In Night And Ice - 1912 - Germany

In Night And Ice - 1912 - 6/10
AKA - In Nacht und Eis

 
What?  Ice, you say?  Where?
Aarrr … that’s an iceberg!
Too late do ship officers spy the perilous field of icebergs.
The vessel?  RMS Titanic.
Forty minute film recreates events in a documentary fashion.
Inter-titles describe upcoming proceedings, players overact.
The restoration, especially for something this old, is pristine.

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde - 1912 - USA

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde - 1912 - 6/10

 
Jekyll experiments with drugs to separate his good and evil sides.
Within seconds, the brutish Hyde emerges.
A quick change back, “Thank God it’s me again!”
Except Hyde is not so easily contained.
Edison film distills the story down to 12 minute thriller.  Likely very suspenseful back in the day.

The Musketeers Of Pig Alley - 1912 - USA

The Musketeers Of Pig Alley - 1912 - 7/10

 
Every rewatch of this Griffith gem is a potent reminder of how rapid his craft was developing at this stage.
The young couple struggle in a cheap apartment in the new York slum.
In a few minutes, the story packs in the dance hall, the rival gangs, the alley showdown.
While the audience is supposed to identify with and root for the newlyweds, the camera is irresistibly drawn to the flamboyant Snapper Kid.  (Elmer Booth, who would be killed in 1915.)
D. W. Griffith stodgy?  No, this is an exciting outing.

Friends - 1912 - USA

Friends - 1912 - 6/10

 
On surface, a lightweight love triangle.
Dora has two admirers.  Dandy Jack and Grizzly Fallon.
While she prefers Dandy, he is breezy, and uninterested in a serious relationship.
When Grizzly asks for her hand, she must decide.
Griffith Biograph short boasts stellar cast (Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Walthall, even a young Harry Carey).
These early Silent Westerns always stand out for costumes, a wild mix of hats and outfits, probably closer to what the West had been 20 years earlier.  By the 1940’s, all cowboys appeared to have shopped at Miller’s Outpost.
This print comes from the Mary Pickford Foundation, and is clean, but has a modernist score of piano and repetitive synthesizer.  It grew on me, yet it is essentially incongruous.

Three “drug” films from the Silent era. 1912-1916 - USA

Sure, kid, why do you think they call it dope?

Three “drug” films from the Silent era.

For His Son - 1912 - 6/10

 
D W Griffith warns against the dangers of cola, especially DopoKoke.
An entrepreneur adds cocaine to his cola drink, hoping to leave a healthy business to his son.
Sales are robust, including those to the son who becomes addicted.
Note - At one time, Coca-Cola’s recipe included 9 milligrams of cocaine per 7 ounce bottle.
Although the amount gradually diminished, Coke did not become cocaine free until 1929.

The Devil’s Needle - 1916 - 6/10

 
Artist, in search of inspiration, borrows his model’s needle.
Wow, does that pep up the old vigor!
In no time flat, he is addicted, impoverished, and all but raving.
Slow beginning, and actor Tully Marshall is too old for the women who are attracted to him.
Norma Talmadge fine as model.  In fact, I usually see her as stuffy or starchy and she is warm and funny here.
Imaginative scene (above) of buzzed artist staring into fireplace, seeing pixies.

The Mystery Of The Leaping Fish - 1916 - 7/10

 
One of the funniest drug movies.
Douglas Fairbanks, as detective Coke Ennyday, consumes enough controlled substances to put him in company with Keith Richards and Mötley Crüe.
The leaping fish are inflatable fish, enjoyed by beach-goers riding the waves.
Police and Coke investigate dope smuggling, as well, although Mr Ennyday probably won’t turn any confiscated powder over to the evidence room.
Pace is frantic, with a stream of jokes and visual gags.  Story by Tod Browning.  
I still find it amazing this survives, let alone was made in the first place.