Seductive Cinema: The Art of Silent Film Book

Yes, James Card appeared egotistical ("this outrageous complaint
was like having a bank clerk accuse Albert Einstein of a mathematical
error" - I think Card was likening himself to Einstein)!!! From
the time he was a child in the 1920s and was given his first
projector (a Keystone Moviegraph) he was seduced by the silent cinema.
The first films to pique his interest were foreign made - Pabst'
"Westfield 1918", "Siegfried" and "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari".
Starting with Muybridge and the Lumieres, who scored a huge hit with
the first narrative film "Watering the Gardner" - in fact Card
credits the pioneering of the above as well as Melies and James
Williamson for the creation of editing, the close up, multiple
exposures and speed alterations.
I really like opinionated critics - whatever your own view, it is
interesting to see "sacred cows" cut down to size and Card is no
exception as he tears down the Griffith myth. He espouses his view
that "The Mother and the Law" and "The Fall of Babylon" would have
done far better as single films rather than being lumped together
for the monumental "Intolerance" and in 1919 Griffith presented a
"Spring Screen Season" with "Broken Blossoms" and those two same
films realising, even then, that they played better on their own.
In fact he feels that the films made in Denmark, Germany and France
around 1913 did more to revolutionize films than Griffith's
egotistical claims, making special mention of Asta Neilson.
Card also gets his claws out after Erich Von Stroheim. His initial
film ("Blind Husbands"(1919)) took 7 weeks to shoot and 8 reels to
view but from then on his extravagant legend would begin. Card tells
some unbelievable stories - how in one film dealing with a massive
army of extras he demanded that each pair of underpants be embroided
with a royal crest, his theory being that just knowing the crest
was there would make the extras feel they were in the King's army.
Another was when Stroheim demanded real money be used in a casino
scene - so the players could really imagine that they were high
rollers.
Again there is a whole chapter devoted to "Caligari" and Card's
endeavours to find a print - even enrolling at the University of
Heidelberg and under close scrutiny from the National Socialists!!
In another chapter "Rescuing Peter Pan", the discovery of a vault
of lost films, some in a deteriorating state starts Card on his
rescuing odyssey as he stealthily "kidnaps" "Peter Pan", "Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde", "A Dog's Life" etc to be transferred on to pristine
stock before authorities are called.
Yes there is the "Star" section with all the usual suspects - Gloria
Swanson, John Barrymore, Pola Negri etc, although not mentioning them
would be like writing a book on modern movies and neglecting to put
in Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro!! But there is also special mention
made of the beautiful Norma Shearer who had such a diversity of roles
in the silent, from stagestruck secretary ("Upstage") circus girl
("He Who Gets Slapped") and even society girl and reform school girl,
both in the same film (the super "Lady of the Night") and Viola
Dana who had some meaty dramas in the 19teens and was singing in
the Sisters section of "The Show of Shows"(1929). And where would
you find a chapter devoted not only to the tragic Jeanne Eagles but
to the under-rated and stylish director Monta Bell.
One little niggle where Card gets his facts wrong - the story King
Vidor tells about trying to pull James Murray out of his alcoholic
haze happened about 6 years after his standout performance in "The
Crowd" (the movie he was trying to interest Murray in was "Our Daily
Bread" a sort of sequel) and not a few months after finishing "The
Crowd". I do agree though that a film based on Murray's life would
be fantastic if it was done well.
The book finishes with a great story to do with the "Festival of
Film Artists", an award ceremony that Card organized in the mid
1950s to honour greats of the past. Card was given the idea by the
death of Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton's old director who had killed
himself because he thought he was forgotten. Anyway Maurice Chevalier,
Ramon Novarro and Frank Borzage's plane had touched down at Rochester
Airport at 1.30 in the morning and they were all starving. Card took
them to a restaurant that boasted it was "just like New York - we
never close" and had to plead could they make some sandwiches for
probably the most famous guests that town had ever seen. The manager
was very sniffy, with the up shot being half an hour later they were
all sitting down to burgers in the local "White Tower" - and Card
said he couldn't control his glee when the snooty restaurant closed
down 5 months later!!