Reading Room

His Prehistoric Past (7 December 1914) (opens chaplinfilmbyfilm.wordpress.com in a new tab)

Detailed film-by-film examination of this Chaplin short including production context and critical reception.

Chaplin: Film by Film

On His Prehistoric Past

Beginner's Guide to Alfred Hitchcock: Murder! (1930) (opens talkfilmsociety.com in a new tab)

Guide to Hitchcock's exploration of theatrical spaces and wrongful accusation themes.

Talk Film Society

On Murder!

The Son of the Sheik - San Francisco Silent Film Festival (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

Festival resource on Valentino's final performance before his death.

On The Son of the Sheik

Now and Forever 1934 review-how to weaponize cuteness (opens cornerstorecinema.net in a new tab)

Essay on how the film uses Shirley Temple's innocence as counterpoint to adult corruption and crime.

Corner Store Cinema

On Now and Forever

Obscure Films: The Avenging Conscience (1914) (opens silentology.wordpress.com in a new tab)

Critical examination of Griffith's adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe with analysis of early cinematic psychology and horror techniques.

Silent-ology

On The Avenging Conscience

WEEK 11: Murder! (1930) (opens weeklyhitch.wordpress.com in a new tab)

Analysis of Hitchcock's innovative use of voice-over and sound design in this early talkie.

Weekly Hitch

On Murder!

The New Janitor (24 September 1914) (opens chaplinfilmbyfilm.wordpress.com in a new tab)

Analysis examining Chaplin's narrative progression and emotional depth in this bank janitor comedy.

Chaplin: Film by Film

On The New Janitor

Sublime Tragicomedy: I Was Born, But… (1932) — Establishing Shot (opens blogs.iu.edu in a new tab)

Essay analyzing Ozu's blend of comedy and social critique in his exploration of class and family.

On I Was Born, But...

Apocalypse Later Film Reviews: The Rounders (1914) (opens apocalypselaterfilm.com in a new tab)

Critical review of the sole Chaplin-Arbuckle teaming praised as one of the best Keystone comedies.

Apocalypse Later Film Reviews

On The Rounders

The Strong Man - San Francisco Silent Film Festival (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

Festival documentation of Capra and Langdon's comedic masterpiece.

On The Strong Man

Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

Festival guide to Cooper and Schoedsack's jungle documentary-drama.

San Francisco Silent Film Festival

On Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness

My Best Girl (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

Festival guide to Pickford's department store romance.

San Francisco Silent Film Festival

On My Best Girl

West of the Divide (opens publicdomainmovie.net in a new tab)

Essay on this early John Wayne western and its themes of child abuse within a morality play tradition.

Public Domain Movies

On West of the Divide

An Inn in Tokyo – 1935, Yasujiro Ozu (opens wondersinthedark.wordpress.com in a new tab)

Essay on Ozu's last silent film and its neo-realist approach to depicting urban poverty.

Wonders in the Dark

On An Inn in Tokyo

The Blue Angel (1930) | The Definitives (opens deepfocusreview.com in a new tab)

Critical analysis of Sternberg's direction and Dietrich's iconic performance as Lola Lola.

Deep Focus Review

On The Blue Angel

AN INN IN TOKYO (Yasujiro Ozu, 1935) (opens grunes.wordpress.com in a new tab)

Critical analysis of Ozu's transitional film blending silent melodrama with postwar formalism.

Dennis Grunes

On An Inn in Tokyo

The Regeneration (1915) Film Synopsis and Discussion (opens obscurehollywood.net in a new tab)

Analysis of Walsh's adaptation of Owen Frawley Kildare autobiography establishing the gangster film genre.

Obscure Hollywood

On The Regeneration

Minding the Gaps: 'The Devil Is a Woman' (1935) (opens thereveal.substack.com in a new tab)

Essay on Sternberg's final Dietrich collaboration and its extreme aestheticism and pessimism.

The Reveal

On The Devil Is a Woman

Willing Seduction: The Blue Angel, Marlene Dietrich, and Mass Culture (opens berghahnbooks.com in a new tab)

Book-length study of the film's relationship to mass culture and Dietrich's star image.

Berghahn Books

On The Blue Angel

The New Gulliver (opens neweastcinema.pitt.edu in a new tab)

Essay on Ptushko's pioneering stop-motion animated feature with its Communist allegory.

New East Cinema Symposium

On The New Gulliver

The Pleasure Garden - San Francisco Silent Film Festival (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

Festival resource on Hitchcock's directorial debut and early thematic concerns.

On The Pleasure Garden

Home Movies: By the Bluest of Seas (opens filmcomment.com in a new tab)

Essay on Barnet's joyful romance combining Soviet realism with musical theater elements.

Film Comment

On By the Bluest of Seas

The Dawn Patrol (1930) - Movie Review (opens alternateending.com in a new tab)

Review of this important war film that interprets and stretches the boundaries of aviation cinema.

Alternate Ending

On The Dawn Patrol

DISORDER IN THE COURT (1936) -- ThreeStooges.net (opens threestooges.net in a new tab)

Overview of this Three Stooges courtroom comedy short known for anarchic slapstick.

ThreeStooges.net

On Disorder in the Court