Monday, January 4, 2010

'SILENT FILMS'

Recently I purchased for the sum of $3 bucks, a two disc DVD of three movies that Greta Garbo did in the so-called 'silent' era of motion pictures or cinema. I have other such films on VHS and DVD in my collections. I intend to add more as time and funds permit since I find they are refreshing from the contemporary drival being produced today and cranked out. Of course, the early films may have appeared crude and naive,etc. to today's 'sophisticated' audiences! Nevertheless, early films or movies have a certain refreshing quality to them if one OBSERVES and not merely sees! There are many things one can OBSERVE as well as SEE. In actuality, there were not really silent movies or films since even the whirr or hum of the projector(s) made noise and people often talked, laughed and reacted to the movies, especially in the early days when they are novel, unusual, and interesting from many angles. Orchestration and other sound devices, like organs, pianos,etc. were played and stage shows were also sometimes part and parcel of the movies and theaters. I was most fortunate because I was exposed to silent films in many instances when they were sometimes shown in theaters, church halls, social clubs,etc. and schools. I also saw the first really technicolor and sepia color movies and went from there into cinerama, cinemascope, 3-D, etc. I also had my own movie projector(which I still have in the original box and it still works, but I do not have any of the films I once had that I showed to neighbor kids and friends. Films sold for around 2.98 or so and I saved my pennies to buy more). If you watch thesse early movies you can see many things and you will be surprised at the 'freshness' of things that are not marred by sound or speculation of others. They are best watched alone so you can see what is there and what the impressions, if any, they make on you. Sometimes, several viewigs are needed to extract the 'essence' what is there. Actors and Actresses implied many things and their gestures and motions and the like, their antics, all had communication of some sort.

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