ANNOUNCEMENT: The Ninth Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon!

Were you waiting for it? At last, I’m making the official announcement that our great Busterthon is returning for a ninth–ninth!–time! Almost a decade of our annual Buster celebration, folks. Isn’t that amazing?

Many Thanks, Film Bloggers!

Aaaaand the second Silent Movie Day Blogathon is a wrap! To all the talented bloggers who took the time to participate, a very hearty:

We had a fine variety of posts this year on topics ranging from 1922 box office hits to Sennett’s Bathing Beauties, and I know I’m still going through them all myself! Many thanks as well to the many readers took the time to stop by and read the posts–and are still stopping by, might I add.

Will it be back next year, becoming an annual tradition much like our Buster blogathon? Hmm…it’s always a possibility!

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The Silent Movie Day Blogathon 2022

It’s here!! Welcome, everyone, to the Silent Movie Day Blogathon–back for a second year in the row!

We’ve have another great lineup of posts on a wide variety of silent film subjects–just how I like it! I’ll be adding the new posts periodically throughout the day, so be sure and check back to see what’s new!

Sound good? I agree! Let’s get today’s celebration of non-talkies started.

The Roster

Silent-ology | “10 Great Silent Film Performances That Have Stayed With Me.”

Realweegiemidgetreviews | Sunset Boulevard (1950)

The Thoughts of One Truly Loved | My Best Girl (1927)

Silver Screenings | Mickey (1918)

Nitrateglow | The greatest hit films of 1922

Taking Up Room | White Tiger (1923)

Brooksie at the Movies | “Cherie Rich, Australia’s Only Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty.”

The Everyday Cinephile | “12 Genres, 24 Must-See Silent Movies.”

LaurelandHardyBlog | Liberty (1929)

That William Powell Site | The Great Gatsby (1926)

Critica Retro | The Finances of the Grand Duke (1924)

Silver Screenings | “Why Audiences (Still) Fall in Love With Mabel Normand.”

Whimsically Classic | The Freshman (1925)

L.A. Daily Mirror | “Hollywood Heights: Mabel Normand Studio Leads the Way.”

UPDATE: Less Than A Week Until The Silent Movie Day Blogathon!

It’s coming closer! The Silent Movie Day Blogathon hosted by myself and In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood is a mere six days away!

Silent Movie Day–destined to be one of your favorite holidays, behind Thanksgiving and Christmas–is an official yearly celebration of the silent era. Anyone can participate in any way they choose: by watching silent films, sharing the love of them on social media, hosting a screening, donating to an archive…whatever works for you! We decided to host a silent film blogathon for the second year in a row, and happily quite a few people have signed up. (If you’re interested, there’s still time–no pressure!) We’re almost there, folks!

Hooray!

I did want to add that goodness, I’ve been a bit AWOL this month, haven’t I? Probably the most since Silent-ology started, surprisingly enough. But it’s for a good reason–on top of a couple other non-blog-related writing projects, I’ve been asked to contribute a program essay to one of my favorite film festivals. So happily, my writing time and attention has been well occupied lately! So never fear, Silent-ology is rarely far from my mind, and if I’m ever AWOL it’s probably because it lead me to an exciting opportunity (and I can’t get by without sleep, ha ha).

Also, a reminder: October is coming.

“Excellent.”

Without further ado, a copy of le roster:

A Salute To Silent Film Actors With Crazy Long Filmographies

Hello everyone, and happy spring! This is an extra special post I’m putting up today, because it’s in memory of a very special gal: Patricia Nolan-Hall, aka Caftan Woman to you fellow film bloggers (and readers!).

When the news broke back in March that Patricia had passed away, we knew the classic film blogasphere had lost one of its best and most enthusiastic talents. Patricia was a delightful writer with a vast knowledge of cinema and she was an equally delightful member of the community. If you were hosting a blogathon, Caftan Woman was sure to sign up–and comment on every single blogathon entry! How she found the time I’ll never know, but she clearly had a passion for film that just had to be shared.

It took some thought to pick my blogathon topic, because Patricia loved such a wide variety of films. So I figured: in honor of someone so knowledgeable who was so generous to her fellow bloggers, why not list some of the most prolific silent film stars in Hollywood? I’m talking about the hardworking people who managed to show up in dozens–no, hundreds of films, and who were basically the backbone of Hollywoodland. Some are well known, others obscure. And maybe we can try to guess just who had the longest filmography of all.

Reviewing All Of Buster’s MGM Features

This is my own entry for the Eighth Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon. I hope you enjoy!

When Buster Keaton went through the transition from silents to talkies, as all fans know it wasn’t smooth–he was talked into giving up his studio and moving to the fancy megastudio MGM, and basically had to adapt to being treated as an actor, not a filmmaker. His personal battles behind the scenes with alcoholism and his failing marriage are also well known to fans, and it’s safe to say that all of the above can…color our opinions of his MGM films (to put it mildly). Of the nine features Buster starred in from 1928-1933, the seven talkies in particular are often dismissed as inept embarrassments for someone who made so many silent classics.

Aaaand images like this don’t help.

So I guess this is my segue into saying: I’m now going to give mini reviews of all his MGMs!

To be clear, I’m going to examine some of the differences between the MGMs and his independent films but I’m also going to try to review them more objectively. Too often we Buster fans seek out the MGMs just to scrutinize every frame for evidence of inferiority to his silent pictures, gawking at the sad beatdown of our creative genius and basically wallowing in whatever misery we feel we can detect onscreen–not really watching them just as movies. This mindset’s hard to escape, it’s true, but it doesn’t hurt to look at the MGMs for what they were–popular films that were pretty similar to other popular films from the time.

The Eighth Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon

UPDATE: Day 2 of the blogathon has begun! Be sure to check out any new posts, more are trickling in!

And just like that, our annual Busterthon is back–for year eight!!

And I’m proud to say that we have a great turnout this year and a wide range of topics–participants always do an amazing job, and this year’s no exception. So find your coziest chair, make a pot of your favorite tea, and please enjoy!

Bloggers: Please send me the link to your post whenever it’s ready today or tomorrow. (Many thanks if you already have!) I’ll be updating periodically throughout the blogathon. Don’t forget that I’ll be holding a drawing for all participants, the winner receiving a copy of the fabulous new James Curtis biography Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life. The drawing is scheduled for March 16.

Readers: Drop by often to see the latest posts–and don’t forget that we bloggers adore comments!

Wondering what the previous ‘thons were like? Here are the links to the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Annual Buster Blogathons–whew! Just in case you were hoping to find something to read about Buster…!

The Roster:

Silent-ology | Reviewing All of Buster’s MGM Features

Cinematica | The Scarecrow (1920)

University of Iowa Libraries blog | Article on the Marion Meade research paper collection

La Pantalla Enmudecida | “Buster and My Nieces: A Personal Story” essay

Silver Screenings | The Haunted House (1921)

Realweegiemidget Reviews | Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)

dream in dizzy sunlight | Go West (1925)

The Thoughts of One Truly Loved | “How I Fell For Buster Keaton” essay

Taking Up Room | College (1927)

Way Too Damn Lazy to Write a Blog | “Mr. Keaton Goes to the Columbia Shorts Department” article

Big V Riot Squad | “Buster’s Silent Shorts–Reel 2” article

Century Film Project | Cops (1922)

nitrateglow | Reviews of the books The Vampire Diary of Buster Keaton and Bluffton

Whimsically Classic | The Great Buster (2018) documentary

MovieRob | The Cameraman (1928)

Inimitable BK | “Adventures With Horses” essay

The Wonderful World of Cinema | Buster Keaton’s appearance on The Donna Reed Show

Critica Retro | Buster Keaton: The Genius Destroyed by Hollywood (2016) documentary

Rekha’s Sousaphone | Modern adaptations of Our Hospitality in Indian cinema

Many Thanks, Fellow Film Bloggers!!

It’s a wrap! On behalf of myself and Crystal at In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood, I wanted to say:

to everyone who participated in our Silent Movie Day blogathon!

Mary and Doug are elated too!

And I know lots of people will still reading through them in the next few days, too–plenty of folks have been stopping by and that’s pretty darn exciting!

I wanted to alert everyone that some exciting things have been happening this Silent Movie Day–a commemorative plaque for the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley was dedicated yesterday, thanks to the efforts of historian John Bengtson and all the fans who donated to his campaign. Isn’t it beautiful? I can’t wait to see it in person!

Also, Hollywood FINALLY has a proper film museum, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which officially opened today. It only took a few decades, but it’s finally here, folks! Historian Mary Mallory talks about this longtime work in the making in her new post here.

