Silent London

Stand outside Alexandra Palace on a clear evening with a full moon, as I did last night, and you can take in the whole city.

Just a short note to share some information about a conference I am looking forward to, so that you can also save the dates, and so that I can pass on the call for papers.

It’s supposed to be big mystery: what do women want from a romantic partner?

A confession.

Blood, sweat and tears on the screen today.

Wouldn’t you like to go Behind the Scenes with DW Griffith and Florence Lawrence?

Sometimes the old songs are the best, right?

And verily, on Tuesday, the fourth day of Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, the rains came down upon us.

I promise you, I really am in Pordenone, not in Paris.

“They’re eating the dogs.

Grey skies clung to the Verdi this afternoon but you can’t put a dampener on a homecoming like this one.

Can YOU help put names to 14 unidentified films screening at this year’s Giornate del Cinema Muto?

As you should know by now, this blog does indeed play favourites.

Julien Duvivier, the great French director of films including 1937’s Pépé Le Moko, was very clear which was his favourite out of his many beautiful silent films.

Back to school time!

This is a guest post for Silent London by Sean Crose, author of Catholic Girl: The Life and Times of Mabel Normand, published by BearManor Media.

This is a guest post for Silent London by film historian Richard Bossons about the reconstruction of the original score for Man With a Movie Camera.

This is an extended and adapted version of a contribution I made at the 2024 Domitor conference in Vienna.

Devon.

“Sixty years later I am still bringing people to see Napoléon, that’s quite true.

“It’s hell on earth to be heavenly.”

I was looking for Yoda when I bumped into Eadweard Muybridge.

The fashionable set is always the first to name a trend.

If you truly love something, let he, she, they or it know.

I may be a humble blogger typing at my desk, but just imagine I am a glamorous celebrity cracking first-rate jokes while wearing a designer ballgown.

Hippfest approaches!

I am just about to sign off for the year, so I wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading, and supporting, this blog in 2023.

Season’s greetings Silent Londoners.

Velvet Curtains and Gilded Frames: The Art of Early European Cinema, Vito Adriaensens, Edniburgh University Press 2023 This is a guest post by Alex Barrett for Silent London.

Danish and German Silent Cinema: Towards a Common Film Culture, Edited by: Lars-Martin Sørensen and Casper Tybjerg, Edinburgh University Press, 2023 This is a guest post by Alex Barrett for Silent London.

This is an expanded version of an essay I wrote for Sight and Sound in 2020.

Some news is too good not to share, even if the Atlantic Ocean makes this a little inconvenient for me, personally.

Michael Powell made films in the south of France.

I am almost home from my festival jaunts, and it seems the weather has turned chilly since I left home.

Excuse me while I push at an open door.

The final day of the Giornate, for indeed this was the final day of the Giornate, was a lot like the Ryder Cup.

You don’t have to be superstitious to notice when the date is Friday the 13th, and conduct yourself cautiously as a result.

Good vibes only at the Giornate on this sunny Thursday.

Pordenone changes a person.

We’re at the halfway mark, and let me be abundantly clear: I’m not ready to go home yet.

As Erich Von Stroheim never ever once said: I’ll keep this fairly brief.

Pordenone eh?

Watch your step, Pordenauts.

This is a guest post for Silent London by James Patterson.

“Just a little note” is so often code for “here comes some shameless self-promotion”.

I originally wrote this piece for Sight and Sound in 2019, after seeing The Signal Tower at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Fall vibes.

We were shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Carl Davis last month.

A major discovery screened Mostly Lost this year.

There is no face more closely associated with the grandeur of Weimar Cinema than that of Brigitte Helm.