upon the silver-screen, the audience was being told that “the mystery plot of the new serial is impenetrable, bullet-proof, shell-proof, and bomb-proof. It defies investigation.”[iv]

No stone was left unturned regarding the promotion of The Voice on the Wire, its star and producer Ben Wilson, made a forty-seven city tour[v] for VOW, stopping at the leading movie-houses in each of those cities; the trip began in the New York City area, with Wilson visiting all of the Marcus Loew theater locations, from there to Philadelphia, Washington[vi] and then westward-ho! This, to that point in cinema history, was the most comprehensive personal appearance tour[vii] of one of the glistening Stars of the Hollywood constellation. But, not satisfied with any normal or expected turnouts, the publicity arm of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company stoked the flames of box-office success, publishing in story form, in local newspapers across the country,[viii] not the book but the scenario of the serial The Voice on the Wire; thus, attracting even more movie-attendees to thousands of theaters,[ix] crowding the flicker-houses from orchestra to balcony, to watch this phenomenon of the young motion-picture industry.

In February of 1916, it was announced that the Universal Film Manufacturing Company obtained the rights to Eustace Hale Ball’s popular book;[x] originally, the multi-chapter VOW was slated for just five two-reel segments,[xi] but as of December, 1916, a sixth chapter was being completed, that was supposed to be the end, no more, nada;[xii] but at some point (I have found no reports or memos regarding the change to an increase in chapters or reason given), Universal decided to add further parts to the puzzle and of course it ended up being fifteen two-reel chapters. In November of 1916,[xiii] we know that chapters two and three were being worked on and in the following month chapter four began shooting; [xiv] in January, 1917, chapter one was almost complete.[xv]

The pictures shown in this post are from various newspapers, trade papers and fan magazines from 1916-1918.

For your convenience I am listing the cast with their appearance and role in the series and photos as available.[xvi] As well, you will find an in depth description of each of The Voice on the Wire episodes taken from the pages of The Moving Picture World, March through June issues, 1917. One funny side-note is a comic featuring the German Kaiser answering the phone and hearing  The Voice on the Wire.

It has been an enjoyable experience for me doing this research for this article; I hope you enjoy what I consider to be the best reconstruction of the information available, about The Voice on the Wire.

C. S. Williams

---

[i] Motion Picture News March, 1917

[ii] We,  because of loss of film (much of the cause by nitrate, some by carelessness and some by oversight) cannot vouch for the acting, the directing, the costumes and cinematography of VOW, for it falls into that realm of Lost-Pictures, a country where too many of our early representatives of the cinematic art form have gone. The land of Lost-Pictures issues few passports, a nation of the lost for the lost, who are jealous of their fellow-citizens and their travels beyond the borders of Lost-Pictures; few of those citizens of that country have returned to our land; but what joy they bring when they do triumphantly appear, we see them with their kin, (this, because of restoration, care, safety-film, donations and digitalization), not too roam to that country of Lost-Pictures again.

I wish and long to see the flickering images of yesteryear, those photo-plays that our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers saw on a Saturday at the local cinema; these are pieces of our history, photographs once strung together to encourage, enrage, enrapture and engage, to see them alongside the likes of “The General, The Gold Rush, Intolerance, Les Vampires, The Unknown, and more titles that are known, because they ‘are.’

I am a believer that we cannot know our future unless we know our past, and some of our filmed past is LOST, therefore our knowledge, a portion of our understanding, no matter how small that may be, is LOST, and may, and most likely will, never be seen again. I have experienced this first-hand (as I know many have) in the most basic of terms when my wife and I lost thousands of photos that were stored on our PC; and more recently, I attended a car-show and lost those moments which I had so carefully chosen to preserve, because of a malfunctioning camera. My wife and I may have the memories but we do not have the record of our day and days, our visits, our vacations, those memories are now open to interpretation, to changeableness, to being degraded because of the lack of documentary evidence. That is what I miss, the evidence of days gone by, the LOST slick Flicks, which brought so many kicks to the many movie-going clique.

[iii] The Moving Picture World, March 17, 1917

[iv] The Moving Picture World, March 17, 1917

[v] Motion Picture News, June 9, 1917

[vi] Motography Magazine, June 16, 1917

[vii] Motography Magazine, June 16, 1917

[viii] The Moving Picture World, April 28, 1917

[ix] The Moving Picture World, April 28, 1917

[x] Motography Magazine, February 5, 1916

[xi] Motion Picture News, February 5, 1916

[xii] The Moving Picture World, December 23, 1916

[xiii] Motography Magazine, November 25, 1916

[xiv] Motography Magazine, December 2, 1916

[xv] Motography Magazine, January 17, 1917

[xvi] Director: Stuart Paton

Producers: Stuart Paton and Ben Wilson

Scenario: J. Grubb Alexander based on the novel “The Voice on the Wire” by Eustace Hale Ball

Presenter: Carl Laemmle

Production Company and Distributor: Universal Film Manufacturing Company

Principal characters of “The Voice on the Wire” Actor listed first, character in parentheses.

