One Week, One Year

Legacies begin and end! D.W. Griffith commences his second whirlwind year in filmmaking and begins developing his style. After a weak 1908 Georges Méliès has a paltry 1909, and he only has a handful of films left before his last. Segundo de Chomón continues producing amazing work, cementing his spot as a worthy successor to Méliès. Thanks for listening all the way though the first decade of the 20th Century! We'll see you in 1910!

You can check out our socials and our youtube version where you can watch along at http://linktr.ee/1w1y

And you can watch and form your own opinions from our 1909 Films Discussed playlist right here.

Discussion on the MPCC and Paris Film Congress and their effects on filmmaking

--- The Beginning of the End For Georges Méliès ---

--- The Heir to Méliès’s Goofy Throne ---

--- D.W. Griffith’s “Oops, they died” movies ---

--- Potpourri ---

This time: Advances in animation, strange, dreamlike color projection, Méliès has a bum year, Segundo de Chomón makes Undead Fury Road, and the racist father of American Cinema D.W. Griffith gets his first role. So in order: cool, cool, aw sad, rad AF, booooooo.

You can check out our socials and our youtube version where you can watch along at http://linktr.ee/1w1y

And you can watch and form your own opinions from our 1908 Films Discussed playlist right here.

--- Potpourri ---

--- Manuel Makes a Mess, or is it Monsieur Méliès? ---

--- The Chomón and Only ---

Legend of a Ghost

--- Enter D.W. Griffith ---

Moving Picture World, the film industry trade magazine

See you next year!

A lot of great French stuff this year! They've started adapting British chase films, but adding some very French silliness. Pathé is delving into some real creepy territory, and the Americans are blowing our minds with bizarre violence. It's quite a week!

You can check out our socials and our youtube version where you can watch along at http://linktr.ee/1w1y

And you can watch and form your own opinions from our 1907 Films Discussed playlist right here.

--- The Very French Man Méliès ---

--- The Zany French Chases ---

--- Scary!!! ---

The Devil Drives a Train (I'd recommend watching this at .75 speed)

--- A Journey from Scaryland back to France ---

--- Jeezus! Americans Are You Okay??? ---

A Little Girl Who Did Not Believe in Santa Claus

Honorable Mentions:

The Silent Movie GIFs twitter: https://twitter.com/silentmoviegifs

Glen's favorite: The Pumpkin Race

Cris's favorite: The "Teddy" Bears

But quality-wise gotta be On the Barricade

See you next year!

A lot of films to talk about this week! We’re reaching around the world (but mainly to France) and finding fairies, finding Jesus, and watching cartoons, and getting rustled by outlaws.

You can check out our socials and our youtube version where you can watch along at http://linktr.ee/1w1y

And you can watch and form your own opinions from our Films Discussed playlist right here.

--- Méliès and the Féerie tradition ---

The Merry Frolics of Satan

The Witch

A Desperate Crime

The Chimney Sweep

The Mysterious Retort (Mislabeled as 1897)

The Tramp and the Mattress Makers

--- Alice Guy and her Magnum Opus ---

The Drunken Mattress

The Birth, the Life, and the Death of Christ

The Consequences of Feminism

--- Pathé is doing some real varied stuff! ---

The Spring Fairy

Bob’s Electric Theatre

Aladdin and his Wonder Lamp

The Bell Ringer’s Daughter

The Law of Forgiveness

--- Anglophone Favorites ---

The Story of the Kelly Gang

Dream of a Rarebit Fiend

Three American Beauties

The Black Hand

The Secret of Death Valley

Is Spiritualism a Fraud?

The “?” Motorist

Humorous Phases of Funny Phases

Glen’s Favorite: The Spring Fairy

Cris’s Favorite: The Drunken Mattress

Intro song: Ned Kelly by Johnny Cash

See you next year!

Things are picking up! And while the films (and subsequently the cast) are getting longer, they're starting to play with new ideas! Alice Guy is making sync sound phonoscènes and in the States, Wallace McCutcheon and Edwin S. Porter are working with some more serious dramatic material, and also babies robbing trains!

You can check out our socials and check out our youtube version where you can watch along at http://linktr.ee/1w1y

And you can watch and form your own opinions from our Films Discussed playlist right here.

--- Melies gettin’ New Yawwk  ---

Rip’s Dream

The Palace of the Arabian Nights

An Adventurous Automobile Trip (The first half is in color here)

The Enchanted Sedan Chair

--- The European Wonders ---

Félix Mayol Performs “Indiscreet Questions”

Alice Guy Films a “Phonoscène”

The Hen that Laid the Golden Eggs

--- American DRAMA ---

The Little Train Robbery

The Night Before Christmas

The Kleptomaniac

The Miller’s Daughter

The White Caps

The Nihilist

--- Potpourri ---

Rescued by Rover

The Unfortunate Policeman

Down in the Coal Mines

The Taking of Rome

See you next year!

One Slow Week, One Slow Year. Hey, after the absolute knockouts of 1902 and 1903, it's time for our early film pioneers to coast a bit. But there are still some diamonds in the rough and some genuinely cool things this year! Have a listen!

We have a youtube version where you can watch along while we talk about these movies, plus see a little bit of our pretty mugs! Check it out here https://youtu.be/bum9f_wrLNU

There's also a playlist where you can watch these on your own accord with sound accompaniment where available right here! 

