Silent Pictures

Last night we saw "Singin' in the Rain" the play, based on the film. I've seen the film recently.



The film perpetuated the myth of all the silent film stars that lost their jobs because their voices were squeaky. In reality, since most film people came from vaudeville, their voices were just fine. The real problem was that the technical limitations of sound made most camerawork so bad for a few years there: between 1927 and 1932. There's one, only one actor I can think of who didn't make it to the talkies because of his voice, and that's John Gilbert ("The Big Parade").



Anyway, it turns out that now is the best time to see early films, because so many are available on DVD, and they're being restored at a pretty good clip.



Between comedy, horror, and drama, I think only comedy is really appreciated, and I really have to talk about that later. Horror would be a fun subject to deal with - I actually had a professor pitch an idea for a Master's Thesis to me with a movie horror theme - so I will try to see what I can see.



Drama may be hopeless. It's hard to take early dramas seriously, unless they're offensive, like "The Birth of a Nation."



And "Silent Pictures" is a pretty dumb label anyway, since all Hollywood productions were made to be shown with musical accompaniment. And the music is part of what's being "restored" as those new DVD's are coming out. "Early Film" sounds better, but is not precise. "Pre-Talkie" is good but dull. I'm looking for better suggestions....