Moonshine - 1918 - USA

Moonshine - 1918 - 6/10

There’s riches in them thar hills, ‘specially swishing in them home brewed jugs.
Revenooers Fatty and Buster summon reinforcements (I reckon 50 outta that Ford).
For all that, Fatty gets captured!  ‘Cept, imprisonment proves a lush life.

 
Fatty gets the best lines, Buster dazzles with the stunts.
Two-reeler skedaddles along, has its moments.

A Pair Of Silk Stockings - 1918 - USA

A Pair Of Silk Stockings - 1918 - 5/10

 
Molly and Sam (Constance Talmadge and Harrison Ford) quarrel over money.
For her, money is for spending and enjoying.  For him, let’s be sensible.
He tries to play a joke, it backfires.  Tries another, and it backfires spectacularly.
Stuffy Silent comedy is hurt by unlikable characters across the board.
Despite those shortcomings, the 20 year old Talmadge and Ford have a charming rapport.
Akin to a sophisticated drawing room comedy (ala Noel Coward), it is too slow.
Print I saw was fairly battered, perhaps cut.

The Children Of France During The War - 1918 - France

The Children Of France During The War - 1918 - 6/10
AKA - Les Enfants de France et de la Guerre

 
Worthwhile viewing for historic images.
Nevertheless, this serves as propaganda, showing the youngest citizens doing their bit during the Great War.
Farmwork, cheering, meeting Clemenceau, staging mock battles, donning gas masks.
Saddest part comes near the end.
Orphanages, filling to overflowing.
Not mentioned, French casualties were between 1-2 million.

The Yellow Ticket - 1918 - Germany

The Yellow Ticket - 1918 - 6/10
AKA - Der Gelbe Schein  //  The Devil’s Pawn

 
Sluggish melodrama of Polish Lea who adopts another’s identity to attend Saint Petersburg medical school.
A foreigner, and Jewish, she needs a “yellow ticket” to be in Russia.
She cannot afford rent, but her landlady is understanding.
Besides, the landlady runs a club akin to a sportin’ house, where Lea can be nice to the gentlemen.
Overacted throughout, but this is 1918 and a good vehicle to see Pola Negri in.
Nazis tried, and failed, to destroy all copies of this.

Betta, The Gipsy - 1918 - UK

Betta, The Gipsy - 1918 - 5/10

 
Creaky Silent of gypsies and gentry.
Leader of the travelers is Tempestro, who demands Betta marry him, lest he reveal her secret!
Tempestro is a bully, physically violent, and not above child kidnapping.
Story jumps around (missing reels?), and I had trouble separating female characters.
The version I saw, from CINEMATEK, offered live, onscreen piano accompaniment, although inter-titles were in French, overlaid with Dutch hardsubs.

Sanz And The Secret Of His Art - 1918 - Spain

Sanz And The Secret Of His Art - 1918 - 6/10
AKA - Sanz y el Secreto de su Arte

 
Documentary / comedy set in the world of ventriloquist Francisco Sanz and his automats.
Most were staged in salons (likely for the well-heeled) or the stage.
At once you see Sanz interacting with his partners, usually with comedy.
Next, you observe behind the scenes.  How the foils work, their construction and operation.
One of the characters, Don Liborio, soon has enough, and he departs the troupe.
We then follow Don Liborio’s travels, adventures, and dalliances.
Creaky at times, but essential for anyone interested in puppets, mannikins, dummies or automata.

Online (2021) = https://ace-film.eu/a-season-of-classic-films-worldwide-screening-of-sanz-and-the-secret-of-his-art/

Broadway Love - 1918 - USA

Broadway Love - 1918 - 5/10

Small town Midge tries her luck on Broadway.
High-flying friend, Cherry Blow, invites her to her nonstop flapper parties,
Both are chorus girls, but Cherry knows how to drain men’s wallets, and their mojo…
Several contrived romantic adventures follow, as does Midge’s ex beau, trying to propose.
The wild parties are fun, but the menfolk are a dull lot.
More so is Midge, played by low-wattage Dorothy Phillips, who had a career playing prim, wholesome types.
Juanita (anyone got cocaine?) Hansen plays the gold digging Cherry.
Eve Southern has small, smoking role as girl who flirts with Midge’s small town suitor.
Who’s the suitor? Lon Chaney!
With this cast, and different script, oh, if only.
The print I saw was OK.