And finally you can catch up on all our social whatsits at linktr.ee/1w1y

--- Méliès Shows us His Range ---

The Impossible Voyage

The Cook in Trouble

The Christmas Angel

The Terrible Turkish Executioner

--- Checking in on Our Other Europals ---

The Mistletoe Bough

Grand Display of Brock’s Fireworks at the Crystal Palace

An Interesting Story

The Strike

--- You Never Have Any Clue What You'll Get Out of the Americans ---

The Ex-Convict

Photographing a Female Crook

European Rest Cure

How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the New York Herald Personal Columns

Personal

The Bold Bank Robbery

See ya next year!

One More Week, One More Year, that's what I always say! Anyway time to get to another one of the big ones: The Great Train Robbery! It's been given a bit of credit it may not deserve but it is actually really good anyway!

We're doing video versions of every episode now, where you can see the movies while we talk about them and also see our ugly mugs!

You can catch them at our youtube page here, and this episode in particular here

Here's a link to the Films Discussed playlist if you'd like to watch along but with a soundtrack where available!

You can catch up on all our social whatsits at linktr.ee/1w1y

To start: A Foxy Grandpa Update

--- Ambitious Whimsical Europeans ---

Kingdom of the Fairies

Melies sketches from Hugo

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ

The Voros Twins Saying “Da Vinki?” (2020)

Diving Lucy

Mary Jane’s Mishap

Alice in Wonderland

--- The 1903 British Chase Films ---

A Daring Daylight Burglary

Desperate Poaching Affray

Runaway Match

--- Edwin S. Porter’s Lows and Highs ---

Life of an American Fireman

Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Slavery Days

Electrocuting an Elephant (WARNING: Graphic)

The Great Train Robbery

Thanks for listening! See ya next year!

We're back after a monthlong moving-induced break! Back for the biggest grandest bestest famousest silent film in history! This will also be our first video episode, where you can watch along while we talk! Handy. You can watch the Youtube version here, which you should because I worked very hard on it. If you'd prefer the musical accompaniment, you can check out the full playlist of films discussed here as always.

--- The Terrible Americans ---

Jack and the Beanstalk

Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show

The Boys Think They Have One on Foxy Grandpa, but He Fools Them

Foxy Grandpa and Polly in a Little Hilarity

The 20th Century Tramp; or Happy Hooligan and his Airship

--- The Oft-Ripped-Oft Europeans ---

Conquering the Air / A la Conquête de l’Air (1901)

The Little Match Seller

Alcohol and Its Victims

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

Midwife to the Upper Class

Alfred Raymond, Agnes May, & Wilfred Sydney

--- The MVP, The Main Man Himself ---

An Impossible Balancing Feat

The Human Fly

Eruption of Mount Pele

Ferdinand Zecca's version, Catastrophe de la Martinique

Gulliver’s Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants

Robinson Crusoe

--- LA VOYAGE ---

A Trip to the Moon (though I'd recommend going and renting a high quality version)

Thanks for listening! Check out our tweetums and youtubes here!

It's cussin' time because Glen did a swear. Also movies! We're seeing such new complexity in form this year that we had to make a long long long episode to talk about it all. Very impressive!

You can see our tweetums and whatnot here!

And you can see the full playlist of films discussed here!

--- Aaaaah the French ---

Starting with Méliès as always

Man with the Rubber Head

The Dwarf and the Giant

The Devil and the Statue

Méliès's lost Red Riding Hood Film

Blue Beard

--- New on the scene, Ferdinand Zecca ---

What is Seen Through a Keyhole

Drama at the Bottom of the Sea

History of a Crime

---- The British Invasion ---

Walter R. Booth and Robert W. Paul Power Team

Scrooge, or, Marley’s Ghost

The Death of Poor Joe (George Albert Smith)

The Over-Incubated Baby

The Countryman and the Cinematograph

The Magic Sword

James Williamson

The Big Swallow

Mitchell and Kenyon Actualities

Fire!

Stop, Thief!

--- The ‘Mericans ---

Edwin S. Porter

Kansas Saloon Smashers

Why Mr. Nation Wants a Divorce

Execution of Leon Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison

Demolishing and Building up the Star Theatre

Thanks for listening!

The Twentieth Century! From Joan of Arc to The Matrix, this is where we'll spend the bulk of our podcasting time! What's to come? Well what is to come in this episode is Glen said a cuss so we're now ~explicit~!

A full playlist of the films discussed is available to you if you would only click this link.

Likewise for our social media mumbo jumbo.

--- Mandatory Georges Méliès Check-in ---

Joan of Arc

Automobile Parade (Edison)

The One Man Band

The Doctor and the Monkey

Going to Bed Under Difficulties

A Fantastical Meal

The Christmas Dream

--- The British Invasion ---

Let Me Dream Again

Grandma’s Reading Glass

As Seen Through a Telescope

The Dull Razor

Attack on a China Mission

How it Feels to Be Run Over

Explosion of a Motorcar

--- Alice Guy-Blaché: Gay or Just European? ---

Turn-of-the-Century Surgery

Danse Serpentine

Automated Hat-Maker and Sausage-Grinder

Pierrette's Escapades

At the Floral Ball

--- Misc/Ernest Scared Stupid ---

Uncle Josh’s Nightmare/Uncle Josh in a Spooky Hotel

Cyrano De Bergerac

The Enchanted Drawing

Sherlock Holmes Baffled