Post by rmichaelpyle on Jan 8, 2012 16:05:29 GMT -6
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.'s "The Black Pirate" (1926) up on the big screen two nights ago. Our Indianapolis Museum of Art is running a Winter Series of examples of Technicolor films from the beginning until now! This was the first evening, and, besides a lecture from Anthony L'Abbate, Preservation Officer, George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, which included clips from films all the way back to 1900, we had Roger Lippincott as an accompaniest on the piano do a rousing, rousing, unbelieveably great score for the film. Indeed, he got a standing ovation when the film concluded! And, may I add, he deserved every bit of it!
The 35mm print was loaned from the Cohen collection LLC, and it was really decent. I love this film, always have, and I've seen it any number of times. The athleticism of Fairbanks is on display throughout, and it amazed everyone in the audience. Let me say here that the audience was at least as large as that which showed up on Christmas Day for "The Artist", which both Margaret and I went to see, too. In other words, there seem to be a goodly number of people who are interested in silents in our community to want to see this great Fairbanks film in color. I'll also add that the guest speaker, when the film concluded, made the comment that he was really glad to see such an appreciative audience who also laughed in all the right places and didn't denigrate the film by laughing at it! Evidently, he's had some other experiences with audiences that made him have to say that.
This was the second full length feature film to use Technicolor. I always thought it had been the first. But the first was an independently produced film that is now lost - and, brother, would I dearly love to see it!. This was the first produced by a major studio. Of course, in 1926 the Technicolor process was only 2-strip instead of the later 3-strip, so the blue and yellow wasn't really in evidence, only the browns, greens, and reds.
There isn't a single silent film lover who won't like this film. It has every ingredient to a great film that can possibly be had. It still plays wonderfully, though, admittedly, there are scenes that are extremely dated, but, afterall, this film is nearly 90 years old. It's an adventure/pirate/action/romance film, too, a genre that today uses every single kind of computerization technique that exists! Back then, even the boats were still miniatures, and, yes, that's obvious to a modern audience, but, what the hey...
Besides Fairbanks, Sr. in the eponymous role, Billie Dove is the love interest in the film. What a beauty she was! She'd begun as a model and worked her way into The Follies, where a rising affair with Florenz Ziegfeld caused Billie Burke, Ziegfeld's wife, to force Dove to go to Hollywood for a career! Also in the film are Anders Randolf as the head of the pirates until Fairbanks does away with him, Sam De Grasse as the slimy, oily pirate lieutenant who rivals Fairbanks as head of the pirates and love interest of Billie Dove, Donald Crisp as the one pirate who takes the side of Fairbanks in everything he does and ends up helping Fairbanks as much as he is possibly able to help (Crisp, by the way, is so made up - including missing a left arm - that it's difficult to instantly recognize him), Tempe Pigott as Dove's lady helper, and Charles Stevens as the pirates' powder man. The last is played as a simpleton who loves to kill, both a comic character and one who is very, very dangerous. Just for the record, Charles Stevens, a golfing partner and very close friend of Fairbanks, Sr. in real life, and one who was in many of Fairbanks' features, was also the grandson of the Indian chief Geronimo!
What a great experience. Loved every moment of it.
The 35mm print was loaned from the Cohen collection LLC, and it was really decent. I love this film, always have, and I've seen it any number of times. The athleticism of Fairbanks is on display throughout, and it amazed everyone in the audience. Let me say here that the audience was at least as large as that which showed up on Christmas Day for "The Artist", which both Margaret and I went to see, too. In other words, there seem to be a goodly number of people who are interested in silents in our community to want to see this great Fairbanks film in color. I'll also add that the guest speaker, when the film concluded, made the comment that he was really glad to see such an appreciative audience who also laughed in all the right places and didn't denigrate the film by laughing at it! Evidently, he's had some other experiences with audiences that made him have to say that.
This was the second full length feature film to use Technicolor. I always thought it had been the first. But the first was an independently produced film that is now lost - and, brother, would I dearly love to see it!. This was the first produced by a major studio. Of course, in 1926 the Technicolor process was only 2-strip instead of the later 3-strip, so the blue and yellow wasn't really in evidence, only the browns, greens, and reds.
There isn't a single silent film lover who won't like this film. It has every ingredient to a great film that can possibly be had. It still plays wonderfully, though, admittedly, there are scenes that are extremely dated, but, afterall, this film is nearly 90 years old. It's an adventure/pirate/action/romance film, too, a genre that today uses every single kind of computerization technique that exists! Back then, even the boats were still miniatures, and, yes, that's obvious to a modern audience, but, what the hey...
Besides Fairbanks, Sr. in the eponymous role, Billie Dove is the love interest in the film. What a beauty she was! She'd begun as a model and worked her way into The Follies, where a rising affair with Florenz Ziegfeld caused Billie Burke, Ziegfeld's wife, to force Dove to go to Hollywood for a career! Also in the film are Anders Randolf as the head of the pirates until Fairbanks does away with him, Sam De Grasse as the slimy, oily pirate lieutenant who rivals Fairbanks as head of the pirates and love interest of Billie Dove, Donald Crisp as the one pirate who takes the side of Fairbanks in everything he does and ends up helping Fairbanks as much as he is possibly able to help (Crisp, by the way, is so made up - including missing a left arm - that it's difficult to instantly recognize him), Tempe Pigott as Dove's lady helper, and Charles Stevens as the pirates' powder man. The last is played as a simpleton who loves to kill, both a comic character and one who is very, very dangerous. Just for the record, Charles Stevens, a golfing partner and very close friend of Fairbanks, Sr. in real life, and one who was in many of Fairbanks' features, was also the grandson of the Indian chief Geronimo!
What a great experience. Loved every moment of it.