“Pearl
is the only person in this castle who does not think about or wish for my
death. That is why I made her my heir.”
Today marks a very special day in the land of Une
Cinephile. Today I have reached my 1,000th post! It is very fitting
that my 1,000th post be a silent film since my first post back on
September 23, 2010 was also a silent film entitled Sadie Thompson starring Gloria Swanson. Sadie Thompson was the
first silent film I ever completely sat through and enjoyed. At the time I was
still an undergrad at Montclair State University. I was in a music in film
class which had absolutely nothing to do with my Art History major but my
roommate had taken the class the semester before (she was a law major and it
was part of a requirement. Go MSU) and I did all her homework since she did all
my French homework. My teacher for the music in film class scored Sadie
Thompson in 1987 when it was released on VHS. I could not get over how amazing
not only the score was but how amazing the story was and how beautiful Gloria
Swanson was. I had no one to talk about old movies with and I was always bursting
to get my emotions, opinions, and thoughts out about them. That was when I decided
to start this blog. I needed to get my feelings and thoughts out about Sadie Thompson and all the other classic
films I watched.
Une Cinephile has since become a blog where I discuss
every movie I watch be it classic or new, comedy or horror, drama or westerns,
foreign or domestic. This blog is essentially my movie diary that everyone can
read. I once had a great teacher for a health class at MSU who was incredibly
encouraging and inspirational. He loved the fact that I ran a blog and that I was
so passionate about movies. He told the class that after 10,000 hours of doing
something you become an expert. Well, I think I definitely have over 10,000
hours of movie watching behind me but I would not say I am an expert. There is
so much I do not know about movies that I cannot wait to discover yet there is
so much that I do know. I love film history about the studio system and I also
like the technological side of film history. I go crazy when I see old film
equipment it is big and bulky and gorgeous. The more movies I watch the bigger
my appetite for knowledge about the industry’s history and the craft and work
that goes into making them becomes.
My journey as a cinephile (which mean “cinema enthusiast”
in French) has brought me great opportunities and people into my life. My
passion for film history lead two of my friends telling me about the Fort Lee
Museum in Fort Lee, NJ where they were borrowing some film memorabilia for an
exhibit and the people at the museum quickly became some of the most wonderful
people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Through these wonderful people I
got to experience seeing my first silent film in a theater. The film was House of Hate and I got to see it at the
incredible Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, NY.
House of Hate
begins with a masked intruder entering a castle home through a secret
passageway. The castle belongs to a weapons manufacturer Winthrop Waldon. He is
apparently the only one who knows of the secret passageway in the castle. This intruder,
later to become known as the Hooded Terror, leaves a threatening note to
Winthrop that they know a family secret and the real heir will seek their
revenge.
Also living in the castle is Winthrop’s illegitimate
daughter Pearl (Pearl White), his brother Ezra and Ezra’s son Haynes and
daughter Naomi. Winthrop does not trust his brother, nephew, and niece
especially since the letter appeared. He names Pearl as his heir since he knows
she is the only one that has not wished him dead.
Unfortunately, Winthrop is murdered by the Hooded Terror
that night. After he is stabbed the murderer throws the knife at a portrait of
Pearl to indicate she is next. The uncle and his children have a great deal of
motive to want her dead. With every scene we made to believe we absolutely know
who the Hooded Terror is and then our false knowledge is shattered.
I did not realize going into this film that it was a
restored print of a serial of several short films. Think of your favorite show
where all the episodes were just strung together without commercials and just
kept continuing one right after the other. That was what House of Hate was like for an hour and a half. I waited and waited
all that time to see who the Hooded Terror was and it just kept going. It finally
stopped but it was only part one. After a while I got a little frustrated
because they would always be so close to unmasking the Hooded Terror and then
the scene would end and a new story/scene/scenario would begin. Once I was told
that it was all made up of serials all the cuts and skips in stories made more
sense.
House of Hate
was filmed entirely in Fort Lee. The Fort Lee Museum in their film section has
an entire case dedicated to Pearl White. She made all her films in Fort Lee.
They love her there. I cannot even begin to tell you how many objects they have
of Pearl White and her film in their collection. And Lucky me got to go through
them all last summer organizing them (and the ENTIRE storage area) as part of
my graduate internship. I remember seeing lobby cards for House of Hate all over the place. I am not a native of Fort Lee. I
do live in New Jersey just down by the shore (yes I live near Sleazside, no I have
never met or seen the Jersey Shore cast, and no I have never watched the show).
Despite not living very close to Fort Lee and not knowing the area too well, I loved
seeing the town as it looked almost one hundred years ago. It was so open and
so clean. Today it is a congested nightmare with some nice areas like all
northern Jersey towns. I swelled up with some Jersey pride. If it had not been
for the weather and some other factors New Jersey would have been the movie
capital of the world. All the major studios began there.
The film was restored from reels found in Russia. It was
shown to that audience in 1925 in a condensed form. It was digitally restored
with assistance by Rutgers University film professor Richard Koszarski. He is
an expert on silent films. He is one of several people I have had the pleasure
to meet in journey as a cinephile. The professor knows his stuff he is
fascinating to speak to about films. The restoration looks incredible. I hope
the copy becomes available to purchase on DVD eventually.
I can only hope that one day House of Hate will be available for wider viewing. The acting was
so-so much of Pearl White’s acting was the overdramatic silent film acting. But
do not let that kind of acting discourage you from seeing House of Hate
whenever it becomes available to see. Do not even let the time discourage you
from seeing it. The story from the several short films pieced together keeps
you on your toes and wanting more to see who will be revealed as the Hooded
Terror.
I would like to thank so very much to Tom Meyers at the
Fort Lee Museum for taking me along today to experience seeing a silent film in
theaters and for the experience of going to my first film museum. I would also
like to thank The Museum of the Moving Image for leaving literally star struck
and making my head spin in excitement over their displays and collections. Today
was the first time I had ever been to a film museum before. I was in heaven. There
was memorabilia, props, costumes (I LOVE film costumes with such a furious
raging passion), cameras going back to Edison’s first camera, editing
equipment, TVs, radios, and so much more. I felt right at home as a cinephile
as well as a museum professional. Even before I visited the museum today I have
always wanted to work there. I am constantly applying for jobs openings there. I
have a degree in Museum Registration. It would be a dream come true keeping
track of and just constantly being around film paraphernalia.
Oh and an absolutely HUGE thank you to everyone who has
ever stopped by and read my reviews. It means more than you will ever know. My
sentence and grammar and punctuation are not the greatest. Obviously I am not a
film critic in the traditional sense. It just means so much that people that
have read my opinions and possibly enjoy them and find them interesting. Thank you,
thank you, thank you so very, very much. Here is to another 1,000 posts. I am
ready for the next chapter of journey as Une Cinephile.
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