Ben Wilson (John Shirley) interested in criminology ep. 1

Neva Gerber (Polly Marion) actress-chorus-girl, hired by John Shirley – also girlfriend of Alvin Van Cleft ep. 1

Francis MacDonald (Red Warren) leader of criminal-gang ep. 1

Joseph Girard (Dr. Renolds  or Reynolds -spelled both ways in the episode notes) AKA  “Chantard”  ep.5

Nigel de Bruillier (Professor Duval)  friend of John Shirley inventor of the “Thought Machine”

Howard Crampton (Captain Cronin)  head of a detective agency Ep. 1 Also referred to as Chief Cronin, ep. 8

Kingsley Benedict (?) (Similar to Hoot Gibson, there appears to be no documented reference to Benedict being in this movie.)

Irene Hunt (Mrs. Reynolds) ep. 15

William Quinn (Emil Laroux) ep. 15

Frank Tokonoga (Sato) John Shirley’s valet Ep. 4

Professor Montague (L. M. Wells) a physician ep. 1

Frank McQuarrie  (Alvin Van Cleft) killed in ep. 1 a name on the list of those condemned to die by “The Voice”

Ernest ‘Ernie’ Shields (Howard Van Cleft) (Ernest “Ernie” Shields) son of Alvin Van Cleft, ep. 1

Hoot Gibson – appeared as Edward Gibson  (?) Although I cannot find any mention of Gibson in The Voice on the Wire in news related articles (movie magazines, trade papers or newspapers), yet, the film is listed in the Hoot Gibson resume, in The Blue Book of the Screen, by Ruth Wing, Hollywood, California, 1924, page 97)

Josephine Hill (?)

Evelyn Selby (Frisco ‘Pale’ Ida) owner of the gambling house, with knowledge of “The Voice”

Lou  Short (Short) (a police officer) seen with Cronin and Shirley ep. 4, 6, 9

Willard Wayne (Wayne) (detective) ep. 6

Charles Dorian (Dorian) (detective) ep. 6

William Canfield (William Grimsby) a name on the list of those condemned to die by “The Voice” ep. 2

Wadsworth Harris (James Welsh)  a bon-vivant a name on the list of those condemned to die by “The Voice” ep. 7

?????????      (Taylor) a driver for Red Warren – criminal-gang

(???????)       John Vance a name on the list of those condemned to die by “The Voice” ep. 4

(???????)       John Carns a name on the list of those condemned to die by “The Voice” ep. 5

(???????)       Cummings part of the criminal-gang ep. 9

(???????)     Bert Law part of the criminal-gang ep. 9, leads police through hideout, also reveals that only “Red” Warren knows who “The Voice” is.

(???????)    Laschlas (sends message “Red” ep. 6; sends messages to John Shirley ep. 9 & 10 (friend or foe, who knows?)

(???????)   Tokonuga part of the criminal-gang ep. 10

Ben Wilson

Neva Gerber

Joseph Girade

Howard Crampton

Irene Hunt

Jospehine Hill

Francis McDonald

Charles Dorian

Ernest Shields

Nigel de Bruiler

 

Movie Acrostic, March, 1912

From The Motion Picture Story Magazine, March, 1912; enjoy…

Gish the Lesser, Happy Birthday! Dorothy Gish, Born March 11; 1898-1968

Popular two-reel actress Dorothy Gish never achieved the status of her older sister Lillian Gish, but, they did a few films together, most notably, Hearts of the World, 1918 and Orphans of the Storm (almost nary, have the heart-strings been pulled at, any better), 1921, also Lillian directed (her only film in the chair) her younger sister in Remodeling Her Husband, 1920. Dorothy made her last silent film in 1927 (Madame Pompadour), effectively, retiring in 1928 (a smattering of television and movie roles over the next 35 years). Here’s to remembering the lesser Gish, none the less a real dish, finding so many of her performances delish!

By C. S. Williams

Predictions for the Future of Movie-Making, for the Financial, Technical and Artistic Branches

An article by Ford W. Eaton for Motography Magazine (Exploiting Motion Pictures, With Which is Incorporated the Nickelodeon), February, 1912; a wonderful read about the hopes, ideas and fancies of tomorrow’s (now today’s) film-making. Our reading title: The Playhouse of the Future (for best reading results use the PDF-zoom rather than the browser-zoom ).

By C. S. Williams

Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Happy Anniversary! Premiered in New York City, December 30th, 1925

As we can see from the posters, lobby cards, programs and ads for Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, every means and all tools were used to promote this film, yet, because of its budget (most expensive of the silent era at 3.9 million) it lost money on its initial run, finally making a little profit in the re-release in 1931 when a score and sound-effects were added. (See our post about another Easter favorite, from 1935: Golgotha)

 

Stills from Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ:

Forty-eight cameras were used to film the sea battle, a record for a single scene.

The Guinness Book of World Records (2002 edition), relates that Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, contains the most edited scene in cinema history. Editor Lloyd Nosler compressed 200,000 feet (60,960 meters) of film into a mere 750 feet (228.6 meters) for the chariot race scene – a ratio of 267:1 (film shot to film shown).

The religious scenes were all shot in Technicolor along with Ben Hur’s entrance into Rome and some of the interiors.

   

Behind the scenes stills: