The Reading Room

Amazing Tales from the Archives 2013

Amazing Tales from the Archives 2008

Amazing Tales from the Archives 2007

Amazing Tales from the Archives 2006

Looking For Lulu - Documentary on Louise Brooks

1998 documentary about the life of Louise Brooks, created by Hugh Munro Neely. Narrated by Shirley MacLaine and featuring numerous interviews with friends and relatives of the legendary star, it also contains excerpts from many of her films including her first on-screen appearance.

Movies Silently Review

The 1930s chiller White Zombie is an experimental-horror masterpiece - Chicago Reader

Review by Kyle Westphal

Danish Silent Film: His Innocent Dupe

Danish Silent Film: A Daughter of Brahma

Review from Pre-Code.com

Movies Silently Review

Movies Silently

Mabel Normand scored a smash hit with this feature-length comedy about a mining camp brat who goes to live in the big city. Chaos ensues but you knew that already.

Cinema as Portraiture: Dovzhenko’s Earth – Establishing Shot (IU)

Jack Miller argues that Dovzhenko’s Earth represents a radically non-narrative alternative to Eisenstein’s dialectical montage, treating its agrarian subjects and the natural world as monumental, painterly presences rather than characters in a story.

Ideology and Reality: Society and Vsevolod Pudovkin’s Mother (1926) - Senses of Cinema

Cara Marisa Deleon explores the tension between the film’s progressive ideals and its deeply patriarchal treatment of its female characters

La Bohème - San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Festival resource on Vidor's romantic tragedy and Gish's acclaimed performance.

The Pleasure Garden - San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Festival resource on Hitchcock's directorial debut and early thematic concerns.

Battling Butler - San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Festival documentation of Keaton's personal favorite and commercially successful comedy.

Ozu's Space Adventures: Editing in PASSING FANCY — The Criterion Channel

Essay examining Ozu's distinctive editing and compositional techniques in this family comedy.

The psychological horror of Dreyer's Vampyr — BFI Sight & Sound

Essay on Dreyer's dreamlike approach to horror and psychological terror in his first sound film.

The Unholy Three - San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Festival resource on Browning's unique approach to grotesque cinema.

Flesh and the Devil - San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Festival resource on Garbo and Gilbert's chemistry and film legacy.

Love and Death in Hollywood: Desertion and Redemption in Film Adaptations of A Farewell to Arms — Literature Film Quarterly

Academic essay analyzing themes of desertion and redemption across film adaptations of Hemingway's novel.

OF HUMAN BONDAGE (1934) – Of or Involving Motion Pictures — Of or Involving Motion Pictures

Critical analysis of how the film navigated Hays Code restrictions while exploring human weakness.

OF HUMAN BONDAGE (1934) — Virtual Virago: Classic Films in Focus

Essay on Bette Davis's groundbreaking performance and the film's dark portrayal of obsession.