What Happened to Rosa (USA,1920)

Mabel Normand made a name for herself for her slapstick comedies for Keystone studios in the 1910s, even though she had worked for other studios both before and after that. And even had her own modelling career before becoming an actress. Normand was a real pioneer of early cinema because she was brave, did her own stunts with competence and got a really spontaneous and relaxed screen persona back to an era when the helpless damsels in distress were so popular. Furthermore, she also directed her own films already at the time when she worked at Keystone (consequently, before this film was shot).

At the time this film was made, Normand was inclined to make more situational-oriented romantic comedies, without the frantic rhythm, broad gestures and physical gags of slapstick comedies, similar to those by her real-life friend Mary Pickford. This shift in her career could show the audiences that Normand was also a very good, natural actress, who could be funny and emotional in all kinds of films.
Produced by Goldwyn studios, this film is not usually considered one of her best, it is entertaining and in touch with cinematic trends of its era, including those of exotic environments being portrayed in the most stereotypical way possible.

A hard-working saleswoman in a department store with a boring life, looking forward to some excitement, once met a clairvoyant woman while working. Although it was clear that the clairvoyant was a charlatan, Mabel ended up scheduling an appointment and ended up being told she was a Spanish dancer in a previous life. Mabel got carried away with this story and started acting like a Spanish dancer, which made those around her think she was losing her mind.

The appointment`s scenes are among the funniest of the film. The clairvoyant`s house was full of exotic objects from Egypt and at the same time that Mabel was scared, she was also fascinated for being there. The more exaggerated acting of the clairvoyant is also a good contrast to the more self-contained acting by Mabel, which highlights the awkwardness of the entire situation.

Although Normand`s acting is not as groundbreaking as it was back to 1910s, her talent was still there and she got to be entertaining and the audiences can even see pathos in the poor working girl who was stuck in a life of hard work and boredom and only wanted some excitement and distraction from routine. Things would be even more complicated to Normand after she fell in love, especially because she was often more awkward than seductive towards her love interest.

It is sad to think that Normand would pass away circa 10 years later, but her versatility could be seen in her 1920s output in films that could be modern fairy tales of the ordinary next-door girl with a heart of gold who only wanted to find some happiness in life. It is impossible not to see similarities with the role played by Clara Bow in It (USA, 1927), starting with the similar occupations of characters of both films. The difference was that Bow had a touch of innocent seduction in her character, was Normand was a romantic, optimistic girl.

It is also noteworthy that actor Adolphe Menjou can be spotted in some scenes. His career would still continue throughout the talkie era.

3 de November de 2024 0

Help! Help! (USA,1912)

This film was not made at Keystone studios of California, but at Biograph studios of New York, the same that gave D.W. Griffith to the world. The film was directed by Mack Sennett, who in later years would say he learned a lot while working with Griffith at Biograph. However, while already in Biograph studios, Sennett focused his work in comedies, both as an actor and director and it was where he started honing the comedic pattern that would soon be famous at Keystone studios.

The style of the plot was not the frantic slapstick yet and even Mabel Normand’s acting was different from what she would show at Keystone studios. She played the role of a typical damsel in distress with some touches of overacting, which was something still common in Hollywood at that era. It was portrayed in this film the lifestyle of middle class citizens, rather than working class ones, as it would be so common in Keystone films.

Mrs. Suburbanite (Mabel Normand) read in a newspaper that burglars were operating in the neighborhood, as one of intertitles says, and she immediately talked about it to her husband because she was really impressed with what she read. Then, Mr. Suburbanite (Mabel’s husband, played by actor Fred Mace) went to his workplace, an office in the city. Meanwhile, Mabel saw some suspicious-looking men and she locked the door and hide the key.

Mabel called her husband at his office because she thought there were burglars at their house. He left the office by car at once, but unfortunately the car stopped in the middle of the road. At the same time, Mabel was even more afraid at home, as she realized the curtains were moving. The husband got to make the car work again but it ended up stopping on the road again. After a short time, the he got to find another vehicle to take him back home but no success again. Against all odds, the husband got to return home on foot.

As a typical damsel in distress, Mrs. Suburbanite nearly fainted when she realized her husband was back. The happy end was assured when it was found out that the burglar was actually only a small animal.

Some reviewers claim that this film was probably a parody of some previous films by D.W. Griffith, such as The Lonely Villa (USA,1909) and The Lonedale Operator (USA, 1911). The statement makes sense and it could also be a parody of the stereotype of damsels in distress, a spoof that would be included in subsequent films of Keystone studios directed by Mack Sennett, such as Barney Oldfield’s Race for a Life (USA,1913).

