Silent Movie Myth #1: Silent stars had funny voices
Hooo boy, is this an old one. It is actually as old as talking pictures themselves. The myth goes like this: So-and-so (often John Gilbert) was a famous film star in the silent era but what people...
View ArticleSilent Movie Myth #2: Silent Movies are just Sound Movies with a few intertitles
I told you not to make any more silent movie trailers for Youtube! It’s a reasonably popular internet meme: Take hit modern film, desaturate it, add a few intertitles and a tinkling piano score and...
View ArticleSilent Movie Myth #3: The Firsts
Those discount trivia books that litter the shelves of chain bookstores have a lot to answer for. They state with great confidence that The Jazz Singer was the first sound movie, The Birth of a Nation...
View ArticleSilent Movie Myth #4: Tied to the Railroad Tracks
A gentleman in need of rescue… “Oh yeah, silent movies. Those are the ones where the villain in a top hat ties a woman to the tracks, right?” Those words are sure to get a silent movie fan just a...
View ArticleStolen Bravery | Dedicated to the fearless women of silent films
It makes me angry when people reduce the women of silent film down to the image of a damsel tied to the train tracks or threatened by a sawmill. The mere fact that it is a misconception is not what...
View ArticleDear Movies Silently, Why do silent movies have so many damsels in distress?
Videos are back! Well, one video. One video is back. Anyway, enjoy! This is meant to be a video companion to my pictorial essay Stolen Bravery. You see, the “damsel tied to the train tracks” trope is...
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