Cecil Hepworth & "Rescued by Rover"

Lassie and all of her legendary cinematic canine companions owe a debt of gratitude to a filmmaker named Cecil Hepworth and a collie named Blair.

Cecil Hepworth

In 1905, Hepworth made one of the first true narratives to come out of British cinema - “Rescued by Rover.” The film’s plot is simple enough -- Baby (played by Hepworth’s daughter) is kidnapped by a beggar while out for a stroll with her nurse. When the news is broken to the rest of the family (father played by Hepworth himself, mother played by Hepworth’s wife), loyal Rover (played by Hepworth’s dog Blair) makes it his mission to save the baby, traveling across streams and through London slums in the process. Because of Rover’s determination, the baby is saved and the family is happily reunited.

"Rover" and the "Rescued"

Yes, the plot is simple, but this film was the first of its kind. This tale of man’s best friend predates and, indeed, makes possible the antics of Rin Tin Tin, Lassie and the hundreds of doggie stars to follow them. Blair’s shining moment in this film would also pave the way for animals stars like Vitagraph’s Jean and Keystone’s Teddy. In fact, Teddy would go on to star in a film parodying the melodrama tropes of being tied to the train tracks and rushing to find help, starring none other than Gloria Swanson as the damsel in distress.

Jean, the Vitagraph dog | Mack Sennett with Teddy

But the idea to make the family pet the hero wasn’t the only innovation Hepworth introduced to film. In fact, Hepworth was one of cinema’s earliest pioneers, and had been experimenting with the medium since at least the late 1890’s. “How it Feels to be Run Over,” made five years before “Rover,” was innovative and experimental by putting the audience (through the lens of the camera) in the shoes of an unfortunate pedestrian.



Also from 1900, “Explosion of a Motor Car” features Hepworth’s attempt at trick photography (a technique that was to become synonymous with Georges Melies).



“Rover,” on the other hand, doesn’t feature any experimental camera work or trick photography, instead it is innovative in its storytelling. Although it’s a short film, only about six and a half minutes long, it features a lot of clever, coherent editing and cutting to help keep the story moving. The flow from scene to scene is logical and helps keep the narrative understandable, while the clever cuts that shorten Rover’s journey help keep the momentum going and keep the audience riveted. D.W. Griffith would go one to perfect the race to the rescue, but keep in mind, Hepworth achieved this technique in 1905. That’s two years before Griffith appeared in his first film and three years before he began directing!

To say this film was popular would be an understatement. At a time when many films were still one and two minutes long, and featuring brief scenes that had more of a documentary quality to them than narrative, Hepworth gave audiences a fully formed, engaging and fast-paced narrative. The film was so popular that it had to be remade two times to keep up with demand and replace worn out negatives.

You can watch “Rescued by Rover” in its entirety below, and  keep an eye out for another post about Hepworth. I have a feeling we'll be revisiting him in the future.

Dorothy Gibson & "Saved from the Titanic"

April 14, 1912, 11:40 pm. The Titanic strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic that would cause it to sink the next day. Although we've seen the story of the Titanic dozens of times, through various TV and film variations, the story that could potentially offer us the most insight into this legendary tragedy was lost in a vault fire 99 years ago.

Dorothy Gibson had only been in films for a year when she set sail on the Titanic with her mother. She had gotten her start with IMP company and in July 1911, she signed with the U.S. branch of the Paris-based Eclair Studios. She found fame and praise for her light comedies as well as her dramas, but her experience on the Titanic would push her into a new level of fame.

While Gibson and her mother were playing bridge with some of their fellow passengers, the ship struck the iceberg. The women escaped on the first lifeboat launched and arrived in New York via the ship Carpathia. It was when she arrived that Gibson's manager asserted she should appear in a film based on the disaster. Gibson went a step further, penning the scenario for the film from her experiences. The film, titled "Saved from the Titanic" and even featured Gibson wearing the clothes she was rescued in.

Moving Picture World praise the "Saved" as a "surprising and artistically perfect reel," while also praising Gibson for her ability to deal with the trauma of the event while still being able to perform at the top of her game. In addition to having the distinction of being a first person account of the disaster, it was also the very first film about it, released just 29 days after the sinking. Although Gibson, along with Mary Pickford, was the highest paid movie star in the world, it didn't push her to continue her film career. She retired from the film industry in May 1912. Unfortunately, the only known print of "Saved from the Titanic" was destroyed in an Eclair Studios vault fire in 1914, depriving the world of one of silent film's most intriguing performances and stories.