Fred Mace followed both Sennett and Mabel to Keystone studios when it was founded in 1912 and made a plenty of films there in the first few years and became a rather popular actor, but his career would not last much longer. Firstly, he left the studio and then returned and finally Mace passed away in 1917 with only 38 years old.

2 de November de 2024 0

Saved from Himself (USA, 1911)

This is a film by Biograph studios of New York, directed by famous D.W. Griffith (who started working at the studio in 1908 as an actor and soon became a director and chief direct of Biograph) and one of protagonists is Mabel Normand, one year before she moved together with Mack Sennett and Fred Mace to the Keystone studios, which had just been founded. It is interesting to see Mabel acting in a non Keystone, drama film.

Mabel Normand, despite being more famous for her comedies, was a versatile actress and did well in dramas too. When this film was made she was circa 18 years old and already had a natural and convincing acting. In Biograph she played naïve young maidens, damsels in distress, in addition to comedic ladies.

Joseph Graybill (1887 – 1913) is an actor about whom not much is known. He passed away in 1913 still in his 20s and had a successful career both on stage and cinema and is more noteworthy for having worked with D.W. Griffith in his first years at Biograph studios.

The title of this film is self-explanatory and the plot has some typical Griffith`s touches, especially in the moralizing end. An example of that is evident already in the first intertitle, which says: “His sweetheart`s influence saves him from dishonor”. Back to an era when having a good social reputation was something taken much more seriously than nowadays.

Motion picture poster for Three Friends, a Biograph Studios release, shows three men clasping hands while sitting at a table in a bar. 1 print (poster) : lithograph, color ; 104 x 70 cm.
Source: Wikimedia Commons

A young clerk (Joseph Graybill) is engaged to a stenographer (Mabel Normand). His old friend had just won lots of money in the stock market, which encouraged him to also invest his money this way. He was so impressed that he actually used all his savings to purchase stocks. Unfortunately, things did not happen as planned and he had to put up another two thousand dollars, otherwise he would be wiped out, as one of intertitles says. He could not afford doing so and the fear of losing all his money made him consider stealing money from a hotel.

However, his sweetheart (Mabel Normand) found it out and prevented him from doing so. Also, his thoughts about his mother made him thinking twice and it became clear that he only considered stealing the money out of fear of losing all his savings and not being able to provide a good future both for himself and his future wife. The happy ending happened because honesty and morals were preserved and it is not worth it being unscrupulous or immoral, this is the usual message of Griffith`s cinematic work.

A plenty of Griffith`s films discussed the effects of addictions, poverty and adultery over families. A recurrent theme was also the virginal, Victorian heroines, who Lillian Gish embodied so well. Those women also had high morals and kept their families united, even when the father/husband was too weak to do it himself. It often turned out that the man regretted his mistakes and reunited with his family, immediately being forgiven by his understanding spouse. Although such plots would be a bit too sexist for nowadays` standards, they show to modern audiences how life was like when things were simpler and the urban life had not fully taken root.

1 de November de 2024 0

The joy of “old fashioned” writing

I confess I missed blogging and practicing my writing this way, without constraints, simply putting my feelings and opinions on paper (Or on screen, in this case). Nowadays we live so much under social medias that some people even have difficulty to imagine life without them. Fortunately, I am within a transitional generation and I know well both the analogue and digital worlds, which I consider a privilege.

Do not get me wrong! I love social media. They are a great example that if humankind gathers together and gives some input of knowledge we end up with a rich library of information. The practicality of posts is also wonderful. Rather than writing a full text, people can develop their writing in small pills, one post at time and still provide information of high value and quality. However, being a slave of algorithms is something that can often be frustrating and most people have already realized it.

There is some magic, a touch of meditation in writing, just you silently and your thoughts pouring. Sure, we always want people to read what we write, but the pressure of followers, engagement and “traction” is a completely different ball game. I love the concept of sharing thoughts with other people and blogging and sites provide this relaxed textual production. Sure, it can be daunting to see a blank page in front of you, there is embarrassment if we will write something worth reading, but writing is a skill and it gets better with practice.

There is also a feeling of intimacy and coziness while writing. We are more self-centered in writing out of social media and it gives us a chance of sharing our innermost thoughts and those who connect with our words do connect with our deepest opinions. This is why whenever I write a post to this site, I simply sit down and put on paper how I feel. I do not give much thought if what I am writing is perfect or informative. I know that those thoughts would only make me doubt myself and it would harm the entire process. If the objective is expressing myself and creating a community I need the freedom to let my soul guiding myself. That is really poetic, huh?

