Movies Silently (Off-Topic)

Being a silent movie fan is like this:

Me: You know Clara Bow? The IT Girl? Top flapper? Well, they found several reels of one of her first films in New Zealand! Everyone thought MAYTIME was lost but now we can watch it!

You: That's great! Is it any good?

Me: No! It's awful! 😃

Dec 28, 2022 at 11:39pmWeb
Show threadMovies Silently (Off-Topic)Dec 28, 2022

So many silent movies are lost that we have to piece everything together from stills, fragments and contemporary descriptions.

That means when a lost film emerges, even if it's absolutely dreadful, it's a rare treat to be able to discuss a movie from a place of firsthand knowledge.

Show threadMovies Silently (Off-Topic)Dec 28, 2022

You can watch MAYTIME for free, courtesy of the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Maybe you will like it more than I do. But if we disagree, it will be coming from a place of actual viewing experience and that's wonderful.

Link:

https://www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-films/screening-room/maytime-1923

National Film Preservation Foundation: Maytime (1923)

Show threadMovies Silently (Off-Topic)Dec 28, 2022
Caches of American films were found in New Zealand, Australia and the Klondike and all for the same reason: it was so expensive to ship them back to the USA that the studios were like "Keep 'em" at the final theater on the distribution line.
Show threadTofu GolemDec 29, 2022

@MoviesSilently
I remember reading an essay or blog post by a zombie movie fan that started with the sentence "There's no such thing as a good zombie movie."

(Note: this was before the release of 28 Days)

Show threadUltraMattDec 29, 2022
@MoviesSilently Awful films are the best XD
Show threadThe Tickle FoxDec 29, 2022
@MoviesSilently Dreadful state of preservation is to be expected unfortunately... dreadful quality is entertaining for its own reasons and usually awakens the Cultural Anthropology side of my classic film brain. 😉
Show threadBrian McGovneyDec 29, 2022
@MoviesSilently Hoping against hope that they find the rest of GREED someday. I love that book.
Show threadInanimate Carbon GodDec 29, 2022
@MoviesSilently I'm reminded of something I once read bout the rediscovery of a long sought after lost film that turned out to be crap; the reviewer said the film hadn't been lost, it had been in hiding.