Eclair was not the only studio or, indeed, company, eager to profit off of the Titanic tragedy. Warner's Features released footage of Captain Smith and billed it for what it was -- footage of the captain on the sister ship of the Titanic, the Olympic, during inspection shortly before it set sail. Although the footage was not of the Titanic itself, the notice noted that the Olympic's construction was similar to that of the Titanic, and that this was the only filmed footage of the late captain ever taken.

At some point, however, other distributors also acquired the footage and altered it so that it could be marketed as footage of the Titanic itself just before setting sail. They even scratched and damaged the film so that the names of the ships were obscured.

You can watch the footage of Captain Smith on the Olympic below.

A Trip to the Music Box Theatre with Georges Méliès

I never dreamed I’d have the opportunity to see these films, all of them around 110 years old, on a theater screen being presented by Méliès’ family. Last Saturday, The Music Box Theatre and Alliance Francais paid tribute to one of the great pioneers of silent film. Recently, Martin Scorsese honored the work and influence of Méliès through the film “Hugo,” but the sad truth is that the recognition Méliès now receives follows decades of being forgotten by the public. Although his work "A Trip to the Moon" remains one of the most iconic films of the silent era, it was pirated by American studios (Thomas Edison's studio being one of the most notable offenders), preventing Méliès from benefiting financially and enjoying the success he deserved. In the years since his death, however, film scholars and fans have come to appreciate and respect Méliès for all of his contributions to cinema, and his family is still proudly presenting his work around the world.

Beginning his film career in 1896, Méliès embarked on a journey to bring a world he knew intimately -- magic -- to film. He discovered early on that there were tricks films could provide that could not be duplicated on stage. Méliès became the first filmmaker to realize the advantage that stopping the camera or blocking off portions of the film could afford -- tricks that Buster Keaton, among others, would later use to their fullest potential.

A great example of Méliès’ pioneering work in the realm of special effects can be seen in 1902’s "The Man with the Rubber Head." In the film, Méliès inflates his 'rubber' head --bearing his own features -- using forced perspective and clever editing. Clocking in at only two-and-a-half minutes, the film is short in length but nothing short of impressive.

Méliès was also a pioneer in the realm of colored film. Although Technicolor would not be introduced for another 20 years, several of Méliès’ films featured brightly colored scenes created by workers painstakingly painting clothing, flames and backgrounds, one film cell at a time. A beautiful example of this effect is preserved in “The Merry Frolics of Satan” from 1906.


In recognition of his 150th birthday, Méliès’ great-granddaughter Marie-Hélène Lehérissey-Méliès and great-great-grandson Lawrence Lehérissey-Méliès have been touring with “The Man with the Rubber Head,” “The Witch” and 14 other films spanning Méliès’ career, and presenting them to audiences around the world with live narration and piano accompaniment. For the Chicago engagement, actress Barbara Robertson provided the narration in English. The narration and musical accompaniment approximate the experience that filmgoers would have experienced in the early days of film, and this particular experience was made even more special by the excited crowd, full theater and The Music Box’s starlit ceiling.

Didn’t get a chance to see the films at The Music Box? Approximate the experience with this playlist, featuring all of the films shown at the cine-concert, from the iconic “A Trip to the Moon” to the first ever product placement in a film in “Bluebeard.”

You can also read my past post on Méliès here.

An Affair in Intertitles

This post was originally published on the lonelybrand blog as part of an ongoing silent film series.

When you think of Chicago, chances are good that the musical and probably the film version of that musical spring to mind. What you might not know, though, is that both are actually based on a play that debuted in 1926, a play that inspired a silent film version the following year.

The characters Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly made their debut in the play “Chicago,” written by Maurine Dallas Watkins. Watkins was a writer for the Chicago Tribune in the early ‘20s and based the characters on two women who dominated the headlines, and whom she had covered for the paper, Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner respectively. They were involved in unrelated cases, but both women were both charged with shooting and killing their lovers. Incredibly, they were both later acquitted of murder charges.

Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner (negatives from the Chicago Daily News archives)

Watkins penned the play and it premiered on Broadway in late December 1926 and ran for 172 performances. Hollywood took note and Cecil B. DeMille quickly snapped up the rights (for $25,000 - the equivalent of $320,000 today) to produce a film adaptation and tapping the beautiful Phyllis Haver to play the lead role of Roxie Hart. Although Frank Urson is credited as director, DeMille actually directed most of the film.

Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart 

The story follows Roxie Hart, a gold-digging jazz singer looking to make a name for herself who takes advantage of her husband’s devotion to her. After her lover ends their affair, she shoots him in a state of rage and is terrified that she’ll be tried and put to death. She lies to her husband, saying the man was attempting to rob and violate her, and although he suspects the truth, he agrees to take the blame for her. The fact that Roxie was the killer gets out and the papers are instantly fascinated with her, something that Roxie relishes. The game quickly becomes one of manipulation, presenting Roxie as something she’s not to sway the judge, jury, press and court audience. Although Roxie quite literally gets away with murder, she ends up without a husband, without a home and with nothing but the clothes on her back. Not even the public cares enough to notice her, because they’ve already moved on to the next murderous adulteress.

Previously, Phyllis Haver was with Marie Prevost and Gloria Swanson as one of Mack Sennett’s famous Bathing Beauties. Although the Beauties were famous for their looks, all three went on to prove their talent as true film stars, and Haver’s performance as Roxie remains one of her best. Roxie’s flirty, manipulative, limelight-craving nature endears and disgusts the audience at the same time, and Haver’s performance stands the test of time. When the film was released in late December 1927, Photoplay hailed her performance, saying, "[T]he picture belongs to Phyllis Haver, who gives a marvelous characterization. We agree with Mr. De Mille that she is his greatest ‘find’ since Gloria Swanson. Of course, nobody will miss seeing ‘Chicago.’”

 Roxie and Velma are separated during a cat fight in prison.

This adaptation, as well as the original play version of “Chicago,” later served as inspiration for the 1942 romantic comedy adaptation “Roxie Hart” (starring Ginger Rogers), the 1975 musical stage version and the 2002 film version of the musical. This is even more incredible considering the fact that, for years, the film was thought to be lost. The unstable nature of vintage nitrate films, the frequency of film vault fires and a lack of organized preservation for posterity have all played a part in the loss of many, many films from the silent and early talkie era. In fact, Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation estimates that over 90% of the films made before 1929 have been lost forever. But, as copyrights expire, and time goes by, some “lost” films are being rediscovered and restored. Such is the case with “Chicago.” Incredibly, a perfect print of the film was discovered in DeMille’s archives, and in 2006, the UCLA Film and Television Archive restored and released the print. Interested in seeing more? Check out the entire film, courtesy of Fandor.

Chicago served as more than just the backdrop for Roxie Hart’s run-ins with the law. During the early days of silent film, it was the home of many major film studios, and even briefly served as Charlie Chaplin’s home. Learn more about Chicago’s silent film past.

“Plastigrams” – The 3-D Silent Film

Although the success of "Avatar" has, unfortunately, helped to introduce a flood of films banking on the lure of 3-D effects, 3-D films are nothing new. In fact, the earliest 3-D films were created during the silent film era. Early in the days of silent film, films were typically one to two reels long, limiting the total film length to about 10-20 minutes. Once studio heads realized that audiences would, in fact, be willing to sit through a feature-length film, they began to add more and more reels. But short films were never entirely discarded. Often a short film or two would accompany a feature-length film in a theater, or short films would be used as part of an evening's entertainment during a vaudeville show. The short film format also remained a great testing ground for the more experimental filmmakers and those interested in creating novelty films. One of these novelty films was also one of the first 3-D films, "Plastigrams."

Released in 1922 by Educational Pictures, "Plastigrams" was presented by E.W. Hammons using the Ives-Leventhal stereoscopic process. Much like the traditional "3-D" comics and postcards, the film used offset blue and red images to create its dimensional effect. Although this effect seems rather crude to us now, it was groundbreaking for audiences at the time. Upon viewing it for the first time, The Film Daily described the experience like this,

“The effect is, at first, startling and then amusing. The object of ‘Plastigrams’ is apparently to afford thrills for the audience. You look through the glasses and the objects on the screen appear to jump out at you. For instance, pictures of a crawling turtle, after being viewed for a moment, take the form of actuality and the turtle appears to be right up to your nose. Objects selected are, of course, of a nature to provide thrills such as, a hose pointed toward you, traffic jams in which you fear an impact at any moment, etc. A first rate novelty and wholly amusing.” 

When Lee DeForest began experimenting with recording sound on film, "Plastigrams" even became one of the first films to boast it during its re-release in 1924 -- three years before the debut of the talkie "The Jazz Singer." Even the marketing tactics used to advertise the film were inventive and ahead of their time. In one theater, an 11" x 14" lobby card was put on display. The card displayed images that used the same 3-D technique as the film, and a pair of 3-D glasses was suspended from the ceiling, allowing patrons to witness the effect first-hand before even purchasing a ticket.

The success and novelty of "Plastigrams" later helped usher in the 3-D film craze in the '50s and, indirectly, the present day obsession with 3-D. You can watch "Plastigrams" below. Keep in mind that the 3-D glasses of the period, however, featured blue lenses on the left and red lenses on the right - the reverse of the glasses today.