Mentioning social media once more, they have taught us that the best way is to start our self expression with the resources we have, working on our abilities and improve along the way. It is also very special when other people can follow up your evolution in real time. Do not let self doubt prevent you from doing what you like. We are not perfect, we will never be perfect. But it is part of human nature the necessity of speaking up, using our voice and connect with like-minded individuals. This is even therapeutic and life has so many problems that whenever we can do what we love, without harming other people, we should just go for it.

Connection, community creation, saying your truths, those are concepts so often talked about that they end up being cliches, but the human soul has not changed so much since pre history. In the end of the day, the friends we make along the way, the feeling of relief to take things off our chest the joy in sharing good news, this is what makes our journey in this world more pleasant. Otherwise, which would be another explanation for so many people writing, either on paper or on line, totally for free? We may not earn money with it, but the satisfaction obtained is totally priceless. Food for the body is essential, but food for the soul is as important. In a world when mental health has been talked about so often, it is unnecessary to say why.

We can see a wooden desk and two hands (apparently, belonging to a woman who is notg visible in the picture) using a typewriter. There are some books on the table and flowers in a glass of water.

16 de December de 2023 0

Why do I have a site?

If you know of my good old blog of silent films, you can rest assured that it still exists and it will always do. Silent Beauties blog on silent films has always brought me lots of joy and I would never voluntarily end it. If you want to take a look at my dear, sweet blog, here is the link: https://silentbeauties.blogspot.com/

Nevertheless, time passed and I have felt the need of writing about other stuff, my interests – including, but not limited to, arts – life in general, random thoughts. Sure, I could definitely include those things in my blog, but I love the format of Silent Beauties blogger as it is and I do not want to change anything there, especially the focus on silent films. Another point is that I have missed the fact of expressing myself out of social medias, where I can write without time or space constraints, where the amount of followers is not important, but the quality of the community that is created. A place that isn’t easily bought by anyone with ulterior motives and that I can control more closely is advisable. And here I am.

We had in the last year the example of Twitter being taken over by problematic ideals and we witnessed the sudden death of a social media. Maybe it is the first time it happens this way, as what happened before was specific social medias losing relevance as time passed, but social media being bought and “killed” the way it was is something unprecedented. It shows that social media is great, but much more fragile than we can imagine. This is something we can already understand, but was unimaginable until a short time ago.

It is great that as time passes, I have had the intellectual urge of knowing about other subjects. It means I will never run short of hobbies. No matter the era or if people are rich or poor, the way they live, the cultural production of the world is always full of cultural opportunities and even common citizens can often have so many interesting things to say. The idea of writing on web site, which provides me a greater degree of control, makes things very exciting and I cannot wait to be here more and more, sharing my impressions of things.

At least initially, I intend to write small texts about topics of my interest. It includes silent films, which is an old passion of mine, but there will also be other things. The size of the posts will probably be no different from the posts of micro blogging applications (Twitter, Bluesky, Mastodon and all of them), but longer texts may also appear. Basically, I consider this site as a blank canvas where I can paint a portrait of my interests. As long as I do not insult anyone, there is no rule about size, subject or frequency of posts.

You may think that in the current world there are many problems, but there are great things too. The expansion of social media is giving room for people to be creative without necessarily having to spend money for that. The fact that communication has been easier to unprecedented levels has had a huge impact over our era and, if we have the wish to join this revolution and get our message across, we should definitely do it. The fact that we can research about so many subjects is wonderful and I never take it for granted.

There is always some insecurity involved in launching a writing project, especially because writing is something that we develop and improve all the time. But when we are too perfectionist, it ends up preventing us from doing things because we never think our texts are good enough. Therefore, I always find it good to write without many string attached. The point is recording our feelings and the moment, sharing it with others and anything else is often a mere waste of time. We all have the need to express ourselves according to our truths and beliefs and going for it just makes our lives better.

I am really grateful to everyone who has followed my adventures on line, regardless of media. Without having so many cool friends around, nothing would make sense. In the end of the way, we may become social nomads, the places where we connect may end, but what truly makes a difference is the friends we make. We have all this technology at our reach, but the human brain has not changed too much throughout history. We are social beings, we long for connection, understanding and kindness. And I have always had it all on line, thanks to everyone who has been in this on line journey with me. I hope you all feel comfortable, accepted and welcome in this space too.

A woman is sitting by a desk. We can see a laptop, some books and a glass of water between the books and the laptop.

15 de December de 2023 0