And one final thing, on a more sober note. I just heard that Steve of MovieMovieBlogBlogII, who contributed to our blogathon, has passed away. I’ve known Steve through Facebook for quite a few years, we shared a love of old movies and especially our great comedians. He was always very supportive of my silent film blogging and I could always count on him to be the first to sign up for a blogathon! He and his jokes and his many well-written classic movie posts will be greatly missed. Please check out his site here, and maybe bookmark it to visit now and then–I’m sure he’d appreciate it:

https://moviemovieblogblogii.wordpress.com/

And once again, thank you for all your hard work making this event a success. And Happy Silent Movie Day!

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The Silent Movie Day Blogathon

Happy Silent Movie Day, everyone! (Man it feels good to say that…! Dream come true, and all.) Me and In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood are happy to be celebrating it with you all with you today! The founders of this new holiday–one of the best since Christmas–wrote:

“National Silent Movie Day is an annual celebration of silent movies, a vastly misunderstood and neglected cinematic art form. We believe that silent motion pictures are a vital, beautiful, and often powerful part of film history, and we are united in the goal to advocate for their presentation and preservation.”

Couldn’t agree more! So let’s get to it.

Bloggers: Please send us the link to your post whenever it’s ready today–if you signed up with me, send me the link, if you signed up with Crystal at In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood, send it to her. Our rosters will be updated periodically throughout the blogathon.

Readers: Please drop by often today to check out the latest posts–and don’t forget that we bloggers live for comments!

The Roster:

Silent-ology | What is the greatest silent film?

Silent Locations | Honoring the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley

MovieMovieBlogBlogII | The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez (1991)

RealWeegieMidget Reviews | Silent Movie (1976)

The Classic Movie Muse | Hot Water (1924)

Hometowns to Hollywood | Girl Shy (1924)

Cinematica | Coney Island (1917)

Better Living Through Television | The relationship between silent film and television

Nitrateglow | The hit films of 1921

Caftan Woman | The Last of the Mohicans (1920)

Silver Screenings | The Hoodlum (1919)

The Story Enthusiast | The Scarlet Letter (1926)

The Thoughts of One Truly Loved | The Circus (1928)

Laurel and Hardy Blog | The Battle of the Century (1927)

Strictly Vintage Hollywood | The lost silent Uncharted Seas (1921)

Grace Kingsley’s Hollywood | “What Does Hollywood Think of Herself?”

Wild About Harry | The silent cinema of Harry Houdini

MovieRob | The Conquest of the Pole (1912)

Critica Retro | Souls For Sale (1923)

Brooksie at the Movies | “Who Taught Valentino to Tango?”

The Classic Movie Muse | Hot Water (1924)

LA Daily Mirror | The first permanent studio in Hollywood

Silent Film Music | Article on silent film projection speeds

Century Film Project | The Nut (1921)

Taking Up Room | Show People (1928)

The Everyday Cinephile | Pre-1920 cinema

Lokke Heiss | The Crowd (1928)

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Silent Movie Day Blogathon!

Not too long ago my fellow blogger Crystal, who runs the fine site In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood, contacted me with an idea: How about we cohost a blogathon in honor of Silent Movie Day? Well well well, that sure sounds right up my alley.

“Why yes, I do believe I’d be on board.”

“Wait, ‘Silent Movie Day’? Is that a real thing>” you ask. Why yes, it certainly IS a real thing! Just this past January, Chad Hunter, executive director of Video Trust and director of the Pittsburgh Silent Film Society, archivist Brandee B. Cox of the Academy Film Archive, and archivist Steven K. Hill of the UCLA Film & Television Archive all put their heads together and decided to create a National Silent Movie Day. Described simply as “a day to celebrate and enjoy silent movies,” it will be held on September 29. And it won’t be celebrated just this year, but every year! As its founders wrote:

Anyone can participate! Ask your local cinema to show a silent picture with live music; watch a silent movie on a streaming platform or on disc; write a blog or an article for your local newspaper; read a book about your favorite silent movie star; or create a podcast. Use your imagination and post on your social media on September 29 to show how you celebrate the day. This is our moment as silent movie fans, academics, programmers, and newcomers to share our mutual love and appreciation for this unique period in motion picture history. It is also an opportunity to rally around surviving silent pictures that are still in need of preservation.

There’s even a logo!

So in honor of this brand-new rival of Easter and Christmas, Crystal and I are hosting a one-day Silent Movie Day Blogathon–and all bloggers are invited!