Year in Film: Silent Era

  1. L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat [Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat ] 1895
  2. Trip to the Moon, A (La voyage dans la lune) 1902
  3. Great Train Robbery, The 1903
  4. Birth of a Nation, The 1915
  5. Les Vampires (The Vampires) 1915
  6. Intolerance 1916
  7. Broken Blossoms 1919
  8. Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The (Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari) 1920
  9. Way Down East 1920
  10. Within Our Gates 1920
  11. Orphans of the Storm 1921
  12. Phantom Carriage, The (Korkarlen) 1921
  13. Dr. Mabuse Parts 1 and 2 (Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler) 1922
  14. Foolish Wives 1922
  15. Nanook of the North 1922
  16. Nosferatu (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens) 1922
  17. Smiling Madame Beudet, The (La souriante Madame Beudet) 1922
  18. Haxan 1923
  19. Our Hospitality 1923
  20. Wheel, The (La roue) 1923
  21. Sherlock, Jr. 1924
  22. Greed 1924
  23. Great White Silence, The 1924
  24. Last Laugh, The (Der Letzte Mann) 1924
  25. Strike (Stachka) 1924
  26. Thief of Bagdad, The 1924
  27. Battleship Potemkin (Bronenosets Potyomkin) 1925
  28. Big Parade, The 1925
  29. Eagle, The 1925
  30. Gold Rush, The 1925
  31. Phantom of the Opera, The 1925
  32. Seven Chances 1925
  33. Adventures of Prince Achmed, The (Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed) 1926
  34. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans 1927
  35. Metropolis 1927
  36. General, The 1927
  37. Jazz Singer, The 1927
  38. Kid Brother, The 1927
  39. Napoleon 1927
  40. October (Oktyabr) (October: Ten Days That Shook the World) 1927
  41. Unknown, The 1927
  42. Passion of Joan of Arc, The (La passion de Jeanne d’Arc) 1928
  43. Crowd, The 1928
  44. Docks of New York, The 1928
  45. Steamboat Bill, Jr. 1928
  46. Storm Over Asia (Potomok Chingis-Khana) 1928
  47. Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog) 1928
  48. Man with the Movie Camera, The (Chelovek s kino-apparatom) 1929
  49. Blackmail 1929
  50. Pandora’s Box (Die Buchse der Pandora) 1929
  51. Throw of Dice, A (Prapancha Pash) 1929

Citizen Kane – Part 1

Where does one start with Citizen Kane?

It is often called the greatest film ever made. Some of a contrarian nature will contend it’s overrated. Rotten Tomatoes, well, it’s algorithm based so it knows nothing.

Nevertheless, I ask you to consider this.

Had you the intimate details about the private life of the largest media tycoon in the world, a man who could crush your life, career and art, would you as an artist be willing to write that story, get it made and spend the rest of your life dealing with the fallout from it?

It doesn’t have to be a media tycoon. It could be any public figure who could destroy your life if you exposed their secrets … You would get bonus points if it’s someone on your own side. Would you have the gumption to do it?

Orson Welles and screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz had that information on yellow journalist/media magnate William Randolph Hearst and did just that.

Hearst’s power and influence is really quite unimaginable today. No one wields as much power over the media as he did.

Hearst sent influential gossip columnist Louella Parsons (think TMZ but with WAY more power to destroy people) to find out all she could about the film and obliterate it before its release.

When that didn’t work, Hearst tried to coerce the heads of the other Hollywood studios.

That didn’t work either.

Hearst’s newspapers set about trashing the film and libeling Welles upon its release. Non-Hearst papers, however, gave it positive reviews.

In the end, the audiences of 1941 ultimately rejected Kane and it bombed.

With the death of Hearst in 1951 and advent of TV in the 50’s, Kane began its ascent to legendary status.

In a nutshell, the story of Citizen Kane is a frame story that opens with a media tycoon Charles Foster Kane’s last words “Rosebud.” This sends an intrepid reporter on a quest, to find out what Rosebud means.

So much has been written about Kane but only a few films made about it. We’ll cover three of them here:

  • The Battle Over Citizen Kane – 1996 documentary about the making of
  • RKO 281 – 1999 historical drama by Benjamin Ross based on starring Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, Roy Scheider, and Liam Cunningham
  • Mank – David Fincher’s 2020 drama about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his writing of the Citizen Kane screenplay

Note: Portions of this article written by the author previously appeared on the blog of the Raindance Film Festival.

All About Eve – 1950

Original theatrical release poster for the 1950 film All About Eve.

Written and Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Notable Cast

  • Bette Davis
  • Anne Baxter
  • George Sanders
  • Celeste Holm
  • Hugh Marlowe
  • Barbara Bates
  • Gary Merrill
  • Thelma Ritter
  • Marilyn Monroe

Academy Awards – 14 nominations/ 6 wins

On Lists

  • 1001 Films
  • #28 AFI Top 100 ‘07           
  • #16 AFI Top 100 ‘98
  • #5 WGA 101 Greatest
  • 1990 Addition to National Film Registry

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042192/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1000626-all_about_eve/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_About_Eve

Playing Where? Amazon, iTunes, Netflix DVD & Vudu

Description

Aging Broadway diva Margo Channing (Bette Davis) hires ingénue Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) as her assistant and let the cat-fighting begin! Plus, you put Celeste Holm in a movie and I’m there! OK, most probably won’t say that but she had an amazing career appearing opposite some of the biggest stars of her era.